Is "Small City Urbanism" an Oxymoron? 10 Undervalued Cities to Ponder

[@johnburns8680]

Have you ever considered breaking down some of your lists in the US by region? Maybe Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Mountain, and Pacific? It might present a more well-rounded list, including some lesser known places of value. Just a thought.

[@kyrareneeLOA]

Agreed!!!!

[@j_asch_]

This would be great.

[@ehoops31]

This would be great! The west coast has a bad rap for being unaffordable, but there are small cities that are better relative to their neighboring big city and still have decent transit/walkability.

[@scottseaman5927]

Yes, please. For example, maybe a friend wants to relocate to a place with good XC skiing and would like to know about small cities in the Rockies or the NE USA.

[@WalksandSuch]

Agreed. These lists just end up being the same places in the Eastern half of the country.

[@alialiyev6168]

HM1. Eugene, OR 1:28 HM2. Lansing, MI 2:00 10. Burlington, VT 4:08 9. Madison, WI 4:48 8. Ann Arbor, MI 5:20 7. Athens, GA 5:54 6. New Bedford, MA 6:38 5. Ithaca, NY 7:31 4. Williamsport, PA 8:24 HM. Charlostville, VA 9:29 3. Syracuse, NY 10:01 2. Champaign, IL 11:03 1. Erie, PA 12:07

[@Nickelini]

Oh, all US cities. He didn't say that in the title. Thanks for saving me from wasting my time watching this

[@maxziactg9756]

State college,PA also a honourable mention...

[@bombusaffinis]

tl;dw -- live in a college town. :P

[@BrentsTreehouse]

thank you!!!

[@unclebozo9845]

Also, Burlington is in Vermont (VT), not the Virgin Islands (VI).

[@strongtowns]

Ithaca was an interesting choice to add to this list, especially considering its lack of high-quality, luxurious and chaotic cheesecake experiences. Disappointed that this list didn't weigh maximalist cheesecake dining establishments more prominently on the grading scale. How would someone in Ithaca plan a last-minute mothers' day dinner? -Mike

[@rashakor]

The Texas roadhouse was mentioned though, that is definitely what took it over the edge. 😀

[@chiefenumclaw7960]

I simply refuse to dine at any establishment that has less than 300 menu items.

[@brianjonker510]

Here are some interesting numbers for Ithaca, NY from a google search. Pop of Ithaca is 32k and the county (Tompkins) it is located is 100k. The student pop @ Cornell is 20k and @ Ithaca College is 5k. Fully 1/4 of the population are students. Ithaca would be nothing without the colleges and its 10k workforce.

[@neolithictransitrevolution427]

Ugh, I used to be the guy who made comments refrencing Strong Towns on these videos. I take it back I no longer like your new active and effective communication strategy

[@jennifersvitko5997]

@@brianjonker510 I live in Ithaca. The 32k is the permanent population. With students (which many no longer all leave for the summer, darn them) the population climbs to over 50k. Enough leave that we do have a celebration after many are gone. We also appreciate we can get into restaurants after the students take off! ;-)

[@JeftasBookClub]

Glad to see Champaign get some recognition! I’ve been spoiled by Chicago’s transit for the past few years so it always seems much worse by comparison (which it is) but the moment you journey to any other central Illinois town you realize what a small gem downtown is

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, other central Illinois towns are pretty good too -- I think I featured Decatur in a video at some point!

[@jameshamilton2480]

@@CityNerd WOW! Just WOW! I ah...I've lived here 20 years...and sigh..Bus gets stuck in traffic...only run every 40 minutes or longer, don't run after 9pm or on holidays..and all "bike lines" are painted bike gutters. I was hoping you'd roast CU for being proud of their shite network

[@jameshamilton2480]

decent family houses are 300k or more unless you drive an hour from a bedroom community

[@yousefnoori]

@@jameshamilton2480 Most important bus routes run until 3am. Some routes have horrible frequency (5/50 Green for example) during certain times, but generally, I think we have a decent bus network. Definitely can improve on some aspects though.

[@jameshamilton2480]

important bus routes run until 3am. ABSOLUTELY A FALSE STATEMENT! MTD HAS NEVER RUN THAT LATE FOR ANYONE!@@yousefnoori

[@neolithictransitrevolution427]

Small City urbansim is really what we need most heavily. The StrongTowns key target. Creating a local downtown, either in true rural areas or suburbs, is the only way to make these places fiscally sounds and actually provide affordable housing that doesn't suffer extreme building and land acquisition costs.

[@linuxman7777]

We had this before big box stores and supermarket killed downtowns across america

[@neolithictransitrevolution427]

@@linuxman7777 I like the Stong Towns phrasing that they mine our public infrastructure investments. It's worse than box stores killing investment, our cities made the "investments" in roads and water and electrical infrastructure to connect them, which was then opperated at a loss, while they hollowed out our downtowns and destroyed our tax base.

[@linuxman7777]

@@neolithictransitrevolution427 I read strong towns all the time, and what you are saying is true for the town that the walmart relocates to, outside of that town, but walmart kills towns within a very large radius and strips them of retail as well, even if they didn't invest in the walmart, but a town 15mi away did.

[@neolithictransitrevolution427]

@@linuxman7777 Fair point

[@TetanusSnowfall]

I agree. The lack of places like this also mean whenever Yankees hear about cities they imagine dense, sprawling masses of concrete and skyscrapers rather than what a well-planned and managed town naturally grows into. Plus the representation and sense of greater community is often stronger than at any other scale; too small and it's easy to be seen as an outsider, too large and niches form dividing the area's fabric.

[@cjapplebaum6423]

I'd argue that not only is "Small City Urbanism" not an oxymoron, small cities are in some ways more urbanist than large cities. We're all familiar with the concept of the "fifteen minute city," but it's often meant to mean "everything you need is in your neighborhood" and not "you can literally reach the whole city in fifteen minutes. But when you're in a big city like NYC or CDMX, travel from one part of the city to another can be an absolute nightmare. You want to go from the Bronx to Brooklyn to grab lunch? As New Yorkers say, fuhgeddaboutit. That trip will take you well over an hour, even by car. Small cities, on the other hand, don't have this problem. In many of them, you can access the whole city within 30 minutes using public transit. They also don't have severe traffic problems the same way that big cities do, so buses don't get clogged in downtown traffic and can better stick to a schedule. This makes commute times shorter, giving residents more time to spend actually interacting with the community rather than traveling hours to work or school. Sure, you won't get all the same world class cultural attractions, and maybe the city doesn't have an airport, but they VERY often connect to Amtrak, and you'd be shocked by the cultural offerings available. In short, small cities are great, and they're not a "downgrade" from big cities--just different!

[@CityNerd]

I like this framing

[@kellywelz5398]

Thank you for providing this defense! I currently live in a "city" of 100k ppl, but have lived in 50k and even 16k towns. The smaller towns often lacked interesting amenities or helpful infrastructure, but here has surprised me! A useful bus system and even a streetcar! Wow! It is also between two major metro areas, so the benefits of those places, such as large cultural amenities and also job opportunities are within reach, if one doesn't mind the commute. I've never been excited to live in a big city, it is too noisy and busy and crowded for me, so where I am not is a sweet spot for my preferences.

