Not Just Bikes / r/fuckcars / Urbanists / New Urbanism / Car-Free / Anti-Car - People and grifters who hate personal transport, freedom, cars, roads, suburbs, and are obsessed with city planning and urban design

[Yamamura]

The idea that autistic people like trains is a stereotype more than it is anything genuine.

Well, then let's say for this specific instance we are referring to the specific subset of autistic people who are into trains.

trains are loud. many autistic people can't stand loud sounds (though some make a pass for certain sounds they like, or even have sensory aversion to only really quiet sound... but many do hate high decibel sounds with a wide range of inharmonic frequencies specifically)

I hate to play devil's advocate, but I have to say if someone is prone to something like sensory overload in the first place I don't think they would particularly excel at driving. For example someone honked at me once for stopping at a stop sign. That isn't to say that they can never learn to drive, just that they might have to work to overcome it.

you know what's predictable and rigid? your route to work in your car.

In an ideal world where everyone follows the traffic laws, yes that would be the case. However I find that a lot of driving especially today, there is a lot of non-verbal communication between drivers where you have to gauge the other person's intensions implicitly. A lot of defensive driving is predicting what other people are about to do before they do it, based on a lot of behavioral cues. Laws are predictable however people are not.

and you can't take them apart yourself to see how they work.

That's actually part of the reason that despite me liking cars. people are somewhat surprised when I tell them that I don't really care about F1. I like things that I can do myself instead of just observing. I'm not really a big fan of things that are only concepts, otherwise I might as well be into science fiction.

 

[FILTH Tourist]

I picked up Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic over the steam summer sale, and on paper it seems like r/fuckcar's ideal city builder:
European focused

• Socialist policies are front and center
• City planning is explicitly based around walkability and public transportation
• Plenty of vehicles to use for your transportation infrastructure, including little trucks like those one in japan they constantly gush about
• personal cars are 100% optional, and if you do use them they are small European cars, not big SUVs
• Only residential buildings are brutalist tenement buildings, which means absolutely no suburbs

But after trying to find post on it in r/fuckcars, I got nothing, but they do talk about city skylines somewhat regularly. Strikes me as a bit odd they are not promoting the hell out of this game.

 

[Eternal Gopnik]

I picked up Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic over the steam summer sale, and on paper it seems like r/fuckcar's ideal city builder:
European focused

• Socialist policies are front and center
• City planning is explicitly based around walkability and public transportation
• Plenty of vehicles to use for your transportation infrastructure, including little trucks like those one in japan they constantly gush about
• personal cars are 100% optional, and if you do use them they are small European cars, not big SUVs
• Only residential buildings are brutalist tenement buildings, which means absolutely no suburbs

But after trying to find post on it in r/fuckcars, I got nothing, but they do talk about city skylines somewhat regularly. Strikes me as a bit odd they are not promoting the hell out of this game.

Well, the people on the sub hate workers, and the game requires you to generate power (by burning real resources instead of unicorn farts) which is a big no-no.

 

[Beautiful Border]

Random thought of mine: How much does it actually matter if where you live is walkable? Because I live in a city that's very walkable, there's no real need to own a car, but I would say we still have a lot of the same problems with social isolation that I see described in the US.

"Third spaces", for example. Jason Slaughter makes a point of using the British pub as an example of them. But as an industry, it's rapidly dying on its arse.

I don't think cars are the reason why society is atomising. The actual reasons are twofold: Screens and immigration. Why leave the house when your own home has infinite entertainment? How can you have any sense of community when half the people in your area don't even speak English anymore?

 

[Yamamura]

How much does it actually matter if where you live is walkable?

For the longest time, I've actually been trying to ponder what the fuck the term "walkable" even means. I live in a suburb but there's a sidewalk connecting every street together. Theoretically I could walk pretty much anywhere and sometimes I do. The conclusion I've come to is it just means no cars to them.

I see the buzzword "walkable" similar to the bike chevrons painted by the side of the road, they don't really do anything they're just "I want equal attention" markings.

 

[Lovely Kin]

"Third spaces", for example. Jason Slaughter makes a point of using the British pub as an example of them. But as an industry, it's rapidly dying on its arse.

