“This video is like apartment hunting with a middle aged white dude that is a little bit too into urbanism” is a fantastic quote that I might use myself

@EmperorAvalon

11 ай бұрын

Don't threaten me with a good time

@jimmshorts

11 ай бұрын

His manners, speech cadence and dry wit are captivating, endearing with time. (Added last two words just to poke fun).

@samuelskillern7365

11 ай бұрын

I'm only in my early 20's but also agree.

@Ben-jq5oo

11 ай бұрын

@@jimmshorts I love him! 🇦🇺🏳️‍🌈

@nitehawk86

11 ай бұрын

Speaking AS a middle aged white dude thats a little bit too into urbanism... lets GOOOOOOO

Walk Score needs to change their algorithm to penalize neighborhoods for being designed with dangerous stroads and strip malls. Just because the grocery store is 300 feet away doesn't matter, if it's on the other side of a 9 lane stroad, nobody is going to walk there.

@tristanridley1601

11 ай бұрын

They use a very simple mechanism. I've seen it give a place a high transit score because there's a train station nearby... that you can't walk to without going way around a highway.

@StLouis-yu9iz

11 ай бұрын

True! Must be why CoMo scored so high... They are fulling embracing the suburban ponzi scheme right now unfortunately. :(

@maumor2

11 ай бұрын

Yes apparently the walk score asumes we all have jetpacks

@IlCaroSassone

11 ай бұрын

Walk Score not very good. I live within 1 mile of 3 grocery stores and numerous shops, coffeehouses and restaurants (all with sidewalks) and walk ability score only average. What more do they want?

@jellybeansi

11 ай бұрын

Agreed. I've actually sent them feedback about this in the past.

Would love to see how this shakes out for 3BRs for those of us with kids. I really dislike that families are forced out of urban areas because they lack housing for more than 1-2 people.

@somewillhateme

11 ай бұрын

A real shame how much affordable housing for a variety of family sizes can be implemented if mixed-use was more liberally expanded.

@jordankohl2130

11 ай бұрын

💯 the lack of 3BRs in many urban areas leads to this cycle where the only affordable housing is for single adults, or childless couples at best, and then there's not very many other families downtown, which means there's no demand for good schools or other family amenities, which leads to a lack of demand for 3BRs, which means developers don't build them 😫

@rudinah8547

11 ай бұрын

Oddly I feel like we need more studios and 1beds built, because it's yuppies and other wealthier people who end up living in the 3-4beds with roommates, when likely all of them would prefer solo units if they were affordable. Leaves the family units for families

@gcvrsa

11 ай бұрын

Urban areas have a distinct lack of affordable housing for 1 or 2 person households, as well. We need more affordable urban housing units of all sizes, not just "family-friendly" units. The only people I know of who are living alone are very affluent people who can afford to carry the cost of an urban rental on their own. Most people I know are living with strangers, by necessity.

@rjbiii

11 ай бұрын

Same! My choices are either stay in a 2BR that's close to stuff, or move to a suburb and pay double for a SFR

Missourian, so biased, but Columbia is probably the city that surprised me the most by visiting. The downtown is really nice and large, not just a single street, like a lot of college towns

@dickriggles942

11 ай бұрын

It's a college town, they're all liberal and care about mass transit and walk ability. On the downside, many of the people there can be elitist jerks or snobs.

@VegitoBlue202

11 ай бұрын

Columbia Missouri? It was half stroaads 💀

@TheKeksadler

11 ай бұрын

Columbia is a really nice city overall.

@jakekooyer9763

11 ай бұрын

Just visited there since my gf is a Mizzou grad. Great little town that I would have loved to live in if I was a student. Great food, bars, and the whole downtown area along Broadway seemed very walkable and full of places I would love to visit.

@blondiebear42

11 ай бұрын

I haaaaate Columbia. Painfully boring and an eyesore. If you ever wondered why the United States media is terrible, it’s partly because Mizzou is one of the top journalism schools in the US. The whole town breeds people to feed the system instead of being the food of life

Things I proudly own in 63104: a home, a new business. Things I proudly don’t own: a car. This video is so validating. We have so much progress happening in STL! Thanks for always shouting us out!

@starrwulfe

11 ай бұрын

Can't wait to see all the changes back home in a few weeks.

@swesttttt

10 ай бұрын

Wish I could say the same, but I adore STL and visit when I can. Great city.

@bluephoenix8470

6 ай бұрын

What about the violent crime? I have heard St. Louis is pretty bad. Or, is the crime localized?

@scottsinger7110

5 ай бұрын

​@@bluephoenix8470it's localized to mostly the northern half, but there are pockets of crime on the Southside, too. I lived in 63118 for about 8 years and never had an issue. People thought I was crazy though for living there. It was worse 15 to 20 years ago.

@bluephoenix8470

5 ай бұрын

Thanks! I guess it is the random crazy stuff that worries me the most. When the criminals venture in to the "good" part of town looking for prey. St. Louis is an enigma. Along with KC - excluding Chicago - the only real cosmopolitan cities in the Midwest. The "big city" and what it offers pulls you in but the crime makes you flinch. @@scottsinger7110

The thing is that there are a lot of affordable zip codes in the U.S. where you can technically "live" without a car, but then if you want to have a life outside that place, you will really struggle compared to living in an affordable city or neighborhood in Europe or East Asia with connectivity to the rest of the country and major train stations and airports.

@ficus3929

11 ай бұрын

Very true, I lived without a car for 5 years in a very walkable place but I started to feel isolated from the larger metro area. The walkable neighborhood was enough for a couple years, but it started to feel very limited after that.

@SenorJuan2023

11 ай бұрын

That's why I'm moving overseas soon.

@victorquesada7530

11 ай бұрын

Everyone here has some pretty darn good points. I love the town where I live now, and the downtown/surrounding area is pretty accessible by bike as well as on foot, but getting away from here means getting to the one regional bus center and taking that one shot into the big city nearby, in the next state. It's kind of ridiculous that there's no direct way to get to the other regional cities nearer to me than by car. Rentals are a good option for short trips though.

@davidbarts6144

11 ай бұрын

That even includes what are on paper some very walkable major cities with good transit. I still own a personal vehicle in Vancouver, BC. I almost never use it during the week, but often use it on the weekends to travel outside the metro area. BC sucks when it comes to intercity rail and bus service (and outside of Vancouver and Victoria, cities tend to be standard North American sprawl). All that said, being able to get around without a car most of the time is still better than being stuck in the sprawl and having to use a car and sit in traffic every day.

@rexx9496

11 ай бұрын

Unless you're in a major city in the northeast, being car-light is probably the best you can hope for.

Seems like the CityNerd community should descend upon a small city and make it an urban paradise edit: didn't expect this to blow up, yes I realize this is just a pipe dream/not super realistic. But now I have a video idea for CityNerd: how much would it cost to start a new city from scratch? That would probably be our best bet.

@Truman5555

11 ай бұрын

By just flooding the top 2, you could insure conservatives never win the WH ever again!

@rexx9496

11 ай бұрын

Right? We need to buy up some land and turn it into a utopia, like they did with The Villages in Florida, but instead of a bunch of boomers in single family homes, it'll be all row houses with streetcars and corner stores.

@CASEMSTR

11 ай бұрын

@@rexx9496 Sounds amazing. Just need some soundproof walls cause I like playing music loud 😂😂

@rexx9496

11 ай бұрын

@@CASEMSTR well we can throw in a few detached houses for noisy people.

@jazzcatjohn

11 ай бұрын

@@rexx9496 or free headphones. :)

As a Louisville native who used to live in Lexington (including a couple years in the exact zip code that made this list), I want to thank you for showing some love to both of Kentucky's major cities. It gave me a brief period of actual pride in my Commonwealth.

@perrondenais684

11 ай бұрын

For every city I think about, I always have to wonder what their pro sports experiences are like, especially if they have a soccer team. Louisville City seems like it has a pretty awesome vibe for a non-MLS team. What's the stadium like in terms of urbanism, transit access, etc?

