What People Get Wrong About Dense Urban Living
Summary
TLDRThis video challenges the common misconception that urban living equates to crowded downtown chaos. It argues that many people's experience of city life is skewed by their visits to bustling central business districts, rather than the quieter, denser residential neighborhoods where most urbanites live. The speakers share their personal experiences living in Toronto and Montreal, highlighting the calm and peaceful aspects of dense urban neighborhoods, and discuss the importance of distinguishing between downtown living and the more tranquil residential areas that offer a different, yet authentic, city experience.
Takeaways
- 🏙️ Advocates for low-density living often contrast their peaceful environments with the perceived chaos of city centers, but this overlooks the reality of urban living for many.
- 🌆 People outside of cities may have a skewed perception of urban living, as their experiences are often limited to downtown areas during specific events or work.
- 🏘️ Urban residents typically live in dense residential neighborhoods outside of downtown, which are not commonly visited by suburbanites or out-of-towners.
- 🗼 The prominence of downtown landmarks in the minds of those unfamiliar with city life can lead to misconceptions about what daily life in a city is like.
- 🎓 The speakers' personal experiences growing up outside of cities and later moving to Toronto and Montreal provided them with insights into the differences between suburban and urban living.
- 🚲 While acknowledging the appeal of downtown convenience, the speakers find the combination of residents, commuters, and visitors can be overwhelming and less peaceful than residential neighborhoods.
- 🚶♂️ Quiet, calming spaces are often more accessible in dense urban neighborhoods than in downtown areas, which can be crowded and noisy.
- 🚲 Despite living in dense urban areas, the speakers found their neighborhoods to be calm and peaceful, contrasting with the noise and commotion of downtown.
- 🏡 The speakers argue that dense residential neighborhoods can provide a peaceful environment and should not be restricted from development to maintain density.
- 🚗 Traffic and car-related noise are significant contributors to downtown commotion, and minimizing this can help maintain a calm environment in urban neighborhoods.
- 🌳 The script emphasizes that preferences for living environments vary greatly, and the experiences of visitors to a city do not fully represent the range of urban living possibilities.
Q & A
Why do people from outside of cities often have a skewed perception of urban living?
-People from outside of cities often have a skewed perception of urban living because their experience with city life is mostly limited to 'downtown' areas, which are typically crowded and chaotic, rather than the dense residential neighborhoods where most urbanites actually live.
What is the common misconception about city life based on the experiences of people who grew up outside of cities?
-The common misconception is that city life is synonymous with the busy and noisy downtown areas, whereas in reality, urban living often includes peaceful and calm residential neighborhoods that are quite different from the downtown experience.
How does the speaker's initial perception of Toronto change after moving there for grad school?
-The speaker initially associates city life with downtown landmarks like the CN Tower, but after moving to Toronto and living in different apartments, they realize that downtown feels like a different world and that there are many other parts of the city that offer a different experience.
What is the difference between downtown living and living in dense urban neighborhoods according to the script?
-Downtown living is often characterized by high levels of activity, noise, and a mix of residents, commuters, tourists, and other visitors. In contrast, dense urban neighborhoods, while still having a high concentration of residents, can offer a more peaceful and calm environment with less commotion.
Why do the speakers not prefer downtown living despite advocating for urbanism?
-The speakers find downtown living can be overwhelming due to the high concentration of people and activities. They prefer the calm and peaceful environment of dense residential neighborhoods, which offer a more balanced urban experience.
What are some of the issues associated with living in downtown areas as mentioned in the script?
-Issues associated with downtown living include noise, lack of quiet spaces, property crime, and the stress and commotion caused by heavy car traffic.
How do the speakers describe their experience living in the Annex and Harbord Village area in Toronto and the Plateau in Montreal?
-The speakers describe their experience as remarkably calm and peaceful, with lively commercial streets balanced by quiet residential streets, and no significant noise or commotion problems encountered in their residential areas.
Why might the speakers argue that dense residential neighborhoods should not block new development to cap density?
-The speakers argue that dense residential neighborhoods are far from becoming as busy as downtown areas and that with proper planning, including traffic calming measures and prioritizing walking, cycling, and transit, these neighborhoods can house more people without losing their calm and relaxing environment.
What is the role of amenities in attracting people to downtown areas and potentially causing commotion?
-Amenities such as stadiums, shopping malls, and office towers draw people in from all over the region, contributing to the commotion in downtown areas. Small-scale amenities, however, are less likely to cause the same level of activity.
How do the speakers suggest making downtown areas more calming and relaxing despite large numbers of people?
