At my hometown's mall, they have security guards that are assigned to make sure teenagers aren't standing around or congregating for longer than 'sixty seconds.' If you're outside having a cigarette, they ask you when you're done if you're going to have another while opening the door for you to go back inside. malls make me queasy
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
That's really quite sad--for so long malls were one of the few quasi-public spaces you could just hang out with your friends as a teen, but many malls have been cracking down on the sort of loitering that was so important for many young people in the 80s, 90s, even early 2000's. Curiously, there was a Supreme Court case in the 70s which found that states are permitted to extend free speech protections malls, as they are de-facto public spaces even though they're privately owned. It's an interesting precedent that may grow in significance as more public space is privatized across the US. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruneyard_Shopping_Center_v._Robins
@gray404
3 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko it felt like the only space in my barren, extreme environment to hang out with friends, meet love interests and do drugs. Without a safe environment to do all those things in, it's no wonder why not having a safe environment contributes to such macro societal ills and especially trauma.
@baronvonlimbourgh1716
3 жыл бұрын
Freedom baby.
@Ferrichrome
2 жыл бұрын
@@gray404 I wish my mall allowed me to do that. Where I lived, the only way we could get to the local mall was by highway and then driving down a stroad. Fucking sucked.
@charonsferryold
3 жыл бұрын
I live in a city that despite being rather small (around 70,000 people) has fully embraced this concept of being more of a tourist destination than a real city. As a result, housing prices are out of control and to actually get groceries you have to drive back out into the suburbs. It's ridiculous.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
That's a whole separate topic I didn't have a chance to talk about! Cities including Amsterdam and Barcelona have actually launched anti-tourism campaigns precisely for this reason: housing prices have swelled and services for local residents have been increasingly replaced by tourist amenities.
@emiliofernandez7117
2 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko I live in a tourist city (not my fault, I had to move with my parents) and man we are so poor over the last decade because everything including rent is crazy expensive my family pays 400$ a week in rent just to stay somewhat close to the city (10km from cbd)
@MrKyle700
3 жыл бұрын
great video... I think your describing what anyone who lives in America can instinctually feel, especially younger people, about the alienation of modern public spaces... really resonated with me.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
I totally feel the same way. I had casually picked up Spaces for Consumption as part of another project, but was completely engrossed by the author's arguments--it just matched perfectly with what I experienced every day living in Chicago. Though it really is an international phenomenon--Miles wrote the book focusing almost entirely on the UK, and today Dubai is probably the premier example of a city that defines itself entirely through shopping and elite consumption. Perhaps that'll be a video one day too!
@MechanicWolf85
3 жыл бұрын
I use to love going to the mall as a kid but as I grew older I became more unease about going to the mall
@melelconquistador
3 жыл бұрын
@Eko Gecko, Yes very much so. Ever since I was little, I saw alot of properties and cities in my state. This was because my mother who continues to to work in real estate. She took me along with her, so I saw many variations of houses from different decades along with their suburbs and all their flaws. Ever since, I have always lived with a tightness in my chest over an anxiety I could not hope to articulate. It's odd, I have grown up with the ins and outs of real-estate, yet I never want to inhabit what I have been shown because I am sensitive to my observations. I have always lived with my family on a acre and half of land unreached by the edge of the cities sprawl. However, I think I want to live in another country. It could be an external influence that motivates me or my own fondness for social studies and languages. Would you cover Japan aswell? I have been learning Japanese and of Japan with it's flaws for years. I have two distinct views of it. The image wrapped in layers of pleasantry that it is presented as. Then the often morbid reality I find behind the wrapping of which I cannot ever find enough content on.
@tomasbickel58
3 жыл бұрын
The idea, that the cities - the communities (and their administrative manifestation) - have to appeal to the »billionaires« seems to me the embodiment of "trickle-down-economics". I bet, the Ayn-Rand-Fan-Club has no issue with this development.
@Jacksparrow4986
3 жыл бұрын
@@tomasbickel58 I wonder of the opposite approach wouldn't Work even bester.
@Hue_Hue_Coyotl
3 жыл бұрын
When I went to Florida as a child, it dawned on me the entire state is a stretch of swamp and malls
@firstnamelastname7003
3 жыл бұрын
As a Brit, my first visit to an American out-of-town Walmart was mind-blowing. You could have fit the entire town it was attached to inside of it.
@Apocalymon
3 жыл бұрын
@@firstnamelastname7003 I visited Wal-Marts first near big cities but my first visit to an out-of-town one was eerie. It was giant but sparse - in terms of products & traffic; It seemed so inefficient to me.
@Fragenzeichenplatte
3 жыл бұрын
Swamps are actually cool and diverse.
@Hue_Hue_Coyotl
3 жыл бұрын
@@Fragenzeichenplatte I love swamps. Herping is a favorite pastime of mine
@Ferrichrome
2 жыл бұрын
Swamp, malls, and endless unplanned suburban development.
@bored4161
3 жыл бұрын
Hey I think you’re about to blow up man, you’re really tapping into a zeitgeist for gen z and young millennials. And your analysis is humbling makes me wonder how to educate myself the same. To be honest when I find a channel and have this feeling I’m usually right, your future is extremely bright on KZitem if you keep this up great work
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks, I really appreciate that you think so!
