Active Towns

In this episode, I connect with Jason Slaughter the creator of the incredibly popular Not Just Bikes YouTube Channel. He shares what led him to become interested in urbanism and active mobility, how he and his family came to live in Amsterdam, and why he decided to launch the channel.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

As you'll learn from this conversation, that's precisely the question Jason Slaughter and his wife pondered when they became disillusioned with the overly car-centric design of the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area. With the stakes high, they did their research, relied upon their vast travel experience, and did several "trial stays" in the finalist cities.

Once the decision had been made, and Amsterdam was their new home, they were continually asked by friends, family, and even new acquaintances - Why move from Canada to The Netherlands?

In an attempt to answer these questions, Jason decided to do a little "show and tell" in the form of short videos, and thus Not Just Bikes was born first on the Twitter platform, and then he migrated the effort to its natural home on YouTube, where it has just exploded in popularity.

Additional Helpful Links:

Active Towns Landing Page for this Episode - direct access to the videos we discussed

A video version of this Episode on the Active Towns YouTube Channel

Not Just Bikes YouTube Channel and the NJB Live Channel

Not Just Bikes Patreon - support Jason and the Channel!

Not Just Bikes Videos Mentioned

• What Makes a Great City – the video that started it all
• NEW! The video about Houston, telling the story that prompted Jason to care about urban planning
• Why Dutch Bikes Are Better
• We Have No Garbage Day in Amsterdam
• Why Cars Rarely Crash into Building in The Netherlands
• Why Grocery Shopping is Better in Amsterdam
• How America Bankrupted its Cities – Strong Towns concepts
• The STROADS video – Strong Towns concepts
• Cities Aren’t Loud Cars Are Loud – a recent video in honor of Melissa & Chris Bruntlett‘s new book Curbing Traffic
• Jason is not a cyclist and neither are most of the Dutch people who ride every day

Jason mentioned a YouTuber who produces videos about driving in The Netherlands – his name is Kerleem Shaw and here’s his channel

Ryan Van Duzer's Grocery Shopping Video

BicycleDutch - Mark Wagenbuur and Mark's blog post & video on the 10-year Improvements in Utrecht

StreetFilms - Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

Strong Towns - The Strong Towns Interview of Jason

Strong Towns Bottom-Up Revolution Podcast Interview of John

Plain Bicycle Episode w/ Erin Riediger on the Active Towns Podcast

CNU - Congress for the New Urbanism

Books Mentions:

High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the SUV by Keith Bradsher

Traffic - Tom Vanderbilt

Miracle Pill by Peter Walker

Concepts Mentioned:

Downs-Thomson Paradox

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happe...

In this episode, we head down under, for a chat with Professor Paul Tranter, Honorary Associate Professor in Geography in the School of Science at the University of New South Wales Canberra in Australia, about why we all need to just slow down a bit.

Paul researches children’s well-being and the dominance of speed and mobility in urban planning and society. His work has demonstrated that child-friendly modes of walking, cycling, and public transit are also the modes that paradoxically reduce time pressure for urban residents. In this conversation, we dive into the details of his recent book Slow Cities: Conquering our Speed Addiction for Health and Sustainability that he co-authored with Rodney Tolley.

Additional Helpful Links:

Slow Cities Book

Slow Cities Manifesto

Build slower cities or keep careening towards disaster – opinion

Slaves to speed, we’d all benefit from ‘slow cities’ – article in The Conversation

Time to hit the brakes on the “Hurry Virus”

Introduction: changing cultures of speed – journal article

Speed Kills: The Complex Links Between Transport, Lack of Time and Urban Health – journal article

Active Travel: A Cure for the Hurry Virus – journal article

Children’s Play in their Local Neighborhoods: Rediscovering the Value of Residential Streets

Busted: 5 myths about 30km/h speed limits in Australia

30Please.org – children

Pontevedra, Spain, wins the first EU urban road safety award – European Transport Safety Council

Pontevedra, Spain Increases Downtown Livability by Reducing Vehicle Access – article in Smart Cities Dive

Reclaiming the streets: the increasing trend of pedestrianisation around the world

Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores, Mayor of Pontevedra City, Spain

Why the need for speed? Transport spending priorities leave city residents worse off – article in The Conversation

Raising an Unhurried Child

In Praise of Slowness – book

In Praise of Slowness – TED Talk

************

Active Towns Podcast episode featuring Peter Norton

Active Towns Podcast episode featuring David Nuttall

Shared Streets and Woonerfs – Hans Monderman and Ben Hamilton-Baillie

Walkscore

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experi...

In this episode, I connect with documentary filmmaker Liz Canning for a candid conversation about MOTHERLOAD, a movie and a movement. 

MOTHERLOAD captures a new mother’s quest to understand the increasing isolation and disconnection of modern life, its planetary impact, and how cargo bikes could be an antidote.

