馃攳
Business Parks Suck (but they don't have to) - YouTube
Channel: Not Just Bikes
[0]
i've spent a lot of my life in business
[1]
parks i used to work in tech before it
[4]
was cool and back then tech companies
[6]
weren't exactly set up in shiny offices
[9]
downtown they were in the cheapest
[11]
office space available
[12]
and that usually meant working in some
[14]
crappy business park by the airport
[17]
my job's required a lot of business
[19]
travel as well so i've been to a lot of
[21]
crappy business parks all over the us
[23]
and canada
[24]
so the other day when i needed to go to
[26]
an appointment in a business park by the
[28]
airport i knew what to expect at least
[31]
i thought i did
[38]
i'm not gonna share which company i was
[40]
visiting with you internet weirdos
[41]
that's none of your damn business but
[43]
let's pretend it was this fedex building
[46]
this was not like the business parks i
[48]
was used to the most unusual thing for
[50]
me was that it was actually trivially
[52]
easy for me to get there by public
[54]
transportation
[56]
i rode my bike to the nearest station
[59]
parked in the underground parking garage
[62]
and walked to the train platforms
[65]
i could have waited for a direct train
[67]
to my destination but trains come so
[69]
often here that it was just faster to
[70]
take the first train going to the
[71]
airport i didn't even need to wait two
[73]
minutes
[76]
then at schepel airport i transferred to
[78]
another train
[80]
and again i didn't even need to wait two
[83]
minutes
[85]
after that it was a short pleasant walk
[87]
to the office building
[90]
as somebody taking public transit this
[92]
is a drastically different experience
[94]
than any north american business park
[97]
i've ever been to and that's an
[98]
understatement let me explain
[102]
a long time ago in a suburb far far away
[105]
i used to work in this building in a
[107]
crappy business park by the toronto
[109]
airport it
[110]
kind of sucked the job and the location
[115]
i stole this mug from them before i left
[117]
because it had the perfect corporate bs
[118]
mission statement it says continuously
[121]
improving customer satisfaction
[124]
i bet the management committee worked
[125]
really really hard to come up with that
[127]
one
[129]
the office was here
[130]
and i was living in a shared house with
[132]
some roommates on the other side of the
[134]
airport here
[136]
about 10 kilometers away as the crow
[137]
flies
[139]
which would have been fine except that i
[141]
was a poor student so i had to take the
[143]
bus and it was just
[145]
so
[146]
bad
[148]
i had two choices for my commute
[151]
the first was two buses which were
[152]
scheduled to come every 20 minutes in
[154]
rush hour but these were suburban buses
[157]
that would constantly get stuck in
[158]
traffic so the schedule was absolutely
[161]
meaningless
[162]
i could easily end up standing in the
[164]
cold by this bus stop for over half an
[166]
hour waiting for my transfer
[169]
and i had to cross two legs of this
[170]
nasty suburban intersection between bus
[172]
stops too
[175]
going this way my typical commute door
[177]
to door was anywhere from about 50
[180]
minutes to over an hour depending on the
[181]
transfer and traffic
[184]
of course if i had a car the trip
[186]
probably would have taken me around half
[188]
an hour in traffic so the whole commute
[190]
could have been shorter sometimes than
[192]
just waiting for that bus connection
[196]
so i opted for a second option which was
[198]
only one bus
[200]
but this was the actual route it took
[203]
two loops through the airport and out
[206]
the other side
[207]
going this way took me about an hour and
[209]
10 minutes door to door but at least i
[212]
didn't have to stand out in the cold
[213]
waiting for a transfer
[217]
when i got to my destination the bus
[219]
dropped me off here at the side of this
[221]
six lane strode
[223]
it's an absolutely miserable place to be
[226]
outside of a car
[228]
i would then walk down the sidewalk next
[231]
to the high-speed motor traffic
[234]
then i'd cross through the grass here
[236]
and go in through the back door
[240]
there were constant problems and delays
[242]
with my commute but if i ever complained
[244]
about it at work the people there would
[245]
usually just tell me i should grow up
[247]
and buy a car
[249]
i resisted telling them they didn't pay
[251]
me enough to afford a car in the first
[253]
place
[255]
at the time i didn't think much of this
[257]
i was a student and i didn't have much
[259]
money so i had to take the bus along
[261]
with all the other desperate people who
[262]
couldn't afford a car
[265]
and i was born and raised in a car
[267]
infested city so being surrounded by a
[269]
constant stream of motor vehicles and
[271]
wide suburban strodes didn't really seem
[273]
out of the ordinary
[274]
[Applause]
[276]
but when i think back on it knowing what
[278]
i know today it was disgraceful
[281]
it's absolutely disgusting how public
[283]
transit users are treated in north
[284]
america
[286]
and to be clear this is in the suburbs
[289]
of toronto which by north american
[291]
standards have good public
[294]
transportation
[295]
a lot of places in the u.s are much much
[298]
worse than this
[300]
at least here
[301]
i had a sidewalk
[305]
but i can't even express how different
[307]
that experience was to this place in the
[309]
netherlands
[310]
which is also a business park by the
[312]
airport
[314]
this place in mississauga is designed
[316]
