Which Affordable American City is Better Planned?

Birds vs the Bears in this episode. (but also I love both of these places even if I be a metra hater sometimes).
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Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro
1:21 Airport Connections
2:17 Regional & Commuter Rail
3:50 Metro Systems
5:00 Bike Lanes
6:01 Street Sizes
6:49 Intercity Travel
8:16 More Train Services
8:42 Outro

[@alanthefisher]

Hey! I'm going to be streaming on my second channel later this week, talking about cities and trains of course. So if you're interested definitely give it a follow! www.youtube.com/@alanfisherextras

[@AMPProf]

VIDEO NEEDS TRIGGER WARNING sign lolzzzzz! [insert upset here] ; [insert facts about Ghosts here]..... Ya no

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

The Northeast corridor is fine and all, but I’d rather have a quick trip down the Lincoln to the most underrated city in the world. (StL of course ;)

[@apexhunter935]

If you're already interested in it, how do you feel about city skylines 2?

[@45Steamer]

U know, Amtrak is planning to reuse the PRR main from the Chicago area to Dunkirk, OH with a new Chicago to Columbus corridor via Fort Wayne

[@clonecommando-cn6bo]

It doesn’t matter because 90% of every city in the US has a bullshit infrastructure system that remains to require everyone to drive a sedan or suv from A to B

[@denali637]

Go full masochist and do a Texas Triangle (HOU, SA, AUS, DAL) comparison

[@shughes57]

Orlando / Lakeland / Tampa / St Petersburg too, but only if you go in the peak of summer for the full masochist experience.

[@dennisfeng6626]

Alan is just going to spontaneously burst into flames in SA.

[@spookysenpai7642]

​@dennisfeng6626 same with Sarasota. They had passenger train connections from the other big Florida cities before it was turned down. But I honestly think the counties in the Central Southwest of Florida should invest in Commuter Rail transit for now. Until there is HSR.

[@aerob1033]

Former Texan here: DFW weirdly has the highest number of walkable neighborhoods and by far the most miles of rail transit. Even some of the suburbs still have intact walkable main streets, which isn't something you often see in Texas. Austin has the best downtown/city center area with the highest residential density and the best urbanist livability, albeit at an extreme price tag. San Antonio has an actual fully-pedestrianized network of commercial/mixed-use streets downtown (the Riverwalk), but it's touristy AF and better avoided after your first visit, in my view. Houston has the best single transit line in the state (the METRORail Red Line) and is at least tied with Austin for having the best bus service. With all their powers combined, maybe you could come up with one halfway-decent urbanist city, but each one on its own is a hot mess.

[@thomasgrabkowski8283]

@@aerob1033Well don’t expect the biggest oil producing state to be designed as walkable

[@MichaelfromtheGraves]

Philly's narrow streets are why I'm probably never leaving. You can get very far in this city in a 20 minute walk because you're hardly ever waiting to cross a street.

[@charliesullivan4304]

Yes, the narrow streets video recommended is all about bikes, but I think the big win of narrow streets is for pedestrians. Washington DC is often described as being a good city for walkability, but I find the wide streets in much, though not all, of DC quite unfriendly to walk.

[@AssBlasster]

But what portions of the city do you think has that good walkability? I've visited Philly and naturally found this out in Center City, but it felt like only a small walkable area.

[@Neotenico]

Though it does make us notorious jaywalkers haha

[@bundevsawhney7578]

They're a big thing in Chicago too once you're in residential neighborhoods though. Typically there's a commercial stretch every half mile but the streets in between serve well for biking

[@eligreg99]

I guess you’ve never been to Chicago. There are plenty of narrow streets and plenty of public transportation options

[@strongtowns]

Didn't expect to make a little appearance in this one! Glad I caught you while you were in town. Would love to see more of these comparisons, especially between up-and-coming cities.

[@alanthefisher]

I was going to see if you noticed haha

[@nerdwisdomyo9563]

Strong towns pog

[@JR-eg8ir]

Like Detroit

[@glenmurie]

We almost had a high speed rail link between Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison, and Minneapolis. But Governor Walker and the Koch brothers killed the project over ten years ago. I still get angry thinking about it.

[@thomasgrabkowski8283]

Following 2008 election, Obama administration drew up high speed rail plans all over the country, which died out after 2010 midterms with exception of California, which is heavily delayed and over budget but under construction as of now

[@ssmith7994]

It was killed because of the cost of upkeep. The federal government was going to kick in some of the costs of starting it up but it would have been on Wisconsin to keep it going. The money just wasn’t there.

[@isaacliu896]

Idk we might have become California HSR...

[@Qay]

@@isaacliu896 Or we might have become an efficient and convenient link between several big midwestern cities

[@duckface81]

@@isaacliu896 maybe wait for it to be done before judging it

[@shughes57]

I love both cities, have lived in both. Chicago is probably my favorite between the two but you cannot go wrong with either. If your family and friends are along the NE corridor that probably gives the edge to Philly.

[@AMPProf]

Cubies won sooo..yah uh yahh

[@tortellinifettuccine]

Yeah....no. Philly is a 3d world city, Chicago is a world class city

[@shughes57]

@@tortellinifettuccine Chicago isn't 3d? its a pretty vertical place

[@queenkjuul]

​@@tortellinifettuccine3D World sounds cool but I'm not gonna go if i have to wear dorky glasses the whole time

[@jtsholtod.79]

I've also lived in both cities. Loved Philly for how walkable it was. But while north-south along the corridor was fine, getting anywhere west by transit was a nightmare. Getting around Chicago is great (their bus network is actually very good), forget traveling to other Midwest cities by transit (St. Louis, only 300 miles away, takes 5 hours by Amtrak)!

[@chrispontani6059]

I get the Philadelphia/Chicago comparison, because Philadelphia has a big city vibe to it, but it’s cut from the same cloth as Boston.

[@milesprue5496]

Yea, but Boston loses to philly automatically bc it costs an order of magnitude more to live there

[@Undecided0]

I would hope that a city with 1.5 million people would have a big city vibe.

[@charlesthrush8134]

@@milesprue5496And it’s way more racist (not saying Philly isn’t racist but Massachusetts is a different breed)

[@BrendanSullivan-ll7fz]

@@charlesthrush8134all big cities are racist

[@keelychow4569]

Atlanta is Boston for black people.

[@rabbbirumba2397]

What you said at the end is so true. I've lived in Chicago all my life and I go to UW Madison while having a lot of friends in Milwaukee. The current Hiawatha express is the Amtrak service in the midwest with the highest ridership and one of the few that works reasonably well. What's frustrating is that it was actually faster 100 years ago. It currently has a top speed of 79 mph and takes 90 min (One of the few midwest services that beats out driving). However 100 years ago it had a top speed of 110 mph and took 75 min. It would literally be my dream to not only extend the service to Madison but for it to run at speeds of 110 mph like the Lincoln service. That train would seriously get a ton of ridership. Madison is one of the fastest growing cities in the Midwest and home to one of the largest universities as well. Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and Chicago is the largest city in the Midwest. If they could connect all three cities that would be amazing.