-The speakers suggest implementing traffic calming measures, creating pedestrian streets, and prioritizing accessibility through walking, cycling, and transit to reduce car traffic and its associated stress and commotion.
What is the main message the speakers want to convey about the range of urban living experiences?
-The main message is that there is a wide range of urban living experiences beyond just downtown and suburban living. Dense urban neighborhoods can offer a more peaceful and calm environment that is often misunderstood by those who have not experienced it.
Outlines
🏙️ Downtown Misconceptions
This paragraph addresses the common misconception that urban living is synonymous with the crowded and chaotic downtown experience. It argues that people from outside cities often base their perception of city life on their visits to the central business district, which is not representative of the quieter, denser residential neighborhoods where most urbanites live. The speaker shares personal anecdotes, including a humorous story about the significance of the CN Tower in their perception of Toronto. The paragraph also acknowledges the downsides of downtown living, such as noise, crime, and lack of tranquil spaces, and contrasts this with the calmer, more peaceful experience of living in urban neighborhoods like the Annex in Toronto and the Plateau in Montreal.
🌳 Urban Density and Tranquility
The second paragraph delves into the idea that dense urban neighborhoods can be just as peaceful and quiet as suburban areas, dispelling the notion that density inherently leads to commotion. It discusses the speaker's personal experiences living in the Annex and Harbord Village in Toronto and the Plateau in Montreal, highlighting the balance between lively commercial streets and quiet residential areas. The paragraph also touches on the unique challenges of downtown living, such as traffic and the influx of visitors, and suggests that with proper urban planning, including traffic calming measures and prioritizing non-car modes of transportation, dense neighborhoods can maintain a serene environment. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing the variety within urban living experiences and the need for a nuanced discussion beyond the binary of downtown versus suburban life.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Low Density Living
💡Downtown
💡Urban Living
💡Residential Density
💡Skewed Perception
💡Central Business District (CBD)
💡Neighborhoods
💡Commuting
💡Property Crime
💡Traffic Calming
💡Accessibility
Highlights
People from outside cities often have a skewed perception of urban living due to limited exposure to downtown areas.
Central business districts disproportionately influence perceptions of city life.
Many suburbanites only experience the financial district or event centers in cities.
Dense residential neighborhoods outside downtown offer a different, often calmer urban experience.
The narrator's move to Toronto revealed a significant difference between downtown and nearby neighborhoods.
Even neighborhoods close to downtown, like the University of Toronto area, feel distinct from the central business district.
The narrators understand the aversion to downtown living due to its overwhelming nature.
Despite not preferring downtown living, the narrators advocate for urbanism.
Neighborhoods like the Annex in Toronto and the Plateau in Montreal offer a balanced urban experience.
These neighborhoods have lively commercial streets but also quiet residential areas.
Suburban areas have their own noise issues, like loud machinery and larger vehicles.
Blocking new development to cap density in urban neighborhoods isn't necessarily justified.
Downtown commotion is influenced by more than just residential density; amenities and car traffic play major roles.
Reducing car traffic and prioritizing pedestrian-friendly areas can enhance urban calmness.
The narrators emphasize the variety of dense living experiences beyond downtown areas.
Transcripts
In advocating for low density living, people often contrast their peaceful suburbs and quiet small
towns with the crowds and chaos of “downtown”, especially if they live close to a big city with a
major central business district that’s a regional destination. In this video we want to propose that
people from outside of cities tend to have a skewed perception of urban living and density
because their experience with city life is mostly with “downtown” in the most literal sense.
When they go to the city, they’re commuting to a job in the financial district or they’re going
to an event at a downtown stadium or convention centre, typically with lots of other suburbanites
and out-of-towners. They’re generally not visiting the countless dense residential neighbourhoods
outside of downtown where most urbanites actually live and spend most of their time.
The disproportionate amount of space taken by the central business district in people's
perception of city life is something we’ve seen from other people but also experienced ourselves.
We both grew up well outside of cities and for quite a few years didn’t have
a great sense of what it was actually like to live in one.
When I first moved to Toronto for grad school I talked to someone about an apartment opportunity
in a house and I remember asking whether they could see the CN Tower from their street.
They found that funny because the CN Tower is just not something they think about on a daily basis
but the city’s downtown landmarks were such a big part of my perception of the city. After moving
to a different apartment nearby I realised just how much downtown actually feels like
a different world, even though it was still kind of cool that you could sometimes see the CN Tower.
This was near the University of Toronto, which is only 2 or 3 kilometres from downtown. There are
lots of other dense urban neighbourhoods further away that feel even more removed from downtown.
We actually understand the aversion that many people have to downtown living.