@firstnamelastname7003
3 жыл бұрын
My only hope for the future is that the millenials and gen z are gonna rebel against this and turn things around.
@ibfreely8952
3 жыл бұрын
Tapping into the zeitgeist - what a great way to put it. Definitely agree, and I don't even live in the USA - but I do want the USA to unfuck itself and sustainably maintain NATO and other things which keep my country from getting eaten by regional powers.
@RazgrizWing
3 жыл бұрын
@@ibfreely8952 Despite all the anti-NATO rhetoric. We used to have to kick NATO every once in a while to see if it was still alive. At least now its leaders are talking about its purpose and place in the geopolitical landscape.
@stayphrosty
2 жыл бұрын
Read Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao if you'd like to educate yourself with the most effective critiques of modern capitalism. I'm not saying take their word as law or dogma, but there is a reason their critiques remain relevant to this day, with millions of people reading hundred year old texts.
@nonusername7534
3 жыл бұрын
Here from vosh, this is great, btw theres a certain aesthetic in the internet called "liminal spaces", and if you look at those images, you see preaty much almost everything you talk about, dead malls, repetitive suburbs, empty large parking parks, and all this places empty, with no a single person on sight, is like a modern decaying gothic aesthetic, just like the old gothic aesthetic, the fall from grace of the american dream
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
The liminal spaces Twitter account is great! There's a great article on the topic from a while back, talking about the development of "Airspace", the dominant interior design aesthetic that has become especially popular thanks to AirBnB. Much like the beige suburbs that started showing up everywhere starting in the 80s, the purpose of Airspace is to be so completely sterile that nobody could possibly say anything negative about it, and so it holds at least minimal appeal to the maximum amount of people. The same concept applies, I think, to urban development today as well. www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12325104/airbnb-aesthetic-global-minimalism-startup-gentrification
@LancesArmorStriking
3 жыл бұрын
*vosh*
@kubre
3 жыл бұрын
Which video of vaush
@kubre
3 жыл бұрын
Dude I just found out vaush also covered this channel, good to see this channel get more attention.
@nonusername7534
3 жыл бұрын
@@kubre the one that talks about the suburbian hellscape
@skibumb220
3 жыл бұрын
A thought occurred to me this morning, and your words reminded of it when I watched this video this afternoon. "Nice" and "kind" seem similar, but are subtly and crucially different. Nice is surface level; an empty gesture. e.g. "I feel your pain." Kind is more substantive; and comes with actions as well ad words. e.g. "How can I help?" It is nice to be inoffensive, but it is kind to tell the truth. It is not nice to point out problems within a system or policy, but it is unkind to watch in silence as our fellow people suffer. This "mallification" that you describe so well here is so obsessed with being nice that it has forgotten how to be kind. Don't be nice. Be kind. Cheers.
@kubre
3 жыл бұрын
I live in India, and after watching this video I begin to realise the newer development and around my city and how it's doing the same. Really great work definitely a subscribe 👍
@ipadair7345
3 жыл бұрын
same
@cesyneighistaut3451
3 жыл бұрын
This is some genuinely fantastic work, I’m blow away at how accurately you described our decaying cities: big malls for the suburban middle class to tour, while diving past the millions of forgotten city natives
@cesyneighistaut3451
2 жыл бұрын
@@night6724 your brain is completely eroded by American partisanship
@jamesmcclaskey4610
3 жыл бұрын
Watching this video felt like giving a name to a feeling that I grew up knowing intimately in suburban America
@ZestyPlays713
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the informative essay! Baudrillard ties in strongly. The implication of "Branding" as "the process of adding a signifier to an un-signified commodity" is really profound. A shirt is a shirt but if it's a Nike shirt it's so much more! Amazing to think of how this competition in the realm of the sign effects cities as well! If an area has any signifiers of poverty than it creates unbearable(?) cognitive dissonance in the consumer of the sign who wishes to live among the signs of wealth. Cool!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
That's a great way to put it. I didn't have time to talk more about the concept of branding in this video, but I think it's really worth highlighting how cities increasingly define themselves as a brand oriented at those *external* to the city--tourists, investors, and suburbanites. As a general rule, a lot of postmodern philosophy applies quite well to cities. For example, Foucault talks about the transition from liberalism to neoliberalism as a conceptual shift of man as a creature engaged in economic exchange to man as a human capital competing against other human capitals. Likewise, there's been a shift away from cities as centers of exchange (especially manufacturing and international trade) towards competing municipal capitals struggling against other cities for a limited flow of tourists and investor dollars.
@Furore2323
3 жыл бұрын
I can't explain why but this made me ugly-cry.
@linkinmusic559
3 жыл бұрын
The music didn't help I bet
@firstnamelastname7003
3 жыл бұрын
@@oku12 I'm saving up for a little self-sustaining hut out in the woods somewhere to watch the collapse, you?
@haruhirogrimgar6047
3 жыл бұрын
I would assume because it is full of horrifically sad information. And it might have resonsted with you in particular for some unconscious reason you haven't had to engage with in a while.
