I am so happy that we were able to host you in Carmel and have you not only visit as a friend, but as an expert in assessing human-scale infrastructure design centered around active transportation. It's hard to believe that this exists, especially in the middle of Indiana, but I think we're doing very exciting things here in Carmel and this is why my wife and I relocated here over 3 years ago, simply to take advantage of the infrastructure and live a car-lite lifestyle, which is hard to do in the US. This video provides a nice glimpse into what we have to offer and I'm sure that in the coming years, things will only continue to get better as our leadership keeps up the initiative of progressive city design that, as you stated, does not need to be a partisan issue.

That's crazy that a random suburb that most people have never heard of is way more pedestrian and biking friendly than the larger city.

One of the few places in the US that doesn't look like actual garbage. One cannot help but notice the abundance of people out and about in your film shots, even though it's clearly not even summer there yet. It turns out that people like a nice built environment.

As a dutchy, looking at the thumbnail I actually thought it was a new neighbourhood somewhere in the Netherlands. Until I read the Title. Honestly really cool!

A quiet, people-centric city in a red state, I can only dream of something like that in Texas.

America has so much potential

It was a pleasure seeing you! I am so glad that you got to come and enjoy this lovely city. With the right vision, even North America can be a walkable environment!

Great to see progress here in the U.S. There seems to be growing momentum towards making urban areas less car-centric

I was thrilled to run into you at the Carmel Library while you were visiting. Wonderful video and perspective on the area my family and I have chosen to call home. Thanks to you, your partner, and @AmericanFietser for spending a few minutes talking to my son and I. I hope you enjoyed your travels to Indiana!

I'm actually quite happy to see North American cycling and walking infrastructure done properly, of course with some improvements needed. But the effort is absolutely substantial!. Indiana is definitely taking this effort at heart..

as a republican who is also against car dependency and all for cycling and people friendly cities, this is one of my favorite videos! friendly streets/cities and cycling don't have to be political!

Wow, this city looks so extremely far ahead of the usual US or Canadian city - especially from the aspect of mixed use and density.

Nice to see this. I discovered your channel a few years ago and it was life-changing. I'm learning Dutch and have spent nine weeks there on three visits the last two years. Going for two months this summer. Dreaming of moving there, actually. Ik ben nu een beetja tweetalig, danzij jou.

As a Realtor and local resident of the Carmel, Indiana area, it is truly a gift to call this place home. Thank you for taking the time to make this video, and visit our community. The feedback is wonderful to hear from your perspective. Was there a favorite restaurant you enjoyed?

I grew up in the neighboring suburb to Carmel (Fishers) and the arts district of Carmel was always a place I loved going with my friends, because when you need a cheap activity to do with your friends as a teenager, having a convenient place to get coffee, sit and chat, and go on a walking trail was luxury I didn't fully appreciate at the time. Your video was phenomenal, and I would just like to emphasize two points. One is that walkability and attractiveness in any part of America is heavily correlated with the wealth of that area. Carmel is one of the wealthiest places in Indiana, if not the entire US, and something I noticed as my neighboring suburb grew in both wealth and population was that our commercial areas and city center were developed very similarly to Carmel. So often a lot of less walkable/attractive suburbs just don't have tons of resources to put into that type of development or there's not political will among residents to raise the taxes to do that (Its even a fight in wealthy suburbs, trust me). The other thing I wanted to point out is I've mentioned commercial areas several times because if you live in most residential areas of these suburbs, biking/walking infrastructure is very limited or non-existent leaving most residents with still no other option than to drive (hence the necessity for large parking garages all over the commercial areas). Keep up the good work! Love to see videos like this!

Great architecture too; the new building blocks look like the've always been there.

As a dutch man, this city is on to something! There are so many benefits to this, people having a good time and hanging around, the place is not only surviving but thriving! You are making good progress USA ❤

Carmel looks terrific. Bravo.

Hopefully we made a good impression on you. We've lived here for almost 20 years and have seen significant (good) change in the Carmel/Westfield area. When we moved here, you had to stop along the Monon trail at each and every street- which is fun prohibative. And, the areas that Brandon features weren't even here then. Thanks for making the video and safe travels.

Well done Carmel! Well done to the mayor and everybody else involved who has been helping, in one way or another, this transformation. 🎉

Thanks for the video. Anne from Berlin.

