I Visited a 15 Minute City | Netherlands by Bike, Day 4

As for pronunciation of Dutch towns, I went for the shotgun approach in the hopes that I got it right at least once.

Always young fit people cycling in the sun. Never an old woman with groceries trying to push through a foot of snow. I'm glad I have a gun, I'll never be taken alive to a concentration camp. Americans will never give up their freedom.

How are city's like this built with regards to property rights? Does a larger form of government buy all the land and then develop into a city? Or do developers have explicit plans from the city with no wiggle room on street layout or things like that?

there are no 15 minute cities in Holland. They're just small towns.
Geez......

and nobody can afford to live in them nice neighborhoods :P
sounds fun.. but either you need to be gov dependent (social housing) or very well earning DINKs

As someone very familiar with those roads you took between Gouda and Utrecht, I'll say there are alternatives available. A lot of the infrastructure there is small countryside roads. It's a lot quieter, though you do need to negotiate the odd car with which you share the space.

This country is a cycling utopia. I want to move there. 😍

Next time, for comfortable accommodation, join Vrienden op de Fiets (Friends of Bicycles). You'll stay in the homes of friendly hosts.
And yes, Houten is a fine example of how to build a decent living environment.

Dutch city development is just absolutely stunning!
I absolutely love how they cater to alternative transportation like bicycles and such!

* Canadians are eating our bugs. 😉

traffic lights flashing yellow usually means theyre broken/turned off, not an anti-waiting feature (smart traffic light systems already take care of that)

Nightmare, coming everywhere

The new parts of Houten are incredibly dull and soulless

Used to visit Houten A LOT, an ex lived there, funny to see it from this perspective not having been there for a long time.

The conspiracy was constructed by the American right and car lobby, it's so transparent

The town actually has three centers: the historic center lies southwest of the new one that was built next to the train station. You can easily find it by looking for the old churches that are located there.

The third center, Houten Castellum, looks like it was constructed on the site of an old military fort. The pentagon-shaped ring of parks surrounding it is usually a telltale sign of military fortifications dating back to the 17th and 18th century. (The shape could also be the result of modern city planners making deliberate historical references for nostalgic reasons.)

Fascist hellscape

without cars and truck we the netherlands would be in the stone age

I live in a mature big 15 minute city: Ghent.

You stayed in Rhijnauwen! But I'm sad that you didn't get to see the actually lovely bits between Gouda and Utrecht - which are mostly on the other side of the water than the 'country highway'. They are a genuine treat.

See, I didn't know much of this and I have been to Houten... dozens of times. Robert Derks! I won't forget now

You missed the best part: the reeuwijkse plassen!

now this is what I'm talking about. edit: my god, that place you booked at first seemed horrible, glad you decided to bike to the Hotel late at night. I would've done the same. The night biking vibes are cool, so that's a plus :)

Imagine if Robert Derks implemented his ideas and concepts of a 15 minute city in america instead of the car infested hellhole that robert moses imposed on us. America would look so different today.

I give you a tip,go to Twente or Brabant that are the most beautyful places. And I know this because im Dutch😂

Its funny how most supporting this are folk who travel and live in other place's. Completely ignores the difference between being a tourist and living somewhere

A 15 minute city isn’t one where you can cross it in 15minutes but one where all your amenities can be accessed (by foot or cycle) in that commute time, regardless of the size of city.

As someone who grew up in Houten, I can confirm that it is indeed a very pleasant place to live. It may feel a little quiet at times, but that's part of why it's such a great place for kids to grow up: the traffic situation is supremely safe. We used to ride our bikes to school unsupervised from a very young age (probably about 8 or 9) and spend the afternoons often playing outside in the streets or parks. And yet, pretty much every family still owns a car. They just have the option of not using it for every little trip, and that option is actually convenient.
Growing up, I had no sense of how exceptional this urban design really was, but having seen quite a few other places makes me appreciate where I grew up.

As a Dutchman living in a very much not poster child 15 minute city of about 75,000 citizens, the furthest bicycle ride is 28 minutes according to Google Maps, but everything feels closer. Living here my whole life I've known nothing but bicycle rides and a 30 minute bike ride doesn't feel like a big task at all. I love living in cities with many different transport options, I owned a car for a short while and it was also great because cars and bicycles almost never interfere with each other, the busses are fine, the train is great because it takes me to the more populated areas of the country quickly and efficiently. It really is quite something.

It’s so weird to hear our cities as being marketed as a “15 minute city” by others as it is so normal for us….

As an American now living in Utrecht (great city as a bachelor's student), it was quite fun to see footage of Amelisweerd and Oudwijk; most videos tend to focus on the centre (understandably), but the outer neighborhoods are some of the best parts of the city

fuck american cities I'm movin to germany or the netherlands, I live in Fresno, CA and this city is the extreme opposite of the city in this video, I don't wanna be here anymore

I loved the photo of the Baby Dump, and your commentary about it.

It's good that Houten is a fifteen minute city because you wouldn't want to spend 1 minute longer. 😂

Place needs some diversity.

On Google Maps, the "Rondweg" looks dangerous!

man the pandemic really did a number on the amount of conspiracies that popped up >_>

This is the first video about 15 minute cities, where the comment section is not swarmed by the tin foil hat brigade.

In the Netherlands we have a one year guarantee on newborns. If you don't like the baby, you can bring it to babydump.

If I were in Gouda I would be looking for cheese, not waffles. I suppose I'd be looking for a traditional chicken sandwich in Livorno (old English pronunciation; Leghorn).

I want to live there !

If you have lots of bugs when you take your bike take some eye water. It can be quite painfull if you get one in your eyes.

So its not Carlos who started it... Its not the ..... who started it. Its the Dutch, the Belgians, The .... We evil Europeans who started it. WOW.

I presume you followed Google Maps bike directions for this trip since you were riding along the N-road a lot. This is a terrible shame... As someone else also mentioned, the best route from Gouda towards Utrecht is actually on the other side of the IJssel river, passing through the towns of Haastrecht, Hekendorp, Oudewater, and Snelrewaard, before hitting Montfoort and then Achthoven. Instead of coughing exhaust gases, you would have had lovely rural lanes, cute towns, and great views pretty much the entire way. The stretch along the river from the outskirts of Gouda through Haastrecht and then towards Hekendorp is one of the best sections. Sorry to see you missed it. Best advice: never follow Google Maps biking directions in the Netherlands as it will seek out designated bike lanes only, due to it being made by Americans. Better to set it for walking, or even better, use the fietsknooppunten. So this means only one thing: you must come back one day :)

come tonieuw vennep😂

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