@kikiatmosudirdjo5453
3 жыл бұрын
Same 😰
@systemofarain
3 жыл бұрын
one of my absolute favorite channels on KZitem. Thanks Eco!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Hey man, thanks for watching!
@asparagoose8992
3 жыл бұрын
“Mallification” that is a seriously good play on words right there.
@KarolaTea
3 жыл бұрын
Oh wow, I've heard that broken windows theory a lot. Interesting to heard more about it. Never really put much thought into it, but not surprised it's bs. Somehow I never saw malls like this, but it makes perfect sense. Great video, thank you!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Broken windows deserves an entire video honestly, it had a massive impact on urban policing and I was only able to give it a few moments in here. Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
@KarolaTea
3 жыл бұрын
That would certainly an interesting video!
@SuperHamsterhuey
3 жыл бұрын
I say this, with the absolute UTMOST praise and respect that I can, but this video makes me want to die. Thank you for making it, this is an extremely useful and important video
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for watching! This certainly can be a depressing topic to discuss. I suppose I view it optimistically in that to solve a problem, you first need to understand what you're dealing with, and reaching that understanding was my goal here.
@haramaschabrasir8662
3 жыл бұрын
It shouldn't make you want to die but organize and create a new left. A left, that isn't swallowed by left liberalism, an ACTUAL revolutionary left. You can do it. WE can do it.
@gnice8765
3 жыл бұрын
@@haramaschabrasir8662 ...as long as it doesn't rely on mmt
@nicostigliano6393
3 жыл бұрын
@@gnice8765 why not?
@Ferrichrome
2 жыл бұрын
I literally view the sprawl as a cancer that has spread across the US. I wish we could bulldoze this whole nightmare and start anew. Of course, as much as that would satisfy me that's impossible. the best option will be "retrofitting suburbia" by making use of all that wasted space.
@mustardofdoom
3 жыл бұрын
I'm in my early 30s and grew up in suburban Dallas-Fort Worth. Been watching videos like this on KZitem lately. Yours is really well done and damning of how leaders have essentially given up on taxing wealth to support life. Really disappointing it's gone this way, as we're still seen as a rich country. So few of us feel happy to live here, I think.
@grandwat1290
3 жыл бұрын
The last line lin you said our cites will continue transforming into little more than enournous shopping malls really got to me.
@pyromaniac6084
3 жыл бұрын
So Grünbaum's original idea was honeycomb living? And our malls of today just disregarded the housing component?
@JDG-hq8gy
3 жыл бұрын
Honeycomb living?
@hannah-6080
3 жыл бұрын
It’s so weird how our infrastructure seems to underline and cement the huge problem of racism and classism that America never deals with
@toddperry9658
3 жыл бұрын
This channel is severely underrated
@LeoMkII
3 жыл бұрын
I can't believe your channel isn't more known!!! so far I've watched two of tour videos but the quality of your analysis is insane! please keep up the good work and hope you get the recognition your channel deserves
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Comments like this really mean a lot to me. Though I don't recommend my older stuff compared to my recent videos haha, I've learned a lot since my first few creations.
@artemkanarchist
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for another great video!💚💚💚 I’ve never stumbled upon any paper that deals with the genesis of shopping mall architecture - yet it’s probably one of the most important kinds of architecture that fossilise the social landscape of late capitalism
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
If you're interested in this topic, I recommend the "Cold War Utopias" paper I cite in the video, which covers an angle I didn't have time to get to in this video. When he was first looking for sponsors for his projects in the 50s, Gruen actually pitched the idea of shopping malls to the Department of Defense, as part of their nuclear defense strategy! The idea was to create decentralized assembly and sheltering points across the new suburbs, which in times of peace could also serve as centers for shopping and services. The DoD did not see the appeal of it, however.
@artemkanarchist
3 жыл бұрын
Eco Gecko thank you very much for the recommendation, it’s definitely going to come in handy in my thesis!❤️🖤
@vicvic2081
3 жыл бұрын
Broken windows theory have created a permanent under class
@ryanelliott71698
2 жыл бұрын
It’s quite sad really. In all the strip malls I’ve been to, all feel depressing. It’s a get in get the hell out sorta attitude.