[@TheSpaceBrosShow]

If only HSR was a thing here

[@queenkjuul]

Taking the Hiawatha next week and it is a great train, but yeah i would kill to run it to Madison... Visiting friends in Madison is one of the only reasons i still have a car here in Chicago

[@flyingbanana4179]

Went on a day trip to Chicago from Milwaukee. Traffic was horrible, with the I-90 being clogged up. Wished the Hiawatha was more frequent and have it go 110 the whole way. WisDOT should also build the KRM to Kenosha. That way, KRM can link up to Metra.

[@lizcademy4809]

Any service like this needs to continue on to Minneapolis. I live here without a car and can get around in the city just fine, but going outside the city is either an airplane or a major, major hassle.

[@NathanDobbinsthelordscheeps]

I grew up in Chicago and will be going to grad school in Milwaukee. I really can not wrap my head around the fact that there is no metra line to here. I mean Indiana gets a pretty long line... but not Milwaukee? It also is a bummer when you find out there used to be trains that ran between the two cities, you can actually still see the old rails on google maps. I know there is the Amtrak, Hiawatha, but it isn't really convenient.

[@Maserati7200]

As a New Yorker, used to slow performing trains, I was very impressed with how fast Chicago El trains accelerated and decelerated, slowed down for curves but quickly sped up again, reach speeds of about 40 MPH between local stops. Our express trains max out at 50 on straight level track if we're lucky, and 55 on a few downhill sections, but on many straight sections of express tracks you'll go no faster than 42-44 MPH. In NYC, our local trains accelerate relatively slowly, and if there's a curve, it'll be signaled to go slowly well before, and doesn't accelerate nearly fast enough after. Our systems were built around the same time so age isn't an excuse; NYC has a lot to learn from Chicago.

[@Kaigotitright]

Philly vs. Boston would be a great one. I think both of them are even more similar to each other than other cities. Both share similar population, density, transit coverage, sports culture, weird accents… etc. I’m from Boston and been to Philly and really saw how parallel the two are except the big issues on topics of affordability. It truly makes no sense how Boston is so absurdly overpriced. I can’t even afford to move back even if I wanted to. It would be interesting to compare and contrast the two cities and how vastly different they operate despite sharing so much in common.

[@letitiajeavons6333]

He'd have to get into Puritans versus Quakers/Friends. Though, that may be more history and culture.

[@sthelensson]

But Boston rich Philly poor...

[@pr0wnageify]

Boston's schools and job market seems to be way stronger, I reckon that's why it's so expensive. It also seems like Philly has a more consistently high population density across a bigger area, but it's hard to tell because the boundaries are so different with Philly being more amalgamated.

[@colin591]

just got back from boston... much better city than where i'm from (san diego). as far as narrow human scale streets, boston's got plenty. even in the downtown financial district area where there are tall buildings and skyscrapers, which gives it a very interesting character. i thought i might like to move there because it's a great city and i have family nearby, which is why i'd pick it over philly.

[@Kaigotitright]

@@pr0wnageifyas much as I agree there’s so much more happening regarding opportunity in boston, I still disagree the price point for rent justifies it. My industry of architecture really doesn’t adjust to the expense that boston brings and it’s a shame. There’s just so many issues with boston that infuriates me because in my belief there’s nothing worth the insane rent they charge to justify it.

[@adnamamedia]

I will always love how you fill in the Philly-spaced-hole that all other transit/urban planning channels leave. Everybody always skips over this city!

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

Try livin in the Lou 🙄

[@fluuufffffy1514]

Fill my Philly hole!

[@kfcnyancat]

I don't think Philly is underserved by urbanism channels at all. Anglo-North American Urbanists seem like the only group of people who like Philly without necessarily being residents IMO.

[@TheStickCollector]

The important question Sad it even has to be just these two.

[@spookysenpai7642]

He should've added NYC and Boston because those are the big sisters of Metropolitan America with the best quality transit system. But I guess he wanted to add Chicago in particular.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

Boston is unaffordable and NYC is simply unpleasant.

[@isaacliu896]

​@@spookysenpai7642the video title is literally affordable, lol

[@mccoolguy1973]

I literally just came to the realization yesterday that both of these cities are relatively affordable. Thank you, Alan Fisher, for reading my mind and making a convenient video for me.

[@uncreativename9936]

constant violent crime sure has a way of keeping property values low lol

[@Jsd8675]

Philly is getting expensive.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

@@Jsd8675 Not really.

[@Shinyarc]

Chicago is ultimately gonna be cheaper, if not for real estate than for cost of food/gas. Being so close to the Great Plains means you pay less for all the things that come from it

[@EllieBerryPie]

Waking up to see Alan pitting my two urban planning crushes against each other was very exciting and makes grad school applications even more interesting….

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

Room for one more? ;]

[@EllieBerryPie]

@@StLouis-yu9iz actually never been to St Louis and I haven’t heard much about its urban planning, but I’ll look into It.

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

@@EllieBerryPie It is probably the most underrated U.S. city for urbanism and the one with the most potential as well. If you have any questions let me know. :]

[@mrsantoyo97]

As a Chicagoan I always felt like Philly was a unofficial sister city. Glad to see I wasn't too far off

[@tylerhildebran3479]

Just visited philly during the week of July 4th, and I gotta say, going back to my midsized city and it's comparatively awful public transit has me considering the move to Philly.

[@jacobwood1707]

I moved here to Philly from Syracuse, NY for the same exact reason. I'd say listen to your gut. I'm living in Center City in a narrow side street and I seriously couldn't be happier! I walk to work, to the parks around my apartment, to the dollar store, to Target, even to the dentist and doctor! It's seriously awesome to be able to have everything so close to you. I would recommend moving here

[@aimxdy8680]

@@jacobwood1707and it doesn’t have Syracuse winters lol, upstate NY is depressing during winter

[@talicowart9577]

You're dead on for both the positives and negatives of Philly and Chicago and I chose to move to Philly after spending my entire life in the South for the exact same reasons you did. You truly can't go wrong with either, but also I just love the chaotic nature of Philly 😜

[@BOSSDONMAN]

Is it just like how it is in IASIP?

[@oicfas4523]

I love living in Chicago. So easy to walk around neighborhoods or take transit wherever.

[@ChasingPerhaps]

glad you enjoyed your time in chicago. the views when riding the L are unmatched.

[@ThePumpin1]

I concur. When I lived in Chicago, I would sometimes take EL rides just to look at different parts of the city.

[@thefareplayer2254]

This is the most balanced, fair, and accurate comparison of these two cites I’ve ever seen. Awesome work!