[@thebestbaseballguy]

Most New Yorkers stay in their neighborhood, besides their commutes. It is a 15 minute city because each neighborhood typically has everything you'd need. There's no reason to go from the Bronx to Brooklyn for lunch; every neighborhood in the Bronx has plenty of lunch places. If you wanted to apply that argument to a city like Phoenix or Houston where you have to get in your car to go anywhere, then I'd agree. But it just doesn't apply as well to a city like New York which generally does function as a 15 minute city for most residents. Now that said your argument about shorter commutes is absolutely correct. When I lived in New York I knew a lot of people with absolute nightmare commutes of 90 minutes or more. Now that I live in the much smaller city of Pittsburgh it's rare to hear of anyone who lives and works in the city with a commute over 30 minutes.

[@kdempsey36]

As an Erie resident, I can confirm that everything you pointed out is true for cities of this size. It's a great way to think about the advantages. I take Amtrak trips to Chicago and NYC regularly, there is no such thing as traffic here, and there are cheap, livable neighborhoods near the downtown amenities. I walked to the library yesterday with my lunch hour and stopped by the cat cafe mentioned in the video :-)

[@Clowanda]

You don’t get the same culture in small cities.

[@daniel-wood]

The mythical factoid about the green over red traffic light in Tipperary Hill is that, when the light was initially installed the right way up, the local Irish community took some offense to the color of England (red) being put over the color of Ireland (green), and so repeatedly broke the light until it was installed upside down

[@rashakor]

That is hilarious! They could have gone the japanese route and make the green light blue (putting hence England over France instead!)🤣

[@scpatl4now]

Just an FYI...those backward traffic lights don't play so well with those that are colorblind...just sayin'

[@HAIckes]

What mythical factoid he's grinning)? When I started at Syracuse U. in 1967, that was part of Orientation (he grinned)!

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, I was gonna tell the story but it seemed too long-winded. Plus I'm Irish and it made me feel dumb

[@HAIckes]

@@CityNerd Hahahahaha! Thanks, Ray! And don't worry about the Irish thing - have to keep up the tradition of "Blarney", you know (I have Connelly-s on my mother's side). I also had cousins living in North Syr. for a long time, and they told me the same story. It gives a city more character. Please keep 'em coming!

[@guitardude412]

Erie is currently fighting a huge highway expansion PennDOT is trying to thrust on them, would really put some of these great traditional neighborhoods at risk 😢 I feel like a top 10 potential highway boondoggles would make for a good video topic, especially to draw attention to the ones we can still maybe stop!

[@doingbackflips9265]

I live in erie ! Where can I find more info? I don't get the top ten-ness but I attend Penn State Behrend, so I am a bit away from downtown. I would love to fight the expansion to the death though

[@vertov76]

Can you post some links to information about how this is a bad thing? I agree that increasing traffic on the bayfront connector is a bad thing and that improvements might have that effect, but I've also seen elements of traffic calming and pedestrianization that could improve things (particularly the stroadish State street interchange) I'm utterly on the fence on this one and I've tried to learn more.

[@Amir-jn5mo]

this is sad. How many more years until these state DOT's understand to not destroy urban fabric with these moneysink highways?

[@amandagates5721]

The Bayfront connector expansion only has one pedestrian crossing, it is going to be at Holland Street. People aren’t going to want to walk that far out of the way so they will just be dodging cars to get down to the Bayfront. This project cuts our most valuable resource off from the rest of the city. when asked during a public comment section about how bicyclists would navigate this, the response was that bicycles are vehicles in Pennsylvania and they can navigate the roundabouts. I am an experienced biker, and I will tell you I am not going out into a 40 mph roundabout with cars. There are plenty of examples of cities around the world, actually taking out their waterfront highways, because they realize putting highways there was a mistake. Waterfronts should be for people, not commuters.

[@TAP7a]

Why do all these state DOTs not seem to understand the concept of a bypass and loop? Like does it not cross their mind that simply depositing cars into downtown is, in fact, a deeply stupid thing to do?

[@jeffbowser5896]

I’m from the southern New England area and can confirm those facts about New Bedford are true. The whaling industry led to New Bedfords brief time in the sun as the wealthiest city in the world. When whale oil was at its height, New Bedford was the capital of the whaling industry. There is even a whaling museum in the city .

[@parkmannate4154]

Which is in conjunction with the National Park Service. Its a pretty nice town for walking and eating seafood

[@moomoome42]

I really enjoy the bike route up on the hurricane wall! Is so unique and fun

[@elizabethregan120]

I agree about what I know of the wealth generated from the whaling industry for the country and New Bedford in particular. Tons of money there back in the day. Also true about abolitionism from what I know. Frederick Douglass lived there for a while, and the most heavily travelled segment of the Underground Railroad was the maritime effort where NB may have been the biggest harbor of all. It was major anyway. More black freemen worked on ships and docks than any other industry in the early-mid 1800s. There were black whaler Captains too.

[@ow4744]

Somebody needs to add this as a citation on the wiki article

[@zachretien]

Hey New Bedford! Scallop capital of America! Also largest Portuguese feast / festival outside of Portugal.

[@meganbenmack9249]

YESSSSSSS Erie finally getting some great press! I've lived in London, Madrid, Nashville, and Florida (multiple cities)- and Erie is such a wonderful, compact, human scaled place right off the lake and so close three bigger cities. One of the best places I lived to date.

[@Westlander857]

I moved back to my old college town for a new job 3 years ago, and I’ve never been happier. If you want a close-knit community and a lot of excitement, plenty of things to do, and a city feel that isn’t too chaotic, they’re the way to go. I’m actually giving car-free living a try, and so far it’s better than I expected.

[@pams3176]

Where do you live?

[@mykki.d]

I agree! I actually like the presence of a university because it influences the surrounding culture to value education and progressive ideas. Oh and I like to see the students walking around so I can get a sense of what's 'hip' and trendy in fashion. :P

[@whoopydingdong3138]

that’s soooo embarrassing lmao.

[@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle]

​@@whoopydingdong3138🤔 how?

[@christopherscot3785]

I love college towns too. Do you mind sharing which one you are loving? I have lived in Charlottesville, VA and San Luis Obispo, CA and loved both.

[@incredulouschordate]

Love this concept. I love big cities but it isn't an option for everyone. But everyone deserves great urbanism.

[@JiF_cos]

If you're enthralled by small town urbanism, check out Strong Towns (if you aren't already familiar). It's a nonpartisan advocacy group that believes in "urbanism for middle America" and every size of city. Personal aside, their research and case studies need to be talked about MUCH MORE in the wider urbanism movement because they make a strong argument that urbanism is the only cure for the absolutely fucked state of infrastructure costs in the US.

[@CityNerd]

Agree

[@MainStreetMesa]

Thanks!

[@CityNerd]

You bet!

[@knutthompson7879]

Thanks for including home value. Too many urbanist sorts of presenters are all about playing up hyper expensive, unattainable rich peoples' playgrounds and looking down on all of the unclean masses who have to take pause at the concept of a $1.5 million studio apartment.

