1 HN user recommended this explainer1 month2021–2024score 1.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Cited in urban planning threads as an accessible explanation of why low-density suburbs cost more to maintain than they bring in.
Not Just Bikes contrasts traditional and suburban development in North America. It looks at the financials behind each pattern and argues that suburban development leaves cities unable to pay for their own infrastructure.
“Not Just Bikes is a great channel on urban development” (HN, 2021)
Not Just Bikes is a great channel on urban development, and he did a series on Strong Towns' ideas specifically. I like this one, "How Suburban Development Makes American Cities Poorer". [this video]
Explains how suburban development makes cities poorer
That's a problem with suburbia. You need a lot of road per house. The tax money you receive doesn't cover maintenance. Even the worst city blocks bring in enough tax revenue to maintain their roads. [this video]
It breeds efficiency and self sufficiency. Less wasted resources on virtually every metric. Suburbia on the other hand makes us all worse off. [this video]
Holy shit, talk about reading things out of context. You, dear sir, have absolutely nothing in common with the average North American who lives in the suburbs. The question was not directed at you. If you want to at least try to understand the context before jumping to give your opinion and share with us your psycho issues, try watching [this video]
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.
5 Hacker News comments
From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.
Citations, criticism and jokes