[@AB-wf8ek]

I can't speak for Chicago, but biking in Philly has gotten a lot better over the years. When I first got here 20 years ago, riding was only for the young and bold. Now I see all types commuting in the bike lanes in the morning. Although bikers are only a small fraction, it makes a big difference taking dozens of cars off narrow S Philly streets. I feel like it makes people more calm because there's less gridlock, and everyone almost seems happier to see so more people riding. Personally seeing the change is really exciting and gives me hope, cross my fingers we continue to see progress.

[@isaacliu896]

I guess the point is the Philly is more walkable and has better micromobility but Chicago has better public transit. Alan did skip over the lakefront trail though, that's pretty critical to biking in Chicago

[@Dovahbormah]

It's similar in Chicago. Since 2010 we have over double the amount of bike lanes and a lot more funding now going to protected bike lanes which is great.

[@Alien_Nukes]

Biking in Chicago is super easy , you can use the alleys which are paved through neighborhoods to avoid traffic

[@kevinconrad6156]

Some friends and I took Septa/NJ transit trains from Philly to New York on a Saturday AM and came back Sunday AM after bar hopping Manhattan all night back in the 80's.

[@moraimon]

Philly has a better suburban rail network but Chicago has a very vivbrant downtown living.

[@DeeZedEx]

It’s nice to see some positivity about transit in the US for a change. I’d love to visit both cities someday. Cheers from an urban planner in The Hague, the Netherlands.

[@mygins5820]

Loved the video 😊

[@aimxdy8680]

The US isnt as bad it seems even though it can be improved. Its just the southern and rocky mountain regions with unplanned sprawl especially Texas, Houston (the city to shit on which it rightfully deserves to be shit on) didnt expect to be one of the fastest growing cities so it just sprawled without any plan keeping its 1960s parking lots and just building anything to support a fast growing population

[@jhodapp]

@@aimxdy8680I mean Chicago grew rapidly like that in the late 1800s through the 1950s. I think what made all the difference is that was still primarily an era of walking and transit with very few cars, whereas Houston is growing during our peak fetish with cars.

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

3:24 dang I’d kill for one train every 2 hours on the weekend. In LA the Ventura county train line would be an ideal way for me to visit my in laws but on the weekends it barely runs. Saturdays has 2 round trips and sundays used to have 0…they just added their first round trip! Still, I’m happy that Metrolink is working to drastically boost frequency on all rail lines so I’m just hoping that the project gets finished soon!

[@LosPalms]

At the very least there’s a train line 🥹 I wanna take it from Oxnard to L.A

[@bcoleman532]

Have you looked at using the Surfliner? It runs 5 trains a day in each direction on the same stretch of tracks as Metrolink's Ventura County line, even on the weekend

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

@@LosPalms yea, I’m definitely happy to be in the situation of already having the tracks and just needing to push our city to increase the frequency. I don’t think I have the energy to try to push through all the political junk and get tracks it down!

[@SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

@@bcoleman532 yea I’ve looked into it and it’s a decent fall back option. It’s just annoying that metrolink doesn’t have more service because it’s so much less expensive. Especially since my monthly pass for my work commute means that I could technically take the metrolink for free on Saturday and Sunday! But for the time being, the Surfliner is acceptable enough.

[@Radar_of_the_Stars]

Chicago is my favorite city in America, it's such a nice place to just live in

[@maksimaleksandrovich6693]

A major positive thing you miss about Metra is how cheap it is compared to northeast. Metra will take you 60-80 miles for $9 or less. In New York taking the LIRR train 11 miles from Jamaica Queens to midtown is $5 minimum, usually $6.25. Traveling from New York to Trenton by train is going to be $20 one way, a distance of a little over 80 miles, excluding any transfer costs, from the subway or Path train. If you live in Harlem for example you're going to be at least $3 for a subway ticket to get to the train station, plus the $20 passenger rail fee. If you then want to transfer from NJ transit to Septa its another $10 minimum. Metra takes you much further for a fraction of the cost.

[@Roma_eterna]

How much is SEPTA regional rail compared to Metra?

[@ThePronkMVP524]

Nice to meet you in Chicago, Alan! Hope you come back sometime soon!

[@gt-gu7rb]

What Philly needs most is a subway line under the Roosevelt Boulevard from Broad st to Bucks county. Should have been done decades ago. Also extending the Broad st line north to Cheltenham ave and south to the Navy yard would be a big improvement.

[@zaybx3485]

I also think they should expand the EL to Franklin mills mall

[@mattkenney3359]

I’d love to see you talk about Baltimore more. Maybe Philadelphia vs. Baltimore. I lived there for a few years and although it’s got its issues I think it is a very underrated city and quite charming.

[@TheLegoPerson]

Agreed! Baltimore is one of the East Coast cities I spent the most time in growing up, but never got a sense of what it's actually like to live there

[@AMPProf]

OOO Baltimore V. Detroit

[@herlsone]

@@AMPProf #Baltimorgue

[@craz5634]

I think New Orleans vs. Baltimore would be an interesting comparison. They’re more similar than meets the eye

[@charliesullivan4304]

​@@joshi1863the differences are part of what makes it interesting.

[@proof036]

GO BIRDS!

[@ajkandy]

Hey Alan! Great video - remember that Chicago had the Great Fire which levelled the old, narrow-streets incarnation of the city, and had that not happened, its inner city grid might look more like Philadelphia's or Boston's. (There are a few traces of that left, but not many.) Outside the downtown skyscraper core, the north side is traditional streetcar suburbs, more or less from Streeterville/Old Town up to the border of Evanston. That said, once you go west of the Chicago River, it tends to become postwar suburban sprawl and stroads pretty quickly, with lots of parking lagoons and strip malls. For a future video, take a trip up to Montreal! Most of the city core is extremely walkable and the first and second-ring suburbs were all built during the streetcar era; it doesn't become single-family housing until you reach the further edges. Check out downtown, the Old Port, the Plateau, Rosemont-Petite Patrie, and Verdun, and you'll see it's super pedestrian friendly and eminently bikeable as well. (For the opposite, visit Calgary.)

[@kammore6209]

I truly love Philly and think it's very underrated but it has nothing on Chicago imo

[@dcwcu]

In my mind, Philly seems like a blend of Chicago and Boston. Grids + Affordability + underrated = Chicago Human scale + East Coast things = Boston

[@thomasgrabkowski8283]

However on the negative note, crime, poverty and education is like Chicago rather than Boston(which performs far better than Chicago and Philly in those regards)

[@JohnFromAccounting]

@@thomasgrabkowski8283 It helps Boston to be the education centre of the Americas. Hard to turn lawyers and bankers into violent criminals.

[@frafraplanner9277]

@@JohnFromAccounting More like the other way around

[@queenkjuul]

​@@JohnFromAccountingjust a far more sinister type of criminal

[@charliesullivan4304]

​@@JohnFromAccountingthere's plenty of lucrative criminality in those fields without direct involvement in hands-on violence.