for cars and everything else is an
[318]
afterthought at best you are simply not
[321]
welcome here if you're not driving
[325]
but this is a place designed for people
[327]
a place that is comfortable and inviting
[329]
to be in
[330]
it allows people to drive here too but
[332]
it's clearly not the only way to get
[334]
here or even the preferred way to get
[336]
here and that makes a huge difference
[340]
after my meeting i spent over an hour
[342]
and a half wandering around this place
[344]
and it seemed every time i turned a
[346]
corner there was something else that
[347]
amazed me and that's
[350]
kind of crazy considering you know it's
[352]
a business park by the airport
[356]
in north america i was always a
[358]
second-class citizen as a transit rider
[361]
transit was an afterthought overlaid on
[363]
top of the extensive car infrastructure
[366]
but here transit is prioritized as a
[369]
first-class mode of transportation
[372]
this business park is a very easy walk
[374]
from a train station with frequent
[376]
service
[377]
and you're not stuck on a narrow
[378]
sidewalk along a high speed strode
[382]
these buses aren't stuck in traffic
[384]
behind a bunch of cars on a suburban
[386]
arterial road they have their own
[388]
completely separate road of their own
[391]
and it's raised up above the road for
[393]
cars here so that it doesn't even need
[395]
to stop at any traffic lights
[397]
this lets buses run regularly and
[399]
reliably and buses were arriving every
[402]
few minutes as i was filming and keep in
[404]
mind this was on a tuesday early in the
[407]
afternoon
[408]
not at rush hour
[411]
the bus stop itself is spacious and
[413]
comfortable with stairs and an elevator
[415]
down to ground level
[416]
this is what first class transit
[418]
infrastructure looks like
[421]
in this business park transit is
[423]
prioritized this place is built around
[426]
public transit not just for cars
[429]
the designers of this place want people
[431]
to arrive here by transit and they make
[433]
it comfortable and convenient to do so
[437]
this traffic light was great too
[439]
first it goes green for this bus
[442]
most dutch intersections have priority
[444]
for public transit if a public transit
[446]
vehicle arrives it always gets to go
[448]
through and everybody else has to wait
[449]
which makes sense because there are
[452]
usually several dozen people on a
[454]
transit vehicle
[457]
after a moment the next priority is
[459]
given to people walking and cycling
[461]
because the system detected pedestrians
[463]
here the traffic light turned green to
[464]
let them cross while keeping the light
[466]
red for all drivers to avoid any
[468]
conflict between cars and people walking
[471]
then the light turns green for these
[472]
cars so that they can enter the
[474]
roundabout
[476]
as the last car passes the stop line the
[478]
light turns red to allow other traffic
[480]
to pass
[482]
but then the traffic control system
[484]
detects another car approaching so it
[485]
turns green again and early enough that
[488]
the approaching car doesn't need to stop
[491]
then immediately after the car passes it
[493]
turns red again
[495]
this is a great example of how dutch
[497]
intersections allow short wait times or
[499]
even no wait times for drivers while
[501]
also prioritizing cycling and public
[503]
transit it really is better for everyone
[507]
and over here at this part of the
[509]
junction the light is always green for
[510]
pedestrians unless a car or transit
[512]
vehicle is detected so when i cross here
[515]
i don't need to press any buttons i
[517]
don't need to wait and i don't need to
[519]
cross six lanes of car traffic either i
[521]
just keep walking safely and
[522]
conveniently to the train station nearby
[526]
the other thing that amazed me is just
[528]
how nice this place is which makes it
[530]
really enjoyable to walk
[533]
which is why there were more people out
[535]
here walking even on this miserable
[537]
rainy day than you'd ever see in a
[539]
business park in canada
[540]
even in good weather
[543]
canada does an okay job of making it
[546]
theoretically possible to walk as they
[548]
are usually sidewalks but it's
[550]
definitely not enjoyable to walk and
[552]
most people will avoid walking in
[554]
suburbia unless they're forced to
[557]
notice here that every office is located
[560]
next to the sidewalk not across a sea of
[562]
parking and the pedestrian entrances are
[564]
wide and comfortable
[566]
it's more pleasant to approach this
[567]
building as a pedestrian than a driver
[571]
okay so the garden is probably nicer in
[573]
summer but you get the idea the weather
[575]
sucks here but everything else is pretty
[577]
great
[579]
and look at how easy it is to cross the
[581]
road here this is not a strode like
[583]
you'd find in north america it's split
[585]
into two sections of two narrow lanes in
[588]
each direction with a grassy median in
[590]
between
[591]
this means that as a pedestrian i only
[594]
need to look in one direction at a time
[596]
to find a gap in traffic
[598]
there's no traffic light required no
[599]
expensive infrastructure i just wait
[602]
until it's safe to cross i can't do this
[605]
across a six lane strode
[608]
then there's a nice pedestrian bridge
[611]
and a bicycle path that i need to cross
[614]
and then i get immediate access to the
[617]
building without needing to go through
[619]
any parking lots
[621]
cars are still welcome here this is
[624]
actually pretty car centric by dutch
[626]