@quinnp8493
3 жыл бұрын
A fan of other videos but a few critiques I'd have of this video - The style of gentrification (the blocky - somewhat colorful buildings) is simply matchstick construction, it's not that way out of a particular desire to appeal to PMCs but rather because such construction tends to be cheap and easily conforms to local aesthetic building standards & height standards. The most desirable areas tend to be precisely where older architecture dominates. Building different styles risks fights with local government, different form factors ditto. This I'd argue is more an issue with building codes than with what PMC's want - Crime is an issue for everyone, not just a branding issue for cities, and broken windows policing, while not effective was a good way of "doing something" in the sense that voters expect. It's not like poor cities, or suburbs, or rural areas are leading the charge in defunding or even regulating the police. If anything cities, particularly the wealthy cities such as Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago have been ahead of the curve on this one. Nor is the level of tourism deterministic for example one of the most tourism-heavy, PMC oriented cities LA has a much lower rate of policing than the comparable touristy New York. The issue is that the politics around this are generally quite tough and it's easy for politicians who want to be voted for the next term to just leave things to simmer. - The redevelopment of old industrial areas makes a lot of sense given the structural shifts in the economy. Manufacturing will not return as the old primary driver of employment, even in China deindustrialization has proved inevitable. Even if all imports were banned the subsequent automation would mean relatively few jobs. The jobs that have been created are largely in the research/creative/healthcare/service industries, all jobs that benefit from having densely built, livable neighborhoods. This particularly makes sense given the massive land cost in a number of cities that makes manufacturing within cities pretty much cost-prohibitive.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
There are all great points. A few responses: Regarding the architecture, I do ultimately agree with you on the building codes point, and the fact that more than anything, the style is driven by costs. More than anything I think it's critical to push back against the common narrative that this architectural style and gentrification are inherently linked. You're right that I should have gone into more detail about the actual causes--it's probably worth its own video. Regarding broken windows, I don't have much to say except that the topic deserves much more than the minute or two it received in this video. Regarding redevelopment, I also agree that the rebuilding of old industrial sites into something more fitting of the contemporary economy is both natural and necessary. I am no opponent of such redevelopment. It is precisely because these redevelopments reflect current economic conditions that I think they are interesting to examine as indicators of the general state of things. Their frequent redevelopment into luxury-oriented settlements, often with a major information/knowledge economy anchor, reflects both the steep inequality in society and the growing dominance of a small number of technology, information, and finance corporations. I certainly don't blame cities for going down this route either--in my view they are generally backed into a corner by socioeconomic trends far beyond their control, and are generally making the best of a bad situation. I think the pattern of both successful and failed redevelopment and revitalization projects can act as a good indicator of the way the socioeconomic winds are blowing, and this topic deserves a much broader treatment as well. Again, thanks for the points, I think we agree on a lot of them, but time limits on this video prevented me from fleshing them out fully.
@SynphulHero
3 жыл бұрын
Found your videos today on my lunch break. Been binge watching them since I got home. Thank you for your content.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for watching!
@theconspiracytheorists4910
2 жыл бұрын
Your channel is legit more high quality than some mid-level university classes I've taken. I'm back here to do research for a presentation. Keep up the excellent work!
@EcoGecko
2 жыл бұрын
Awesome, I'm glad you think so! If any sources stand out to you let me know and I can usually send you a PDF to review yourself, just let me know.
@ajpbrunet
3 жыл бұрын
The analytical quality of your videos is always superb and I really enjoy the fact that you take your time to establish context, long-term trends, etc. in a way that feels both accessible and...erudite? Hope the Allmighty Algorithm will eventually throw some luck your way because your channel definitely deserves a *lot* more recognition!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
That's very kind to hear! Though hardly anything I say is original, most of my work is just organizing and summarizing the excellent work done by the people I cite. But at any rate, I really appreciate feedback like this, it helps keep me motivated!
@colerainey-slavick
2 жыл бұрын
Addresses the interlocking crises of urban life in North America far better than most urbanist content on here, particularly for addressing white supremacy and policing directly. Well done video.
@ahahan3176
3 жыл бұрын
The information, the background music, the visuals; everything about this video is fantastic. Awesome job!!
@ten_tego_teges
3 жыл бұрын
Interestingly this very tendency is continued with the rise of e-commerce, where you can safely consume from the comfort of your own home, oblivious to the social decay few blocks down.
@redenginner
3 жыл бұрын
When those redevelopment projects come in they replace jobs that once paid well with retail work. And nobody has to explain how much of a hellhole neoliberal retail can be.
@ghost_evermore
3 жыл бұрын
I wish I had enough money to buy a dead mall. They would make really good homeless shelters. Such a waste to tear them all down
@ipadair7345
3 жыл бұрын
agreed, big sadge
@MattBakken10
3 жыл бұрын
"excluding car sales" @ 3:25 This is actually a good point to drive home that transit is a geometric problem, not a technological one. Everyone in the 50s loved those malls, but if you tried to sell cars out of them, they wouldn't be walkable spaces anymore! Great video.
@heatedwater1087
3 жыл бұрын
Found you from the shoutout from Vaush, I'm currently binging all your vids and they're really informative and well done. Hope to see more of your work
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
I'm glad you enjoyed it! There's certainly more content in the pipeline.
@jordanbrown3887
3 жыл бұрын
I really appreciate the peaceful music in these video essays.
@themostdiabolicalhater5986
3 жыл бұрын
I’m shocked that your subscriber count isn’t 10x what it is. I hope you win the algorithm lottery soon, you deserve it
@proof036
3 жыл бұрын
I found your channel thanks to the algorithm, watched a few videos from you and all of them have amazing quality. Even though I'm from Germany, the topic of gentrification and turning city centers into malls, or in regards of our old town centers, into museums (or as my dad would say "doll towns") is very relevant here too. Even though, the reasoning might be different here, it's still a huge problem.
@kenhunt5153
3 жыл бұрын
Spot on. For the Winter Olympics SLC built the suburban Gateway Mall downtown and it is just a sad replica of a suburban event space. They have guards who keep out the homeless. The LDS Church built City Creek across from Temple Sq and it too is a fantasy with a retractable roof and creek running through it. Much of the original City has been replaced with a urban streetscape void of a sense of place.