[@TreadTheDonutDuck]

The dream for me personally is to live in Chicago, as it’s the best non-car-centric city that’s close to family.

[@chancevicary1805]

I live in the suburbs here. Even though ofc the urbanism is bad I love the bike trails and nature. Also just culture, amenities, job opportunities and people

[@Thaddeus2007]

Same, I live in Lansing so it's a lot closer than the east coast

[@queenkjuul]

It rocks here. There's too much car infrastructure admittedly but they're slowly but surely putting in proper bike lanes and upgrading the rail lines

[@Stinggyray]

​​@@chancevicary1805as it were, Chicago has one of the best planned suburbs in the country, Evanston. The rest of the suburbs not so much, but if you wanted some peace Evanston is probably where to go :)

[@chancevicary1805]

@@Stinggyray yep I've biked through Evanston

[@andrew8293]

I'm a philly area (NJ side) resident and lived in downtown Chicago for a few months for a job last year so I have some input Philly: 1. Philly's Septa has great schdules but needs work. Doesn't help right now that Septa closed a few stations such as Penn Medicine for maintance and now they have more busses running. 2. More NJ Transit to philly would be nice. I feel like my only choice is car because NJ transit makes it a little hard to work out schduling. River Line does a fine job but there needs to be more bus options. 3. That meme is accurate. Philly is kinda crazy and I see some scary stuff on the news somtimes which makes me avoid center city. Chicago: 1. I didn't have a car so public transit is all I had. brown line, purple line, pink line, the city CTA buses, and PACE are fabulous. Last week I visited a friend and got to ride on CTA's new electric buses. Very clean and nice. However the schedules were quite a few minutes off at times up to 10 minute delays. 2. I took Metra once on my way back from the science museum. The Fares were good and the train was clean. However the scheduling accuracy could have been better 3. My biggest complaint is the blue and red lines. They're kind of disgusting especially the underground stations. I know you're most definitely going to mention this in your Blue Line video but yikes did I dread waiting for the Blue line train at the Grand and Chicago stations. Iykyk. That's all. hopefully I didn't offened anyone. Philly and Chicago are both great cities in regards to public transportation and living but there's always room for improvement!

[@thomasnewton8223]

I won’t take any blue and red line jackson piss tunnel slander! The piss smell stays and if there isn’t any piss, something is amiss!

[@dorn4931]

OMG THE WGN INTRO AT THE BEGINNING IS SENDING ME

[@MTM358]

From Boston, have family in Philly, have lived in Chicago and NYC. I like Chicago a lot more than Philly personally, but I think a better comparison is Philly vs. Boston. Chicago has roughly twice the population of Philly and a 50% larger metro area. When I saw "better planned" I thought this was more of a broad topic, like the layout and design of the city itself-Philly wasn't planned in the same way Chicago was after the great fire, so was curious about things like public spaces etc, where Chicago wins hands down-entirely public lakefront, great public art, plazas, etc. and tons of parks. Plus better museums etc. Chicago has had some truly incredible public works projects over the years, such as lifting the city several inches and building an insane new stormwater runoff and sewage system over decades. You can't beat the 'L' - I find Philly's local rail transit to be in awful condition, way technologically behind, and hard to figure out vs. the 'L.' Not really sure how the NEC plays a role here-I agree the Northeast is very well connected compared to the Midwest, but ultimately it kind of depends where you're trying to get, no? Chicago has two airports connected directly to the L, and you can get virtually anywhere on the planet from O'Hare. Not that O'Hare is a breeze of an airport, but I like it a lot more that PHI. And for domestic flights Midway is a breeze and close to downtown. The existing train to Milwaukee is pretty good, I took it quite a few times to visit friends. 100% agree on Metra's lack of electrification and general clunkiness, though-in particular, wish the lines didn't terminate at so many different stations. But if you don't commute in from the burbs it's not a huge deal for the city dweller. Re: biking, I biked everywhere in Chicago, drivers are a lot calmer in general than NE'ers, and felt comfortable biking there. Plus it's pancake-flat, which makes it easy (when it's not windy, ha).

[@queenkjuul]

Drivers on city streets are surprisingly chill in Chicago for sure. On the interstate, though, different story

[@bigdaddyl-rob7445]

Great video! As a life long Philadelphian you do our city proud by not "sugar coating" Philly's flaws as a city like our WOEFULLY utilized Broad Street Subway system!

[@gcvrsa]

gettin' real up in dis jawn

[@XenSoc]

Excellent video! I'm a Chicago guy that has only visited Philadelphia twice, but I enjoyed the comparison. Can't wait to return to Chicago from my exile in Detroit.

[@aerob1033]

My view: Philadelphia has a more vibrant city center with a better mix of uses and narrower, more pedestrian-friendly streets. It also benefits from being in the northeast corridor in terms of intercity rail connections. Chicago has better public transit within its metro area, both local and suburban rail, and has more, better walkable neighborhoods outside of its city center. I'd have a hard time choosing between the two, both are great cities by North American standards. How about summering in Chicago and wintering in Philly? Now for the real battle: Philly Cheesteak vs Italian Beef. Go!

[@steezbuscemi]

cheesesteak>>>> (absolutely no bias /s)

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

Italian beef isn't that great but Polish Sausages and Chicago pizza wins over cheesesteak

[@queenkjuul]

I do love cheesesteaks but Chicago's got a full lineup of local fast food specialties. Italian beef, Chicago dog, Maxwell polish sausage, pizza puffs... We do have these big ass streets tho

[@tortellinifettuccine]

Yeah, no. One is a world-class city, and the other is a 3d world city. Philly dosent even compare to Chicago lmao, it's not a real city.

[@queenkjuul]

@@tortellinifettuccine the way you worded this, nobody knows which city you're saying sucks lol

[@jorgehaswag7294]

"really really bad, like only one train per hour" -me weeping in caltrain 😭

[@tankman_tv9332]

Doesn't caltrain only do that on weekends? Usually they run 30 minute trains on weekdays, but yeah weekend schedule is no excuse to run 1hr trains with no bullet or at *least* limited trains

[@alexanderchurchill-moulder2969]

Love this as a series idea! The possibilities are endless, and if you know one city well but not the other its very helpful to have a point of reference you're more familiar with.

[@ChicagoGeographer]

Fantastic video Alan! Never really considered just how similar Philly is to my hometown, but you do a great job at demonstrating that here. I love making comparison videos myself and am very glad to have found your channel recently. Keep it up!

[@92xsaabaru-]

First, you went and got me homesick with that WGN jingle in the intro. Second, I've been thinking that the Airport connections were disappointing in Chicago, but that's probably just because Stockholm spoiled me with high speed express rail. Third, we tried to do high speed to Milwaukee and even bought the trains before Wisconsin blocked it. Similar story with Indiana. Those two states block half of the most potential regional rail out of Chicago.

