Even Small Towns are Great Here (5 Years in the Netherlands)

If you want to hear more about our experiences living in the Netherlands for 5 years, check out this episode of my podcast, The Urbanist Agenda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa_9UL_0ftc In this episode, my wife (Mrs. NJB) and I discuss our experiences, and how it compares to other places we've lived.

As someone from Europe I find it genuinely bizarre how you thought the smaller the place the less walking and bike friendly it would be, whereas here it's the opposite the larger you go normally the less walking and bike friendly it is.

As a Dutch person who's lived here my whole life, these videos never fail to remind me of how much I take for granted. Things aren't perfect here, but they could be so much worse. Thanks for the occasional reality check.

I'm an American woman living in The Netherlands. Every day I'm AMAZED to be spending my 'golden years' here. I've visited large cities and small towns all around the country, and I live in Limburg. The sense of belonging and satisfaction, the way the Dutch people use and enjoy and take pride in (and complain about, yes) their infrastructure; this is what keeps delighting and surprising me. The feeling when I'm walking through a town center is so different from anywhere I ever went in America. Beste Nederlanders, wat doen jullie het hier goed!

I honestly teared up a little watching your video. I live without a car in a US city. I have it very easy by US standards, with both my work and several grocery stores within walking distance of my home (about 40 minutes). And I live right next to a bus route that can take me to a park and to a downtown grid that even has a couple pedestrian centered streets. And yet, this video hit me harder then I expected. Every walking commute I make every day is just a little stressful and ugly, surrounded by fast cars on wide roads and sprawling parking lots. Every day on my commutes I frequently feel unsafe and uncomfortable. I know I shouldn't complain because I have a privileged life here, but it does wear on me. And seeing how things could be from your video, filled me with longing and hope. Thank you.

I remember when my son was 6 years old, he went to the next village (5km, 3 miles) away on his bike, together with our neighbours daughter (same age) without notifying us. He came back full of enthousiasm about his cycling "adventure". I swallowed, thought to myself "this is normal exploration behavior". And asked him which route he took and how far into the next village they went. It was a relief they they were smart enough to take the bike path (completely separated from anything else) and did not go further. I don't think this would be possible at that age in many other countries.😄

Watching the kids grow from a bakfiets to mom & dad’s bike seats, to riding their own bikes is so much more satisfying than the NA equivalent of car seat to booster seat, etc.

It's crazy how simply having a good design handbook can change an entire country when regular road maintanence comes around and changes up the roads

As an American living in Texas surrounded by oversized pickup trucks, 8 lane highways, and zero cycling or transit my envy of the Netherlands continues to grow.

My mother had a friend that moved to the US, she had a child there and after the first time they went back to The Netherlands for vacation her child would ask her every year "are we going on vacation to the place where everyone walks?". That was quite and eye opener because back home in the US they had to drive everywhere. The first time her child asked that question she had no idea what he was talking about

I just want to say that as a Dutchie, your videos also help me appreciate my own country more. And I just noticed from your video from Ermelo there's an NS Wandeling/OV Stapper there (hikes that go from train station to train station for easily getting from start to home from the finish) and I'll be doing that one soon :P

Fortunately, progress is being made in North America. Both Minneapolis-St. Paul and Atlanta have abolished parking minimums, Portland banned single-family zoning, Hoboken has become a model for North American traffic calming, and Jersey City has gone all-in on bike infrastructure. They even turned their main street into a pedestrian plaza. It gives me hope that these steps can be the start of a continent-wide transformation.

I'm originally British but now also Dutch, living in Apeldoorn, a pleasant if unremarkable town. I'll never understand why people go to London, Paris, Vienna, Prague or even Amsterdam, when they could go to Deventer. This is one for your list if you haven't been there already. And good luck with the Dutch passport; Willem Alexander should just give you one on the strength of your videos.

As a Dutchie, when I was young I always used to think that our infastructure would be everywhere on earth, I thought it was weird for people outside of NL to go to school using the bus or car. But then I realized the sad truth, which is that their infastructure just absolutely sucks so much that if you tried to bike there, you would be yelled at and endanger your own life. Biking here isn't just a way of transportation here, it's our culture and what we're proud of. This is to show how safe we are and why rest of the world (Except tiny parts of Belgium and France) should adapt our roads and bicycle paths. The times I have been to Germany to find only one bicycle path on one side of the road, and then almost cycle into a pothole because their bicycle paths are a joke, is too many

What this video shows is essential to understand why bike-share is not a thing in The Netherlands. We do not just cycle in the city centre, we cycle everywhere. We cycle to and from big cities, small cities, towns, villages, tiny hamlets and farms in the countryside. This is why everybody owns their own bicycle (or 2 or 3). There is no place where people who use bikes congregate, they are everywhere. And the bike is the mode of transportation from where you are to other forms of transportation. Bicycles are for end-to-end transportation.

Just got back from a family trip to the Netherlands to visit universities for my son. We all fell head over heels for the smaller cities (Groningen, Amersfoort) and spent most of our time in Utrecht rather than Amsterdam. Such a wonderful experience that has definitely changed the way I see my community at home as a City Councilmember.

As a dutch person this video feels like a massive compliment, the utter surprise at how small towns look here is great.❤

Honestly, I keep forgetting just how good we have it here in The Netherlands. Every time I watch your videos about how amazed you are by such things I take for granted, I feel a sense of pride and humbleness. Thanks for not just showing the world that it can be better, but also showing us that we don't always have to complain about everything (something else the Dutch absolutely excel in), but that we also can be grateful for what we have. Keep up the awesome work!

One thing your missing is that some of these train stations don't just serve their city. The train station in Hoorn for example functions as a through point for all of Westfriesland and the Streek which is a combined population of 177.880.

Speaking of stroads, I live on the east coast of the US, and about two weeks ago I went to a park with a couple of my friends. Since we all live in the suburbs, we all had to drive. Thing is, it was only a thirty minute cycle from my house. But it would be insane to do so because I would've had to cycle along dangerous "streets" and cross stroads. The worst part was that the park was literally along a stroad that later turned into a highway a couple miles south. Our original plan was to also get snow cones from a place that was directly across the stroad. However, when we set on our way, we realized there wasn't even a crosswalk at the intersection right in front of the park. In fact, there wasn't a single one for miles. So we had to get one of their parents to drive us across the stroad to the place and back because it wasn't safe enough to cross it, because there was no crosswalk, no pedestrian signal, not even a sidewalk, just traffic lights and a four lane sea of asphalt. THE PLACE WAS DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET AND WE HAD TO DRIVE BECAUSE IT WASN'T SAFE.