Filmmaker Liz Canning cycled everywhere until she had twins in 2008. Motherhood was challenging, but to Liz hauling babies via car felt stifling. She Googled “family bike” and uncovered a global movement of people replacing cars with cargo bikes: long-frame bicycles designed for carrying heavy loads. Liz set out to learn more, and MOTHERLOAD was born.

Additional Helpful Links:

Active Towns Landing Page for this episode - for more photos and videos

The MOTHERLOAD website:  http://motherloadmovie.com

Here is where you can rent the film:  https://vimeo.com/ondemand/motherload

The Motherload Films site:  https://www.motherload-films.com - find out more about hiring Liz!

The trailer on Vimeo: http://motherloadmovie.com/welcome
MOTHERLOAD Facebook Group
MOTHERLOAD on Twitter

Episode 1 of Global Mosaic: "Could Empowering Girls Transform the World?"
Director's Cut
Broadcast Edit

***********

What a Bakfiets looks like

Xtracycle

Jared Diamond

Daniel Lieberman

Velo-City Conference

Kidical Mass - Shane MacRhodes article

Critical Mass - Tim White doc "Return of the Scorcher"

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

Music: Various Logic Pro X mixes by John Simmerman

In this episode, I catch up with Melissa and Chris Bruntlett "on the eve" of the release of their much anticipated second book, Curbing Traffic - The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives. It's a long one, as they were gracious enough to provide a brief overview of each of the ten main chapters in the book. Enjoy!

Curbing Traffic - The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives published by Island Press is due to be released on June 29, 2021. We highly recommend everyone get a copy and Melissa and Chris have passed along the following information: The book is available for pre-order from Island Press (use promo code "BRUNTLETT" for 20% off) in North America, Marston Books (use promo code "ISCT" for 30% off) in the EU, and independent booksellers worldwide.

Melissa and Chris moved their family of four from Vancouver, BC to the city of Delft in The Netherlands a couple of years ago. They made this huge move, which presented its share of predictable challenges because they were looking for a higher quality of life, especially for their teenage children. This book was an effort to capture just how profound and impactful this new way of living was and is before its specialness wears off and drifts predictably into "just the way things are".

Additional Helpful Links:

The Happy City by Charles Montgomery

Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint For Urban Vitality Melissa and Chris Bruntlett’s first book

Going Dutch – An Interview with Chris in 2020 on the Active Towns Podcast

Kaid Benfield – Human Habitat

Shared Streets and Woonerfs – Hans Monderman and Ben Hamilton-Baillie

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this extended episode, I have a detailed conversation with Bruce Appleyard, Associate Professor of City Planning & Public Administration, at San Diego State University and the author of  Livable Streets 2.0 published by Elsevier, a fabulous tribute to his late father, Donald Appleyard, and his classic urbanism text Livable Streets.

A livable street is like a good friend that gives you energy. In contrast, an unlivable street drains you.

We discuss in detail many aspects of the book and his recent contribution to Designing for Active Travel he made to the International Encyclopedia of Transportation (TRNS).

Livable Streets 2.0 is a complete manual on walking, bicycling, and traffic calming. So if you want to learn more about these things, we highly encourage you to get the book.

Additional Helpful Links:

Landing Page for this Episode on Active Towns website

Mike Lydon and Tactical Urbanism

Shared Streets and Woonerfs - Hans Monderman and Ben Hamilton-Baillie

Charter for Humane and Equitable Streets

Transit and Bikes - Roland Kager's Active Towns Podcast Episode

The MUTCD - NACTO's position

Right of Way book and Angie Schmitt's Active Towns Podcast Episode

Continuous, Raised Sidewalks and Sidepaths and a Not Just Bikes video on the subject

Advisory Bike Lane Streets

Fietsstraat Active Towns Podcast Episode

PeopleForBikes

Jan Gehl - Building at Human Scale books Cities for People and Life Between Buildings

Interested but Concerned - Geller and 2011 follow up by Dr. Jennifer Dill 

Berkeley Barriers Traffic Calming History

Chuck Marohn - Strong Towns

STROAD:
- Definition
- Not Just Bikes STROAD video

 
Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with Jon Larsen, Salt Lake City, Utah's Transportation Division Director, for a conversation about how he and his team are making progress in their efforts to create safer, more inviting street spaces for "All Ages & Abilities" across all mobility modes.

Salt Lake City's historic grid features massively wide streets and incredibly long blocks, but its origin isn't rooted in car-centric design, rather it was a practical solution to freight logistics - the ability to do a u-turn with a team of oxen or horses driving a cart or carriage. Since 2017 Jon Larsen and his team have been striving to reimagine what this space can be and who it serves with the systematic, incremental installation of safer, more inviting "All Ages & Abilities" active mobility infrastructure.