[@queenkjuul]

The airport connections aren't fast, especially if you're going cross town, but they're cheap and fairly reliable (Midway/orange line i think is the best performing rail line, blue line to ohare is pretty bad lately but the ongoing construction should help long term) Metra has some connection to ohare but they don't really advertise it and it doesn't run all night like the L. Maybe someday we'll get express service to ohare, in the meantime most US cities don't have any airport rail connections

[@markweaver1012]

Michigan spent something like $100M to buy the Wolverine line tracks from Norfolk Southern about 10 years ago in order to enable HSR. Part of the line now has a max speed of 110MPH, but they're still working on upgrading the rest of it, and it still takes longer on the train than driving via I94. So, some progress, but it is slow going.

[@92xsaabaru-]

@@queenkjuul My dream is for them to give the Hiawatha a slight detour to O'Hare, preferably on dedicated , true high speed tracks, for easy flightless connections for Wisconsin residents along with downtown express trains every 15-30 minutes.

[@92xsaabaru-]

@@markweaver1012 I took that once or twice and it was nice, but the Indiana section that I believe is shared with the Pere Marquette (the one I've taken a lot more) is quite slow around Gary, Indiana. Personally I loved the freedom of being car free, but they really need a second round trip for the Pere Marquette, which I think should continue to Detroit after GR.

[@DOLOxCLAN]

Not really a fair comparison. Chicago + Chicagoland is essentially a city-state with statewide backing. Similar to NYC and Boston it is the economic and cultural center of their respective states. The problem for Philly is that it is in Pennsylvania and while a huge economic contributor for the state it is not the economic driver in the same sense. This causes Philly to have to deal with a hostile state government and rural/suburban population that is completely apathetic to the SEPA region growing and being more dense, economically diverse and having amenities most other large US cities have (transit, different tax codes, liquor and business exceptions, more funding, etc). I say this as someone who lives in Philly and is pained by how few resources this city has to make itself better.

[@queenkjuul]

Now that you mention it--never been to Philly, but have been to Pittsburgh, and stuff like liquor laws is kind of a jolt coming from Chicago. In Chicago there are bars open all night, and booze is sold at all kinds of stores, and lots of restaurants are BYOB. It would be a little weird to be in a city as big as Philly and have such restricted access

[@Shinyarc]

Very true. Philly is in the same position as Kansas City: the state government sees little to no use for improving it, especially considering the wealthy, taxable suburbs are across state lines. And since Kansas isn’t able to take advantage of sales tax for commerce in Kansas City, they have very little incentive to develop anything outside of their own suburbs. Both states have bigger cities wholly within state lines, like St Louis and Wichita, which are good analogues to Pittsburgh.

[@bisonfan715]

What a coincidence I got the notification for this video riding the blue line to O'Hare. After exploring Chicago for 4 days, I definitely enjoy the connectivity of their system. Trains are late more often then not, but frequent enough it's not a big deal

[@tortellinifettuccine]

Trains are not late more often than not lmao, if you're anywhere on the forest park side of blue line makes sense, that area has a buch of slow zones. The brown, and the forest park side of the blue line, have a lot of slow zones, but the rest of the system is well kept.

[@MartyTuro]

​@@tortellinifettuccineluckily they just started to rebuild some of the track on that branch

[@tortellinifettuccine]

@mmcfly5662 yes they did, and just recently completely upgraded the ohair side. Anyone in the suburbs near ohair and alongside the rest of the blue line on that side can get an express train to uic now as well from what I've heard.

[@charliestel]

I really appreciated all the streetscape videos that you included. A nice change from the map and diagram heavy vids in this genre. Love my home turf of Chicago, I definitely have taken for granted just how far the metra system can take you. Looking forward to visiting Philly someday.

[@SirKenchalot]

It's unfortunate but at least KZbinrs like you are never short of transit issues to complain about or at least to suggest improvements on, to give you your due. You have job security with this idea, at least for a decade or two I suspect.

[@Ninja-The-Red-Shinobi]

Philly cuz one I live right next to it, and two it's endless entertainment. I just zip in, walk around, visit my favorite places, eat a good ass restaurant in Chinatown and then watch the chaos as I go back home.

[@jib123456789]

Before the video starts I'm on team Chicago. I've lived in Chicago but I currently live in Philadelphia and I think that Chicago is better. You just have to find what you are looking for

[@GalacticTommy]

Really cool to see a channel I watch with footage of spots I’ve been to countless times

[@Skip6235]

Quick correction: the Blue Line doesn’t terminate at the Loop, it bends around and heads back out due west into the suburbs

[@queenkjuul]

Super technically it is operating currently as two separate lines, one terminating in the loop from ohare, and one running from Forest Park to Halsted, while they rebuild tracks 🙃

[@maas1208]

​@@queenkjuul The CTA can't rebuild the congress branch without IDOT getting the approval of rebuilding I-290, Honestly If I were IDOT, I'd straight up Demolish I-290 and replace it with a Avenue as wide as Stony Island and Restore the Garfield Park branch of the Blue line

[@queenkjuul]

@@maas1208 agree completely

[@booknook69]

For airport connections Chicago O’hare also has a commuter rail service that will take you either to the loop or to the northwest suburbs

[@tortellinifettuccine]

Yeah he dosent know even half of what Chicago has, he's always hated on Chicago because he's always been jealous. Doubt living in a 3d world city like Philly is exactly very fun. I lived there for a month and it was hell

[@isaacliu896]

... that only runs in rush hour on weekdays, basically irrelevant

[@vaishx]

@@isaacliu896the blue line is 24/7 wym?

[@isaacliu896]

@@vaishx it's not commuter rail. Commuter rail is the Metra NW which stops at O'Hare transfer

[@chicagolandrailroader]

Going to a suburban metra station and not getting asked which way is Chicago (Impossible challenge)

[@Dovahbormah]

lmao the directional signs are so bad, I'm guilty of this and I literally commuted out of the city for work on Metra for a while.

[@andreajohnson7874]

Yeah, this. I mean there are signs but really not clear, especially if you don't ride Metra often.

[@garyyang64]

@@andreajohnson7874 There are a few stations (looking at you Villa Park) where they straight up painted over the part of the sign that's supposed to say "to" or "from" Chicago

[@theorangebuilding]

Recent immigrant from Chicago to Philly! Some of this is very on point, (how does Philly only have two metro lines??!), But there are a few instances where you underrated Philly. In bike lanes, for instance, Chicago has the same amount for a city 3 times the size, and they are rarely separated. Also, and I can't stress this enough, TROLLEYs

[@theorangebuilding]

The buses also are a little more nuanced in each. Philly has more irregular shaped routes stopping on smaller blocks, but they are extremely predictable and surprisingly trackable. Chicago has 1/8 mile stops and straight routes, but their tracking is lacking and the ghost bus issue there is more intense. Finally, communication: Septa is, with some exceptions, good at communicating with the public and stakeholders. Chicago... Yikes

[@colechapman6976]

Having visited Society Hill, Northern Liberties, Fitler Square, and other Philly neighborhoods multiple times, I have to say Philly is so good for walking. The narrow streets came replete with rows of nice trees which provided great shade in the summertime. The narrow roads allowed for great urban exploration and I always found something new to find whether it be a cute row of houses, cool cafes, or a park. When I studied abroad in England, I noticed how similar the narrow tight streets were to Philadelphia's roads. The building's sizes were consistent and even the downtown felt like it was narrow.