@rexx9496

11 ай бұрын

Old town Louisville looks really nice.

@jazzcatjohn

11 ай бұрын

I visited Louisville once a few years ago only because my father was originally from there and he returned at the end of his life. The urban fabric is impressive. I could easily live there.

@bonne_vie

11 ай бұрын

​@@perrondenais684Kentucky is all about college basketball

@Joshisepic2222

11 ай бұрын

​@@perrondenais684pretty terrible but the plans for the district around it that might get built within the next decade are pretty good

As a Pittsburgher, I am always yelling about this! We have the amenities of a much larger city but somehow the cost of living hasn't increased to match lol I love it here

@michelletabares5336

11 ай бұрын

Hell yeah, I just moved to Pitt a few months ago from Tampa and I’m loving it! I can’t believe how underrated it is.

@mastandstars5869

11 ай бұрын

But the grey skies n’at…. That’s the rub.

@Gee-xb7rt

10 ай бұрын

@@michelletabares5336 I'm from Tampa, don't think all the money in the world could get me to move back, at least not til the Florida political climate does a 180.

@dimosthenisantoniou4893

10 ай бұрын

Schools have a very low score there?

@imunchienandalusia

7 ай бұрын

please don't tell them. I moved to PGH from Nashville two years ago after it got so crowded. Pittsburgh feels like an undiscovered gem. Hopefully the weather will keep the masses out. It's only for the strong.

I live in Athens, Ohio and it’s amazing! Don’t even need a car and that walk score of 69 is not really reflective of living there, since the zip code stretches out of the city a bit. Walk score for my apartment there is 89. Glad to see it finally mentioned on the channel

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

Yeah, Walk Score is really very location sensitive. Even zip code isn't granular enough! I almost need like census block group.

@leapintothewild

11 ай бұрын

Just did a rental search because it's such a pretty town, but not one seemed suitable for adults -- everything was student level. What am I missing?

@Pomeray8

11 ай бұрын

@@leapintothewild it's a college town. i would recommend going north and checking out some of the little feeder towns around columbus, like westerville.

@leapintothewild

11 ай бұрын

@@Pomeray8 Thx. Already lived in Columbus back in the 90s, was interested in Athens. But if there are no rentals for adults, looks like it shouldn’t have made this list!

@MrAflac9916

9 ай бұрын

@@leapintothewild you don’t have to be a student to rent there. I’m no longer a student, I work for the university now. There are some, although not many, jobs not connected to the university. It’s a really good place to raise kids IMO

... And VCs bought all the properties there

@t.a.k.palfrey3882

11 ай бұрын

For the uninitiated, like me, what is a VC? My aging and liminal grey cells see VC as being Commonwealth countries' most prestigious award for gallantry (the Victoria Cross), but I assume it must mean something different in this context. 🤔🤷‍♂️

@vaderbuckeye36

11 ай бұрын

​@@t.a.k.palfrey3882venture capital, and other large investment groups

@paxundpeace9970

11 ай бұрын

Still needs somebody to sell them.

@Urbanhandyman

11 ай бұрын

@@t.a.k.palfrey3882 Viet Cong is another possibility.

@RoundHouseDictator

11 ай бұрын

I meant venture capitalists, people who look for fun ways to spend money. They could have the Victoria cross. It'd be a weird tactic for the viet cong to become American landlords, but it's technically possible, in the laws of physics

Having lived in Louisville, KY, after moving from Portland, OR, I can say that you cannot be car light in Louisville, KY. First, the mass transit is not very good. I took mass transit for years. It took 2 hours for an 8-mile commute by car. I had to transfer in front of 3 strip clubs downtown. I understand that most cities require you to go downtown rather than developing cross town buses. There is no mass transit outside of buses. Bike trails are scarce. Second, grocery stores are missing from many areas. It is well known that there are food deserts in Louisville, KY. Third, healthcare has turned its back on people not living in the wealthy zip codes. I know that a hospital is finally being built on the westside. The healthcare organizations have closed or sold their facilities in lower income areas. I agree the buildings are really nice. If you have to commute to work outside of downtown, it is very difficult.

@jackanapes1492

11 ай бұрын

This is something I wanted to make others aware of. Many years ago I lived in 40203 and it is really pretty. But. There is no grocery store nearby. They closed the Kroger in that area years ago.

@user-vc1ko1lb9t

8 ай бұрын

⁠​⁠@@jackanapes1492 I’ve commented a few times because of how misleading this is, and I would ask the video creator to investigate how these scores are calculated. Both of your comments are correct. I moved out of 40203 (walk score 96) because of lack of access to groceries and pharmacy. I moved to 40217 which scores lower at 66, but has far more crucial amenities. There’s few sidewalks in most of Louisville, and often times crosswalks aren’t painted in urban areas, along with having a higher incidence of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in these zip codes. The rents here might seem cheap, but our taxes, utility costs, car insurance, goods and services are above the national average.

I'm so happy to see my lovely neighborhood of 53212 Riverwest on this list! I lived there for 5 years, literally a block away from the example listing here. I can totally vouch for its affordably and walkability. 10 min walk from downtown, 10 min walk from a nature preserve, and wonderful small businesses all around. Very friendly place too. Milwaukee as a whole is so underrated!

@sammymarrco47

11 ай бұрын

Is crime something you have worry about there ?

@Brmlyklr

11 ай бұрын

@@sammymarrco47 yep

@albumanalysis939

11 ай бұрын

@@sammymarrco47 In parts of the neighborhood, yes. It's a downside of the area though I think it tends to get overblown as a bigger problem than it is. The north side of Milwaukee as a whole has its issues with crime. Just gotta be smart and careful at times.

@trashrabbit69

11 ай бұрын

Riverwest is such a nice area, it's shame the city has let it be relegated to such poor care for so long. There's a lot of similarly wonderfully walkable areas around downtown Milwaukee, Mitchell Street, Lincoln Village, even West Allis has done a lot of work to National Avenue to make it more bike and pedestrian friendly, mainly by reducing it from four lanes to two... which has helped a LOT compared to other major Milwaukee thoroughfares from being dominated by reckless drivers. In fact, I hope Milwaukee sees it as a wake-up call about the plague of through streets and stroads in its limits to help curtail the AWFUL drivers that have popped out of the city as of late.

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

Yeah, this is an area I've been to and I can say for 100% sure it's undervalued. Great city, too.

While Walk Score by itself can be good, it would have also been good to incorporate their transit and bike scores too. While living in these walkable neighborhoods is great, it doesn't help much if you still need a car to get to work (and the purpose of this video is to look at places you can be car-free). That would have probably eliminated places like Nederland without you needing to veto it as well.

@yungrichnbroke5199

11 ай бұрын

Depends on the person and the lifestyle. If you work from home and you have kids, their transportation is handled by the school bus and your walkability needs are just getting around the neighborhood.

@spookysenpai7642

11 ай бұрын

I think that Boulevards tend to be more walkable and economically efficient than a typical street suburb. As someone who lives by a Boulevard, it is not safe to walk and bike out, but it has a lot of amenities. This depends on how the Boulevards is designed, to begin with. It is only reliable if the Boulevard has a bus stop, bike lanes, sidewalks, affordable housing, and jobs available within less than a mile from where you live. Southeast Florida is liveable in comparison to other parts of country, but not as liveable as a New Jersey, New York Metro area suburb, especially Jersey City.

@AssBlasster

11 ай бұрын

You can just give up the big city too and move into a small walkable town where everything is reachable with a bike ride, like Athens Ohio. Most of these kind of cities are rural with lackluster transit. I live in a similar college town with a circulator bus but no intercity bus connections (outside of greyhound). An intercity bike trail makes this less painful though.

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

Just didn't want to overcomplicate it. But I will likely come back to this dataset with some new approaches!