I wonder whether the initial plans met fierce restitance. I suppose that the population of Carmel (shopowners included) was initially just as car centric as the population of any other American town. And, if so, how did the mayor overcome this resistance?

Wow, an investment of 'only' 23 million, and to get this in return? This is fantastic :) It really does look oddly familiar from a Dutch perspective and absolutely like something you'd want to visit. What a success!

From Colorado where some of this is just normal infrastructure, I am so impressed with Carmel! What a beautiful area! Great job

Wow, when I looked at the thumbnail I thought it was in the Netherlands or Denmark or Sweden at first. Then I saw that it was INDIANA. Some of the development happening there seems really nice and almost reminiscent of the places you'd show in your home country. Definitely should be a place I visit soon :)

Fascinating sights. At some points it felt almost dutch, whitch I have never had before with US cities

I think it's really cool that you went to Carmel. As someone that lives in the Netherlands I'm actually somewhat jealous of some of the things that Carmel has done. Because even though I love the bike infrastructure that we have in the Netherlands I do love some of things of American life, like in this video I really like the style of some of the homes shown, which in the Netherlands unless you have a lot of money isn't something you are likely to be able to have. So I think for most places that are still too focused on the car, Carmel is a great example to strive to, that way you get much of the safety, health benefits and better city planning of the Netherlands but still keep much of "American" life. If I could pick, I would honestly pick the Carmel way over the Dutch way, though obviously with some improvements in the Carmel way. Like for example, I don't know how good their public transport is. I would need bus and especially train connection to be as good as it is in the Netherlands.

That mayor is doing an incredible job by transforming his city into a shining example. Props to him!

Nice job Americano's! Notice that the electrical cables are almost everywhere burried under ground what makes a huge different to me. Keep up the good work!

Let’s hope a lot more places get inspired by Carmel!

I hope other municipalities see and learn from this excellent presentation. Living in Burbank, CA, we could certainly benefit from this type of infrastructure. There are quite a few projects underway here, and some of them do include cycling infrastructure.

i honestly believe the political divide in the US will be closed by a mutual love of human-first urban development

I'd love to visit Carmel some day, it seems like a fascinating city. It's just a shame that for all the incredible progress they've made on the pedestrian and cycling fronts, they still have no public transit whatsoever except for a dial-a-ride that must be reserved 24hrs in advance.

Glad you made it to Carmel. I moved here in 2006 when we only had a handful of roundabouts and very limited bike paths. While the Monon gets a lot of the attention, it represents only 5.2 miles of the over 200 miles of trails. Every year more trails are being built and our ability to get to a variety of amenities is also growing. I hope you enjoyed your time here and thanks for sharing your thoughts on our city. Keep up the great work you do.

1:37, a sign also containing 'km'? How did that happen?

.....🤍💛🧡❤💜💙!!!! Hello!😉 Beautiful video, as usual, and beautiful report. This city is an advanced one, and many should take example on it. Have a great continuation and see you. 😉👍👍👍👌

This is so calming and comforting. Great little video

I heard about this city in the news regarding their roundabouts. I didn't know good multi-modal infrastructure was also available. I enjoyed the eclipse in a nearby town also near Indianapolis. I hope Carmel inspires more North American towns that it can be done - even if they are small in comparison to other big cities.

Absolutely inspiring

If you want more details check the blog (the link is in the description 📦). You'll find great stuff like the fact that at the first round about the population was at just 25,000people. The good development must have made a good impression on people who decided to move there. Again, my compliments to the mayor 💜

"Bravo!" to all those responsible for creating such a vibrant, attractive, memorable, and cycle-/pedestrian-friendly environment. What a joy! (Is this really in the US?!) I am watching from the Netherlands.

If I were a film or television studio, I would absolutely film there.

It's kind of wild how they put so much effort into their urbanism and road design, yet don't run a bus system in this pretty large city with more surrounding smaller towns. I was looking into the realities of moving here without a car and still looks decent if you don't mind biking long distances. It's 7-10 miles down the Monon Trail before you encounter a bus in the Indianapolis metro area. You can even bike 25 miles to downtown Indianapolis on the trail.

Such a surprise to see this in Indiana. Hope they keep it going.