Whenever I hear someone complain and bitch about third spaces not existing, it's always the same people that never want to go anywhere. Third spaces would have had a better chances surviving if these same complainers didn't vote in policies that allows the local homeless man to overdose in the bathroom, or allow criminals to brawl it out in public.

I see the buzzword "walkable" similar to the bike chevrons painted by the side of the road, they don't really do anything they're just "I want equal attention" markings.

Walkable will always be one of those words that slowly became "I want to be a pest, and you must adapt to me" Even when people, mostly tourists, whine about where I live being unwalkable, we have sidewalks everywhere due to how old it is. I just think some people want to bitch and be public nuisances, but they never want to deal with the consequences.

 

[Atypical Dog]

Well, the people on the sub hate workers, and the game requires you to generate power (by burning real resources instead of unicorn farts) which is a big no-no.

Whenever I hear someone complain and bitch about third spaces not existing, it's always the same people that never want to go anywhere.

They don't want to learn that their desired consequences require actions. That would mean they're responsible, and as we know from trains over cars and how hard they petition government and science to justify them, avoiding responsibility and getting someone else to deal with it is the point.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

I picked up Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic over the steam summer sale, and on paper it seems like r/fuckcar's ideal city builder:
European focused

• Socialist policies are front and center
• City planning is explicitly based around walkability and public transportation
• Plenty of vehicles to use for your transportation infrastructure, including little trucks like those one in japan they constantly gush about
• personal cars are 100% optional, and if you do use them they are small European cars, not big SUVs
• Only residential buildings are brutalist tenement buildings, which means absolutely no suburbs

But after trying to find post on it in r/fuckcars, I got nothing, but they do talk about city skylines somewhat regularly. Strikes me as a bit odd they are not promoting the hell out of this game.

In addition to stuff @Eternal Gopnik mentioned about communism actually needing workers, in Cities Skylines 2 you can basically cheat the game into playing how you want, with no roads and silly bullshit, W&R basically takes the socialism aspect of city simulators to its logical conclusion, with ultimate control over health and work.

The other thing is that W&R has emphasis on logistics. In urbanism, logistics don't matter.

- Loading areas for restaurants and stores are an afterthought. Can't have a dedicated parking area, can't park in the bike lane.
- When pointing this out, they'll point to the existence of stuff like UPS cargo bicycles or some unusual case ("this bar in Doofenstein, Germany delivers their stuff by hand up the side of this mountain!")
- Modern distribution centers are "too big"
- Literally not understanding why some goods are only through trucks (and even in factories, often train in, truck out)

Random thought of mine: How much does it actually matter if where you live is walkable? Because I live in a city that's very walkable, there's no real need to own a car, but I would say we still have a lot of the same problems with social isolation that I see described in the US.

"Third spaces", for example. Jason Slaughter makes a point of using the British pub as an example of them. But as an industry, it's rapidly dying on its arse.

I don't think cars are the reason why society is atomising. The actual reasons are twofold: Screens and immigration. Why leave the house when your own home has infinite entertainment? How can you have any sense of community when half the people in your area don't even speak English anymore?

All of these are very good points, and you could argue cars are because society degraded, not the cause of it. /r/fuckcars types will never, ever, address the issue of immigration but then they won't talk about what people did before your home could have everything. They don't really talk about movie theaters or bowling alleys being places where people gather(ed) and all of the places they talk about what your home should and shouldn't have is framed in the perspective of forcefully limiting or banning something (or forcing you to participate in some inferior alternative like makerspaces), not nostalgically wishing things were different. It might be one thing if they were talking about LAN parties, for instance.

For the longest time, I've actually been trying to ponder what the fuck the term "walkable" even means. I live in a suburb but there's a sidewalk connecting every street together. Theoretically I could walk pretty much anywhere and sometimes I do. The conclusion I've come to is it just means no cars to them.

I see the buzzword "walkable" similar to the bike chevrons painted by the side of the road, they don't really do anything they're just "I want equal attention" markings.

When I was younger, I grew up in a very rural subdivision where sidewalks and shoulders were non-existent, it was just the road, a VERY narrow right of way, and then just open ditches (usually dry, but the slope was annoying). But sidewalks are great. What really turned my mind was some article on Strong Towns (during the time it was shilled as "conservative") article on sidewalks or something along those lines, and the one thing I hated most about walking in the city—panhandlers—wasn't mentioned at all.