@graydendonner3793
3 жыл бұрын
your videos are very saddening, but they make me want to fight for change
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
The first step to changing things is to understand what is actually going on. I think a lot of people intuitively sense that this mallification is going on, but it's so normalized that it's hard to analyze or even recognize it. Reading the Miles book was invaluable in integrating my own perception and experience into a theoretical framework, I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on it.
@guixouro
3 жыл бұрын
Man, for real, this is great content. Just absolutely great. Congratulations for your work.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Hey, thank you for watching it!
@QuinoaIsPeople
3 жыл бұрын
Your channel is gonna blow up, i subbed before watching so i wouldnt lose your channel.
@andreja9425
3 жыл бұрын
such a great video, thank you so much for making this! I had written a speech for my oral comm class on urban sprawl and potential solutions and ideals that we should push for to fix it and I feel as though this is an integral part of explaining that phenomenon and the current landscape of cities that also needs to be addressed. I have always been very unsettled by the highly commercial nature of most American cities and how shopping and dining often seem to be the only things to do there. Even clubbing and other experience based commercial activities seem to have disappeared in favor of all this mallification. It’s extremely saddening and it makes me feel alienated from literally every space I ever exist in in America. I don’t know how people are happy with this.
@ArielViera
3 жыл бұрын
Eco you are a genius!!! Thanks for all of your hard work, this is magnificent magnum opus of why cities matter. You’ve blown my mind many times. Keep it up! This is very important work 🙏
@yegorshevchenko3951
3 жыл бұрын
Oh boy, ill watch this masterpiece tomorrow.
@tripsplat
3 жыл бұрын
This is such a good video, damn dude! Though I do have to say, I was kinda hoping you'd talk about "The Villages" - not because I know anything about them, but because you were so dang spicy about them in a previous video. I really look forward to seeing what you've got in store with that, haha!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Haha, I almost forgot I had teased that! Something about that is coming, hopefully later this year.
@GenericUrbanism
3 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko what’s wrong with the villages?
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
@@GenericUrbanism There's nothing really wrong with their physical design, not any more so than every other modern American suburb at least. In fact, I quite like the widespread integration of golf carts into a community where many seniors are unable to safely drive, and in that respect it could be a model for rehabilitating American suburbs more generally. The real problem is that The Villages are essentially a modern feudal state where everything is run by and for a single family, while its relative exclusivity means it attracts largely white upper-middle class, and therefore conservative, individuals, creating a unique nexus of hyper-conservatism in the US. To call it an HOA on steroids is an understatement, but that's what it essentially is. I also worry that the massive private government that runs the whole thing is a particularly large example of a general trend in the US, where state bureaucracy and democratic politics are being gradually replaced with rule by local monied and landed elites.
@samueldmpereira
3 жыл бұрын
I like your channel because you mix some themes that i know well with somes that i have no idea. Continue doing theses things!
@Miraihi
3 жыл бұрын
Great video, as always! Glad to see you still active. Don't forget to post your stuff at Breadtube subreddit.
@aimanraza
3 жыл бұрын
This was an incredibly well-made video! It touched on so many grim topics. Really eye-opening
@K1989L
3 жыл бұрын
Funny how many things fall into place in different topics. I have ran into the same things before that were mentioned here. I am interested in the city planning and hoping we some day het rid of most cars completely. Suburbs are one great reason for our current car-centric life and planning. But your video really helped me understand why things are as they are. Thank you very much Eco-Gecko!
@Banky33764
3 жыл бұрын
Wow, man. You are making some incredible stuff here, keep it up.
@Fluxquark
3 жыл бұрын
We're just living in a cyberpunk dystopian hellworld but without all the cool technological gadgets aren't we?
@nobodyherepal3292
3 жыл бұрын
Eh, kinda.
@baronvonlimbourgh1716
3 жыл бұрын
Watch "notjustbikes" for an alternative way of living.
@Fluxquark
3 жыл бұрын
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 The Netherlands is a dystopian hellworld but with bikes. Slightly better but about as neoliberal as you can get.
@erikbrock5444
3 жыл бұрын
Honestly the gadgets aren't much removed from what we currently have. It's really just the aesthetic that we lack. Everyone has a computer in their pocket and a wireless microphone in their ear; our airspace is increasingly inhabited by flying robots, and we're starting to see people riding around on honest-to-god hoverboards(referring to that guy who got in trouble for flying through a city on a large drone). Oh and giant corporations basically rule the world. So in almost every meaningful sense we have effectively reached the cyberpunk future that the artists of the '80s and 90s imagined. The only thing missing is flying taxi cabs, pink neon lights everywhere, and segmented overcoats with giant collars being de rigueur.
@zoobiewa
3 жыл бұрын
Wow, more city planners and mayors need to watch your work.
@hedgehog3180
3 жыл бұрын
Man this is really an insightful but depressing look at the realities of this. I guess that also explains why there's more of a push to copy European old towns as they are seen as desirable and have a distinct brand.
