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* according to literally hundreds of people who have contacted me about this over the years.
I think it’s from anti-njb people because he is admittedly very pro-dutch and seems a bit simpy sometimes. His comment on NA being unrepairable and how people should just move to the EU was also controversial I think.
I think this video is really good, but he is also one of the most entry-level urbanism YTers, so I think some people judge him for that.
I get where NJB is coming from with the “move to EU” sentiment. If you personally want a better car free life, take the easy option and move somewhere like minded. You could spend a decade in north america fighting for a bicycle lane just for motorists to protest it unless cyclists pay “their fair share” in taxes.
There are some places in north america with decent transit and walkability but their scarcity often makes them expensive to live in, even after factoring in savings from not owning a car. It is an incredibly steep uphill battle for most other areas to shift away from car centric design.
but he is also one of the most entry-level urbanism YTers
Is he? He’s certainly very common entry-point into urbanism, but I don’t think that’s the same as being entry-level. I actually think he’s the best of the big urbanists.
Oh the Urbanity often seems to excuse some poor urbanism, and even when they aren’t doing that I find them far too neoliberal for my tastes.
CityNerd is brilliant, and he has a bunch of excellent videos. I particularly like the ones where he shows his gravity model for high speed rail. But he also does a hell of a lot of listicles which I can’t say are the greatest of high-quality content.
RMTransit does some good videos on fundamental topics, but his scope is very narrow—almost exclusively public transport, rather than other urbanist topics like cycling, walkability, different kinds of density & zoning, etc. I find them to be frequently very dry and not really focused as much on urbanism as it is on technical considerations. Interesting, but often more for the same reason I watch Wendover, rather than the same reason I watch NJB.
City Beautiful is probably my second-favourite of the urbanists. He covers a great diversity of topics in great quality. There’s just something that for me at least means I less often feel the calling to rewatch his videos to double-check a point then I do with Jason Slaughter’s videos.
I think it is unfair to judge RMTransit for not having enough urbanism outside of transit when his channel name literally focuses on transit. He is not called RMUrbanism, he is RMTransit.
I also think by entry level, they mean that Jason does an excellent job of explaining urbanism on very basic terms. He tries not use too much technical language and when he does he makes sure to explain it in detail. In an interview on a podcast once hes explains how much of his career was being a “professional explainer”.
I’m not at all suggesting that that makes it bad. Only that it means it compares unfavorably in terms of being an urbanism channel when compared to NJB.
The thing about the use of the term “entry-level”, rather than saying something like “it’s a good entry point” is that it implies the channel becomes less valuable for someone who’s already reached a deeper level.
I don’t think NJB does that. It’s a good entry point, but it remains top notch even as you become more deeply orange-pilled.
I think it’s from anti-njb people because he is admittedly very pro-dutch and seems a bit simpy sometimes. His comment on NA being unrepairable and how people should just move to the EU was also controversial I think.
I think this video is really good, but he is also one of the most entry-level urbanism YTers, so I think some people judge him for that.
I get where NJB is coming from with the “move to EU” sentiment. If you personally want a better car free life, take the easy option and move somewhere like minded. You could spend a decade in north america fighting for a bicycle lane just for motorists to protest it unless cyclists pay “their fair share” in taxes.
There are some places in north america with decent transit and walkability but their scarcity often makes them expensive to live in, even after factoring in savings from not owning a car. It is an incredibly steep uphill battle for most other areas to shift away from car centric design.
i completely agree
Is he? He’s certainly very common entry-point into urbanism, but I don’t think that’s the same as being entry-level. I actually think he’s the best of the big urbanists.
Oh the Urbanity often seems to excuse some poor urbanism, and even when they aren’t doing that I find them far too neoliberal for my tastes.
CityNerd is brilliant, and he has a bunch of excellent videos. I particularly like the ones where he shows his gravity model for high speed rail. But he also does a hell of a lot of listicles which I can’t say are the greatest of high-quality content.
RMTransit does some good videos on fundamental topics, but his scope is very narrow—almost exclusively public transport, rather than other urbanist topics like cycling, walkability, different kinds of density & zoning, etc. I find them to be frequently very dry and not really focused as much on urbanism as it is on technical considerations. Interesting, but often more for the same reason I watch Wendover, rather than the same reason I watch NJB.
City Beautiful is probably my second-favourite of the urbanists. He covers a great diversity of topics in great quality. There’s just something that for me at least means I less often feel the calling to rewatch his videos to double-check a point then I do with Jason Slaughter’s videos.
I think it is unfair to judge RMTransit for not having enough urbanism outside of transit when his channel name literally focuses on transit. He is not called RMUrbanism, he is RMTransit.
I also think by entry level, they mean that Jason does an excellent job of explaining urbanism on very basic terms. He tries not use too much technical language and when he does he makes sure to explain it in detail. In an interview on a podcast once hes explains how much of his career was being a “professional explainer”.
I’m not at all suggesting that that makes it bad. Only that it means it compares unfavorably in terms of being an urbanism channel when compared to NJB.
The thing about the use of the term “entry-level”, rather than saying something like “it’s a good entry point” is that it implies the channel becomes less valuable for someone who’s already reached a deeper level.
I don’t think NJB does that. It’s a good entry point, but it remains top notch even as you become more deeply orange-pilled.