 

[Meriasek]

One aspect about walkability in some places is that it's just too fucking hot. In Austin it was already way over 20C in February, and walking anywhere, let alone biking, sounds like suicide in summer. It's already annoying here were it maybe gets to 35C during the summer. Granted, we have, for a somewhat large city of 1.5 million, a lot of greenery everywhere and rivers and stuff that alleviate the urban heat island effect, but I would not want to live in a place that gets much hotter in summer and be dependent on walking around or taking the bus.
I mean, yeah, you can do it, and it's a very regional thing, but it's really not fun at all in those temperatures.

 

[Lovely Kin]

One aspect about walkability in some places is that it's just too fucking hot. In Austin it was already way over 20C in February, and walking anywhere, let alone biking, sounds like suicide in summer. It's already annoying here were it maybe gets to 35C during the summer. Granted, we have, for a somewhat large city of 1.5 million, a lot of greenery everywhere and rivers and stuff that alleviate the urban heat island effect, but I would not want to live in a place that gets much hotter in summer and be dependent on walking around or taking the bus.
I mean, yeah, you can do it, and it's a very regional thing, but it's really not fun at all in those temperatures.

We get very cold, and very hot, so it's never realistic in the first place unless you are downtown or are jogging. Plus when it's spring, it gets really miserable and muddy from all of the rain. At that point, it's best to walk during the autumn even though it's chilly. Can be done, but you better be ready for a miserable experience if the conditions aren't perfect.

 

[Yamamura]

Walkable will always be one of those words that slowly became "I want to be a pest, and you must adapt to me" Even when people, mostly tourists, whine about where I live being unwalkable, we have sidewalks everywhere due to how old it is. I just think some people want to bitch and be public nuisances, but they never want to deal with the consequences.

Like to me when someone says something is not walkable, it has a very different mental image to me than probably what they have in mind. To me something being non-walkable would constitute the inability to walk there either because of legal reasons such as not being allowed to walk on the shoulder of a freeway or that the path has literally been destroyed by natural disaster. Like I'm not thinking mildly inconvenient in my head or else if that applied to anything there would be a large swath for roads I would consider "undrivable" and a lot of foods that are "inedible".

 

[quaawaa]

Jason being his usual pleasant self:

Source (Archive)

No one, including your (soon to be ex) fan, thinks that laundry has to be done with a car. Only people living in tiny apartments have to leave their home to do laundry; everyone in the suburbs has their own washing machine and dryer.

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He also wants Bluesky's shared blocklist feature on Mastadon:

Source (Archive)

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He wants to stop using Google but can't because alternatives like DuckDuckGo are all "American-biased":

Source (Archive)

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Jason tells his fans to go to town halls:

Source (Archive)

Hopefully we get some more funny videos when they inevitably get BTFO by the locals.

 

[Apple Porcupine]

The recently passed "One Big Beautiful Bill" eliminates CAFE standards.

(Source, Archive)

Exact text from the document (or at least the version of it I found here):

These are the standards widely derided by urbanists for making vehicles larger and less fuel-efficient. Think we'd see a single one turn into a Trump supporter?

 

[quaawaa]

(Source, Archive)

Why would anyone want a Jetta that gets 36/48 when you can get a gas or hybrid car with better numbers:


The 2006 Jetta TDI had a lower rated fuel economy (Car and Driver says it was rated at 35/42) and was also more expensive ($22,235 in 2006 is $35,228 today):

---

These are the standards widely derided by urbanists for making vehicles larger and less fuel-efficient. Think we'd see a single one turn into a Trump supporter?

Considering that CAFE standards aren't why most "SUVs" exist (as they're mostly just lifted hatchbacks/station wagons and don't fall into the truck category), urbanists won't be happy when they realize that manufacturers weren't being forced to make them.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

No one, including your (soon to be ex) fan, thinks that laundry has to be done with a car. Only people living in tiny apartments have to leave their home to do laundry; everyone in the suburbs has their own washing machine and dryer.

We've seen a few of the cope of taking laundry to a washateria, but it's just garbage bags strapped onto a bicycle like a hobo. But I'm not sure what his idea was, it wasn't what he was asking—does the average Dutch person own a washer and dryer or have one in a nearby location (like an apartment complex's commons), or not?