In both Toronto and Montreal, we often went downtown for things we needed or just to explore,
but it wouldn’t be our first choice for where to wake up every day. Many people enjoy the
unparalleled convenience but we find it can be overwhelming when you combine the residents,
commuters, tourists, and other visitors, including people coming to the central city just to be
loud and express their views, like protesters and preachers. There also usually isn’t as much quiet,
calming space immediately accessible, whether quiet streets or parks. Canadian downtowns
don’t have the associations with violence that many central cities in the U.S. have,
but property crime can be an issue and it’s probably not a coincidence that the year we
lived on the edge of downtown Toronto was the year one of our bikes got chopped up and stolen.
It might seem funny that the people behind an urbanism channel aren’t big proponents
of (quote-unquote) “downtown living” but the part of the city we’re talking about, with the biggest
concentration of residential density, office towers, and attractions for tourists and visitors,
is actually pretty small. That’s not what city life is for most people. You can live two or
three kilometres away, sometimes even less, and have an entirely different experience. The two
neighbourhoods we have the most experience with, the Annex and Harbord Village area in Toronto
and the Plateau in Montreal, are good examples but we could list dozens of other comparable
neighbourhoods, like the Golden Triangle in Ottawa and the West End in Vancouver. All of these areas
are quite dense, housing four to eight times more people than a typical suburban neighbourhood.
But to focus on the Plateau and the Annex, where we have the most experience living,
neither of these neighbourhoods felt crowded, noisy, and overwhelming in the way that the
two cities’ downtowns sometimes did. Both had lively commercial streets with bars,
restaurants, and shops, and these could definitely get busy at times, but they were also balanced out
by so many quiet residential streets that you could easily walk to or live on if you prefer.
In both neighbourhoods, we lived on residential streets two or three hundred metres from the
main commercial streets and basically did not encounter noise or commotion problems at all.
Well, until the Montreal Canadiens made it to the Stanley Cup Finals
and the entire city went absolutely crazy, and a nearby apartment got gutted from a fire.
Ok, that doesn’t sound great, but you have to give Montreal some leeway for hockey. Aside from that,
our experience living in these dense urban neighbourhoods was remarkably calm and peaceful,
no less so than in the suburbs. In some ways there was more peace and quiet because suburban areas
have their own noise issues, like large dogs, loud machinery like lawn mowers and leaf blowers,
and the bigger, noisier cars and trucks that are more common in the suburbs.
We’ve said that we prefer the environment of a dense residential neighbourhood over downtown,
which raises the question of whether that’s a good reason to block new
development in these neighbourhoods to cap density and avoid becoming
downtown. The Annex in Toronto is always in the news trying to block development.
Is that legitimate? They’ll note that they’re already fairly dense, which is true,
at least by suburban standards, but they have a very long way to go before they become downtown,
and they’re less dense than the Montreal neighbourhoods that we also find very calm.
On top of this, downtown is far more than just residential density. Unless you have the
big amenities that draw people in from all over the region in the middle of your neighbourhood,
like stadiums and shopping malls and office towers,
it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll end up with the same level of commotion. Even small-scale
amenities won’t do that — we had a cafe, bookstore, small grocery store, and music
conservatory in the middle of our residential neighbourhood in Montreal and it was pretty sweet.
Finally, a big part of the commotion of downtown is all the cars driving through — substantial
car traffic adds stress and commotion to a place like almost nothing else, especially
if there’s honking. If a neighbourhood minimizes that with traffic calming and pedestrian streets,
and they prioritize accessibility through walking, cycling, and transit instead,
they can house a lot more people while still providing a calm and relaxing environment.
Changes like that could be used to make actual downtown a more calming and relaxing place
even with large numbers of people, although that’s a different video.
Obviously not everyone has the same preferences and tolerances as us.
Some people thrive in a bustling downtown environment and other people want nothing
more than to live in the middle of the woods far from anyone else. We just want to point out that a
lot of people from outside the city, including us at one point, don’t really know what it’s like to
live in a dense urban neighbourhood because their main experience with a bigger denser city is as a
visitor, maybe coming in on a crowded highway and having trouble finding parking, then going to the
downtown attractions at the same time as lots of other commuters, suburbanites, and visitors.
These things are part of city life, urbanites often go to these events too, but it’s just one
small slice of city life. Something really gets lost when we debate “downtown living” compared to
“suburban or small town living” because there’s a very wide range of possibilities in between.
Thanks for watching through to the end of the video. Don’t forget that dense living
comes in many forms, and subscribe. A special thanks goes out to our supporters on Patreon.
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