[@CityNerd]

Yeah I actually looked at it without an affordability factor at first and the list I was coming up with was absolutely not something I was comfortable with. Although it does say something interesting (troubling) that a lot of our most walkable, transit-rich small cities are ruinously expensive to live in.

[@knutthompson7879]

@@CityNerd Oh without a doubt. It says volumes. And it is disheartening to us normal folks who watch urbanism videos and often just feel depressed how we will never be able to experience it (expect maybe in a Disneyland kind of way).

[@markweaver1012]

@@CityNerd I'm afraid that what it says is that while basic, run-of-the mill car-dependent suburbs are generally easy to build and govern, transit-rich, walkable, dense, affordable, low-crime cities and neighborhoods with vibrant businesses and good schools are MUCH harder. I live in Ann Arbor, which ticks all the boxes (except affordability). In Michigan, there are many other cities of a similar vintage that originally had similar urban fabric, but aren't going to make anybody's top 10 list: Flint, Saginaw, Jackson, Pontiac, Muskegon, Benton Harbor. Even your honorable mention, Lansing, has struggled as has Kalamazoo, despite the largesse of local billionaires who funded 'The Kalamazoo Promise' and other programs. The few successful examples of small-city urbanism are expensive because they are rare. Which is also true of big-city urbanism. The country is full of not-what-they-used-to-be big cities with low average housing prices.

[@sipes23]

I was watching this and wondering where Santa Fe, NM, was, and then I realized that it was probably unaffordable.

[@coltonnorman5238]

@@CityNerd Would love to see that list as well just for fun :)

[@everestjarvik5502]

I live in Eugene and I love it here- big enough that there’s plenty of stuff to do, small enough that it’s close to nature, not too loud or polluted, and has a vibrant local culture The public transit kinda sucks but a nice thing about a smaller city is that you can just bike everywhere so that’s what I do

[@texaswunderkind]

Is racism an issue? Oregon was founded as a haven for whites, you know.

[@weirdfish1216]

i love how you always explain your methodology in such a thorough and easy to understand way

[@CityNerd]

To be honest I probably under-explained on this one but yeah, I just feel like a list doesn't mean anything unless you tell people what you considered and how you measured it!

[@LiteBulb88]

Speaking from experience, Champaign is a really nice place to live, even if you're not a college student. It has a public transportation system that far exceeds what you'd expect from a town its size, some really good restaurants, plenty of walking areas, and lots of friendly people.

[@CityNerd]

Agree with all of this

[@bethhull8463]

It also has a fabulous public library.

[@angellacanfora]

Lived in C'ville, VA for several years and loved it though not the humid summers. Wonderful cultural offerings, especially around the Downtown Mall - mom & pop coffeehouses, art galleries, bistros, bars, music venues, etc. Once you get away from the mall, though, you need a car to get around, for sure.

[@randy7928]

You urbanists would love Iowa City. I'm kinda surprised I haven't seen any videos on it yet. Small, dense, and a perfect marriage of walkability and car access. If you cut the downtown area of a mid size city and dropped it in the middle of a cornfield, you have Iowa City.

[@__-fu5se]

You had me up to "car access"

[@kiosk5595]

He mentions it in his 10 small cities with good transit video along with Ames

[@TheOfficialChillClan]

pumped that Syracuse made the list. Graduated from SU last year and spent my senior year living downtown. It was my introduction to urban living and public transit use. I absolutely loved fell in love with the city and the great bars and restaurants (4 triple D alumni in like a 3 block radius). It has incredible bones and a lot of potential. They're building a $100 billion dollar microchip plant just outside the city and tearing down I-81 which is a textbook redlining relic. Can't wait to visit in a few years!

[@ckh937610]

Same here, but he could have mentioned other areas of the city like Westcott, Eastwood, University Hill, Franklin Square and even Court-Woodlawn. Those are some other relatively walkable areas of the city.

[@AveryHardmann]

Great content and added nested content (spanish trip commentary)!

[@CityNerd]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, I've got a lot of footage that doesn't necessarily fit into topics I would probably do but I might find ways to sneak it in.

[@jacoblaw2044]

Thank you for including Burlington VT on this list!! So excited to see some representation for my state.

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, first time for Vermont on the channel, I think! It's a very different US state, isn't it?

[@NoTimeForNoodles]

​@@CityNerd It is... but I can assure you that there are urbanists here, too!

[@PS987654321PS]

@@CityNerd It's also cloudy and grey 90 percent of the time, outside of July and August.

[@m.e.3862]

Very close to Montreal too for quick trips for fun!

[@geisaune793]

I wish we could know Vermont's secret to having a mostly white, mostly rural population and still being pretty politically liberal because no other majority white and rural state can do it except maybe New Hampshire which is right next door so that doesn't count

[@hngldr]

I recognized that thumbnail of Burlington, VT instantly! My wife and I spent just a couple days of our travelling honeymoon there and have never loved a place more - we'd move there in a HEARTBEAT if we could find jobs there such that we could afford it! Good free transit, GORGEOUS surroundings and lake, beautiful and useful bike paths, incredible pedestrianized area, wonderful compost program (including some awesome restaurants that literally don't have trash because everything is composted by the town), incredible restaurants, and the best food co-op I've ever been to. Now I have to watch the video to see if I was right about the thumbnail...

[@himbourbanist]

Madison absolutely SLAMS for a small city. Really excellent design and the terrain is so well used. It seems to have really forced some interesting density onto the isthmus making for a remarkable city. I think the city has a solid bus system now but I would LOVE to see a clean little light metro or streetcar network get constructed, would make it the best designed city in the midwest

[@SarahRenz59]

Now, if y'all can only break the Republican stranglehold on the state legislature so you can have a fighting chance at getting Amtrak to extend the Hiawatha service from Milwaukee to Madison!

[@misteryA555]

@@SarahRenz59 Next door neighbor Michigan has been rolling out some awesome legislation lately, just keep pointing to them and saying "Don't we want that? That looks awesome!" and people might start getting jealous and demand the same in Wisconsin

[@BitGladius]

Yes, but have you considered how much better it could be if they paved lake Monona?

[@himbourbanist]

@@SarahRenz59 Amtrak service to Madison would be a godsend. Being able to take the train into Chicago on the weekend would be incredible

[@jonathanstensberg]

Madison should focus on getting actual service Amtrak. It could easily serve host two routes to Chicago: one via Milwaukee and MKE and the other via Rockford and ORD.

[@Skip6235]

I’m completely biased as a former employee of the City of Ann Arbor’s engineering department, but I’m so happy to see it has finally made one of your lists! I love Ann Arbor so much, and I always say that if I were ever forced to move back to Michigan for some reason, the only place I’d even consider living is Ann Arbor (or maaaayyyyybe Ferndale/Royal Oak)

[@tomrogue13]

Ann arbor has done so much recently too

[@AlRoderick]

It's great if you can afford it. As it stands, most people can't.

[@robgeach8105]

as long as I don't have to work on the rail or mine iron I'll take marquette.