@rodimcgeesums633
3 жыл бұрын
Damn man. You're really inadvertently making me feel like a dick for living in the suburbs. I always had a feeling of disconnection from everything else I never wanted to walk anywhere or do anything and hated going to Malls. It was always so boring and static. I'd love to be able to live closer to a more active and diversified city but property prices are just so damn expensive nowadays and it's all corporate big chain department stores more often than not. It just feels more often than not that i'm living in a corporate bubble of constant adverts. But I always loved my trips to Europe - Roma, Firenze, Bologna, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Cologne, Strasbourg, even Quebec City, CA. and so many more, and the Mountain/Country Side of the U.S. It always just made me feel more energetic and alive. I wished we had the equivalent here in America but they're so few and far between or mostly irredeemably expensive. But when looking for solutions neither side of the argument pleases me. The right emphasizing law and order, working your a** off, and arguing about identity politics, continuing imperialist occupations for protecting ourselves from who knows f**king what, and calling people baby killers when the situation requires much more nuance. While the left is arguing about demanding reparations, cancel culture, saying that everyone successful is a white supremacist, neo-nazi, racist, etc., burning, occupying, and looting their inner cities, ACAB, taking away people's guns and the right to defend for themselves, a green-new deal which will only make energy expenses even more expensive in the short run which so many people can't afford not to and will almost certainly lead to mass devaluation of the dollar and inflationary prices due to our non-stop uncontrollable printing from the fed., unsustainable low interest rates, immense debt accumulation and pretty much a guarantee of another housing market crash probably worse than 2008. I've seen no real growing movement that analyzes our inherit problems and plans out sophisticated well researched and engineered proposed solutions. I feel politically homeless and given that almost more than half of the population doesn't even bother to vote they feel the same as well. We feel like we've been all but abandoned. Just how can we fix something like this? Breaking up companies? Ending the Feds. Monopolized control of our currency? Creation of local currencies? Trading goods on the block chain? Nationalistic supply protectionism? Less stringent, procedural, and more flexible, expandable electable government structures? Unionization and mandating a board more equally comprised of union workers? Prioritized mass transit infrastructure? There's lots of possibilities and approaches but we have to somehow develop the conversation in this increasingly polarized and antagonistic political environment and I just don't know how it'll be possible given how much social media can control what we see and feed us a vision which only reinforces our biases made only worse by a non-existent physical connectable space in most of these areas. How can we possibly communicate? And come together?
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
I don't think you should feel guilty about it! These transformations are the consequences of social forces and government policy beyond the control of any of us, and nobody should feel bad just because they're going along with the system, so to speak. Over the last half-century we've built a society where the path of least resistance for those with money is to live in the suburbs, and I don't think blaming individuals for that will get us anywhere. I mention this at the end of the video, but I think a lot of these problems come down to rising income inequality. The Economist had an article series a while back about what they called the "new aristocracy"--they pointed out that even if you have an officially meritocratic economic and political system, if large amounts of wealth are inherited between generates that system will inevitably transform into a de facto aristocracy, as wealthier kids get access to much better schooling and other developmental factors that allow them to perform better, on average, compared to other kids. I think that's a critical point. I suspect that a lot of suburbanization is driven by advantaged groups, especially the upper and upper-middle class, trying to hoard their advantages at the expense of the rest of the population. Though this is true in cities as well, which are growing increasingly economically segregated: rich enclaves with well-maintained infrastructure, private schools, good security, etc. and other parts as poor and devastated as ever. I won't speculate what's caused the rise in inequality, though whatever it is, it hasn't stopped whether Democrats or Republicans are in charge. The rights seems uninterested in stopping it, and the Democrats talk a lot but also do nothing in the end. But it seems to me that nearly every other problem we face is downstream to that massive and growing economic inequality.
@stonesofvenice
3 жыл бұрын
I just want to comment that the Kärntner Straße in Vienna is not even remotely comparable to urban development and sprawl issues in the US and yet it has now also suffered from the same "mallification" in terms of the stores you see there now. Kärntner Straße is flanked the old institutions that are the Wiener Staatsoper opera house and the cathderal Stephansdom, which have made it a place of historical significance for centuries. The only "redevelopment" you see in Kärntner Straße these days the same "mallification" that you bemoan in your video - shops like Starbucks and Century 21 now line that street. Clearly the neoliberal encroachment of these global brands into urban areas is not just a uniquely American problem. Would have preferred if your video would have addressed that as well.
@l0ndon429
3 жыл бұрын
Great video as always, definitely enjoyed this one. Keep up the good work!!
@FireToFlame
3 жыл бұрын
Fantastic work as always! Made my day seeing you upload another video! This may be your best video yet! Edit: I would be interested in seeing you make a video on "commodifying dissent" I feel like you'd tackle that topic extremely well!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Aww, that's so kind to hear! Thanks for taking the time to watch it!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Regarding your edit, that is a compelling topic! Is there anything specific you'd want addressed in a video like that?