Instead he flies off the handle about how you should take your laundry by bicycle. It's the same thing with the "Amsterdam for the handicapped" question, did he avoid the question on purpose or is he that stupid?

He also wants Bluesky's shared blocklist feature on Mastadon:

Jason seems like one of those faggots who thinks that that if you criticize the wrong groups you should go to prison because "free speech has consequences".

He wants to stop using Google but can't because alternatives like DuckDuckGo are all "American-biased":

Since when has Jason ever tried looking for reliable sources?

Hopefully we get some more funny videos when they inevitably get BTFO by the locals.

There have been only three videos I've seen where the urbanists have showed up to town hall meetings.
1. Effeminate-sounding fatty who got mad when he was questioned by someone (I believe it was a Democrat woman of color, which makes it all the more funnier)
2. Some dork who never said a word but seethed the whole time, only making his "rebuttal" in a video after the fact
3. Some sperg who went on a long rant over "parking means you're killing people".

Jason's idea of "being positive" is laughable as he's the first to be the angry, passive-aggressive psychopath who won't take no for an answer.

 

[Markass the Worst]

Jason's idea of "being positive" is laughable as he's the first to be the angry, passive-aggressive psychopath who won't take no for an answer

That's probably the biggest reason why urbanists turn so many people off. They just seem like miserable, petty and angry people all the time. Jason is the biggest, but Chuck throws vitriol at traffic engineers and Alan has wished for a governor to get hit by a car.

Who wants to live a life where they get unreasonably mad like this every day?

 

[BulkForceFive]

The video YouTube recommended me from his channel was him driving a lifted dually wrapped in an American flag:

Spoiler: Archive

View attachment 7581286
View attachment 7581282

That's not lifted, that's a TopKick commercial truck converted to a pickup. Jason would shit and piss and barf all over himself if he saw one of those.

That reminded me, a while ago Youtube recommend me a bus autist, some brown British lad who really, really loves buses, but he very specifically enjoys riding them and talking about the ride experience. So I think there are a substantial portion of these autists who do enjoy riding their public transportation fixations.

Something that stood out to me about this bus autist is he doesn't like the new EV buses because they don't sound the same as diesel, something urbanists would likely get mad at him for preferring fossil fuels.

And while I was finding Network Nathan's channel I stumbled across a more conventional bus autist who coincidentally is also brown. This one also enjoys riding the bus.

strange but fully wholesome behaviour.

 

[Ravier Xavenblood]

The recently passed "One Big Beautiful Bill" eliminates CAFE standards.

View attachment 7606497

(Source, Archive)

Exact text from the document (or at least the version of it I found here):

View attachment 7606510

These are the standards widely derided by urbanists for making vehicles larger and less fuel-efficient. Think we'd see a single one turn into a Trump supporter?

Doesn't matter to urbanists. They still want to ban cars and micromanage every aspect of your life.

 

[Midwit]

Here are images of the neighborhood:

It looks pretty and all, but would it kill them to put in a driveway or two?

 

[Xarpho's Return]

That's probably the biggest reason why urbanists turn so many people off. They just seem like miserable, petty and angry people all the time. Jason is the biggest, but Chuck throws vitriol at traffic engineers and Alan has wished for a governor to get hit by a car.

Who wants to live a life where they get unreasonably mad like this every day?

All the urbanists eventually fall to the disease. I felt like some of Streetcraft's "road redesigns" were reasonable (if flawed—traffic circles aren't good for high traffic) until he started going on unhinged rants like "What if we put STROADS in the Disney World parks?"

Doesn't matter to urbanists. They still want to ban cars and micromanage every aspect of your life.

The narrative will shift as usual. Suburbs--"forced" to build from zoning requirements? Brainwashing from oil companies? Racism? Whatever's most convenient they'll use an argument.

strange but fully wholesome behaviour.

Gotta admit, an urban gentleman on public transit who appears to be overdressed for the weather (a fluffy winter coat on a fall day) would be toward the top of the list for "people to stay away from", at least in America, but this chap appears to be a gentle soul.

It looks pretty and all, but would it kill them to put in a driveway or two?

It's fed by alleys which have two-car garage entrances. Notice that it functions like Japanese alleys, but it's another example of "Place" / "Place, Japan" meme.