[@CityNerd]

I'm surprised it took this long to get Ann Arbor into a video!

[@ednorton47]

@@tomrogue13 It is gradually being destroyed by all the new 6-story type buildings downtown. The 2 and 3 story buildings from the 1880's will eventually all be demolished.

[@DuncanAdkins]

Would love to see a video on the best cities/towns in the southeast US that buck the trend of being stroad- and highway-blighted hellscapes. Some I'd bet on would be Gainesville FL, Savannah GA, and Athens GA as mentioned in this video.

[@croatia0728]

I would love this too, the southeast rarely gets mentioned on this channel (which tbf we kinda deserve lmao)

[@bonne_vie]

​@@croatia0728 agreed. Has he done a affordable US cities with warm weather? Maybe then lol.

[@ronnix23]

@CityNerd I would love to see you start a series where you list your top 5 cities in each state. I realize for some states it might be a challenge finding 5 cities, but I still think it would be interesting.

[@Dangic23]

Nothing beats Spain. Great food, people, culture, affordable, weather, etc etc etc

[@raoulduke8003]

As a lifelong resident of Erie, PA, I wanna invite all of you! Erie is a climate "safe haven". When the south is too hot to live and the coasts are inundated...come live in Erie! Our beaches are beautiful. We have tons of clean fresh water. No earthquakes, droughts, or tornadoes.

[@jack2453]

Have you ever thought of adding arts infrastructure to your urbanism criteria? The big 4 i.e. professional opera, theatre, dance companies and symphony orchestra and also reasonable art and/or historical museum?

[@thexalon]

I live not too far from Erie PA, and have friends there. It's a nice little place, and while there is the occasional big snow it's not as big a factor in daily life as you might think.

[@benphillippi3075]

YOOOOOO Ya boy just moved to the Williamsport MSA for school and I was truly shocked how nice a city it is

[@benphillippi3075]

The city is cut of from the Susquehanna River and Lycoming creek because of I180 & US15. However, the bus system is pretty robust for the sized city

[@gerberjoanne266]

I think it's the Norwegians who are fond of saying that there is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing.

[@sammisuejams]

That was my Mother-In-Law. It’s true.

[@isaacsteen4828]

Loving the recent focus on affordability recently. I've already signed a lease in Madison WI, glad to see it getting shouted out here :)

[@rachelthompson266]

I cant believe you included chambana!! I moved to NYC from there and no one here gets it that i truly had such a great experience living in a wonderful walkable city ugh yeah thank you lol

[@rachelthompson266]

if you havent done a video on Galesburg IL i highly rec. I did a long history report /walking tour of the town and everything about it was fascinating to me!

[@bobgardin2347]

Lifetime Clevelander here. Interesting high rank for Erie, PA. In addition to the points you make, we love the historic and natural amenities the city has to offer. The highest being Presque Isle with several ecozones that enclose the city with a beautiful inland bay and a line of wonderful beaches on its lake Erie side.

[@jevandezande]

I spent 4 years in Athens for grad school and really enjoyed it. The public transit was impressive for such a small town (helped out by the free transit cards given to UGA students). The proximity to the Atlanta airport was nice, and there are private shuttles that bring you there. That said, the lack of light rail to Atlanta was absurd. I knew many people who commuted over an hour each way into Atlanta. Sadly, while there were plans to extend MARTA, the suburbs didn't want it.

[@supersnivy48]

For the rail connection to Atlanta, there is a planned new rail line from Atlanta to Charlotte that's either high-speed or will have the possibility to be upgraded to it, and Athens is a planned stop. It's probably many many years away from being built, but it would be awesome for Athens to finally get a rail link to Atlanta that rivals the ~90 mins drive that currently exists.

[@nellwarnes7273]

I'm starting grad school at UGA this fall in their Urban Design program. My area of focus is going to be on rail in the area. There have been many attempts at running passenger rail between Athens and Atlanta in the past. It's really a political issue and with the state legislature being predominantly republican and in major donations from freight rail means this will continue to be an uphill battle.

[@sebastienhardinger4149]

Nice! Was very surprised to not see Allentown, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Scranton or Reading to make the list. PA really is the king for small/midsize cities If you are struggling for content at some point you could do a state-by-state ranking, or maybe not ranking but just a state by state spotlight of lesser known cities

[@itsnick37]

Could not agree more! Eastern PA is gonna get popular with a lot of the east coast just becoming not affordable at all. Looking to get out of NJ and will consider this list for sure if I don’t move to better (winter) weather state

[@AJTLfilms]

Erie PA’s weather is actually way better than other cities because I don’t like the heat. The wikipedia article said Erie averages just 4 days at or above 90 which is a miracle for someone who grew up in the south. 90 and above is normal for months at a time in Tennessee and Virginia.

[@vertov76]

Especially if you live near-ish to the lake. The lake lowers the summer temperatures a noticeable amount from even five miles south.

[@tylerannis7544]

@@vertov76 I think being near the lake raises the temp in the winter too or at least makes it more tolerable. Edinboro usually gets dumped on with snow while the city itself gets way less.

[@TheRealJamesKirk]

Yeah, I'm just about ready to move back to or near my hometown of Rochester NY. I've quite gotten over Atlanta. I cannot enjoy hot and humid anymore. It was a pretty good town back in the '75 -'79 years I was here (I frequented the Little Five Points Pub frequently; only time I've ever been picked up by a delightfully perverted L... 🔄 🌈 🔥 ) Moved to Houston 11/79, moved back to ATL 8/89. Big change. I can handle cold-ish weather.

[@vertov76]

@@tylerannis7544 For sure. I used to live within a mile of the lake and we wouldn't even have snow. 5 miles south would have many inches. (Not always, but enough to notice the difference!)

[@notstarboard]

The downside is it's one of the cloudiest cities in the US; it's sandwiched between Cleveland and Buffalo, which are both fixtures in just about any top 10 list for cloudiest US cities. I don't like the heat either, but there are lots of places in the north with similar summers and much more sunlight during the winter.

[@Hahlen]

My home town of Sitka, Alaska might be a bit small to be considered a city, at only 10,000 people, but it has bike friendly and walk friendly certifications, a trail network that runs the length of the road system, a strong mixed use downtown, and a coastal layout that has mostly prevented sprawl. Road system is only about 15 miles of total pavement, and no roads wider than 2 lane with turning lane. 2 roundabouts and one kind-of-a-roundabout-surrounding the historic church located right in the middle of the Main Street

[@misteryA555]

Your comment sent my down such a rabbit hole... I should be working but all I've done for thirty minutes is research a tiny Alaskan town

[@TheAmericanCatholic]

Sounds great It was built by the Russian empire so I’m not surprised it’s walkable

[@PhDsquared]

@@misteryA555 If you really want to go down a rabbit hole read about the Slattery Report, an interesting piece of history. There is also a novel “ The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” based of an alternate history in regards to the Slattery Report.

[@Rehearsal3434]

Sitka was my favorite stop on my Alaskan cruise. I could almost imagine living there. Beautiful town.

[@mhollis1231]

Lol, from the proposal?