Resident of Wyoming here! I don't live in Laramie-Cheyenne, but can confirm that several of our largest towns and cities are quite walkable. I walk to work every day (and handle virtually all of my errands by bike and on foot) and our neighborhoods are generally quite traffic-free. Kids often play baseball and basketball unsupervised in the streets without issue, and there are comparatively minimal urban cycling hazards thanks to a general stay-in-your-lane / keep-to-yourself sort of courtesy on the roads. Car traffic of any kind really only appears during tourism season, and following closures due to weather and road construction (which does happen quite often). Wyoming is a very empty state, for sure, and that does result in a lot of car-dependent travel between population centers (also high rates of DUIs, animal-vehicle collisions, etc), but I definitely see room to improve here. Plus, rumored extension of Amtrak service from Denver's Union Station and DIA to an old rail hub in Cheyenne (and maybe one day Casper) gives me a lot of hope. And yeah, being a socialist in “The Equality State” does, in fact, suck. Thanks for putting us on the map!

@jstnrgrs

11 ай бұрын

I read somewhere that Wyoming has the highest car to person ratio in the country. I'm guessing that comes from very rural areas though.

@pepsiplease69

11 ай бұрын

We don’t necessarily need to flip the senate seat in Wyoming. Just need to get Liz Cheney back

@GreatDahne

11 ай бұрын

@@jstnrgrs wouldn’t be surprised at that. we’re also notorious for using retired vehicles as free on-site secure storage… lots of our rural neighbors, especially, have front yards that look like overgrown scrapyards. not unique to Wyoming, sure, but I’d argue we do it best! we also have the highest firearms-to-people ownership ratio… I wonder if those two figures could be related somehow.

@sipes23

11 ай бұрын

You're right that there are some very walkable pockets here and there. Downtown Casper is also pretty good that way, but affordability is definitely linked to the state of mineral markets. We do have a lot of progress we need to make, but it would be awesome.

@GreatDahne

11 ай бұрын

@@sipes23 resoundingly so... such is the nature of a state economy overwhelmingly rooted in extraction and tourism. alas...

I live in Baltimore and am surprised we didn't make your affordable list! Gorgeous architecture, quirky charm, beautiful harbor and a REAL city. I went to college in Athens. That is a town in my book. Plus Baltimore is so accessible to other northeastern cities. Where oh where is Charm City?

@BfromSF

11 ай бұрын

@@jamesedwardelmore Anywhere close to DC will be ~40% more than Baltimore. I was specifically talking about Baltimore City.

@Brooklyn94269

10 ай бұрын

@@jamesedwardelmoreBaltimore you get similar housing stock as DC and the suburbs for approx 50% for the relative same type of neighborhood with good access to DC with it being 50min-1hr away depending on your travel time. Rush hour could be 1 hour 20 min. But. I love being in Bmore !

@sitdowndogbreath

4 ай бұрын

Give me NO hood which the city is, no wire drama and a easy gun carry permit and we'll CONSIDER that fleabag city.

Topic suggestion: can you talk about street parking and its impact on urbanism? In my opinion free overnight street parking amounts to a huge public subsidy for car ownership (basically giving you extra land but only letting you use it for a car). It also forces you to have wider streets which changes the entire character of a neighborhood. Providence, RI used to have no overnight street parking allowed anywhere in the city, although as I understand it they have recently started to allow people to buy overnight parking permits for some areas (essentially allowing you to rent a parking space for $100/year, which still feels pretty cheap).

@nipo2540

11 ай бұрын

My hometown (Kortrijk, Belgium) does this pretty well: each household gets one free parking permit in the residential zone they live in. Parking types are differentiated by colored parking spots: yellow for residential, green for free 30-minute parking and colorless for paid parking. If you have an extra car, you'll have to pay for another permit. Nonetheless, parking is free from 19:00 until 9:00, but if you have no permit and park in a yellow spot, you're going to get fined. Basically, if you have more than one car, you're going to be under constant pressure to either pay or not park until 19:00. And even in the latter case, you might struggle to find a spot you're allowed to park in. Right now, I live in a semi-dense neighborhood in the US. Some days I can't find parking at all because of neighbors inviting guests and whatnot. I feel like having purely residential parking spots would benefit the entire neighborhood. It would also make some people rethink having that second car. By the way, the streets in my neighborhood aren't that wide: parking on each side and only enough space on the road for one car to fit through at a time. Sucks if you're new to parallel parking, but it does make the street much more pleasant to live in :)

@elsenorgatito

11 ай бұрын

Yes, and i recently moved from Providence to St Louis. Providence is a horrible city to live in unless you make more than 80k or are a member of the BIPOCLGTBQIAA2S+ community in the service industry. It's tied with Boston for the 3rd most unaffordable city (income/rent) in the US. We have excellent food and art (shout-out to Nick a nees), but as a person who commuted by bike and foot for a year at a Rhode island factory, i couldn't do third shift at Rhode Island Hospital without a car (i often still commuted like this before i was fired over the vax mandate). The RIPTA 35 was basically outside my house and the RIPTA 78 was a 5 minute walk away. The last bus ran at 21:30.

@gars129

11 ай бұрын

My town tried parking meters, and businesses were affected. They took out the meters again, it got worse. Public transport and housing is necessary.

@josephfisher426

11 ай бұрын

Providence is almost all single-family construction, with rear or side parking... so that is how it works for them. Obviously that isn't the only way... I wouldn't attempt to have a car in Manhattan. But I also would be making a conscious choice to commit to "urbanism" in place of any other mode of existence, if I lived in Manhattan. I've always needed a car for work and to see the friends I wanted to see (a difficult thing to avoid in a large world). In most places to have no street parking would be sharply limiting appeal, in many cases to those who could afford onsite parking. And want it... I bought a house on a 20 foot wide one-way street with parking on both sides... the little yard was fenced and at the time the neighborhood was less popular, so I had neither the ability nor the need to park onsite. I thought the use of yards for parking was gauche. And so did the birds.

@jstnrgrs

11 ай бұрын

I've seen parking minimums defended since otherwise cars will overwhelm the available street spots. The idea that those free street spots don't have to be there never seems to be considered.

I love videos like this, and have fantasized about what would happen if 166,000 urbanists moved to Wyoming…at minimum, the two Senators would care a lot more about transit, zoning, and walkability

@maumor2

11 ай бұрын

Would that be considered gerrymandering?? 😅

@PolkCountyWIProgressive

11 ай бұрын

@@maumor2 You can’t gerrymander an at-large congressional district. The senate races are also at large. The most you could gerrymander is the state house and senate.

@rrsafety

11 ай бұрын

Sorry to tell you but there are many states with Democrat Senators and crappy transit.

@rrsafety

11 ай бұрын

@@maumor2No, it is not.

@maumor2

11 ай бұрын

@danielbittinat8915 there are currently 216,266 registered voters in Wyoming. You may not want to call it gerrymandering but we will flip two senate seats 😉

I've lived in 3 places in Columbia MO and those two zip codes you listed in St Louis MO but also CWE. I can confirm those are extremely bikable and walkable, and the Cherokee Street is particularly walkable, and also home to the Casa Loma ballroom!

@chadsdadbrad

11 ай бұрын

MIZ 🐯

@HeathBorders

11 ай бұрын

I lived in 4 places in 65201 and 1 place on the west side of town. When I was in 65201, I had a car, but only ever drove to the grocery store. When I was on the west side, I took the bus to Mizzou. I worked at Nebula on Cherokee street off and on for the last 10 years.

@starrwulfe

11 ай бұрын

@@chadsdadbrad ZOU!!

Speaking as a St. Louis native. Those zip codes mentioned are charming neighborhoods, but living car-free in STL is difficult. When you need to leave those neighborhood bubbles, the public transit is not ideal. My 4 mile commute to work would take over an hour via the public bus system vs a 15 minute drive in my car. And cycling here is really scary with our high pedestrian death rate and little to no bike lanes.

I really enjoy these, but I think it's important to remember that affordability is determined by rent to income ratio and most people's incomes are variable based on location. I'd love to see a similar top 10 list after adjusting for median local income.

I like this concept but in practice, one of the reasons a lot of these areas are quite cheap is due to the lack of jobs nearby. I live in Forest Grove, Oregon, which is fairly walkable for a good chunk of it's land due to Pacific University being here, however you absolutely have to own a car to get anywhere for work because there are like 3 jobs making over 30K a year here. Could you perhaps do a video where that's incorporated somewhat? It's easy to live car-free in NYC because you have transit that can get you to another borough for work if you need, but I can't go without a car here in Forest Grove because if I want a higher-paying job at Nike or Intel to afford things other than rent, I need to drive. Thanks, and stay sarcastic.

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

All the jobs are at McMenamins

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

MAX extension to Cornelius and Forest Grove is in the long terms plans but I doubt I'll see it in my lifetime! Good points.

@HomeWorkouts_LS

11 ай бұрын

Yeah I kept thinking, a lot of these are cheap for a reason.

@nathanyoung8284

11 ай бұрын

@@CityNerd Someone has to make those tots! And yes, I agree that a MAX rail expansion would be good, however the blue rail line is already quite long and takes an age to get anywhere. From Hatfield to the Moda center is approaching 2 hours, not including the drive time from Hatfield. I would love to see an extension of the rail line regardless, but they recently paved over the train tracks over by McMenamins so I doubt it's gonna happen.

@PolkCountyWIProgressive

11 ай бұрын

@@CityNerd Yeah - the Blue line from Hillsboro is already impossibly long to downtown Portland. From Forest Grove would be eternity.

I would love to see a video on the top 10 most wheelchair and ADA accessible cities in North America. this would benefit many people in dire needs of the amenities different cities offer. Maybe even do a top 10 least accessible cities. there are many horror stories of what some cities offer as accessibility. longtime watcher Please consider

Born and raised in Lexington -- It's surprisingly walkable/bikeable for a midwestern town, and has only gotten better. About a decade ago, they passed a special tax on vacant / abandoned properties (using water records to determine properties that haven't had water service in 12+ months). This spurred a LOT of renovations and infill development in and around downtown. They've got a lot of urban trails and decent bike lanes, and a master plan to build out an entire network within the next decade. University of Kentucky is the largest employer in town, and is right next to downtown proper. It's all super walkable, decent schools, low crime, decent cost of living, and decent wages. Other cities I've got a lot of experience in: Downtown Louisville has some good pockets, but a lot of rough areas as well. The south end of downtown, between downtown and campus, is going through a whole gentrification process. Lots of beautiful old victorians. Memphis has a lot going for it, but high crime in a lot of areas, and freeways totally surrounding downtown. Plus there's the giant pyramid. The area around campus looks nice and walkable, but you won't want to be out after dark. St. Louis has a great urban fabric, and is definitely an underrated gem. Just stay west of the river.

I always love to see St. Louis on these lists!! I live just a zip code over from 63118, and man do I love Cherokee Street. Tower Grove has been my closest park for a year now, and between the mature trees, the now-antique fake ruins, and the eclectic collection of 150-year-old pavilions, let alone the farmer's market and steady stream of festivals, it's just an urbanist's dream. I'm moving away to be closer to family in Michigan, and while I'm excited for even CHEAPER small-town housing, I'm also going to be missing my adopted city something fierce. You really can't overhype St. Louis for affordable urban living.

@elheffe2597

11 ай бұрын

St. Louis would be one of the best cities in the nation if they got their gun violence under control.

@Monaleenian

11 ай бұрын

St. Louis has a per capita murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate of 66.07 per 100,000 people; the highest among the 100 most populous cities in the US! It has the fourth-highest robbery rate and the third-highest rate of aggravated assault! There's a reason that it's affordable! The murder rate is worse than even the most violent countries on Earth!

@swansabijr

11 ай бұрын

@@elheffe2597 It's admittedly not great, but it's also not as bad as the statistics make it look. There are unique-ish historical reasons for this, primarily that the city and county formally separated in, what, the 1870s, I think? At any rate, a long time ago, and so the city limits have stayed put for a century and a half instead of expanding into the metro area like nearly every other city in the country has. Take that weird fact, plus the fact that the nearby "suburbs" (that would be part of the city proper in any other situation) have been growing significantly while the city has been shrinking, plus historical reasons for certain neighborhoods in the city proper being particularly crime-ridden (thank you ever so much for screwing over whole demographics, red-lining...), and you get a pretty skewed perspective. If you look at metro-level data, St. Louis is still not great, but in violent crime it's comparable to Nashville or Little Rock. crimegrade.org/violent-crime-st-louis-mo-metro/

@rexx9496

11 ай бұрын

How is the music scene in STL? Do they regularly get tours from large as well as indie artists?

@Turk380

11 ай бұрын

@@rexx9496 yes. both.

Not surprised to see Milwaukee here. We moved here two years ago for work and love it. Riverwest, east side, Bay View, it's a great city that seems to get heavily overlooked.

I moved to 73106 in Oklahoma City about a year ago. I can confirm that it's very walkable and bikeable when the weather is nice. It's awesome apart from the 2-3 months in summer when it's 100+ F and humid. Not walking anywhere in that.

@massiminitrains

11 ай бұрын

I lived in 73106 for a year and it was great. Where I lived (NW 12th & Classen) was walkable to downtown, the library, and civic center in 20 minutes but also a 10-15 minute walk for groceries at Homeland or restaurants along 10th St. If you haven't tried Hall's Pizza, I highly recommend it. A bit expensive, but they make great pies. Make sure to get their secret sauce for dipping the crust.

St. Louis really is criminally underrated. Crazy affordable. Lots of lovely old brick buildings. The best barbecue I've ever had. The Missouri Botanical Gardens is absolutely beautiful. My wife and I would have had our wedding there if not for the pandemic. One of my favorite US city flags too. The only reason I don't live there already is that it's in friggin' Missouri. Right next to IL but... ugh. I just can't.

@matthensle9391

11 ай бұрын

I'm from Illinois. It would be really hard for me to move to a red state. At least cannabis has gone legal for full rec use in Missouri. And Missouri has a lot of natural beauty, but the politics definitely suck..

@tbillroth

11 ай бұрын

Remember Missouri used to be a bellweather state. Bush carried Missouri by 3% in 2000, and Trump won by 15% in 2020. The population growth is mostly in the red areas around St Louis and Kansas City. There are lots of reasons people have been fleeing St Louis, including incompetent political leadership

@davidneman6527

11 ай бұрын

I agree with what you say. But I am not sure that livable housing in 38118 is as affordable as CN"s statistics imply. My brother lives in the zip code and has found housing far more expensive than the statistics imply. Parts of 38118 have a lot of substandard housing, and there are a number of streets that are overwhelmed by crime. CN's rental sample looks nice enough (like my brother's place, in fact), but it may have problems inside or be on a high-crime street.

@samuelskillern7365

11 ай бұрын

CWE and Midtown are cool and walkable.

@StLouis-yu9iz

11 ай бұрын

Well if more urbanist minded people move to Missouri we can change the state government. Thanks for the compliments though! ;]

I love to see St. Louis on this list. I feel it is one of the most underrated cities in the country, largely due to the crime statistics. But I still love it. The architecture, the neighborhoods, the affordability, some of the best free and cheap entertainment in the country, a big sports community, a pretty great rising food and arts scene, amazing outdoor nature activities in a reasonable driving distance, four seasons. I'm a big proponent of the city.

@andrejka_talking_out_loud

11 ай бұрын

how is the mentally ill drug addicted homeless situation in St Louis?

@999spot5

11 ай бұрын

​@@andrejka_talking_out_loudbad like every other city in the country

@ramencurry6672

10 ай бұрын

@@andrejka_talking_out_loudSt. Louis is basically a ghost town. For middle of America Midwest standard it might be normal….. But in comparison to East Coast city standard it’s a very empty city and very lame. However it does have a subjectively unique charm to it in some ways.

What is missing from this video-essay, is any exploration of "Why" rents in these locations seem to be low. I get that they all have walkability appeal, but if rents are low, there's likely some reason for that. Have you considered looking at other stats? Violent crime prevalence is one that could be a factor in some of these cases.

@andsh3was

11 ай бұрын

This is the first thing that came to mind during the Memphis segment. That neighborhood used to be a lot of fun, but when the Memphis College of Art was closed the crime rate started riding to the usual Memphis levels...

St. Paul, St. Louis, and Milwaukee are good candidates if you live in the Midwest, especially with their big city status and transit. If I had to move to there, I'd probably choose Milwaukee because of it's proximity to Chicago. About ZIP Code 10001 in New York; if you go back some 20-30 years, it probably wouldn't have been the most expensive. What really drove it up was the Hudson Yards development. That area (especially by the river) was comparitively more quiet than central Midtown.

@andrewmasin5787

11 ай бұрын

Go back 50 years, and it was considered a slum, "Hell's Kitchen".

@richardhaas39

11 ай бұрын

@@andrewmasin5787 Also there were a lot of SRO (Single Room Occupancy) hotels by the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Irrelevant, I suppose, but there were also SRO hotels in the Far Rockaways. Live cheap on the beach.

I had no idea till I visited how cool a place Louisville KY is.. incredible architectural infrastructure. Literally dozens of historic downtown areas. Bakeries breweries farmers markets.... College town, art, culture..

@Joshisepic2222

11 ай бұрын

I live in Louisville, what was your favorite part of the city?

@tallyrc

11 ай бұрын

@@Joshisepic2222 I'm an architecture fan. I love love love old homes and buildings. Y'all have more cool old neighborhoods (both modest and way up scale) than I ever imagined. If I win lotto I'm buying as many of those cool old buildings I can afford and fixing them up.. if you had mountains I'd live there.. be proud of that city. Everywhere has problems but you have a lot to be proud of..

I am quite familiar with Athens OH since my fiancee has been living there for 2 years now. As people from California we were sort of worried about what it would be like when she moved there but we have absolutely loved Athens during her time there. Not only do you get a lot for what you pay for (including some of the best bagels anywhere), but the town itself is in beautiful surroundings and has way more interest than a small town would suggest. I live in Washington DC now and still enjoy my visits to Athens whenever I can.

@LeeHawkinsPhoto

11 ай бұрын

Athens is awesome! It’s about 3 hours from me in Cleveland, but it’s a great place for good food and brews for sure! It’s also right next to the Hocking Hills…best hiking in the state, some places make you feel like you’re in Tolkien’s Rivendell.

@kaymart8703

11 ай бұрын

I agree 100% - I lived in Athens as an OU student + then stuck around for a while post-graduation. Had no trouble living relatively well on a part-time barista/punk bandmember salary. Worked on the corner of Court + Union (arguably the "center" of Athens). The job + all needs/amenities were within walking distance from my house on Grosvenor. I couldn't complete my everyday "commute" without encountering at least two acquaintances + saying a quick "hello" along the way. I found that to have a profoundly positive impact on the ol' mental health/wellbeing, especially compared to what happens during one's commute when one moves to a place like Los Angeles (where I currently live). Overall, I found Athens to basically be the best small town one could ever imagine + can honestly say that living there was the happiest I've ever been

@LeeHawkinsPhoto

11 ай бұрын

@@kaymart8703 it sure seemed like a great town any of the times we’ve visited. I’d love to run across friendly neighbors…it’s not something that happens much in the outer burbs where I live. I would move to urban neighborhood in a heartbeat were it not better where we are for my wife’s work. We are still walking distance to a lot here still though. It’s just not as nice as a more urban-style area like even Wellington was…which is the nice little town I grew up in about 30 miles away in Southern Lorain County. It’s just south of another great small college town, Oberlin, up here in Northeast Ohio.

Always surprised Wilmington Delaware isn't there, it is very walkable and also very affordable. With a walk score of 95

@RacksonRacksonRibss

11 ай бұрын

Has Wilmington changed much? I grew up there and haven’t been back for a proper visit in about 15 years (went to city school there as a youth which was kinda rough)

Love this as all your content. Fun idea - talk to someone who is an instructor of the visually impaired (VI instructor) or Orientation Mobility specialist (OM). I don't know how you'd meet one, but I got into urbanism due to having degenerative vision issues and that seems like a fun topic for the urbanist space. Really pulling accessibility into the urbanism discussion may help our urbanism onward.

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

Oh, I've done this kind of tour as part of a planning project I worked on, where we really wanted to understand the urban experience of the visually impaired as part of developing the project goals and objectives. Really a different perspective, quite literally!

Topic Suggestion: most architecturally/aesthetically beautiful walkable neighborhoods in the USA. A focus on the “visually interesting” part of what makes a place walkable.

@andrejka_talking_out_loud

11 ай бұрын

the globalists watching will then take this on what inspiriting historic architecture to destroy and build industrial brutalist structures in its' place

@Joshisepic2222

11 ай бұрын

Old Louisville definitely would score well there

There has been a lot of debate about a June bounce and the possibility that some equities could see significant increase this time of year. I regrettably lack precise knowledge on the equities that might be at risk. I do know that you recently sold your Boca Grande residence and that you are considering making a lump-sum stock market investment before any prospective upturn. Given that market conditions can be unpredictable, it might be difficult to say whether now is a good moment to buy. To get specific advice based on your unique situation and goals, it may be helpful to speak with an expert in finance.

@DonhlmMark

11 ай бұрын

The truth is that nobody has all the solutions. Establishing your own procedures, managing risk wisely, and sticking to your plan are imperatives no matter what the situation. To do this, you must be willing to learn from your errors and continually refine your strategy.

@micheal_hughes

11 ай бұрын

Andrew Glenn Adams exhibits a thorough knowledge of his profession. I was actually impressed after finding his website page and carefully going through his qualifications, education, and background. Knowing that he functions as a fiduciary, ensuring that he acts in my best interest, is comforting. You will find him on the internet.

@DylanJReecee

11 ай бұрын

@@micheal_hughes Thank you for this!!

Funny you mention Athens, I’m from Cleveland and would visit friends at OU (Athens) when I was in college, and every time I drove down I would park my car at their house and not move it again until I left. The city is amazingly walkable/dense and feels distinctively “Appalachian” in a way I can’t describe, if “Appalachian urbanism” could be described as it’s own category, but I think it’s truly a model for what good small town urbanism can look like. Happy to see it on the list, Thanks Ray

Yay! I found a guy who likes St. Louis as much as I do! I truly think it's an underrated city.

With regards to the Wyoming politics thing, I looked it up and sure enough Wyoming’s voting base is small enough that this channel’s subscriber base could plausibly flip the state’s political lean. Despite winning 72.9% of the US Senate vote in 2020, Cynthia Lummis’s margin was only 125,334 votes over her opponent Merav Ben-David

@goldenstarmusic1689

11 ай бұрын

I think we know what we must do. We will build the City Nerd Republic of Wyoming.

@moosesandmeese969

11 ай бұрын

“Only 125,000 votes.” Wyoming has a population just under 600,000 so that’s about 1/4th of the population, likely closer to 1/3-1/2 of the voting population. Kind of doubtful unless he becomes a major influence over Wyoming. Many more populous states’ elections are decided by a much smaller margin

@justagiraffe2868

11 ай бұрын

@@moosesandmeese969 oh yes absolutely the state’s population is far greater, my hypothetical assumed Wyoming voters don’t increase their rate and that CityNerd people vote at a vastly above national average rate. Also yes I recognize that many state elections are tighter than 125,000, but in many other states 125,000 is far from a landslide like it is in Wyoming

@linuxman7777

11 ай бұрын

I vote Peoples Party/Socialist and reject lesser of 2 evilsism and hate thy neighbors politics of recent years, So me moving to Wyoming wont change anything.

