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The Lively & Liveable Neighbourhoods that are Illegal in Most of North America - YouTube
Channel: Not Just Bikes
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one of the things I really like about
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Amsterdam is the shops and restaurants
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that are dotted throughout residential
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areas in the city
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these patios and local shops provide a
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lot of interesting destinations that are
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always within a very short walk or
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bicycle ride this is different from a
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high street or Main Street where the
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shops are all along one major street
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cities in the Netherlands like most
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countries have high streets too but
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these retail pockets bring an
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interesting character and liveliness to
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residential neighborhoods and are a more
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quiet and enjoyable environment to sit
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in or shop in then along a busy Main
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Street in many ways these pockets of
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retail and restaurants remind me of the
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alleyways of Taipei which were my
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favorite part of the city as they
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provided liveliness while also making
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what would otherwise be a dark alley
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into a location that was inviting and
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interesting so these pockets of shops
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and restaurants are in no way unique to
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the Netherlands but what is interesting
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is that they are illegal to build in
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almost all of the US and Canada North
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American cities follow an approach
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called Euclidean zoning if you've ever
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played Sim City or City skylines this
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will be familiar to you
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Euclidian zoning will come up in future
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videos because it's a big source of
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problems with North American city design
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but I'm not going to go into too much
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detail of the history here if you want
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to learn more the exceptional urban
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planning Channel City Beautiful has made
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some good quality videos about zoning in
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US cities I'll put links below but for
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our purposes now here's the quick
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summary
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during the Industrial Revolution cities
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were pretty horrible places someone
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could literally open a steel mill in the
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middle of a residential neighborhood and
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this led to horrible pollution and a
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terrible living environment so zoning
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was introduced to separate incompatible
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land uses this was probably the single
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most significant contribution that urban
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planners made to public health in the
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history of the profession and likely
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save millions of lives which is why
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almost every country has some kind of
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zoning ordinances unfortunately some
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countries took this a step too far and
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decided that absolutely everything
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should be separated from absolutely
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everything else this means that in most
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North American cities if an area is
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zoned as residential then literally
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nothing else can be built in that area
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here is a typical zoning map in this
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case of my hometown of London in Canada
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it is illegal to open a shop or
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restaurant anywhere within the yellow
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shaded area
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now admittedly it is important to keep a
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residential area quiet and comfortable
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to live in and that's not always
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compatible with other uses in the
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Netherlands there are sometimes issues
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with noise crowds garbage and other
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problems related to living right next to
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or above a commercial property but like
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all things in City Planning there is a
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balance to be achieved
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modern North American Planning takes a
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very extremist view that there is no
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value to having shops and restaurants
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within a residential neighborhood but
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North American zoning is extremists in
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general for example if a neighborhood is
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zoned r1 for single-family homes then
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nothing else not even townhouses or
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apartments can exist there I'll talk
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about that in more detail in the future
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but in the meantime you can watch the
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city beautiful video the case against
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single-family zoning what's interesting
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to me is that this was not always the
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case in our former neighborhood in
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Toronto built about a hundred years ago
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there were several commercial buildings
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built within the neighbourhood these
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areas have been grandfathered into the
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zoning code and are some of the most
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desirable and expensive neighborhoods in
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the whole city but despite their appeal
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new neighborhoods will never be built
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this way again beyond the liveliness
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that these places bring to a
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neighborhood the fundamental issue here
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is walkability if there's a local shop
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grocer restaurant or pub in your
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neighborhood then you can walk there but
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if your residential neighborhood is
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separated from every other use then it
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means you have to drive to do anything
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you want to do and so does everyone else
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that results in a lot of car traffic
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because it doesn't matter if you're
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driving across town or just need to buy
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a bag of milk you have to get in your
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car and yes where I'm from we buy milk
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in bags and we like it that way but once
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you go into the trouble of getting into
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your car you're much less likely to
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drive to several small shops meaning
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most people skip local businesses and
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drive to the power center with a giant
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parking lot
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shops and walkable areas are more likely
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to be run by local entrepreneurs who
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contribute significantly to the local
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economy in a way that big-box stores do
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not and I will talk about that in a
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future video about the twisted economics
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of big-box stores in North America by
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comparison a walkable neighborhood has
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enough people living within walking
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distance for small shops to stay in
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business and parking lots are not
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required making space available for
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patios park hats and places for people
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to live thankfully there is a
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realization in many US and Canadian
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cities that Euclidian zoning has gone
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too far
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you'll hear urban planners talk about
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mixed-use development which is what the
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rest of the world calls the way you
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build things however I find these
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developments are still highly localized
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such as at a transit hub or along an
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arterial road I rarely hear about
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bringing back low-impact commercial
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spaces like restaurants cafes and retail
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shops into existing residential
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neighborhoods and far too much of the
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area in North American cities is still
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zoned as exclusively r1 single-family
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homes in Toronto for example this is
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called the yellow belt because despite
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downtown Toronto being one of the most
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urbanized areas in North America it is
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still surrounded by a sea of yellow on
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zoning maps where only single-family
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homes can be built
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so I'm happy to live again in a place
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with sayings owning laws that allow
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beautiful urban environments like this
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to exist places that reduce car traffic
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support local entrepreneurs encourage
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diverse retail and promote walkability
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because honestly I have absolutely no
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interest in going back to live in a
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place like this and speaking of
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supporting small businesses I've had
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several people ask if they can
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contribute to the future of not just
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bikes
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so last week I set up a patreon account
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if you'd like to support the channel
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check out patreon.com/crashcourse
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