standards i mean there's more than one
[628]
lane for cars in each direction which is
[630]
pretty rare to see here but the parking
[633]
is all underground tucked under the
[635]
buildings and it isn't an inconvenience
[637]
or a safety hazard to pedestrians
[640]
the buildings here actually have
[642]
interesting architecture too they're not
[644]
all a bunch of single-story concrete
[646]
rectangles
[648]
there are loading bays for the
[649]
businesses here as you'd expect in a
[651]
business park
[653]
but right next to it is the entrance to
[654]
a parking garage for bicycles
[658]
i also appreciate how the water
[659]
management infrastructure takes the form
[661]
of attractive canals rather than an ugly
[663]
storm water pond next to a freeway
[666]
in general it's just
[668]
really nice here
[670]
people spend a lot of time where they
[672]
work and it's important that those
[673]
places are nice for our own sanity
[677]
let's face it
[679]
this place
[680]
is ugly
[681]
really ugly
[682]
nobody wants to be here
[684]
getting here is a necessary evil that
[687]
people put up with
[690]
it's bad enough sitting in a tiny
[692]
cubicle staring at a computer screen
[694]
filling out useless forms and listening
[695]
to eight different bosses drawn on about
[697]
mission statements
[700]
without also being surrounded by
[701]
soul-crushing asphalt and concrete every
[704]
time you step outside
[706]
nobody gets any joy from being here even
[709]
the people in cars
[711]
nothing about this place is good
[714]
and here it is over 20 years later and
[717]
this place still sucks which is why i
[719]
was able to get this video of it
[722]
to be fair the buses are more frequent
[724]
than they were in my day but they're
[725]
still stuck in traffic and still take
[727]
the same circuitous routes
[730]
and now they've even put up a fence
[732]
around the building i used to work in so
[734]
walking from the bus stop is even worse
[736]
today than it was when i worked there
[740]
i actually
[741]
got angry coming to this business park
[745]
thinking about all those years of my
[746]
life wasted away on those crappy buses
[749]
stuck in traffic
[750]
the long cold walks down the side of an
[752]
awful suburban six lane strode
[755]
getting cut off by drivers when crossing
[757]
the road and constantly feeling like a
[759]
second class citizen
[761]
and i didn't even talk about the amazing
[764]
bicycle infrastructure that is literally
[766]
everywhere around this area
[769]
or the park and ride garage that makes
[770]
it easy for people in the suburbs to
[772]
come into the city without driving
[775]
and i don't mean to imply that every
[777]
business park in the netherlands is
[778]
always going to be this good
[780]
but even remote industrial parks have
[783]
high quality cycling infrastructure
[786]
i just
[787]
i i don't know how to express this
[789]
feeling to people who have never
[790]
experienced both places
[792]
europeans are going to look at this and
[794]
think okay so you took a train to a
[796]
business park big deal
[798]
and north americans are going to look at
[799]
this and think there's a sidewalk and a
[801]
bus shelter what are you complaining
[803]
about or more likely oh just shut up and
[805]
get a car
[807]
but
[808]
it's not any one of these elements it's
[810]
all of these things together
[812]
it's the high quality public
[814]
transportation that's clean and well
[815]
maintained
[816]
and so frequent that you don't even need
[818]
to look at a schedule
[820]
it's the airport that's not just another
[822]
destination but a major transportation
[825]
hub with trains leaving every few
[827]
minutes
[829]
it's it's the single payment card that
[831]
can be used on all transportation
[832]
systems in the entire country it's the
[835]
respect that's given to transit users
[837]
and the enjoyable experience for
[839]
pedestrians it's
[840]
sidewalks with other people on them not
[843]
just me next to a constant flow of cars
[845]
it's the options that are provided for
[847]
walking cycling in public transit
[850]
it's the freedom to not to have to drive
[854]
and you know what it's when the people
[856]
you're meeting ask how you got there and
[858]
they don't look down on you for taking
[860]
public transportation in fact they're
[862]
relieved because then they didn't have
[864]
to sort out visitor parking
[867]
it's the respect the consideration being
[870]
treated every bit as good as everybody
[872]
else regardless of the way you got to
[873]
the office and that is something that
[875]
just doesn't exist in most of north
[877]
america
[879]
and let's face it large parts of the us
[881]
and canada suck their non-places
[885]
dysfunctional insolvent and ugly
[888]
if all of the jobs moved out of here and
[890]
this place disappeared tomorrow nobody
[893]
would even care
[896]
but it doesn't have to be this way i've
[898]
seen the alternatives
[901]
cities built for people not just for
[903]
cars
[905]
if we design our cities differently
[907]
it is possible to make places that don't
[910]
suck
[911]
places where you'd actually want to be
[914]
and yeah
[916]
even a business park
[918]
by the airport
[922]
i'd like to thank my supporters on
[923]
patreon who paid me to get irrationally
[925]
angry no
[926]
rationally angry about business parks if
[929]
you'd like to support the channel and
[930]
allow me to wander around with a camera
[932]
in other ridiculous places visit
[934]
patreon.com
[936]
not just bikes
[942]
you
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage