Introduction to Sustainability - City Beautiful Basics
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Date: 2025-11-01
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Comments and reviews: 20
tonypalmentera7752
Silent Spring ended up being wrong about quite a bit. I'm from Cleveland. there was no accountability. The Great Broadway Fire was a toxic waste fire by arson, to avoid fines, and it happened later. No one was ever held responsible. They stopped setting the River on fire, but the area continued to be polluted, and still is. The white sands of my brothers' youth in Newburgh Heights, is now the black sands, due to soot from the steel plant (the same industry that set the river on fire. The Midwest is a giant water and air experiment. Ask Flint and Parkersburg about their water quality now. The government is a joke. I worked on an EPA Superfund job, and they cheated the testing to pass. People in that town still have high rates of cancer. Nothing prevents harm like full tort liability and no barriers to competition.
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Silent Spring ended up being wrong about quite a bit. I'm from Cleveland. there was no accountability. The Great Broadway Fire was a toxic waste fire by arson, to avoid fines, and it happened later. No one was ever held responsible. They stopped setting the River on fire, but the area continued to be polluted, and still is. The white sands of my brothers' youth in Newburgh Heights, is now the black sands, due to soot from the steel plant (the same industry that set the river on fire. The Midwest is a giant water and air experiment. Ask Flint and Parkersburg about their water quality now. The government is a joke. I worked on an EPA Superfund job, and they cheated the testing to pass. People in that town still have high rates of cancer. Nothing prevents harm like full tort liability and no barriers to competition.
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jeffreywj7773
Looking forward to this series, but have to warn you, I am a big city skeptic. I actually think that cities can become too big, not just from an economic sustainability point of view, but also from a mental health and physical health view. You addressed part of the physical health issues when you discusses environmental protection programs. That is all well and good but at what cost and can a cities waste facilities and programs be overwhelmed by once a year or once a decade events (ex: weather) The funny thing I keep noticing about videos like this is that efforts to make city spaces more livable look a lot like making a space more like a small town, only bigger. Anyway will be interested in the upcoming videos even tho I am a big city skeptic. Thanks.
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Looking forward to this series, but have to warn you, I am a big city skeptic. I actually think that cities can become too big, not just from an economic sustainability point of view, but also from a mental health and physical health view. You addressed part of the physical health issues when you discusses environmental protection programs. That is all well and good but at what cost and can a cities waste facilities and programs be overwhelmed by once a year or once a decade events (ex: weather) The funny thing I keep noticing about videos like this is that efforts to make city spaces more livable look a lot like making a space more like a small town, only bigger. Anyway will be interested in the upcoming videos even tho I am a big city skeptic. Thanks.
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sandal_thong
My grandfather favored the mission of the Nature Conservancy: people would donate cash or sometimes property that they would maintain in nature as a nonprofit, or sell it and buy a property that has natural value to preserve. I think the idea of voluntary action appealed to people. Unfortunately, with rich people are greedy and there was a Nature Conservancy scandal when those rich people in charge used its property to sell to themselves or their friends so they could build a home away from the city and next to nature. I think they even said something like We can't save nature, so why not enjoy it ourselves while it lasts
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My grandfather favored the mission of the Nature Conservancy: people would donate cash or sometimes property that they would maintain in nature as a nonprofit, or sell it and buy a property that has natural value to preserve. I think the idea of voluntary action appealed to people. Unfortunately, with rich people are greedy and there was a Nature Conservancy scandal when those rich people in charge used its property to sell to themselves or their friends so they could build a home away from the city and next to nature. I think they even said something like We can't save nature, so why not enjoy it ourselves while it lasts
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kevinsmith9899
Good video.
In the history section, I noticed that some of the examples had nothing to do with cities. Pesticide runoff was caused by rural behaviors, and the California oil spill just happened to wash ashore at a city. Even factory air pollution could be (and is) generated anywhere, not just in cities.
Having lived through the old days when people threw their trash anywhere, and there were no controls on water or air pollution, I can say that transformation was amazing. Probably more amazing than young folks can even imagine. The river fires are just one dramatic example.
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Good video.
In the history section, I noticed that some of the examples had nothing to do with cities. Pesticide runoff was caused by rural behaviors, and the California oil spill just happened to wash ashore at a city. Even factory air pollution could be (and is) generated anywhere, not just in cities.
Having lived through the old days when people threw their trash anywhere, and there were no controls on water or air pollution, I can say that transformation was amazing. Probably more amazing than young folks can even imagine. The river fires are just one dramatic example.
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tonypalmentera7752
When government handed corporations limits on tort liability, they began to pollute terribly, and instead of removing that incentive, courts ruled that pollution was justified because it added more jobs to the economy than farms, and filled state coffers more. Hence, the Gilded Age. No fines or pre-emptive regulation is necessary when full tort liability exists. If no corporate shield exists, a CEO's house can be taken by the courts. Quite a different set of market incentives, when the government isn't involved, causing a disease, it then claims to be the cure to.
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When government handed corporations limits on tort liability, they began to pollute terribly, and instead of removing that incentive, courts ruled that pollution was justified because it added more jobs to the economy than farms, and filled state coffers more. Hence, the Gilded Age. No fines or pre-emptive regulation is necessary when full tort liability exists. If no corporate shield exists, a CEO's house can be taken by the courts. Quite a different set of market incentives, when the government isn't involved, causing a disease, it then claims to be the cure to.
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davidcanatella4279
Cities used to be bad for the ecology until we moved the sewage and factories out of town and on the other side of the planet where people who don't count live so they can sort our trash and work for pennies all day in pollution spewing industries making the crap we'll throw away after 10 minutes. Enjoy your soy creamer. Remember out of site means peace of mind! Tell me pal, are you pretending to be this ignorant of the injustice and pollution happening here right now Because holy flying shit balls
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Cities used to be bad for the ecology until we moved the sewage and factories out of town and on the other side of the planet where people who don't count live so they can sort our trash and work for pennies all day in pollution spewing industries making the crap we'll throw away after 10 minutes. Enjoy your soy creamer. Remember out of site means peace of mind! Tell me pal, are you pretending to be this ignorant of the injustice and pollution happening here right now Because holy flying shit balls
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arrvidcarlson8107
Wow. A laudable goal however I heard regulation, regulation, regulation, regulation which increases cost, lengthens development times, and reduces land owner freedoms. Acknowledgement of regulatory burden should explicitly be part of the process with a previously agreed cap. Within that framework government writ large must reduce its own impact to a sustainable level. Useless fees and unneeded permits are a bane we should all fear and work to reduce or eliminate.
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Wow. A laudable goal however I heard regulation, regulation, regulation, regulation which increases cost, lengthens development times, and reduces land owner freedoms. Acknowledgement of regulatory burden should explicitly be part of the process with a previously agreed cap. Within that framework government writ large must reduce its own impact to a sustainable level. Useless fees and unneeded permits are a bane we should all fear and work to reduce or eliminate.
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jdiddy069
public planning is insanely important and technical, the design of the sustainable community must be one that is satisfactory to the people. but it only seeks to minimize individual impact and input regulations on commerce. it cant transform capitalism like sustainability requires. this technocratic liberalism is exactly the type of baby steps that don’t drive real progress. it doesn’t even seek to transform the limits of what a city can truly be.
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public planning is insanely important and technical, the design of the sustainable community must be one that is satisfactory to the people. but it only seeks to minimize individual impact and input regulations on commerce. it cant transform capitalism like sustainability requires. this technocratic liberalism is exactly the type of baby steps that don’t drive real progress. it doesn’t even seek to transform the limits of what a city can truly be.
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PhoenixHen
I think something that most urbanists ignore is architecture. Beautiful, high-quality buildings are timeless and won't need to be demolished and replaced multiple times, and using local materials instead of reinforced concrete won't just make the building last longer, but is much better for the environment in the first place. The beauty of the places we live in also affects our health, and the more beautiful the place is, the happier we'll be.
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I think something that most urbanists ignore is architecture. Beautiful, high-quality buildings are timeless and won't need to be demolished and replaced multiple times, and using local materials instead of reinforced concrete won't just make the building last longer, but is much better for the environment in the first place. The beauty of the places we live in also affects our health, and the more beautiful the place is, the happier we'll be.
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davidcanatella4279
Show me a city that doesn't need inputs of material from far away and doesn't need outputs of pollution or slavery and I will show you a unicorn riding a fairy. The earth is not a resource it's a relationship and in a city, even with the best of intentions, that relationship is broken. Living in the ecology instead of next to it is the only way we can actually care about it and care for it, because otherwise we can't know it
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Show me a city that doesn't need inputs of material from far away and doesn't need outputs of pollution or slavery and I will show you a unicorn riding a fairy. The earth is not a resource it's a relationship and in a city, even with the best of intentions, that relationship is broken. Living in the ecology instead of next to it is the only way we can actually care about it and care for it, because otherwise we can't know it
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smrt28andy
Hey Dave, longtime viewer here. Great video as always but I'm not a fan of the occassional AI-generated B-roll you implemented in here. I doubt many others will care or even notice but I just wanted to state my piece. Regardless whether or not you continue to use it, I do still support what you do, I just hope in the future it might be free of AI-material. Much love from the desert.
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Hey Dave, longtime viewer here. Great video as always but I'm not a fan of the occassional AI-generated B-roll you implemented in here. I doubt many others will care or even notice but I just wanted to state my piece. Regardless whether or not you continue to use it, I do still support what you do, I just hope in the future it might be free of AI-material. Much love from the desert.
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ttopero
Modern human development is NOT sustainable, & never will be! It doesn’t mean we can’t be LESS destructive, but by the nature of the human construct, in order to live any sense of our modern life means extraction of resources in ways that always create non-restorative outcomes, never allowing the area to maintain sustainability during our use or occupation.
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Modern human development is NOT sustainable, & never will be! It doesn’t mean we can’t be LESS destructive, but by the nature of the human construct, in order to live any sense of our modern life means extraction of resources in ways that always create non-restorative outcomes, never allowing the area to maintain sustainability during our use or occupation.
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city_beautiful
It'd be nice to know more on what specific policies, techniques and maybe technologies are available for city pollution problems, aside from the obvious green transit tech. Things like reducing contaminated discharge from sewage treatment plants and exporting waste heat to homes from data centres and other high tech/high energy buildings
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It'd be nice to know more on what specific policies, techniques and maybe technologies are available for city pollution problems, aside from the obvious green transit tech. Things like reducing contaminated discharge from sewage treatment plants and exporting waste heat to homes from data centres and other high tech/high energy buildings
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Tsukonin
What about demography There is no sustainability when the TFR is less than 2. 1 children per woman. All infrastructure will - whether car-centric or mass transit etc - will crumble and go into disrepair if fertility rates keep staying low. Can you do a video on this topic, if you haven't already
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What about demography There is no sustainability when the TFR is less than 2. 1 children per woman. All infrastructure will - whether car-centric or mass transit etc - will crumble and go into disrepair if fertility rates keep staying low. Can you do a video on this topic, if you haven't already
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sandal_thong
I believe people should ideally live near where they work, shop, play and pray. But if there's no good transportation, so you have to buy a car, then why live in a city They say San Francisco and NYC are the only cities where you can live well without owning a car.
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I believe people should ideally live near where they work, shop, play and pray. But if there's no good transportation, so you have to buy a car, then why live in a city They say San Francisco and NYC are the only cities where you can live well without owning a car.
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letslanaway
One thing missed is zoning reform. Sustainability is much easier to achieve when the houses, businesses, and industries are much closer together and not sprawled out in completely separate parts of the city (plus, being able to walk places is just nice.
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One thing missed is zoning reform. Sustainability is much easier to achieve when the houses, businesses, and industries are much closer together and not sprawled out in completely separate parts of the city (plus, being able to walk places is just nice.
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anharmyenone
Sounds nice except who can afford it all. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. Regulations make everything more expensive and more and more people are homeless. Instead, repeal regulations until the cost of living becomes affordable.
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Sounds nice except who can afford it all. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. Regulations make everything more expensive and more and more people are homeless. Instead, repeal regulations until the cost of living becomes affordable.
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DerickCastillo-b8s
Thank for this interesting video. I wonder how you would build the perfect city My perfect city would have great cycling infrastructure, round abouts, no traffic lights and streets designed for speed no more than 20 - 25 mph.
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Thank for this interesting video. I wonder how you would build the perfect city My perfect city would have great cycling infrastructure, round abouts, no traffic lights and streets designed for speed no more than 20 - 25 mph.
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l_quinn_l
The sister cities of Reno and Sparks, Nevada have the potential to be leaders in how to make a sustainable and efficient city. However they can't get out of their own way and would rather go bankrupt by committing to suburban sprawl.
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The sister cities of Reno and Sparks, Nevada have the potential to be leaders in how to make a sustainable and efficient city. However they can't get out of their own way and would rather go bankrupt by committing to suburban sprawl.
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rfak7696
One thing no one talks about when making cities more sustainable is the impact of remote work. If you don't need to commute, you reduce car pollution, especially in places with poor public transit
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One thing no one talks about when making cities more sustainable is the impact of remote work. If you don't need to commute, you reduce car pollution, especially in places with poor public transit
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