@jhonshephard921

11 ай бұрын

@@linuxman7777 look, I am a socialist myself but you need to be practical about voting. Its fine to throw away your vote in general elections in hard blue or hard red states but depending on where else you live, you might have cause Bobo the clown to get back int office considering how thin her margin was

Looks like good places to wean yourself off of car dependence (which there's a great need for).

Oh wow, I used to live in that part of Milwaukee. But I moved out because there were too many shootings... :(

I went to Oklahoma and Texas and was shocked that it was more walkable than many places in Michigan. They absolutely make it impossible to walk anywhere in Michigan and it's disgusting. A doctor near where I live was killed in his neighborhood because it didn't have any sidewalks and a car hit him. Instead of obsessing with mandating electric cars everywhere, why not focus on public transit and sidewalks first? They should be mandatory in every neighborhood, for starters. Also, I'm from the Caribbean and the claim that mass transit can't be done here is total BS. If relatively poor nations can do it, the US can.

@BigFemto1

11 ай бұрын

I’m surprised to hear someone say that somewhere else is more walkable than OK and TX lol. Currently living in OKC and been to DFW and Austin multiple times I’ve felt OK sidewalk infrastructure has a long ways to go still but progress is progress I guess

@dickriggles942

11 ай бұрын

@@BigFemto1 Compared to Michigan, it's way better. But I'm obviously not, repeat, NOT saying it's the world standard. They didn't make it difficult to walk places. Michigan's auto industry makes walking and mass transit very hostile to pedestrians. Just to compare, go to Detroit, then go across the border to Windsor. It's more walkable, there is more mass transit and the people are even happier.

@josephfisher426

11 ай бұрын

@@dickriggles942 "Happier" than Detroit doesn't sound like a high bar! To me Windsor seems "normal." But much like for the Detroit side, it was a planning-intensive bus ride to get to/from the train station.

@chrisbunka

11 ай бұрын

@@dickriggles942Agreed. I find Midtown Detroit and the Campus Martius area walkable; but even getting around in Detroit is a hassle.

@markweaver1012

11 ай бұрын

"They absolutely make it impossible to walk anywhere in Michigan and it's disgusting." That's really not true. Ann Arbor is walkable (downtown gets a 99) but too expensive for this list. So is Traverse City (but probably too small a metro and also too pricey). I'm half surprised no Grand Rapids zip code made the cut. Holland (around downtown and Hope College) is walkable. There's a retirement community in downtown Holland that might be about my top choice if, god forbid, I ever found myself relegated to one of those places. If you're willing to put up with a bit more 'grit', you might consider downtown Lansing and Kalamazoo, too (along with some neighborhoods in Detroit with walks scores above 70).

I’ll never get tired of the STL content.

I work in have a degree and work in urban planning. Something Ive always wished you covered is a video of top ten Company towns or Master Planned communities. Or even the top ten Midwestern cities at their height (of quality of urbanism). Although that one may be too depressing. I've always wondered how much it would be to build a 100X25 historic main street Americana structure in today's dollars; it's a hard answer to find. Growing up in Indianapolis, its always been the dream of mine to rebuild exactly what once was 1880-1930.

I love the different videos you’ve done on underrated, affordable urban cities, neighborhoods, and zip codes. If you’re still trying to figure out where you live in the U.S., I think it would be awesome if you lived in one for a while e.g. Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, etc.

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

Stay tuned!

Between 2015-2021, lived in a 2BR in Bridgeport, Chicago (near south side neighborhood) for $745/mo. Apartment was nice enough and the neighborhood was very safe. Reasonably walkable, same neighborhood where the Sox play. Don’t know of an equivalent neighborhood amongst the largest American cities

@matthensle9391

11 ай бұрын

I lived in Bridgeport from about 2008-2015, and it was one of the best times of my life. Walked to Sox games, restaurants, bars, stores, and had a VERY awesome 3BR, 2BA apartment with roommates and paid between $350-550 each, depending whether we had 2 or 3 of us living there at the time. Those were the days! Then I moved to Oak Park for 4 years and paid $650 for a very big studio that felt more like a 1BR, and loved it there as well. I was kina surprised no Chicago neighborhoods made this list. I might have bumped my walkability criteria up to and index of 80 or more and only included states where cannabis is legal. Ha.

@Pieman62295

11 ай бұрын

Bridgeport has gotten trendy, I don't know if that's attainable anymore. It's a great area though.

Another instant classic CityNerd video. I have family members who lives in Athens, OH and they love it. It's very much small town living compared to urban living, though.

@burntnougat5341

11 ай бұрын

It's a college town

@LeeHawkinsPhoto

11 ай бұрын

Thing is, small town living is more like urban living than suburban living if you’re in the right part of town. The same things make it great, though in a major metro you have all the things that come with that. I grew up in a small town in NE Ohio that really has good urban bones in the center. I wish rather than plopping car-oriented retail on the outskirts that they’d expanded downtown or created another one…but at least the center is quite walkable.

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

I should do something with small towns at some point. It's probably not for me personally, as far as a long-term place to live, but I enjoy visiting them and can understand why they're a viable choice for some people. And small town urbanism can be very cool!

@burntnougat5341

11 ай бұрын

@@LeeHawkinsPhoto urbanism isn't always the answer. The reason why people move to small towns is to get away from the city and have a greater sense of community among your neighbors. Not to mention less crime and liberal brain rot. Ohioan love their cars and bikes.

@LeeHawkinsPhoto

11 ай бұрын

@@burntnougat5341 Ohioans are mostly _forced_ to use cars, and they would love to be able to use bikes more safely. The little town I grew up near had zero bicycle infrastructure, and honestly since it was a waypoint on a couple of major state highways, it was rather hostile to bicyclists. There is plenty of room in the right of way to change that…hopefully one day ODOT will see the sense in protected bike lanes and the village will see the sense in making downtown more friendly to bikes so they can enjoy it more safely. As for urbanism…little towns in Ohio are often fantastic examples of GREAT urbanism! It’s a huge fallacy that urbanism only happens/needs to happen in big cities and major metros. Truth be told, wherever you have some good dense walkable development, you’ve got good urbanism. Lots of people are familiar with Put-In-Bay…that’s honestly good urbanism…it’s mostly bike friendly, cars in the dense parts have no room to drive fast, and it’s also pedestrian-friendly with plenty within walking distance. The centers of small towns and cities like Wooster, Norwalk, Medina, Chardon, Oberlin, Wellington, Ashland, Mt. Vernon, Delaware, Garrettsville, and a whole bunch of others are all great examples of urbanism…the only major problem in most of them is that supermarkets that used to be located in or near the center of town moved to the outskirts…otherwise these communities would be excellent places to live car-free or even mostly car-free so long as employment can be found, which is a lot easier with WFH. The entire town doesn’t have to be anti-car, I don’t think that’s a realistic thing anyway…but we can take space from cars to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, and to reduce road noise…especially in communities that already have a decent bypass. There really is no reason why urbanism can’t work in small towns-because it already does. We just need to make or keep it viable, because you’re absolutely right…not everyone wants to live in a major metro. There are plenty of people across the political spectrum who benefit and want good urbanism. Seniors especially benefit, since they don’t need to leave their community or even move as they age in order to stay independent. Kids gain the same independence without having to wait until their 16 and can afford the expenses of being a young driver. Even working age adults benefit because if they live in a walkable small town, they don’t need to worry about drinking and driving from the bar…another win for everyone.

I've lived in the Old Louisville neighborhood you featured. Beautiful Victorian homes and an Olmstead-designed central park with summer outdoor Shakespeare series every year. Some sketchy blocks especially at night, just know where you're going.