Amazing video well done 👍 short and to the point

Goed zo. Nu de rest van America nog. Goed voor jullie gezondheid. 👍

Very cool. I live an hour away from Carmel and never knew anything about it before. Now I want to go check it out!

Gorgeous! Reading the history of Mayor Brainard is great, and seems the sort of leader we could use in more communities. Believes in using experts, good urban design, civil rights and diversity, and also believes in doing so in a way that you're not bankrupting future generations.

Have you seen cycling infrastructure in Ljubljana and Slovenia? It looks as if the whole country has loads of protected intersections and protected lanes. Could you possibly do a video on the cycling infrastructure there someday?

There are lots of nice rich suburbs in America. This is one of them. I'd love to see it be implemented in an affordable city.

Lived in Carmel last year Indiana native here, rented an apartment with a buddy of mine and loved it there

this is amazing that a city like this can be in the usa, only the street signs give a hint it is.

This is wonderful!

A great video. I like the part that highlights how the Monon has become the crystallization core for successful urban growth in generell. I was a real estate developer. The access to cycling infrastructure is such an important point that I now only doing cycling stuff … 🤓 Greatings to Mrs. and Mr. @AmericanFietser

Carmel is the new Milton Keynes. The UK city (which officially attained that status in 2022) with almost no traffic lights. I live near Keynes to the point I practiced roundabouts there for my driving.

i am glad you enjoyed our small but special city!

I liked Carmel as a place when visiting a friend there, but actually getting to/from there without a car, especially from Indianapolis, was nigh on impossible. It still felt very car centric as a result

It'd be interesting to see you cycle (or rather, attempt it) in Athens, Greece. Actually, from Greece, you should visit the city of Karditsa, it's a city in which almost everyone cycles to go around everywhere.

ha, I was just here while visiting Indianapolis for the eclipse. And I'm currently writing this from the airport in Amsterdam. let me tell you that Carmel is like three blocks of sort of semi-dutch development. a tiny little drop in a pool of sprawling hell.

Interesting video-title! *Initially* I understood it as viewing the USA's state of Indiana from a Dutch perspective via bicycling in a town called Carmel (that is located in the USA's state of California, so far as *I* knew). A few re-reads were required for the USA-er's penchant for writing "town *,* state" to come to the surface, thus giving the sentence a totally different meaning. Oh well... US-English is NOT like UK-English... Anyway, for me a very significant difference between the Dutch view of traffic versus that of many other countries is the wide-openness of pathways for bicycles & pedestrians versus the restrictively-designed pathways for cars (literal & visual narrowing by trees right-beside the asphalt). In areas where people abound, the car is in NO way the "king", but a GUEST.

Nice video. I wonder, when you were in the US did you get a chance to visit any other cities to look at bike infrastructure there? I hope you have a chance to visit Washington DC one day. It's not Dutch-standard, but there has been quite a lot of progress in the last 5 years on getting bike lanes (especially protected lanes) installed in much of the core of the city. The city has a generously cheap and widespread bike share program called CaBi. You can take bikes on the metrorail system. There are many trails like the MBT, Capital Crescent, and Anacostia Trail to get you further out into the city and surrounding areas, and many have bike amenities, local restaurants, residences and such nearby. It's not perfect- we are fighting hard to get bike lanes put on some major roads that really need it. But I'd say DC is the most comfortable major US city to bike in.

If only the rest of the US would follow this example, rather than the opposite. That would send a great signal to the rest of the world even, where car centricism prevails.

Anyone really shocked about how Indiana of all places got something like this, look up the distribution of salary or house costs for the suburb then you'll understand lol.

I wish the rest of the us was like this

Awww yes BD in USA.

Pretty little town!

Woah that looks worthy of the Dutch!

As a Dutch person I’m very happy to see an American city slowly turning in to a better city for its citizens! 😄

Holly God, is this really the USA? Amazing city!

Brillant!! Well done Carmel Indiana.. 👏😀

I am amazed. This is in the USA but I’m getting strong Dutch vibes. Thanks for saying it does not have to be political. I think that’s exactly the tone we need.