@FireToFlame
3 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko Pardon my delayed reply! Wanted to think of a real good way to go about explaining this! So you know how some of your previous videos you discuss topics regarding late capitalism? Humans want to have some level of control in their lives, especially with the uncontrollable nature of the world/society around us. One of the things that people do is engage in various forms of consumption that they feel can make some level of difference. However in many ways no real difference is being made. Stuff like buying "eco friendly" bamboo towels that were manufactured in China, which have to be shipped across the world which negates the carbon offset from that "eco friendly product." Or how clothes in Bangladeshi sweatshops were made with "organic cotton." The cycle of exploitation and capitalism continues. Noam Chompsky once said, "All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume." I'm really bad at explaining stuff like this. Barely scratching the surface here. There are books/literature out there that can explain these things much better. Look up "NYTimes Commodify Your Dissent Salvos from The Baffler" for a pretty good summary/review of the book of the same name that tackles this topic much better than I could.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
@@FireToFlame Actually I think you explained it quite well! The environmental angle is especially compelling. People are convinced through whatever means that the only/best way to make a difference is through their consumption decisions, which both demobilizes them politically and generates significant potential for profit by selling "conscious" products. That's quite a good topic! I'm taking a brief break from the grimmer "capitalist realist" content to work on some more lighthearted urban planning stuff right now, but this certainly deserves to be added to my list.
@mdhazeldine
Жыл бұрын
Another excellent documentary. I live near London and have witnessed this going on. So many former industrial spaces have been turned into urban malls. I'm not totally against the idea of shops or regeneration. I have to say that nearly every space I've visited seems better than what was there before it, but as you highlighted, a lot of the shops are targeted at the very wealthy and there's a high amount of CCTV and private security, which on the one hand makes you feel safer, but on the other hand can feel a bit dystopian and isn't good for the homeless or if people want to do something spontaneous for the community (like a protest or event) because they have to get permission to do it. I have very mixed feelings about it.
@johnhankok3261
3 жыл бұрын
Your content is so well researched and presented. Surprised you have so few subscribers.
@Monothefox
3 жыл бұрын
This is deeply troubling, not just for americans. The mallification of cities is a strengthening trend elsewhere too.
@baronvonlimbourgh1716
3 жыл бұрын
Watch "notjustbikes" for an alternative way of city planning in the netherlands. And a bit of europe in general. Things do not have to be this way.
@Kirbyrockstar88
3 жыл бұрын
I also got the recommendation from Vaush, and i am totally floored by your videos. Keep them up!!!
@johndoe4724
3 жыл бұрын
Incredible work. Thank you for taking the time to make this.
@ecoRfan
3 жыл бұрын
Wow... a history lesson that explains a lot about how things came to be.
@ukyoize
3 жыл бұрын
KZitem is choking you. You do great job.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks, I appreciate that!
@EastWindCommunity1973
2 жыл бұрын
I'm happy that Alan Fisher 'roasted' you in some random video. Otherwise, may have taken KZitem forever to recommend your channel. Often I play videos at faster speeds, but on this one I rewound several times to take it all in. Amazing research and presentation, thank you.
@Apsilon
3 жыл бұрын
You are amazing Eco!! Keep these videos coming! You've made my delicious breakfast of coffee and cheese so much better. I appreciate the research you do. You should consider one day making a mini video talking about your favorite informative books.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you, that's very kind of you to say! Encouragement like this has been a big motivator in keeping this channel churning.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Regarding your request, I'd love to do a top-ten book video! Thanks for the idea.
@jfungsf882
3 жыл бұрын
Another informative awesome video from a relatively underrated channel😀👍
@SarahRoseCO10
3 жыл бұрын
So thankful that vaush sent me here. You're amazing. You describe in words things I've always known and felt but can't understand or put language to. Thank you so much!
@LaSanya2001
3 жыл бұрын
Can't wait to watch it. Keep up it the good work man!
@ycasto1063
3 жыл бұрын
I knew it was worth it to sub to a seemingly dead channel!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sticking around haha, I have plenty of plans for more videos going forward! Life just sometimes gets in the way...
@ycasto1063
3 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko No problem mate, take all the time you need :) Quality > quantity
@tirobo
3 жыл бұрын
and quality content it is
@QuinoaIsPeople
3 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko hell yea eco
@boogiemcsploogie
3 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko We'll be here for ya, keep up the good work 👍
@machematix
3 жыл бұрын
You're my favorite. Bingeing all your content. Please keep making such excellent content, and I'll keep sharing with friends.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you, statements like this really mean a lot!
@PixeloliausOliland
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this well researched video!
@tbestig4164
3 жыл бұрын
Great work as always
@firstnamelastname7003
3 жыл бұрын
Neoliberal consumer culture has become so dominant that it's hard to remember what cities ever were or could be other than places for shopping
@houseofhas9355
3 жыл бұрын
I agree with you on this. I think malls are horrible. The root cause is the poverty. And the moneyed parts of our society would rather not look at the cause of crime and poverty. They would rather look for way at which this shouldn’t remind them of the problem.
@LunaCypher334
3 жыл бұрын
Looking at political problems through the lens of an urban planner is absolutely mindblowing.