Thanks, CityNerd, for mentioning Lexington KY and Pittsburgh. I’m considering applying to U of Kentucky for 2nd bachelors so this info is very useful. I found downtown Pittsburgh to be such a lovely walk in 2017.

I lived in 63118 near Cherokee St for many years. I always called it little Austin. Happy to see it represented!

This channel is quickly becoming a St. Louis fan page, and as an STL native, I'm 100% here for it

Cheyenne could be a very nice place(except it does get very windy there) if it would be connected to Denver's transit system.

Not surprised to see South Side Flats on here at all! It's such a dynamic neighborhood. People only really know it for the nightlife, but it's got all the amenities you could want pretty much with beautiful affordable housing

BRO. I LIVE IN 65201. AND I'M FROM ST. LOUIS. My cities took the #1 and #2 spots in an Urbanism channel! Not so sure about the entire city, but downtown and campus are definitely very walkable. They basically merge into one another. There are also a ton of really nice biking/hiking/walking trails in and around CoMo (MKT Trail, Katy Trail to name the most popular) and the long term plan is to connect all of them to create one large biking loop around and through the city. The one Urbanism downside worth mentioning is that public transit is not good. The buses only come every 45 minutes, and they don't run after 5:00pm and not at all on weekends.

@geisaune793

11 ай бұрын

I'm gonna continue this novel in the replies and explain why I think St. Louis tends to punch above its weight in urbanist measures: Part of it could simply be because for decades StL was one of the five biggest cities in the country and was building and developing like it was. But it could also be because StL is an independent city. StL City separated from StL County in 1876 which permanently restricted the physical size of the city. Despite that, the population continued to grow to over 800k and StL had a pop. density close to present-day Chicago before finally starting to decline in the post-war decades. There was a very extensive streetcar network and everything. For over 70 years, the city had to build and develop for a very dense population, but even though the pop. has declined to 300k since then, all the walkable, transit-oriented "bones" are still there. So I think that's why the city of StL seems show up on a lot of your top-10 lists. And because of all that, I also think that StL has more potential than many other sprawling US cities to shed its car-dependency.

"What could possibly be better than St. Louis, Missouri, you ask?" cracked up this St. Louisan. I actually looked at the apartment at 3455 Crittenden in 2013. Very nice, but I chose another flat in Tower Grove South, 1 mile away, and have been happily ensconced for the past decade.

I saw a “fantasy” map with the NYC subway expanded out in all directions. It got me thinking, maybe you can do an alternate history style series along the lines of “what if US cities had stellar public transportation”. That is a bottomless content barrel

@colormedubious4747

11 ай бұрын

That fantasy transit barrel is already pretty full here on YT. Everyone seems to overlook the fact that highlighters are cheap, but a few millimeters of ink on a map represents hundreds of millions of dollars in the REAL world.

Big ups for featuring 63118 in STL. Cherokee Street is a gem.

Riverwest in Milwaukee is on my 'possibly move to' list when I retire. Great area, very walkable.

I love this kind of content. I'm hoping to move somewhere else and urbanism + affordability + being car-light is high on my list of priorities. Very useful content. Thanks!

I live in the south side flats. $875 a month gets me a recently renovated 1-bed with AC, laundry, dishwasher and a private patio/yard that is less than a 5 minute walk to a grocery store, pharmacy, bank and several restaurants and is a 15 minute bike ride along a quiet Riverfront trail to downtown. Quality of life here is incredible, and cheap rent + no car = tons of disposable income to save, travel and enjoy life. I'd love to live in a bigger, "more exciting" city but man it's hard to justify the downgrade in accommodation and/or increase in rent I'd have to take on to make that happen

the Southside of Pittsburgh is a great place. My first apartment was down there. Paid $650 for a 1.5 bedroom in 2016. Just avoid East Carson St after midnight on a Friday/Saturday and you’ll be good

Bravo awesome episode. Great data, terrific eye candy. Finding hidden gems is always satisfying.

Besides being a mile or so southwest of the heart of Soulard, that stretch of Cherokee is maybe a mile east of the similarly great main street of South Grand. Love that this channel continues to give STL its deserved urbanist flowers.

Love your videos but, tell me, have you ever done one about best urbanist places to retire? I'd imagine something like this video but perhaps with healthcare, airport access, and temperate weather factored in. Keep up the good work!

Fantastic as per usual. This is one of the highlights of my Wednesday every week!

i appreciate ur chillness my dude. youtubers can be so over the top and you let the content speak

I would love to see a list of the most affordable places families can live without a car if there are any major differences between that list and this list

@CASEMSTR

11 ай бұрын

I like this. Something where you have to have like, ~1500 sq feet and 2 bedrooms minimum. Maybe a local park or a yard too. Decent schooling. That could get really complex

@blores95

11 ай бұрын

I feel like a lot of urbanism content I see is either for single people or childless couples so I feel like this is a glaring omission in the movement. I don't need to live in an area with 8 bars and restaurants to choose from, I'd like an area with parks and schools and common areas that families could hang out at. (I also don't drink so the obsession with bars gets really old when I hear about how awesome an area is).

@danielkelly2210

11 ай бұрын

@@blores95 I feel a lot of urbanists think selling urbanism to families is too much of an uphill battle. In the US it's considered pretty much impossible to raise kids in anything but a detached home with a yard.

@robbruce2128

11 ай бұрын

That is an interesting follow-up. Can you live in an affordable area where you can get your kids to a decent school without a car. 15,000 bonus points if it's not a private school costing $15,000+ per year . . .

@matthewbrach4922

11 ай бұрын

@@danielkelly2210 don't forgot a lot of families think they need a full bedroom for each kid, plus a dedicated playroom, office, etc etc.

Given how most folks are often region-bound, would love to see this same metric applied across the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Midwest, etc. with maybe a top three for each

I'm moving to Athens for grad school soon. I threw my hands up in ecstasy when it was mentioned lol.

Thanks for this! So glad you included Louisville. I don’t live there, but we often go to the Pandora Theater, which is very close to your pick!

My sister moved from San Fransisco to work in Athens, Ohio for a bit. Suddenly she could afford a whole apartment again rather than a room lol

Something I find interesting from the video...the nicer neighborhoods tend to have smaller offsets. It's crazy how much wasted space is wasted on large offsets in modern cities.

@matthensle9391

11 ай бұрын

We call it "setbacks" as land surveyors in Chicago, but every now and then we come across a block with deep setbacks, and it always feels so foreign, like not Chicago.

Really liked this! I appreciate seeing the zip codes and actual available properties in the zip code to get an idea. I am looking to relocate as middle age person who has never moved out of my state but, want some urbanism and walkability along with culture etc., I am in a wide open storage state right now

The work you put into these videos is awesome. Thanks so much!

I’d love a video on college towns specifically, like New Brunswick, NJ, Bloomington Indiana, etc

I worked for 4 years in columbia missouri, it was a really great experience and a town that had great food, bars, and oddly nice hiking oaths and bike paths all around town. it sits on the state "Katy trail" and you can just walk right off campus and head out for as far as you wan tot walk, ride, or CCski in the winter. My sweet spot has always been small college towns, and columbia missouri has been one of my favorites. You just have to disregard that a hour away is the state capitol where they pass some of the worst laws in the country. so there is that.....

Re: Baltimore I’ve lived in that neighborhood for three years and I love it so much. Amtrak, light rail, and commuter rail in walking distance. GORGEOUS architecture. Awesome cocktail bars and restaurants. No complaints.

Ok same guy who used to go to Nederland. I used to live in Louisville and Lexington. Infact I used to live in that building on 4th st! Downtown Louisville is pretty rough. Traditionally 4th street was fun but post covid it is dead. Look at Frankfurt Ave in Louisville, or St. Matthew's can walk to many bars, restaraunts, grocery stores.

