Even Small Towns are Great Here (5 Years in the Netherlands)
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used as a go-to reference in car-dependence debates to show that small towns and rural areas can work without cars.
What it is
Not Just Bikes reflects on five years in the Netherlands and tours small towns and cities, from Haarlem to Veenendaal. It argues that good urbanism with walkable streets, bike infrastructure and transit is found almost everywhere there, not just in Amsterdam.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2023 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Recommends dangus · 2026-04 · on “Waymo says expecting driverless taxis to stay out of bike lanes is unrealistic”
We actually don’t have to work with what exists. We actively chose and continue to choose what exists. Every day new land is developed that perpetuates these choices. Every day we decide to keep things the same or implement change. Here’s a nice video about how rural towns can be configured to not be car dependent: [this video] You’ll notice that this isn’t some ancient European pre-automobile city stuff, you’ll see many single family home tract houses in the suburbs and small towns of the Netherlands that would be at home in any American suburb. The Netherlands did struggle with post-war car-oriented development that it has successfully pushed back against. If you live in Arlington, Texas, you l
Recommends dangus · 2026-04 · on “Waymo says expecting driverless taxis to stay out of bike lanes is unrealistic”
Did I say we should run subways to every corner? Here’s a nice video about how small suburbs and even farms don’t need to involve deep car dependence: [this video] Meanwhile, Arlington, Texas has over 200,000 people with no bus system. And before you say “oh it’s Europe it’s old” I will point out that the Netherlands had a huge car dependency problem in the mid-century and deliberately moved away from it during/after the oil crisis. You can see multiple single family home developments that would be right at home in a US suburb in this video. The author even reaches a rural farm without a car. What about if American transit authorities just did basic stuff like work together and perform actual reg
Cites dangus · 2023-09 · on “If You’ve Got a New Car, It’s a Data Privacy Nightmare”
American carbrains can’t imagine a society that doesn’t depend on huge ass vehicles for daily transportation. A reminder that driving isn’t a right, it’s a privilege that you have to get a license to do, and many other places that aren’t America don’t design their cities and even their small towns [1] around the idea that you must own a vehicle. Congestion taxes and pollution rules tend to affect city centers where personal vehicle ownership is unnecessary and even something that could be considered detrimental to society as a whole. I didn’t agree to die early due to elevated pollution levels in my city just so you can drive your truck around downtown. Approximately half of all global oil u
Cites tstrimple · 2023-09 · on “Britain's roads can't keep up with our cars”
Having well designed cities and transit isn’t just something that can be done for dense urban areas. Our car centric belief system is more of a cultural artifact than an indication that nothing else is possible. [this video]
Cites Mawr · 2023-11 · on “Vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends pose greater risk to pedestrians”
You're comparing living in a car dependant city vs living in car dependant suburbs. It's not going to be meaningfully different. You mention the constant noise, but what do you think causes it? To see what everyone means by car dependency, you'd need to see the few places that aren't. Here's what a 100% car-free island looks like: [LINK] Here are some progressive European cities that have started to undo the damage that's been done by cars: • Freiburg, Germany: [LINK] • Haarlem, Netherlands: [this video] • Paris, France: [LINK] Check out these background noise levels: • A very busy mixed-use street in Amsterdam: [LINK] • Exiting the train station in Delft, Netherlands: [LINK] • Cycling streets in
Cites CrispyKerosene · 2023-11 · on “280M e-bikes and mopeds are cutting demand for oil far more than electric cars”
It sucks, but it doesn't have to be that way. Even small towns can be sufficiently served by viable public transit options. [this video]
Cites panick21_ · 2024-03 · on “The lithium-ion battery may not be the best bet for EVs”
Its just a very American views. I know its crazy to think but not every city in the world is surrounded by endless suburban sprawl. And if you have a good train connection, you can go out of a city very fast an efficiently. Zürich, you have forest 1.6km from the downtown train station. Or 9min with public transport to an even larger forest. To small? Ok, lets look at Berlin. From main train-station, you have a gigantic park only a few minutes away. If that isn't nature enough for you, its a 7.5km distance to a forest outside of the city. Amsterdam, less then 5km to be in the surrounding country side. Vienna, 4km to country side, 7km to a nature reserve. I have not been in any European city w
Cites tstrimple · 2024-06 · on “Traffic engineers build roads relying on outdated research, faulty data”
Even smaller cities and towns can have good bike infrastructure. But it requires good interconnected infrastructure which largely doesn't exist in the US or Canada. [this video]