• 21 Posts
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Joined 3 years ago
Cake day: June 30th, 2023
  • TaalnazitoFuck Cars•How do Scandinavian/Nordic cities compare to Dutch cities (Amsterdam in particular) in terms of walkability?English
    11·
    4 days ago

    Been around in both areas often, I’m Dutch and went to Oslo. Family has visited Copenhagen. All are walkable by US standards, by European standards as well. For Dutch standards, it varies a bit.

    Overview

    As for public transit, generally I’d say the NL are the best in the world (though Switzerland is somewhat better in its quality and reach to smaller towns, and Luxembourg actually has it for free). Still, all capitals and 100k+ cities in the Nordics and NL should be decent in terms of public transit, walkability and bicyclability. Don’t expect a utopia of perfection, but it’s certainly better than NYC. Like every country, we have our nice things, problems and issues, just a bit differently.

    Nordics

    Of the big Nordic cities, Copenhagen is the most bicycle friendly, clearly the winner. I’d even go as far as to call them excellent for Dutch standards. The rest of Denmark is likewise decent. Odense pops out most in mind, they have a particular extra focus on bicyclists.

    In Norway, Oslo is a relatively good one as well, lots of bicycle paths. Most Norwegians will take you into account when you bicycle along the roads, by driving a bit slower near you.

    In Sweden, Malmö and Uppsala are good for bicycling. Stockholm, compared to other Nordic capitals, has a better cuisine and nicer architecture, but the biking is meh.

    For Finland, the capital Helsinki according to the Copenhagenise Index, is number 6 out of all cities, so should be pretty good (the index only takes into account cities with 100k+ people, though).

    Iceland is a beautiful country, but it’s very car-focused. Reykjavík has quite some bits to improve regarding bicycle friendliness. It could be considered walkable, though it is not quite bicycle-friendly yet.

    Faroe Islands: sorry buddies, I don’t know too much about you. Only that it’s walkable, but no idea about bicycling and public transit.

    The Netherlands

    Amsterdam is on par with Copenhagen and good (but so are virtually all Dutch cities), though it suffers from a lot of tourists walking on the bloody bicycle lane. I’ve had to ring more than often to yell them away.

    Utrecht I’d actually label more bike-friendly. It has or is going to have a neighbourhood that’s completely car-free. The mid-sized cities Groningen and Nijmegen (nicknamed “Havana at the Waal”) are great as well.

    Of Dutch big cities, Rotterdam and The Hague are imho the worst. They have a more carbrained infrastructure. On a world scale it’s still bicycle friendly, but you will encounter wide roads where other Dutch cities instead have bus lanes, bicycle lanes, etc. It’s improving, though.

    Discrimination
    Most of the Nordics as well as the Netherlands are actually fairly sympathetic to Cuba and we like Cubans (not the far-right ones in Florida though, we detest those that voted for Trump).

    With regard to discrimination, I think you’ll find that it depends on how well you learn the national/local language. Most people in the NL and Nordics can speak English decently, but socialise in their native language. The better and sooner you learn that, the easier it’ll be adapting. Discrimination isn’t as overt or common as in the US, but usually is more ‘casual’, more subtle. Think à la, not getting hired as fast because of foreign names, lower salaries, that stuff.

    The far right sadly also grows everywhere in the world, due to rich people funding those through algorithms – and so violent incidents increased. Regardless, discrimination should and must always remain prohibited, and so please do report it! I’d welcome you as one of us.

    That said, on how you’ll be treated, approximated, you’ll be fine. People are curious and like to hear from elsewhere. Jamte’s law applies. Don’t stick out too much, don’t brag about being rich, don’t put other people down, that all helps.

    And, this goes for everyone (even native people included), but it’s harder to get yourself into friend circles as an adult. Not impossible, though! Your best bets are through study, work, and hobbies. So seek those out.

  • TaalnaziOPtotheNetherlands@feddit.nl•Zijn er socialistische kranten en media die ik kan lezen?Nederlands
    2·
    11 days ago

    Je hebt ook de Groene Amsterdammer, bedenk ik me nu. Van Joop ben ik me bewust.

    Ik kan Duits, maar denk dat die Tageszeitung de strekking beter past.

    Voor mij ligt de grens enerzijds bij het toejuichen van autoritaire en totalitaire bewegingen; media die dat doen, zou ik uitsluiten. Anderzijds sta ik juist antikapitalistische of kapitalismekritische nieuwsbronnen voor. Ik heb graag afwisseling van kortere stukken met langere diepgang.

  • TaalnazitoFuck Cars•NYC Mayor Mamdani proposes $25 million to build a network of 500 bike lockersEnglish
    12·
    14 days ago

    Doubt it’s that expensive. A locker can be made for like $500. But then you’re thinking of sheds with a simple lock. If you want something actually safe, you’d need a bike garage, and those can go up to like $4k a piece., or $5k if we’re counting cargo bikes.

    To install them, you need labour as well. Assuming a $40/hr wage (could arguably be higher, depending on source), and a team of 8 people doing this for 8 hours a day, that’s $2,560 a day for labour in total. Two isolate the area, keep the area clean, two drill holes in pavement and breaks up stuff so the boxes can get in there, two transport the materials, and two assemble.

    So, assuming 4 boxes a day of $5,000 each, so it’s now about $22,560 in total per day (wages included). Let’s assume $22,500 here per day. 500 lockers divided by 4 (amount installed per day) then yields 125 days (4 months, 3 days) to install all of them. Thus, that’s $2,812,500 in total.

    But we’ll also need permits. The build plan needs to be assessed for transparency, environment, construction drawings, and the impact for the neighbourhood. It’s complicated, but let’s say $500 per balcony-like area (a balcony being about as big as one of those 3-bike boxes). So that’s $250,000 in total for the permits.

    We then end up with a total cost of 3,062,500, or let’s call it 3,100,000. Because building often has additional hidden costs and maintenance, I’m assuming 1/3 extra, so it’s even better when it turns out to cost less. Then we end up with about $4,000,000, or $0.45 per NYC inhabitant.

    Even if wages were $250/hr, it’d end up costing only $36,000 a day total (labour+construction), and thus totals $4,750,000 (including permit). Hidden costs and maintenance included, that’s $6,175,000 in total, a fraction of the $25,000,000 that is claimed.

    This would mean all of the 500 boxes cost less than a dollar for all NYC inhabitants in total!

    That while it gives much more freedom in the form of bicycles. There are no additional fuel costs, yearly checkups, and so on, and you get fitter and stronger, thus reducing your healthcare costs. Bikes literally make you richer.

  • TaalnazitotheNetherlands@feddit.nl•Why the Netherlands is DyingNederlands
    2·
    11 days ago

    Je hebt wel dat de box 3 in elk geval aangepast wordt. Maar nog beter zou zijn om een echte vermogensbelasting in te voeren, vanaf €2 miljoen ofzo.

    En dan ook inkomensafhankelijke boetes graag! Bijna elk fatsoenlijk land heeft er een, maar raar genoeg Nederland niet. En dat straft de armen af!

    En wat daarbij ook kan komen, is meer toezicht op algoritmes en techgiganten en mediawijsheidslessen, maar geen leeftijdsverificatie (dat wordt geheid een spionagemiddel!).