We lived in the St Louis area for many years. Tower Grove Park is close to the Missouri Botanical Garden (aka Shaw's Garden), which is a wonderful destination in its own right. We still go there at least once a year. Lots of interesting places nearby to grab lunch. Meander on over to Ices Plain and Fancy, which uses liquid nitrogen to make frozen treats to order. They have an entire "boozy" menu as well; when you're dealing with liquid nitrogen, ANYTHING can be frozen. We moved to Columbia a couple years ago. It is a wonderful town. We're not in the downtown zip code, and there is less walkability in our immediate area, but the bike trail network in place, and the evolution of / expansions to it are wonderful. You will find a lot of people on bikes, not just college students. Oh, and there's at least three colleges here, MU being the largest.

I’m a native car-free resident of 65201. Great town, not what I would call walkable at all.

@Truman5555

11 ай бұрын

As a Mizzou Grad, it is very walkable. And the city bus is actually very useful to get around as well. And alot of the Apt. Complexes on the outskirts have shuttles to campus as well.

@michaelvickers4437

11 ай бұрын

I guess if you didn't mind the hubub of Mizzou all around you, Columbia could be a nice place to kick back and live in a small, walkable area. I would have thought that student pricing might make rental housing expensive or prone to being rundown. And I wonder how welcome a Black person who isn't associated with the university (or even one that is) would be if they just decided they wanted to live in Columbia because it was inexpensive and walkable? Is it possible for lower-income Black people to move from expensive, big city areas to these inexpensive smaller cities or inexpensive parts of larger cities?

@NicksDynasty

11 ай бұрын

Exactly I went to school there and most of the student complexes are far from the university. They did have shuttles. East campus and downtown are walkable but the other housing stock is not

@TheKeksadler

11 ай бұрын

@@michaelvickers4437 Missouri is about 12% Black and Columbia itself is about 11%. You will always have the racist types in places, but I'd say most people would get along just fine - especially if moving to the more diverse neighborhoods.

@starrwulfe

11 ай бұрын

@@michaelvickers4437 Black guy and former Mizzou student here; Colombia was a great place to attend university, and ironically the only place where I was openly called the N word by a jeep full of hillbillies probably from the Ozarks or something-- right on Stadium and Rollins coming back from Brady Hall (yes the experience is frozen into my mind). BUT-- before I could even piece together what was happening, other students I was walking with at the time started beating on their car and breaking stuff-- most of 'em were white and didn't even know me except my floormate (and we're still BFF 30 years later). So in my mind, Colombia was where I learned MOST people are good and don't take that BS. I think deep down, it may have changed my outlook on people.

Great video as always! Thank you

Love that Riverwest neighborhood ended up on list! I live in RW and love it. Moved here from Denver 3 years ago, and pay significantly less in rent! The neighborhood is definitely walkable and has all necessities close by (grocery store, coffee shops, restaurants, etc.) a bike expands your reach even more. There is not large big box stores like target or Walmart in walking distance but they aren’t far and the bus is easy enough to take.

As a University of Kentucky alumnus, I'm happy about the Lexington representation on this list. The rest of the city isn't as nice from an urbanist standpoint (if you're a masochist, try biking adjacent to Nicholasville Rd for 3+ miles just to realize that there's no way to cross New Circle), but living in Huntsville really makes me miss it sometimes. You could at least theoretically walk most places there, which puts it well into the upper half of mid-sized American cities.

@user-vc1ko1lb9t

8 ай бұрын

I’m a Louisville resident and I was surprised to see two cities in Kentucky listed here. Most areas are without side walks, and there’s very few crosswalks painted even in downtown. Our public transit is very limited and it’s rare to not own a car due to food deserts. We do have stunning architecture and parks, but sadly cars are required to experience most of it.

Cheyenne WY. looks interesting, but baby it's COLD there in winter.

I am a Mizzou alum! I lived in the heart of downtown (2 min walk to campus) in a beautiful historic building for $375/month. So glad to see it top the list!

Lexington is great! Louisville is nice too. Kentucky is surprisingly satisfying to live in if you're looking at the bigger cities. The rest of the state is very rural though.

My hometown is Nederland, TX (your second pronunciation was correct). The veto was a good call. While I was able to safely ride my bicycle from one end of town to the other my entire childhood, and it is indeed quite affordable, it’s still very much as car centric as the rest of the state. I’ll spare you my gripes with how much I dislike my hometown, but I can say with a high degree of certainty that moving away was the best decision of my life.

@perrondenais684

11 ай бұрын

Certainly a sentiment consistent with most small Texas towns!

@daanvandoesum3679

11 ай бұрын

Do you, perchance, know what the history is behind it being called Nederland? Its kinda strange seeing the dutch spelling of the netherlands randomly in a small Texas town.

@ERock6662

11 ай бұрын

@@daanvandoesum3679Hi. Just now seeing this comment. The only thing I know is that it was first settled by some Dutch families. The area is quite swampy, so maybe it reminded the settlers of their home and the name just stuck. The connection to the Netherlands isn’t really prominent anymore these days, aside from a replica windmill in the downtown area.

As a St. Pauler, I'm pleased to see "America's Most Livable City" (municipal slogan) on the list. As a former Metro Transit bus driver who frequently drove routes through the Payne Phalen neighborhood, that diversity and affordability comes with a catch. Crime. Granted, the Payne Phalen crime rate isn't as high as North Minneapolis, but it's certainly not a place you want to walk the streets alone at night unless you're a black belt in Karate.

@Queque2524

10 ай бұрын

I live off of Maryland and I hear the police go by constantly. There have been several petty crime incidents since I lived here, my neighbor had his motorcycle and truck stolen, and I had a bicycle stolen from my garage. There was a teenager murdered a couple of blocks from me. I agree at night especially you need to have situational awareness, but Phalen isn't even close to some of the places I have lived before. I do agree with the citynerd you could live here without a car. It is one of the reasons I choose to live here. Aldi and Cub are about 1.5 miles from the location he listed. There are a lot of independent grocery stores in walking distance and a hardware store. You can take the Bruce Vento trail downtown or to Costco and Menards pretty safely. You can even get to FleetFarm by bike if you take the gateway state trail. Unfortunately, the only general store like Target or Walmart is Dollar General. They are building a network of even more bike trails, but that is a multiyear project so it will be getting better. I do wish they would expand the LRT eastward.

Just discovered your channel. It's very helpful and I find myself giggling at your delivery. Thanks!!!

Nice to see Louisville get another shout out for being an under the radar great city. Very walkable and rarely gets talked about.

The zip code you highlighted in Louisville, is home to the neighborhood (Old Louisville) with the largest and oldest district of Victorian homes in the US.

As someone moving to #10 in two months, to say I'm happy about this list is a massive understatement!

I'm so happy that the two options I've narrowed down my list of "where do I wanna move" are both on this list - Lexington KY and St. Louis MO.

as always, another really interesting YT vid and this from someone who grew up in Brooklyn, NY and nows lives in The Bronx, NY. thanks for the effort and the sharing. i am an appreciative subscriber. thumbs up.

Wow.. I went to school in Columbia M.I.Z! Walking downtown was cool but the real housing area idk...

Excited to see where pittsburgh is at in a few years, tons of cool projects

This was a great exercise! Thanks for the video :)

The Missourian in me is SO PROUD of this video. I lived one block south of Benton Park at 3127 Missouri Av in a rehabbed 2 family flat when I was in the 4th and 5th grade, and took the 21 Cherokee bus one way to shop on Cherokee St or the other way to go downtown back when there were department stores to shop at there as a kid. Went to the park up the street all the time and fished because they stocked the lake there with actual catfish. Caught don't know how many in the 2 years I lived there. My cousin would later move to an apartment on the corner of Arsenal and Jefferson when I was going to college at... That's right, MIZZOU in Columbia (432 Hatch Hall y'all!). If only the government of my home state was at least as reasonable as it was back in the 1980s... 😒

This just released during my lunch break, while I was looking for housing in the city. 😂 Thank you!