Should be called Bikemel.

hopefully Carmel goes viral and everyone start moving there. The first american Paris

Roundabout driving rule is simple: Give way to cars driving from your left

cidade linda! - Brasil, São Paulo

Really nice. But it's also outside of the income range of the vast majority of people in Indiana and the midwest. It's a nice model, but I don't see this working in many midwest American towns on the same growth methodology and certainly not the same speed. Worth taking inspiration from regardless

Carmel still has an issue with basically 0 public transit coverage but i have hope that it'll be sought out in the very near future

So pretty and so pleasant! Carmel did the right thing.

Looks really nice, but is there any kind of public transportation?

Very Europey vibe. Looks great.

I've never seen the USA like this. Only thing that I want to point out is the fact that the pedestrians on the cycle lane should walk against the flow of traffic so they don't get hit from behind. Seeing traffic coming towards you affords you the option to step out of the way if needed. Seeing traffic coming behind you requires major surgery to get your eyes moved to the back of the head 😂

I want this guy to plan my city

Wow!

This video is a clear evidence how traveling the world expands your horizons. The mayor had the privilege to study abroad and he utilized this privilege to serve his nation in the best way possible, regardless of his political stance. Well done.

0:55 actually it’s the most in the world!

The things you can do with vision and hard work.

It looks like Carmel is a new city with lots of areas redeveloping with new streets, roads, buildings etc. Not every city has that luxury. Let's look at Google Maps. Oh. Deceived again. This is only a small part of Carmel. Maybe a few places beyond the Monom Trail, but otherwise, still a typical suburb but with lots of roundabouts. Oh, and freeways run through and around the city too, so that will give urbanists nightmares. LOL.

1:06 lol use to take that way to work did you pass “sauce on the side” while you were there?

Good to see progressive developments in Carmel, IN. I stayed at the Residence INN in Carmel for over six months in the mid-1990s as a contractor to a Fortune 500 company there. Two things I found unappealing about the place then. First, the population was monochrome, and quite parochial. Having come from the West, it was not always comfortable. Second, I had to drive everywhere. I am a walker, and I love cities that are designed to be conducive to walking. Carmel had no sidewalks. This is a pleasant change, and it can only be good for the health of the people, who were on the average overweight or obese.

That's Indiana? Somehow I was expecting something more, neglected say, in places maybe bordering on squalid. I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised.

VIDEO IDEE: Hey, ik had laatst wellicht een leuk idee voor je om een video over te maken. In Amsterdam goed zichtbaar, maar ook zeker in de fietscultuur in andere steden, is het idee dat de persoon met momentum voorrang krijgt, soort hidden culture. Om een voorbeeld te geven, een Nederlandse voetganger ziet een fietser aankomen en zou nog wel voor kunnen gaan over het zebrapad omdat men voorrang heeft, toch doet men dit niet omdat de fietser anders moet afremmen of stoppen. Het zijn de kleine dingen die het leuk maken denk ik!

That mayor guy has done a great job, you should see their High School

❤

I'm from fishers right by carmel and carmel is pretty cool but so is fishers!

Way to go Carmel

Important considerations: In 2023, Carmel was the most expensive city to live in in Indiana. The median family income in 2021 was just under $120,000. "In 2021, the median property value in Carmel, IN was $372,100, and the homeownership rate was 75.3%. Most people in Carmel, IN drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 25 minutes. The average car ownership in Carmel, IN was 2 cars per household." The percent black population in 2021 was 2.7% of the total.

It is political though. It's a choice between improving people's material quality of life, and pointless culture war. Carmel's republican leader decided to pursue the first, actually improving people's lives, instead of slapping the label woke on everything including bike paths, 15-minute cities, walkable cities, etc.

I never understand why cities can't be designed more bike friendly in the US. States like Texas have been growing massively. Their cities are even less bike and pedestrian friendly than older ones. They should have focused on good transportation such as high speed trains, subways, skytrains, etc and making cities walkable. It would bring more life to cities. But it's just not possible here.

🚴🚴🚴

I live on the north end of Indianapolis and go into Carmel regularly. The planning is impeccable. Unfortunately, it has become a playground for the rich. Every place in America should be planned this well, but Brainard was able to do it without a lot of resistance partly because there was so much money there. Businesses would jump through every hoop just to have access to such wealthy customers. Meanwhile, in the city, our tax base has eroded as people with means flee to suburbs. And, let's not forget, for all its excellent planning for pedestrians and bicycles, Carmel has exactly zero public transit. Not even one bus route. They have a shuttle service for disabled people, but that's all.