Notices by Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱 (notjustbikes@social.notjustbikes.com), page 6

I opened my Montréal video by saying that "ignorant anglophones" pronounce it as "mun-tree-all", and then the very next word of the video is ... ME SAYING IT THAT EXACT SAME WAY ... and I continue to do so for the rest of the video.

Obviously I AM THE IGNORANT ANGLOPHONE I'M TALKING ABOUT 😆 but it is hilarious to see how many people think I'm insulting THEM. Some people are really really mad about it. 🤣

Oh well. I'm never going to stop making stupid jokes, even if these people don't get it. 😉

Since I just KNOW some pedant is going to complain about it, yes, I know that there is an "OPUS Reader" USB device that you can use to load passes onto your Montréal Metro OPUS card.

However, it has been discontinued and they plan to replace it with an app "some time in 2024".

Explaining all this in my Montréal video would have been an irrelevant aside in a video that was already way too long, so I cut it.

I'm posting this only as proof that I knew all this before the video was released. 😉

I visited the best* city in North America, and I was VERY surprised by what I found.

Montréal is definitely doing better than many other Canadian cities, but what I really wanted to know was, how does it compare with the great cities of Europe?

This latest video (and longest video I've ever made) is now live on Nebula!

https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-i-visited-the-best-city-in-north-america

* according to literally hundreds of people who have contacted me about Montréal over the past few years.

I finally took the time to figure out how to add a custom "Channel Comments Guidelines" on YouTube.

Now anybody leaving a comment will get this pop-up, making my opinion of YouTube comments clear to everyone! 👍

@breizh @jerome @CabotageEnjoyer

yes, I stand by that statement. It IS a daunting task and it may take a generation or two.

I have never said that anywhere is a "lost cause". Anywhere can be fixed with enough time and political will.

Why would I repeatedly promote Strong Towns (for years) if I thought it was pointless?

The people repeatedly lying about my positions on social media based off of a few out of context screenshots is getting really fucking tiring.

@jerome @CabotageEnjoyer

I didn't. This "lost cause" phrase is being thrown around a lot. I never said that, but it's constantly attributed to me.

I suspect these people are responding to a telephone-game version of what they think I said.

What I have said is that people should not be shamed into staying where they were born. And, of course, that Strong Towns is the best bet that North America has.

I've been very consistent ont this for years, but people insist on warping my intentions.

@InkySchwartz Strong Towns has thousands of members, and dozens of employees, from all across the political spectrum.

I've been on record saying that I think Chuck's politics are trash, but I also don't think that you should dismiss the movement because of the politics of its founder.

Plus, I don't think any urbanist movement is going to be successful in the United States without appealing to Republicans.

@brewski yes, but Vancouver is already one of the most progressive urbanist cities in North America.

Look at what London, Ontario has done for transit since 2002. Almost nothing.

Which is the point, of course: advocates want to move to the place where things can seriously improve in 20 years, not the places that are stagnant (or even moving backwards).

If you'd like to become a Strong Towns member, go to:

https://notjustbikes.com/strongtowns

I've been told that over half of all Strong Towns members heard about the movement through Not Just Bikes.

Even though the online drama is infuriating at times, I'm still proud of that accomplishment.

Every time some holier-than-thou bike advocate is chastising me for "giving up" on North America and moving to Amsterdam, I check their profile and it'll show that they grew up in some shitty suburb or small town, and moved to one of the half-decent cities in North America.

Every. Fucking. Time.

They moved to a better city and it's fine, but somehow me leaving the continent is the worst crime imaginable.

It's so tiring.

Every urbanist moves if they're able to. At least I'm honest about it.

The only exception is if they were already born in one of the best cities in the country.

They won the urbanist birth lottery.

The rest of us shouldn't be shamed for wanting to live somewhere better.

And if you can't move, for whatever reason, that's fine too. Then you should join https://StrongTowns.org. That's why I've been promoting them since before Not Just Bikes was even a thing.

Chuck actually stayed in Brainerd, MI.

I think that's insane, but at least I can respect that decision.

I gotta say, as an immigrant, I am NOT feeling great about today's election results in the Netherlands.

And as a former resident of the UK, I clearly remember how Brexit was just a stupid joke made by a small party ... until it wasn't.

It's so frustrating to me to see the problems created by right-wing neoliberalism and then having people respond to that by moving *further* to the right. 😬

https://www.parool.nl/verkiezingen/live-verkiezingen-tweede-kamer-2023-pvv-veruit-de-grootste-in-eerste-exitpoll-met-35-zetels-23-00-uur-eerste-uitslag-amsterdam~bc486cfc/

@ClintonAnderson not really sure what kind of answer you're fishing for here.

These problems have been solved for decades in the Netherlands but every city in North America approaches bike lanes like they're some kind of new invention that nobody has ever thought of before.

Either that or they say stupid shit like "things are different here, we need a unique approach."

No surprise they fucked up the design again.

Some dipshit tried to drive their Porsche into the Beursplein bicycle parking garage:

https://www.nhnieuws.nl/nieuws/327649/porsche-probeert-fietsenstalling-amsterdam-in-te-rijden-geld-te-veel-hersens-te-weinig

This is yet another car that shouldn't even be in the city centre, but is only there because of the Bijenkorf Q-park garage.

The existence of that garage causes so many problems, even on a good day. The sooner they close it, the better.

I can't wait for December 8th when the gemeente will pull off these stickers to reveal those sweet, sweet 30km/h speed limit signs.

These signs are popping up all over Amsterdam these days, and it's great to see!

#Amsterdam #safestreets #30kmph #twentyisplenty

@Ombra @tilvids Yup, I wasn't very happy with my content being associated with blatant white supremacist comments.

Open platforms need to address the problems of comment moderation, because platforms with "freedom" will always be abused by Nazis to suppress the speech of others.

@forteller https://masto.host/mastodon-usernames-different-from-the-domain-used-for-installation/

https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/config/#local-domain

Amsterdam is making electric cargo bikes available at recycling centres so that people who need to recycle large items can do so without a car!

#Amsterdam #carfree #autoluw #cargobikes

https://social.amsterdam.nl/@gemeenteamsterdam/111345948315911436

Freiburg im Breisgau is a European leader in sustainable development, and one of the few German cities with more bikes than cars.

Learn more about this amazing city in my latest video on YouTube!

#freiburg #urbanplanning #carfree #urbanism #ClimateChange

https://youtube.com/watch?si=5suMglPhZAcTclS9&v=6Vil5KC7Bl0

@thibaultmol I wouldn't hold your breath. They're taking a "wait and see" approach to Mastodon. That's probably wise, to be honest. There's only so much time in a day to manage all these bespoke platforms.