[@bonecanoe86]

As someone who was born in Chicago but spent most of my life in Philly, this is going to be interesting.

[@forretresss]

Which one would you prefer to live in? (asking for a friend lol)

[@bonecanoe86]

@@forretresss I might not be the best person to ask because I haven't been back to Chicago in over a decade, but there is such a special vibe to Philly that I can't imagine picking Chicago over Philly.

[@TomMS]

These are the two major cities that I have spent most of my life, so this is a really cool video for me. Thank you!

[@Illstatefishing]

Chi Town represented!!

[@filanfyretracker]

There really should be NEC quality train service between the coast and Chicago. All electric and all triple digit speed with full priority for passenger trains.

[@isaacliu896]

Sadly I think it's too far, unless you use absurb maglev or something. Or god forbid, hyperloop

[@maas1208]

​@@isaacliu896 What about train that goes as fast as a regular airplane that isn't a Hyperloop

[@java-gn1xs]

Your videos are art

[@davistate7568]

What a fantastic video and the start of a great series! Might not be on your radar, but for us Canadian viewers, a Toronto vs Montreal would be fantastic!

[@AJ-Palermo]

I've been on the Metra several times, and I think it's a good system, but an increase in frequency would be a big improvement. And for the loud diesel locomotives, they don't call the F40PH's "screamers" for nothing, they're loud AF! Chicago's L is great for getting around the city, the Metra is good for getting around the Chicago area, and Amtrak is adequate for getting around the Midwest. The last time I rode the Amtrak's Lincoln Service, it was pulled by new Siemens locomotive, but the speed topped out around 85mph, and we had to stop for a freight train or two. I've never been on the L, but it seems to be pretty efficient.

[@5daysofcoffee]

At least connection wise Milwaukee and Chicago are pretty good. Amtrak runs between them 7 times a day and takes a little under 1.5 hours. They’re trying to make it faster and up the trips to 10 with track upgrades. While there are a few different bus services that drop off at different locations. I’d guess there’s 20 to 30 buses a day. It’s close to being ideal. If they could get me to Chicago in an hour and the train leaves every hour I wouldn’t complain. The biggest issue with connectedness right now is I know people who will go to a sports game or concert in either city and find out the last bus or train leaves around 9:30 and have to leave their event early or get a hotel room. Sometimes people Uber if they’re desperate but that runs about $200 I think.

[@queenkjuul]

Going to a show in Milwaukee soon and yeah had to get a room and take the train next morning

[@JonBeuerle]

I was not expecting that intro for this type of video. As a Philly native, that was amazing!! Now for the remaining 8 minutes of this video.

[@nimeshinlosangeles]

Great comparison, but what I really wanted to know is what clogs your arteries faster - deep dish or cheesesteak?

[@MrGpButler]

I would love a Chicago/Toronto comparison since they are almost the same size as cities.

[@MrGpButler]

Haha, I just "like this" thinking, this guy is on the ball. Then I realized, this guy is me! I still think it would be a great video.

[@funky6399]

I think one the things that will hinder the intercity connectivity of Chicago is the lack of good transit connections in the very cities it’s connected to. The NE corridor is one of the best locations in the US to live carfree. While the Great Lakes region is one of the worst. Chicago is a shining beam in a landfill. Posted from Detroit.

[@Shinyarc]

Very true. I was going to comment saying how good Chicago’s connections are to neighboring cities like Champaign, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Springfield, etc. are, but considering the fact you’re just dumped in a park in ride for most of them, it’s not really a valid point

[@nickzalewski8218]

coming to both these cities in august, super excited to see both

[@bulletsandbracelets4140]

Thank you so much for some Chicago positivity. It drives me nuts how this city is covered... it's beautiful, affordable, and while it has it's problems they are no more or less than any other city. Nice to see someone give it some appreciation

[@discodave4190]

Interesting selection of these cities for comparison. As someone who works as a planner, I am a member of the American Planning Association. In 2013, I attended the National Planning Conference which was convened in Chicago. After that I did not attend any National Planning Conferences until this year, when it was held in Philadelphia. Both conferences were a great way to learn more about the cities in which they were held. As a transportation planner, transit rider and rail enthusiast, I enjoyed hearing your perspectives on both cities' transit systems and Amtrak service. However, I wish you covered non-transportation attributes of both cities such as parks, architecture, housing affordability, and historic preservation. Suggestion for future comparison: Milwaukee and Cleveland. Thank you.

[@Rami-L]

chicago is by far my favorite city in terms of relevance, location, culture, and activites. long live cook county

[@quidprobro]

Amazing video Alan, your video on Metra despite its flaws inspired me to do everything I can to move to Illinois next year. Their planned connection to Rockford is very exciting to see (assuming they can create a schedule that makes weekend/day trips viable)

[@AlexGrbach]

OOOH its so cool to see my neighborhood on video. my partner and I got engagement photos under the roscoe village sign and live like a 2 min walk away!!!

[@paulallenk4830]

Lived Carless both in downtown Chicago and Center City Philadelphia for 10 plus years each. Bike Lanes suck (both need protective bike lanes). Bus and Trains about equal. Both Walkable if you stick to heart of City. Chicago has Lake Michigan which I loved so Chicago wins.

[@randomyoutubeuser23]

Which city would you say is less of a hassle to live car-free in?

[@de-fault_de-fault]

If Harrisburg to Pittsburgh got electrified I would finally get off my ass and visit Pittsburgh. It's too close to fly from North Jersey, but I've never felt like driving there either, so I've just never gone. I passed through it on my one Broadway Limited trip 31 years ago, but that was it.

[@queenkjuul]

I've driven twice all the way from Chicago to Pittsburgh and might yet do it again before the end of the year, Pittsburgh is cool

[@de-fault_de-fault]

@@queenkjuul funny thing is I’ve driven from here to Toronto (2x) and from here to Indianapolis, both farther than Pittsburgh, but I just don’t enjoy long drives like I used to.

[@amatos348]

I recently traveled to Baltimore spent a few days there and as someone who lives in the Newark area i felt a similar vibe. So that would be an interesting video

[@bonecanoe86]

I never really thought about it but I've spent time in both cities and yeah you're right.

[@dr.woozie7500]

Baltimore is easily one of the worst cities on the Northeast corridor. It’s sad how far it’s fallen.