@FeirceDeity64
3 жыл бұрын
"Bro, nobody calls them the oreo-les" I say as I clutch my National Bohemian beer close to my chest... Good video other than the slight to Maryland pride lmao
@melissahalle8398
3 жыл бұрын
Christ this video is depressing. 6k views is not enough. Commenting and showing the algorithm my engagement
@FlyxPat
3 жыл бұрын
I always wondered why American cities didn’t form larger local government areas to solve some of these problems. If the central urban core is united with the surrounding suburbs, basically forming a city government for the metro area, the revenue imbalances disappear and the local government has to administer and plan for the entire metro population, not just part of it.
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
The fragmentation was, to an extent, a deliberate component of white flight, as the white suburbanizing population tried to take all their resources with them rather than funding the government of a mixed race community. I'm most familiar with the Chicago area, which also happens to be one of the most fragmented in the US (see the map here: today.uic.edu/metro-fragmentation ), and in some cases newly prosperous suburbs in the 50s and 60s were quite explicit that this was their goal. For example, the large suburb of Cicero to the west of the city, was the site of a huge riot in 1951 after a black Chicago bus driver moved in to the neighborhood. A mob of 4,000 white Cicero residents burned down the apartment building he was trying to move into. As late as the 60s, Cicero and other suburbs had a sundown policy against African Americans. De-annexation was also a common strategy, and caused much of the actual fragmentation on that map: the white portion of a segregated community would effectively secede from a mixed-race municipality, usually structuring the new border in such a way that most of the tax revenue went with them. For example, in 1960 the white portion of Phoenix, a south Chicago suburb, voted to de-annex itself, taking with it 30% of the population but over 60% of the tax base. This isn't just some relic of history either--in 2018 the white population of a town in Georgia tried to do the same thing, de-annexing themselves into a new town called "Eagle's Landing" and taking the suburb's commercial strip with them (www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-georgia-suburb-20181109-story.html ) . The proposal was thankfully closely defeated, but it's part of a long tradition of white Americans deliberately pursuing de facto segregation after the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
@FlyxPat
3 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko - Oh. I see. Thanks for the reply.
@songweaver8638
3 жыл бұрын
Vaush sent me. What an amazing and criminally undersubbed channel.
@jakewaugh2059
3 жыл бұрын
You’re content is top tier! Keep up the good work!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you, I'm working on it!
@Jaepeg
3 жыл бұрын
That mayor of Portland quote made me want to throw up... Great video though! Very well researched as always
@Itsa-roro
3 жыл бұрын
Here from vaush. Damn this is good
@GreenOpurge
3 жыл бұрын
In which video did Vaush recommend this channel?
@nataliekhanyola5669
3 жыл бұрын
@@GreenOpurge his video about suburbs.
@fluoroproilne
2 жыл бұрын
Not mention that almost entire going out culture in America is all about spending money 🤑🤑🤑
@Pyjamas22
3 жыл бұрын
Great video essay!
@bassoonistfromhell
3 жыл бұрын
this really deserves more views
@Simon-tc1mc
2 жыл бұрын
These videos are so good.
@seanwilliams7655
3 жыл бұрын
I live in Chicago as well. One thing I've always wondered is the city thinks all these yuppies will continue to come from? I've seen so many neighborhoods gentrify that you'd think we'd be able to focus on the working class families that live here now. What will Chicago do if/when the other midwestern major cities get it together and start convincing their local graduates to stay in state. Or what happens if everybody just starts fleeing to the coastal cities?
@noahlantz8235
3 жыл бұрын
Such an incredible video, great use of data. Top notch!!!!
@thatgoodstuff1986
3 жыл бұрын
Well this is kinda depressing
@thunderandreign
3 жыл бұрын
hi eco! i absolutely love your videos and think they deserve way, way more views and virality. can i offer one piece of feedback? i think your background music tends to be slightly loud and drowns out your voiceovers and makes it harder to hear your amazing work. (also, as a baltimore resident, the 'es' isn't pronounced in Orioles ;D ) thank you so much and keep it up!!!! We need more content like this!!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for letting me know! You're not the first to notice that so I will definitely pay it more attention in the future.
@Joe-ij6of
2 жыл бұрын
13:12 That's one hell of a graph... "Assault? Don't waste your time investigating that one, Miller, we need to crack down on those suspicious jaywalkers!"
@miririlan
3 жыл бұрын
So glad I found your channel! Please keep up the great work!
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! I've already started the reading for the next video, I hope to have that out to y'all soon.
@miririlan
3 жыл бұрын
@@EcoGecko Awesome! I'd be curious to see your insights in response to COVID and people flocking to suburban areas once again for the time being
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
@@miririlan Definitely! I think it's way too early to tell what the trend is actually like, and what its causes are, but I am planning a COVID retrospective video once we have some clearer information, perhaps in a year.
@scrilla4047
3 жыл бұрын
Your content is so good man
@EcoGecko
3 жыл бұрын
I'm glad you like it! 😊
@Popthebop
3 жыл бұрын
this was an amazing video! loved it!
@brandonwilliams3788
3 жыл бұрын
Your videos are fantastic, thanks!
@gunnarinn90
3 жыл бұрын
such a sobering video, really informative. looking forward to your future content!
@andydutton455
3 жыл бұрын
The pandemic closed a lot of the little stores in my mall. I never went to them just the target in the mall. They sold mostly crap that was cheaply made. Hopefully something better can be done with them.
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