[@zan917]

Loved Burlington and Madison when I was there. Ann Arbor is nice. I’ll have to visit the rest of these places.

[@jjoohhhnn]

I feel quite lucky to be born in Ann Arbor, the rest of the USA is not it. A2 has (one of) the lowest violent crime rate of any city its size or larger.

[@liamtahaney713]

To me 250,000-500,000 is perfect. This feels like a weirdly uncommon size in the us but extremely common in Europe. Really impressed to see Williamsport. Incredible nature to the north as well.

[@thedirtybubble9613]

250k-500k is more a large city.

[@jhfridhem]

@@thedirtybubble9613 Surely you mean large town, right? Although I'm not super familiar with the English language.

[@thedirtybubble9613]

@@jhfridhem Consider cities like Miami, Tampa, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and Pittsburgh have city proper populations less than 500k.

[@usernameusername4037]

@@thedirtybubble9613 City proper population is meaningless with this stuff. 250k-500k urban area ranges from Anchorage, Lincoln, and Peoria to Des Moines, Wichita, and Worcester.

[@HessianHunter]

​@@thedirtybubble9613 You gotta look at density of the whole metro area to say anything meaningful. If Minneapolis were like most other similar cities it would have annexed it's neighboring suburbs long ago so the population of just "Minneapolis" or even "Minneapolis plus St. Paul" makes it seem smaller than it actually is. Local politics of decades long gone dictated where the arbitrary city lines were drawn.

[@incognitodoeswork]

Can you do urbanístico cities close to nature that won’t break the bank? For example, Asheville or Boulder are walkable cities with decent amenities, that are quite close to nature, but so expensive. Great channel thanks!

[@summerrobinson2246]

Was hoping to finally see Greenville SC!! (aka the best greenville)

[@SAAER590]

Tier list videos are always super popular, such as from the channel TierZoo. It'd be fun to see you do an urbanist tier list video of US cities. Are New York and Chicago the two S tier cities? Where does LA fall?? Would be a hit video I think!

[@CityNerd]

Haha, I know TierZoo! I've actually thought about this but I'm not sure anyone had directly suggested it. Thumbnail: IS PITTSBURGH OP?!??! Thanks.

[@soerenbo]

As someone from central Europe (Germany to be precise) its always interesting to see what americans think of their own cities and their qualities or advantages. Some of these sound very interesting and nice, i love small towns, but these videos also make me realise how different the standards are compared to where i'm from. Having "a car free place" and "some walkability" would just qualify as a normal town over here, and the amount of cars and parking spaces inside the city center is unbelievable compared to most towns here. Don't get me rwong, Europes cities are NOT perfect or better in every way, they are just very different. I still think its great how you found the qualities of these places and what makes them unique and good places to live in. Generally i have a feeling that more and more people realise what actually makes a good town/city these days, not just in the US but also here in Europe, which ultimately will improve places and how we all live.

[@enjoystraveling]

@cchip55 I agree with this. I lived overseas also and in my normal medium sized city was easy to bike walk or take public transport with my friends or to work. And on the weekend I bicycled with my friends to the next village or so.

[@rainbomg]

@cchip55how are you able to move to new cities, are you moving for work or do you find work when you get there? And do you make new friends using some kind of plan or technique when you move somewhere? How do you do this? I’m in my late 30s and I haven’t had to start over before and I’m just trying to imagine what that would even look like. Are you single? Do you spend a lot of time going out to eat, drinking, etc? How do you find a decent doctor in every new place you live?

[@stevengordon3271]

What keeps a small city from becoming boring (or dwindling into a ghost town) is lots of people moving in from other parts of the country. This is why I would give a bonus to college towns instead of a penalty.

[@starzzzy22]

This list was actually very helpful! These are cities I could actually see myself living in.

[@jenniferstipe]

Thanks for mentioning Erie. We moved here in 2020 and love it here! Check out the Erie Philharmonic when you visit!

[@vertov76]

ERIE! I live near there and I am so glad you posted this. I kind of held my breath as you went through the list wishing you had noticed it. Erie is really worth a consideration. It's an inexpensive place to live but it has some great bones and some really positive movement lately. It also has colleges but it is not a "college town" per se. As I listened to your criteria, I kept thinking of Erie, so I think you really nailed it this time. Thanks so much for posting this!

[@ebrim5013]

Now I'm curious about Erie too.

[@vertov76]

The other thing I'll add that is super positive about Erie is that Lake Erie tempers the summer heat. It can be a full 5-10 degrees warmer at times only 10 miles south of the lake, but downtown Erie will be quite pleasant outside.

[@AndrewChernauskas]

Great video! Come visit us in Erie, PA anytime! Lots of great resources here that are atypical for a city of its size. If you live close to the lakeshore, you don't get nearly as much snow as those living south of I-90.

[@Phoenixz33]

Ithaca is great! With local ordinances, they kept the stroadiness to the state route that curves around the city, so the downtown area and pedestrian commons have a very community-oriented feel that is centered around local businesses. Excellent bus service (TCAT, as you had mentioned in an earlier video) and a phenomenal homegrown carshare system (Ithaca Carshare) help keep car usage down as well.

[@rashakor]

I live in Ithaca. It is a shadow of itself, though. It used to have airport connections that would be the envy of cities 10 times its size, the best school district for the money in the NorthEast USA, The Commons are slowly being invaded by "art glass shops" and county and town authorities seem hellebent into sprawling into the surrounding hills. Hopefully that eyesore of a mall in Lansing dies soon, and they finally rezone NY13 (the Stroad you mention) to include mix development.

[@brianjonker510]

Here are some interesting numbers for Ithaca, NY from a google search. Pop of Ithaca is 32k and the county (Tompkins) it is located is 100k. The student pop @ Cornell is 20k and @ Ithaca College is 5k. Fully 1/4 of the population are students. Ithaca would be nothing without the colleges and its 10k workforce

[@rook1196]

@@brianjonker510 Any college town is fully supported by said college(s).

[@WryRy1818]

@@rashakorthere are plans to redesign 13 from Cascadilla up to the high school. I really wish the development stretched further south to down around Wegman’s, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.

[@ousamaabdu794]

Glad to see some non-trendy towns on the list (Williamsport, Erie, New Bedford). Your right about Pennsylvania having plenty of smaller, older towns with good bones, historic downtowns and walkable access. Williamsport is quite dense, but surrounded by beautiful scenery. Really does hit on many of the metrics that you speak about. Great video!

[@microcosm1957]

Would love to see a video on the classic cities on the southeast coast! Charleston, Savannah, and St Augustine (the oldest cities in the USA) because they seem to be the perfect representation of the premodern urban vision of America. Walkable, mixed use downtowns with amazing and ornate architecture, tons of small shops and restaurants, with perfect grids dotted with green spaces. Went recently and thought of the things I learned from this channel!

[@johnbennett757]

Visited Erie, PA. Loved Presque Island State Park and I was amazed at how many vineyards there are northeast of the city.

[@goldenstarmusic1689]

I gotta love the repeat feature of Madison, as well as seeing underrated gems like Champaign-Urbana and Ithaca. That being said, Rochester MN, Duluth MN, and St Cloud MN I think all deserve honorable mentions on their own right. Rochester MN is probably the smallest city in the US that's building a properly dedicated lane BRT line, that will be opened by 2026. Rochester is home to the Mayo Clinic and U of MN, providing world class healthcare and education that is a literal lifesaver for millions of people every year across the whole US. Duluth MN has also built up their own BRT-lite bus network upgrades with one of the best waterfronts in America, and St Cloud MN was the first city in the entire country to put transit signal priority on all fixed bus routes. Each of the three cities have charming downtowns with plans to improve even further, as Duluth wants to tear down the overbuilt section of I-35 along the waterfront, and Rochester MN pedestrianized some parts of their downtown with plans to further infill the city with proper density and TOD. St Cloud MN is also home to New Flyer's main manufacturing base for buses in the US, with orders only increasing for more Xcelsior buses across the country. Once again another banger video!

[@chicagoakland]

I lived in Rochester for a while and I think it flies under the radar so much because of that other Rochester. I loved it there, but my Lord, Mayo has just exploded the home prices there.

[@goldenstarmusic1689]

@@chicagoakland this is why Rochester is desperately trying to upzone and infill on housing construction, densifying the downtown even more. It's gotten to a point there's better vacancy rates in the Twin Cities than Rochester LOL

[@CubeApril]

Duluth, MN is incredible but Rochester feels more like a big suburb than a small town. So much stuff is stretched out along the highway, and the downtown core is missing a lot of living amenities. It's a real shame because there is so much money in the town, but I'd choose Duluth over Rochester pretty much every time.

[@goldenstarmusic1689]

@@CubeApril Duluth I feel has the better downtown for sure, but Rochester is certainly on the up. As mentioned, much needed infill and street design upgrades to make the city denser and build upon those bones is gonna be great. That being said, at least Rochester doesn't have I-35 running through its downtown, which hopefully soon will also be fixed thanks to the Duluth Waterfront Collective.

[@jazzcatjohn]

Way too cold.

[@hilarymcmurray1724]

Cool to see Erie on here! Just surprised the beaches weren't mentioned. Kinda cool to put up an away message at work, hop in my car, and be on the sand in less than 10 minutes. Definitely couldn't do that when I lived in Boston. Also, check out the Lake Erie wine trail!

[@tinitrifle]

So excited to see my home town on a list! The firm I work for did the structural design for the World's Tallest Filing Cabinet, which has a genuine urbanist backstory. Thanks!

[@clubasquirrel496]

Duluth, Minnesota is a great smaller city :] … it certainly doesn’t do great in some of your scores, but it’s beautiful. Living here is so nice.

[@georgewashington7374]

Home of “Trampled by Turtles” is legit!

[@debidousagi]

I had an unjustified feeling of pride seeing my home town of Eugene get an honorable mention at the top of the video! XD I think growing up and then going to college there really informed my views on urbanism. It's a wonderful place to walk and bike, most of the older parts of the city have a traditional grid, and shopping/restaurant streets tend to be pretty accessible to a lot of neighborhoods... I was also lucky to live in the college area as a young child which meant a ton of things were easy to walk to! It was great! Also as a child I played a lot of frisbee with college kids lol

[@paullockwood4872]

I love your channel. I've obsessed over comparing cities for 40 years and have lived in a half dozen so far. Kudos to you!

[@wolfgangotium2777]

Fayetteville, AR needs to be on this list! I moved from Fayetteville to Athens, GA (which is not walkable whatsoever, but is slowly implementing bike trails, and public busses are free ). Fayetteville has TONS of biking and walking trails that span south fayetteville all the way to northern Bentonville through multiple cities that are all interconnected. The downtown area is well connected to the college and the campus is dense; and it is also one of the easiest drive able college towns and cheap rent/home costs! I miss living within a 10 minute drive/30 minute bike ride to the entire town.

[@linuxman7777]

Ironic because Walmart based out of Fayetteville killed most of the walkable towns in America

[@wolfgangotium2777]

@@linuxman7777 Walmart is based out of Bentonville and is who bankrolled 75% of the walking/biking trails along with L.L Bean. But yes, it is very ironic lol I despise Walmart with a passion

[@kennielsen3896]

Envious of you broadcasting from Spain. I was a teaching assistant last year in the Valencian Community at a public school, assisting the English Teachers as a Native Speaker. Was a blast. I'm now planning on a move there with a target date of September.

[@melissahalle8398]

Wish you could include more Canadian cities in your videos, would be nice to hear your opinion.There is a lot of good urban design to be found

[@jamescoulson7729]

I was waiting for Victoria and Halifax

[@trevorvanderwoerd8915]

@@jamescoulson7729 No way they would have passed the affordability threshold. Unfortunately, affordable cities in Canada are almost entirely gone.

[@marklittle8805]

​@@jamescoulson7729 housing prices in Canada do them all in. If they were adjusted (Canadians live with different priorities and universal healthcare so our expenses are different) to some sort of metric; then Halifax, Victoria and Kingston might come into some sort of measure

[@MarkHiew]

Was hoping to see Raleigh-Durham NC on this list. Oh well. Good to learn about some other great small cities though!

[@blankface_]

I would also recommend Corvallis, Oregon, not in terms of transit but simply very well-built bike infrastructure.

[@bobsykes]

A great one! I love this content, and I can't wait for your visits to some of these cities over time.

[@zedlyfe]

I'd love a similar style video but limited solely to NYC neighbourhoods. Top ten "cheapest" neighbourhoods but with walkability, bike score, and transit score factored in.

[@CityNerd]

Oh man that's actually a great idea haha

[@1ACL]

Do philly, too!

[@queens6583]

As long as you remember that Manhattan is not NYC in totality. There are 5 boroughs which all have great neighborhoods. Queens being the largest with the most diversity in the whole country.

[@jamesmooney8933]

The 115 minute city was a fact of life in pre '76 America. I grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh. We had an A&P, Krogers, Giants Eagle, Shop & Save. We had 5 Hardware stores. We had 3 Drug Store, a shoe repair shop, 5 gasoline stations, a movie theater, a department store, 2 two 5&10 cent Stores, and other various stores. Sorry we had no tatoo shops. My point is that my parents bought a '53 Ford in '55 with 19,000 miles, and sold it in '62 with 60,000 miles on it, because the car rarely left out suburb.

[@tomgeorge2917]

I'm grew up in Erie and my girlfriend is from Syracuse. We currently live in Tucson. While the weather is fabulous, we could never own a home comparable to where we're from for the price. They have unbelievable affordable housing. Erie is by far a gem in summer. Presque Isle beaches are great. Yeah, you want to flee South in Jan/Feb if you can.

[@johnmcgrath6192]

lol, Burlington is great. I remember when Burlington had only one traffic light and part of the charm was to gather downtown to watch the light change. I also enjoyed the Christmas carols on the radio with the message, "Will you be here for family at Christmas. Drive safe. And the warninjgs aboutr rabid racoons and other animals (I think); Beautiful Lake Champlai, a pleasure in the winter as well as the summer..

[@stencil_ized]

In a similar vein as your “most improved cities” video, maybe you could talk about “vision zero” and which cities have actually made improvements on traffic/pedestrian safety. Right now it seems like pedestrian safety is getting worse in a lot of big cities like LA. Maybe there are some places doing the right thing. Or if it’s really just getting worse across the board, I’d settle for top 10 most unsafe cities for pedestrians, too.

[@FunkBison]

THIS

[@karlahovde]

This would be great!

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, I have a couple ideas around Vision Zero. Depressing topic though -- so many plans, so few good results (so far). We really are going backwards on pedestrian safety.

[@amfm889]

@@CityNerd And kind of a depressing name, really: Vision Zero??

[@denisecaringer4726]

Why do you assume that a place with winter is bad? I moved north so I could enjoy winters. Love it.

[@godminnette2]

I thought of Ann Arbor the instant I saw this thumbnail. Glad to see it on the list! It still has quite a long way to go in terms of good urban development practices, but it's making its way there. When you live nearby, it's a place you want to visit as much as possible.

[@GoGreen1977]

Have you seen downtown East Lansing lately? I'm thinking of moving there, right across the street from that glorious, sprawling campus of MSU. I'm a U of M grad, but it doesn't hold a candle to the beauty of the MSU campus and East Lansing is much more affordable.

[@chrisbunka]

@@GoGreen1977 As someone who lived in East Lansing from 2012-2014, I can see why it appeals to you. As long as you can live very close to the campus, you’re all set. Although I haven’t been there, I know there’s also a newer shopping plaza off Trowbridge.

[@jjoohhhnn]

@@GoGreen1977 I am always shocked by how much nicer MSU's campus is than U of M's, in spite of the U of M having more cash.

[@gogreen7794]

​@@jjoohhhnnMSU started out as the land grant/ag college in Michigan. With that came lots of land, separated from the "urbanization" surrounding the campus. The University of Michigan didn't have that advantage.

[@pegwatts6120]

We just moved it to every six months ago. In the dead of winter and it wasn’t miserable. We love it here! Presque Isle and the beaches are amazing, downtown is lively, and there’s arts and lots of food and the bayfront redevelopment is beautiful. Don’t tell everyone! It’s our hidden gem.

[@theeggreat4]

Ann Arbor is really dope and they have an amazing festival in the summer around the university. Also Charlottesville and Roanoke are amazing small towns if you like Virginia it was a pleasant surprise.

[@brandonmcclain6476]

Hey🎉 We got an honorable mention!!! "Old Town" Northside of Lansing, Michigan has a good vibe, and the busses run regularly.

[@Lycan3303]

Lived in New Bedford for about 20yrs, watched the quality of the city sink like a stone ... drugs ...poverity...violence...do not move there.... the best decision of my life was leaving

[@Roque-Cachamuiña-gs1wd]

I live in a small city in the north of Spain, I have only been to the United States once as a tourist, visiting New York, there people walk almost like in Europe and there is public transportation. For me the fundamental thing is not to live in a bigger or smaller city, there are pros and cons, for me it is essential to be able to do daily life, shop, go to the bank, go to the doctor, go to dinner or eat out without having to use the car or public transportation, be able to walk and always not have to use the private car to go to work

[@ridge_valley_river]

Interesting list! I've been waiting for a video like this featuring smaller cities! I was a bit surprised to see Erie and Williamsport show up but not Harrisburg. Population is on the small side (around 50,000, though the combined metro area is much larger), but because it's the capital city of a large state, it punches above its weight in terms of amenities (some high-end restaurants, its own symphony orchestra, etc.). Downtown isn't an urbanist paradise by any means, but neighborhoods like Midtown are incredibly beautiful and walkable, and housing is legitimately affordable (Zillow average home price is $213k). Lots of access to nature-the city's entire riverfront is a park, and the Appalachian Trail is 15 minutes away. Also, Harrisburg has decent four-season weather and is a couple hours by train from Philly, NYC, DC, and Pittsburgh. Keep up the great work!

[@letitiajeavons6333]

Maybe the politicians got it downgraded.

[@mariogalindez7427]

As someone who went to UM in Ann Arbor and recently moved to Madison, WI, the bikeability is not even comparable. Sure, Ann Arbor put up one or two protected bike paths, and getting around the university area is fine with a bike (sidewalks and neighborhood roads), but Madison has a massive network of properly separated bike paths that actually take you to all corners of the city. I actually feel very safe biking there. Ann Arbor has recently improved, but it is not even close to Madison yet.

[@markweaver1012]

Ann Arbor also has a riverfront bike path that runs for about 15 miles now and will span the whole county when completed in a few years (and which already connects to city and county parks along the river). There are also a number of excellent bike MTB trails in the area and a fantastic network of gravel roads to ride outside the city. As for protected bike lanes downtown-Iwish we hadn't built them. They weren't really needed. I preferred riding the low speed city streets before. Is this better than Madison's network? Dunno, but I really feel spoiled for biking options here. Lastly, I'll take Ann Arbor because it's not also the state capitol and has less 'grit', crime and unrest. Unlike Madison, there were no riots, toppled statues, or smashed shop windows here.

[@mariogalindez7427]

@@markweaver1012 I appreciate the Ann Arbor love. It's a great city, and those paths are great for recreation, but not for everyday chores or commuting. Michigan is like that in general; I grew up in Plymouth MI and we had some beautiful bike trails too, but they were clearly only useful/meant for recreation. They didn't lead anywhere except the park; not that there is anything wrong with that, but the city of Madison has actually invested in bike paths that mean you can travel through very built up areas unimpeded (we also don't have many protected bike lanes). Also, I can't speak to riots since I've only been here two years, but Madison is simply larger than Ann Arbor and it isn't as much of a college town, so that tracks. To conclude, both cities are great, and both need to do a better job catering to bikes.

[@markweaver1012]

@@mariogalindez7427 I never had any trouble getting around Ann Arbor before the first protected bike lane was built. There are really only a handful of higher-speed, 4-lane roads that I thought were unsafe, but I never felt any need to ride on them -- there's always been a way to get where I was going using low-speed streets (often cutting through neighborhoods). In my view, the protected bike lanes downtown were built more out of a sense of 'big city envy' than necessity, and tend to confuse cyclists and drivers alike (and may make things less safe). As for commuting, the 'border-to-border' trail along the river connects to Ypsilanti (where housing is more affordable) and actually is used to commute. It also runs very close to the University Medical Center which is a major employer (with limited, expensive parking), so it's not just a recreational trail. The main impediments to greater usage are weather and, frankly, culture. But maybe the fact that pedal-assist eBikes are allowed on the trail will get more people out there.

[@mariogalindez7427]

@@markweaver1012 yeah I agree with everything you said (my experience is colored by only being a student in Ann Arbor) except for the protected bicycle lanes being "big city envy." There are a certain group of people who will not feel safe, and will bike less or not at all if they have to share the road with cars. If you want to get anywhere in Ann Arbor you will eventually have to use at least a medium traffic road, and it is nice that the city is protecting some of those. I disagree that they make things less safe, but I did notice that in Ann Arbor they were not properly designed as to prevent cars from using them as places to idle randomly.... That DOES make things worse and can easily be fixed with bollards.

[@jjoohhhnn]

@@markweaver1012 Ann Arbor isn't ideal for bikes, imo for the above stated reasons, but our transit system isn't bad and the city layout has neighborhood grocery stores, which aren't walkable for the whole neighborhood, but do make a major improvement on traffic congestion. imo, where A2 shines is the night life/activities, it's super safe, has events all the time, often with big names, at great venues. That, being walkable from a picturesque midwestern neighborhood puts A2 in a unique position for being walkable, not affordable, and cozy. A very unique place, with nothing quite like it in the USA, from my understanding. Austin TX and Madison WI have been compared, but they're not as cozy, safe and engaging at the same time. And they don't fuse natural beauty with urban planning like A2 does with its parks system, and joint efforts with the state, county and metro area.

[@alexconrad2904]

I was almost 100% sure Lancaster, PA would be #1 on the list and was surprised it wasn't until I looked up the metro area population. 550,000 people are in the metro area, which consists of only Lancaster county. There are only 430,000 people in the urbanized area, which I think is slightly better for measuring metro populations, but I digress. I think Lancaster would be the perfect city for any urbanist looking for a smaller town. It's one of the oldest cities in the country, and has an incredible central market. It has a station on the Keystone Service, which is about 1 train/hour to Harrisburg or Philadelphia and New York. Its walk score is an 81, which is higher than any other town in PA, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Lancaster is kind of my dream city. If only it was a little closer to the Rocky Mts, but I guess the Appalachians would scratch the outdoors itch.

[@sebastienhardinger4149]

I was surprised that more PA cities didn't make it. Lancaster is the nicest and wealthiest of the small/midsize PA cities but Allentown, Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Scranton, and Reading all seem to be perfect fits for this list

[@XTRABIG]

@@sebastienhardinger4149 greater walk score than Phili and Pittsburgh is suprising.

[@zachpetrus2242]

I recently moved to New Haven, CT for work (where Yale University is located) and I have fallen in love with the city. I rarely use my car, primarily walk and sometimes bike to work. - I know it wasn't a factor you considered on this list, but it is a 2 hour train ride to both NYC and Boston. - 2 hour train ride from JFK airport and the other NYC airports - Only a 2 hour drive away from camping/skiing in Vermont and New Hampshire. - The city is right on the Long Island Sound with access to a bunch of nice beaches. - Weather is much better than what I'm used to in Upstate NY. I also agree with others in the comments that living in a college city is pretty great. Walkability/bikability is almost always a focus within the urban design and there is never a lack of activities/events/museums to explore. Only downside really is the jacked up apartment prices due to the University being here. But there are plenty of affordable places to live within biking distance of downtown.

[@urspaghett]

I second this! New Haven is quite underrated due to its proximity to the biggest metros on the East Coast while also being very self-sufficient. Big bike culture here and CTtransit is getting better. New Haven needs a BRT though, which I feel would help equalize much of the wealth disparity that some of the neighborhoods suffer from.

[@cjaquilino]

Great pizza too.

[@zachpetrus2242]

@@urspaghett totally agree a BRT would be great. Just like so many US cities, New Haven used to have a bunch of street cars to get to the suburbs. But now they're replaced by roads. They've been working on adding bike lanes to some of these streets, specifically in Edgewood where they're trying to reconnect the suburb to downtown.

[@zachpetrus2242]

@@cjaquilino Modern is the best imo. Dangerously good one might say

[@emorourke1306]

I always thought New Haven was a CT city with a lot of potential. I hope they continue to improve it.

[@JasmineTea127]

New Bedford (New England in general) Is absolutely gorgeous!

[@pjflynn5978]

You need to take a look at Frederick, Maryland! Gorgeous colonial town nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. Straight up oozing idyllic charm! They also have a pretty good public transit system with a light rail traveling to DC and plans to further improve it. Mid dense housing with block upon block of beautiful and unique rowhomes. Incredible downtown scene with endless restaurants and bars! Two beautiful parks as well with a pedestrian only creek walk similar to the San Antonio river walk! Frederick’s charm is endless

[@jordonmartin760]

Frederick is definitely a pretty town, and the downtown is lovely and walkable.. My guess is that it would not make the list due to housing costs, given its proximity to DC.

[@lmp23612]

My favorite city. Hope to retire there but may not be able to afford it

[@pjflynn5978]

@@lmp23612 I hope you can afford it! Just saw a cute downtown house go up for sale for 300k, I’ll probably have to wait until a few years out of college to afford it there though :/

[@jpower002]

Erie! We do have a bad reputation when it comes to snow. And indeed we get a lot of snow compared to our neighbors in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, but it really doesn't get too cold here - not nearly as cold as places like Chicago, Wisconsin, Minnesota, or in the northeast in Vermont or New Hampshire.

[@deloreandorian]

Feeling very fortunate to be graduating with a degree in urban planning in your no. 2 city! I really hope they update the google earth rendering for the city, that current form is from 2015 and the difference in what it looks like today in 2023 is incredible.

[@CityNerd]

I know! I'm gonna have to go back and visit soon so I can take photos

[@alberickarina-plun72]

As a resident and planner in Cville, loved seeing it on the honorable mention list! I've been here almost a year and love it so far, very walkable downtown, and lots of cool spots to check out.

[@michaelimbesi2314]

Loved to see VA mentioned. Also, the stuff about New Bedford is true. It was the capital of the New England whaling industry and was full of wealthy ship captains.

[@WBSummerlin]

I'd check out Savannah, GA. SCAD props up the midtown area and the historic district has had some crazy expansion.

[@sandhyadesai6318]

Would love to see urbanism content about the Spanish cities you are visiting, particularly how the Madrid metro compares to other cities' metros.

[@CowWithBeef]

Presque Isle State Park in Erie is delightful in the summer.

[@TimothyHalkowski]

Good shout out for Madison, WI. Alas, rapidly becoming quite expensive.

[@ChristianoOwen]

Always love seeing PA make the list @citynerd ❤

[@de-fault_de-fault]

Erie, PA, has a nonzero number of diners spelled as “dinor.” Valencia doesn’t have that.

[@jillirwin3911]

Ha those images of Spokane appear to be when there was one of those bad wildfires going on relatively nearby, you can see it to the left in the sky.

[@jillirwin3911]

the smoke, not the fire :)

[@PerksterVermont]

An important QOL indicator that would put Burlington, Vermont, over the top: microbrewpubs per capita! This, combined with a high bike/walk index would be pretty interesting.

[@bdellovibrioo5242]

Yay, first time seeing my hometown on this channel, even as an honorable mention (Spokane).

[@emilymclean6541]

Appreciate the emphasis on affordability! I'm 24, just starting my career, and want to live somewhere walkable, well-planned, with good transit options where I can potentially afford a house in a few years. I'm also a smaller city fan so this video is perfect for me. Burlington is high on my list.

[@trevorclement2829]

The green on top traffic signal on tipp hill used to get replaced constantly but people kept tearing it down and putting the green back on top until the city just gave up. If I remember correctly...