[@bkkeats]

4:21 while it is in fact an 'L' station in the Lakeview neighborhood, the station itself is called Paulina :)

[@queenkjuul]

And it's Paul-eye-na, not Paul-ee-na lol

[@spookysenpai7642]

In my opinion, both are great, in their way of course. Even though Philadelphia is much older than Chicago giving out its colonial charm.

[@dandarr5035]

ah yes, the ol' colonial aesthetic. As someone who grew up in Virginia, I think this is the main reason why I'd prefer to live in Chicago rather than Philadelphia. It got *very* stale to me, I'd rather a city that was built upon its own, fresher legacy.

[@queenkjuul]

​@@dandarr5035Chicago's brick and stone industrial era vernacular is goat imo

[@sirjuly2791]

Appreciate you making this video. I am torn between choosing to live in Chicago and Philadelphia. I am surprised you did not mention cuisine as that is something I always consider when going somewhere- you gotta eat 3 times a day.

[@TheSpaceBrosShow]

Probably because rating it from an urban planning perspective. Bunch of things werent covered, like Chicago's lakefront being a massive W for the city

[@queenkjuul]

Chicago food scene is nuts

[@AssBlasster]

You should compare the transit systems of the 3 massive metros in California: Los Angeles, San Fran, and San Diego. Their systems might generally suck due to the car centric city layout, but they do cover a lot of places with reasonable frequencies. I'm moving to the San Diego suburbs soon and find the transit options are better than anything in my home state of Florida.

[@J-Bahn]

Your opening montages are always golden! I may be biased since I live on the East Coast but I am on team Philly for much the same reason you are: You can actually use SEPTA Regional Rail all day / every day to get places in the suburbs, it's electrified, it goes to the airport and you can't beat the connectivity w/ AMtrak to other cities. (Amtrak actually fills holes left by the infrequency of Regional Rail, even if it is more expensive). What's funny is that there is an actual a direct Philly-Chicago train, the Cardinal, but it takes even longer than just taking indirect trains because it's route is so much longer (I've tried it). WOuld love the Broadway Limited or Three Rivers again.

[@just_matt3937]

That intro alone made me watch this video and consider subscribing lol. I always thought of Chicago being more similar to NYC than Philly, but I've never been. Indianapolis is a lot different than what I'm used to in Philly. I like the calmness of Indy and how bikeable it is, but like you said, nothing beats the northeast corridor with transportation. There's also more to do. I look forward to moving back in a few weeks 😂

[@JohnFromAccounting]

I live in Melbourne. I like the history of Philadelphia, but the Chicago way is more familiar to me.

[@madalynelliott7699]

As a Chicagoan, the bike lanes don't make much sense to me here. It's not that I don't think there should be a lane for bike riders, but that sometimes the bike lane will cause ppl to end up in the bus lanes or in the middle of the road where most cars drive. That could be why the bike lane tends to change or not exist on some streets because although we have a decent metro system, cars and roads are prioritized, so it sometimes leads to bike riders and ppl with electric scooters to ride them on the sidewalk, which is a risk to ppl using the sidewalk because a lot of ppl will only flash their light, which isn't helpful from behind or in broad daylight. I just wish bikers had more space on the road so that they could get wherever then need to go without the risk or running into someone. But from what I've seen, that's mostly downtown where buses and cars rule the road. At least in less touristy places, the bike lanes are mostly uninterrupted and are used pretty frequently.

[@tblakemusic]

Very helpful vid, these are the two main cities I’m considering moving to after living in Atlanta recently. I hated it there lol. Still need to visit both Philly and Chicago though!

[@EvaristeWK]

Could you do a Montreal vs. Toronto comparison?

[@user-xsn5ozskwg]

To give Chicago interconnectivity credit O'Hare is a major international hub so you can, in theory, fly almost anywhere directly from there, and the transit access to the terminal makes it great to that end. But with ever-rising airfare and the fact that air travel sucks for a number of reasons it really is no substitute for good rail or even bus connections, especially regionally. If I was a masochist I'd say I'd love to hear your thoughts on Baltimore compared to Detroit, as they're both cities with good bones but lots of neglect and abuse, but I'd rather hear something a bit ore fun like Philly vs Pittsburgh.

[@talicowart9577]

I'd love to see a Baltimore vs Detroit. I have several friends in Detroit and my biggest gripe about it is how car dependent it is

[@alechagen6291]

Agree, Baltimore vs Detroit seems like another good comparison. I don't have a stake in that comparison, but I think we all know Baltimore would come out ahead with the NEC, MARC, and RailLink.

[@alexhaowenwong6122]

Please do a comparison of San Diego with a city like Minneapolis! Both have nearly identical MSA and urban area populations with San Diego having slightly higher transit ridership.

[@timnewman1172]

Especially now that the Duluth/Twin Cities train has been "greenlighted"... Still, why does the light rail end at Big Lake instead of St. Cloud?

[@alexhaowenwong6122]

@@timnewman1172 You mean Northstar Commuter Rail? MSP has a stronger bus system, with off-board fare payment/all-door boarding. But San Diego has stronger rail and post-COVID ridership recovery. MSP LRT currently has better land use, but SD Trolley has two $4B under construction infill TODs on the same line, before counting any downtown construction.

[@lizcademy4809]

I would love the comparison, since my family is in San Diego and I'm in Minneapolis. And I and my son are car free in the two cities. There are two big problems with Minneapolis transit: 1. Frequency. Running light rain trains every 15 minutes just isn't good enough, busses downtown every 15 are barely acceptable. I don't think it's the infrastructure as much as it's a lack of drivers. 2. Especially on the light rail, the trains don't feel safe. I won't go into details, but until the trains and busses and stations feel safe and clean at all hours, the bulk of the population won't use them. I know from my son that San Diego not only has frequency issues, but the drivers often don't stop to pick up riders.

[@friedzombie4]

​@@lizcademy4809Please, go into detail. The safety argument is the main argument against the NLX reopening.

[@lizcademy4809]

@@friedzombie4 I'll try to be polite and non-offensive. Minneapolis does not have a massive homeless problem, but we do have homeless here. Many are decent folk who had a run of bad luck, but some could use either criminal rehabilitation or mental health services. It is not a pleasant experience to be in the same train car with a person who has no sense of polite behavior, and no controls over their vocalizations. Minneapolis light rail cars are warm in winter and cool in summer. Fares are collected at a tap station; it's easy to bypass and ride for free. Put all this together and the train just doesn't feel safe. The transit authority has hired more security to try to alleviate this problem, and it's helping, but not enough yet.

[@PFSMusic]

I'm with you on the getting used to something good. SLC has good integration with the airport by train. They just don't run late enough.