Does Salt Lake City, Utah, come to mind when you think of cities leading the way in innovative cycle infrastructure? Probably not. But, they were one of the early protected cycling infrastructure adopters in North America, with one of the first official "Dutch-style" protected intersections. Unfortunately, the car-centric status quo pushed back, and things slowed down significantly for a couple of years, but they are back on track now.

Additional Helpful Links:

Salt Lake City Projects Mentioned:
- 300 West - video
- 900 South/9-Line
- 200 South
- Neighborhood byways
- Livable Streets Program
- Streets Typology Design Guide
- State Street Project - Life on State

CNU

CNU Utah Chapter

CNU21 - SLC

Chuck Marohn - Strong Towns

STROAD:
- Definition
- Not Just Bikes STROAD video

Seattle Streets Illustrated Guide

Utah Transit Authority

PeopleForBikes - Shed the Monster video

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I catch up with Ross Chapin, an Architect who literally wrote the book on Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World and we discuss how when one steps into a pocket neighborhood, it seems familiar and feels comfortable. Perhaps this is because humans have been creating intentional habitats such as these for tens of thousands of years. They are inherently sociable, cohesive, and livable communities.

Additional Helpful Links:

Active Towns landing page for this episode - for access to more photos and videos

Pocket Neighborhoods website

Active Towns - Pocket Neighborhoods Video

Ross Chapin Architects website

Missing Middle Housing

CNU – Congress for the New Urbanism

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with Brandon Lust, also known as @AmericanFietser, on Twitter for a conversation about how a pickup truck-driving guy from rural Illinois became an advocate for Dutch cycling, safer streets, and electric-assist cargo bikes.

In 2017, Brandon joined his wife Tatiana on a trip to The Netherlands. She had some work to do there and they figured why not combine the travel for a bit of vacation time. What Brandon couldn’t have known at the time, was that this trip would forever alter his life and spark a curiosity to learn more about functional cycling, and ignite a passion for the simple pleasures of getting stuff done while riding a bike. Thus the @AmericanFietser on Twitter was born.

The Dutch, have a couple of different words that apply to cyclists. They use the word Fietser to refer to a person who rides for everyday purposes such as meeting one’s daily needs. While they use the term “wielrenner”, literally wheel runner, to describe a sport cyclist or racer.

Enjoy this ride with Brandon!

Additional Helpful Links:

Active Towns Landing page for this episode - access more photos and videos

American Fietser blog

BicycleDutch – Mark Wagenbuur

Not Just Bikes – Jason Slaughter

Work Cycles – J.C. Lind Bike Co.

Gazelle Bikes

Defining Opafiets and Omafiets (step-through frame) blog post

Tern Bicycles – Perennial Cycle, Minneapolis

Tatiana’s First E-Bike Ride – Twitter video

What is 4-H

FFA – Future Farmers of America

PeopleForBikes

Mobycon and the Mobycon Academy

StrongTowns

STROADS video by Not Just Bikes for StrongTowns

Woonerf definition (shared space)

Walk/Bike/Places Conference

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with Billy Fields, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas State University, for a discussion that addresses the freedom that comes from mobility choice, the progress being made in San Marcos, and the annual study abroad program he leads to The Netherlands. We also talk about his newly released book, Adaptation Urbanism and Resilient Communities: Transforming Streets to Address Climate Change, published by Routledge.

I encourage everyone to check out this new book Adaptation Urbanism and Resilient Communities: Transforming Streets to Address Climate Change. And courtesy of Dr. Fields you may use the coupon code ESBAC for 20% off.

Additional Helpful Links:

Rails to Trails Conservancy

San Marcos, TX

International Sustainable Transportation Engagement Program – Study Abroad

Delft, NL: Woonerf

CROW Manual

Sustainable Safety

Vision Zero – Sweden

Amsterdam Street Trampolines

London initiatives:

• Mini-Hollands
• Healthy Streets
• Low Traffic Neighborhoods
• 20 is Plenty Campaign

Our New Orleans episode

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.

In this episode, I connect with Huntsville, Alabama-based cartographer and artist David Nuttall for a conversation about his recent adventure riding every street in his sprawling, hilly city and the profound things he learned about the place he's called home for the past several decades and about himself.

David Nuttall was motivated to get in a little exercise and lose a little weight by exploring his adopted hometown of Huntsville, Alabama on his trusty old mountain bike. And thus a challenge was born: ride every street in the city limits and since he’s cartographer, naturally he’d map that experience and learn what he could along the way.

This is not an uber athlete endorphin-fueled adventure story, but one of patient reflection, social connection, curiosity, joy, and humanity.

Additional Helpful Links:

David’s art studio: Artimaps

HUBS Coop

Bikes & Brews Ride Facebook page

Link to Animated map of David’s Rides

Map Animation by Ned Drummond – Ned’s website

Map My Ride App

Explore Bike Share – Memphis

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Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

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- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

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Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.