[@georgewhite8118]

I would love to see a postindustrial comparison, and not just Midwestern postindustrial but including places like Mobile, New Orleans and Birmingham too. I don't know which cities you would include or how you would do it, but I think it could be really interesting to see comparisons between some of the mid-sized cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, St Louis etc

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

I completely agree about not enough narrow streets in Chicago. It's pretty uncommon to find narrow streets in Chicago and when you do, they don't lead anywhere

[@tortellinifettuccine]

I'm going to just assume you know nothing about Chicago...like literally nothing lmao

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

@@tortellinifettuccine I was talking about the very narrow streets they have in Philly. Look up "narrow Philadelphia street." We don't have many of those here in Chi

[@tortellinifettuccine]

@carstarsarstenstesenn we do first off, second off I don't know what you mean by "they don't go anywhere" Chicago is literally a massive fucking grid, that's physically impossible. Second off, alleys. No city In the US has done alleys right except Chicago. If you want smaller streets, don't be in downtown lmao...but on average, Chicago streets are much smaller than other cities in the usa. Look it up. Specifically downtown, Chicago has big streets, that's on purpose. There's a reason Chicago looks so grand from below, and New York looks so not grand from below, and that's space and road width. Downtown, Chicago streets are a little more wide than the average 50 feet for most American cities, but the city in general, has much smaller streets than most American cities, most 2 way streets being 30 to 34 feet long, which is much smaller than the 40 to 50 most cities in the usa are. Not to mention no city In the usa has as many one ways as Chicago, and one ways are fucking amazing if done right, which Chicago definitely has. This shit is my job. The US is a garbage "urban" nightmare, and the only cities I've found in the usa that could even be compete with other cities in developed nations is Chicago and New york, and even then they fall short hard when compares to London or Paris, but Chicago is a haven of sorts, unlike anywhere else in the usa. Good luck doing anything at any time past 8 anywhere in the usa other than Chicago and New York. Good luck getting anywhere at any time without a car unless you're in Chicago or New York. Also, do I really have to talk about the beauty factor? Chicago has won most beautiful city in the US more times than I can number on my hands, Philly hasn't even made honorable mentions. Chicago is literally one of the world's biggest planned cities, Philly, is like Boston if it had no money. Also, Philly is just more dangerous than Chicago, which is quite funny considering Chicago is much bigger, and has a much larger black population that has suffered decades of redlining, yet they are still doing better than the rich white privileged fucks in Philly.

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

@@tortellinifettuccine We really don't have narrow streets like Philly. I'm talking about streets so narrow that you can barely fit parking or no parking at all. Chicago has very few streets like that-not alleys, streets. Look up Hoyne ave between North ave and Concord Pl. It's a thin street doesn't really lead anywhere. That's what I meant. Maybe saying "don't lead anywhere" was poor wording on my part but it was an exaggeration. Of course every street has to lead somewhere. Another example is Julia Ct and W May St and a handful of other dead end streets that don't lead anywhere in Logan square (between California, Milwaukee, and Armitage). Chicago being a grid city doesn't mean it's impossible for some streets to not lead anywhere 😂

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

@@tortellinifettuccine I don't know why you even brought up alleys. They're one of Chicago's best features but not relevant at all

[@walpoleandworcester]

I really wanna check out Philly more next time as in actually getting to spend time there. I’ve been to PA but mainly was a way to get to Boston and it’s a lot of the rural parts I’ve seen to like around Harrisburg. In terms of other cities and towns I really like, Somerville in MA is definitely one of my favorites! Same with Greenville SC. Very charming places imo and very easy to park and walk around. Never been to Chicago either but looks like fun. We helped a woman move from GA to there so I’m curious.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

2:56 The idling screaming diesels at Chicago Union Station is a beautiful vibe where if you go to the end of the platform you can be one with the F40s and its just wonderful

[@benji_xxiv]

Thank you for showcasing Chicago, we always get forgotten about

[@artirony410]

7:37 man I've been in Taipei for 3 weeks and I'm dreading having to go back to the US and drive a car everywhere because I've been able to walk or use the extensive metro system here for everything. Makes me sad how we're lightyears behind some parts of the world

[@thunderbird1921]

I honestly feel a lot of our cities are just overcrowded for what they were built for (heck, New York is actually sinking slightly). Many of them were never intended to be mega-metropolises like Tokyo. Unless we tear a lot of stuff down and completely redo them, I think we need to build a few preplanned cities (maybe on the foundation of a well designed medium town), or reexamine what technology can allow us to do with smaller towns. A lot of people don't know many of them even exist today, since the Interstates totally bypass them and cut them out of the economic and transit connections. When I look at 1940s America at least from a transportation standpoint, I moan out loud. We had the best rail system in the world (which literally built our country and connected urban and rural folks beautifully) and we threw most of it away. We also totally screwed up the U.S. Route System which had been in place for decades when the Interstates cut through their meticulous layout. Not all Interstates are a bad thing, but how they were built, where they were built, and the extent to which they were built literally ripped apart the fabric of this country. People talk about how they wrecked our cities, yet totally overlook at what they did to rural folks and small towns. They actually got it MUCH worse and many towns were literally destroyed by them (due to losing people and businesses). Route 66 is nothing short of a tragedy. Sadly, almost no politicians are interested in solving this terrible problem, especially since many of them want their big cities (and outlying suburbs) to keep a stranglehold on all the jobs, industries and people.

[@artirony410]

@@thunderbird1921 did you know that Tokyo was also never intended to be a megacity?

[@willhazen9507]

I feel like Columbus OH and Indianapolis are very similar sprawly midwest cities, but it may be interesting to do a comparison on transit, bike infrastructure, and regional connections (lol) for two cities that aren't mentioned much.

[@jacksonp2397]

Absolutely, while usually I'm a seething Ohio nationalist, I'd have to say Indianapolis takes the cake. While neighborhoods like Germantown give Columbus a lot of character, Indianapolis is far more bikeable and has shown much more commitment to improving public transit service. On the topic of Ohio cities to cities in other states with a similar size and vibe, I'd love to see Cincinnati v Pittsburgh or Cleveland v Buffalo. I think the comparison between Cleveland and Detroit is both overexplored and unhelpful, since both cities despise the idea of learning from each other

[@tonywalters7298]

@@jacksonp2397 Cleveland vs Detroit is quite overdone, especially since they are the poster children for declining rust belt cities.

[@bonelegs5519]

Indy sprawls due to the city-county merger in the 70s but they clear Columbus by a longshot when it comes to biking, busses, and walkability

[@aimxdy8680]

⁠@@jacksonp2397I lived in indy, there’s actually Indygo bus services in its areas like Brownsburg and avon which mostly cornfields and suburbs which surprised me.

[@aimxdy8680]

@@jacksonp2397Indianapolis used to have a history of streetcar suburbs though, I wish it can be brung back.

[@CharlieND]

Cool comparison. If you do another, it would be fun to see you compare Vancouver, Seattle and Portland.

[@user-if7uo3re2s]

Would love to see ideas about Allegheny/Pittsburgh transit stuff, its such an interesting area especially due to its geography