The 10 Best U.S. Cities for Urbanist Jetsetters this Summer

[@kylebeckham3825]

Yes! Stop Bay Area hate! Also, props for shouting out Ocean Beach/Outer Sunset (take any northbound BART train from SFO or westbound BART from OAK into the Market Street corridor, transfer to Muni and you're at the ocean in 20-25 additional minutes...with double the options once they finish rebuilding the L taraval, but you can take the N-Judah instead)!

[@Zephyr_Silver]

And if you’re in downtown SF, it’s a one seat ride to the beach, basically

[@jacobbyers7914]

"Wanna catch a Giants game at the best stadium in baseball" LFG bro knows ball!

[@Foxy_AR]

I don’t even live in the US or plan to do vacation there, but I'm still watching this video because I think its interesting :)

[@todgod]

Thank you Foxy!

[@briansieve]

It's SO weird that San Diego doesn't have an airport spur of the Trolley

[@briansieve]

I agree. I don't get the PDX hype

[@briansieve]

Best tourist activity in Chicago is the boat tour on the river and lake by the Chicago Architecture Society

[@crazyasiandragon-5491]

love that new intro music :)

[@todgod]

Ikr it's a banger

[@jmlinden7]

2:55 The Washington Park stop is not the closest rail station to the Rose Garden (37 minute walk), you'll want the Goose Hollow/SW Jefferson stop (19 minute walk).

[@Zephyr_Silver]

“The Bay Area gets an unfairly bad rap” a-frickin-men to that. Folks just wanna hate without having even gone to the place

[@todgod]

Exactly! It's really not that bad

[@yoshirox25]

Now you know how Chicago feels. Just ignore it and stop worrying about what ignorant people think. No matter what reputation proceeds them, Chicago and SF Bay Area are still the country's coolest big cities. Do you really want those obese Fox News watching MAGA hat wearing tourists crowding your sidewalks like they do in NY, LA, or Miami? The tourists who come to places like Chicago and the Bay do so out of intellectual interests such as seeking innovative architecture, inspiring local history, and transformative counter-culture like the Haight-Ashbury or the first officially recognized LGBTQ+ neighborhood in the country (Boystown). Not to mention that both have kick-ass Mexican food (Chicago wins for being more authentic, look it up.) Trust me, it's a sign of virtue when middle America doesn't like the cut of your jib. It means you're doing something right.

[@Meyerc-yv2bi]

@@todgod It's great! Most beautiful city in the country with lots to do, great food and friendly people. Unfortunately it's way to expensive.

[@margaritavargas7324]

amazing!

[@todgod]

Thank you! :)

[@himbourbanist]

Dude DC is an incredible trip and getting the Metro from Reagan is an absolute BREEZE. The DC Metro is my favorite system in the country and there's a seemingly endless amount of stuff to do there. Don't forget that it's the terminus of the Northeast Corridor so if you live in the Northeast or along one of the Amtrak Silver Services the train will take you right to the heart of the city across the street from the US Capitol building.

[@AutumnBosco]

Such good content! Not just this video but all of them. Leaving this here to increase engagement because I want the algorithm to recognize this fact.

[@todgod]

Thank you Autumn! Means a lot :)

[@scpatl4now]

Atlanta is remarkably well connected with rail considering its reputation for being car-centric (well deserved). From a tourist's perspective, it's very well connected. A couple of things you didn't mention are High Museum and SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) at the Arts Center Station Piedmont Park which is 3 blocks from the Midtown Station (10th st) also great for those hot Atlanta Summer days The Beltline which is the walking trail system (that will one day have rail) that rings around the city and is the the new "it" thing

[@offbrandurbanism]

This is an insane coincidence. Literally boarding a plane right now.

[@todgod]

Enjoy your flight good sir!

[@jimspies2775]

STL at 11th is fair. The Metrolink service is really pretty good, every 20 minutes at the airport, but where the Blue and Red lines co-track it's every 10 minutes, and that's between all of the tourist things in Forest Park and Downtown. Extra bonus that all our cultural museums (Art, History, Science, Zoo) in Forest Park are free admission.0

[@todgod]

I do wanna check out St. Louis!!

[@butteredmap9064]

Mhm all that plus The Grove, Botanical Gardens, The Hill, and South Grand are all just a little bit South of Metrolink

[@ckohen]

You may remember I commented on VTA's connection to SJC on a previous video. I recently had the pleasure of travelling all the way up to SFO for a flight to O'Hare (since there's no direct flights to ORD from SJC, only to Midway). I absolutely agree that SF has the best transit connection at the airport. If I were to guess, I'd say from diridon station to either SJC or SFO is pretty much identical timing wise at about 1 hour, depending on caltrain -> bart connection times and which caltrain you are getting on. The airtrain isn't the best at SFO (took like 4 minutes at each station for some reason), but man that bart connection is amazing. And all that said above about SJ doesn't even consider the connection to SF, which is even better, since you don't need to transfer. (can't wait for bart to make the full loop)

[@banksrail]

7:46 We’ll, you see what had happened was… The city was planing on doing a subway expansion running down the highway median to LGA but, the NIMBYS complained it would be “too much noise”, even though they live next to a damn Airport and 6 lane Highway. But whatever. Now the city wants to put a people mover in like JFK. The joke is, this people mover actually goes the opposite way of Manhattan, making it pretty useless unless your coming from northern Long Island. But then people complained again that that was indeed stupid so they canceled that too (me, I was people who complained that time). Now we’re back at square one.

[@todgod]

Of course it all comes down to the NIMBYs....

[@fatviscount6562]

Goes to show you NIMBYs are stupid: not realizing that the people mover would take car noise away from them. At the time I also ridiculed the people mover for running away from Manhattan, but I've since had a change of heart: Corona Park is not only a very nice green space, but also full of great museums walkable to the subway that would make any city other than New York proud (you have to check out the model of the complete New York City). Main Street Flushing is a flourishing place that is already a de-facto transit hub. Most of all, the 7 subway already runs express trains during rush hour, so that a people mover connecting to all-day Express 7 is still much faster than the expensive bus ride to Grand Central. Until then, for travelers without heavy baggage, the M60 bus gets to Manhattan surprisingly fast, with spectacular scenery compared to getting stuck in the Midtown Tunnel.

[@lavenderw]

wait MY city has an airport light rail connection!! but it wasnt featured???? this is madness!!!

[@todgod]

I know!!!! I wanted to put so much more on here but alas it’s a top ten video

[@stevekluth9060]

DC actually has three airports as BWI also serves DC (and I had several TDY trips to DC that flew into BWI). It now has a rail connection direct to Union Station and may be a bit quicker than the Silver Line to the city. Also, thanks for the St Louis love where I spent most of my career. It's very underappreciated and the light rail hits most of the main tourist sites; the Arch, Busch Stadium, Union Station, the Central West End, and Forest Park. There's a shuttle for getting around Forest Park to the Zoo and Art Museum which are both free. The new Cortex station gives access to St Louis University and the popular Grove neighborhood. You can take the Broadway bus for a short hop to the other two main touristy sites, the Budweiser brewery and Soulard Market.

[@todgod]

Thank you so much for this insight! I'm glad I ranked DC high!

[@themoviedealers]

LA is coming baby! Airport connected up to train network within a year. (Burbank Airport already hooked up but that's less frequent commuter rail.)

[@TohaBgood2]

Actually sort of agree with this. I do like Chicago's airport rail connections. They were very easy to find. But yeah, the Bay Area is pretty much the only place in the US that did "rail to the airport" correctly.

[@erik_griswold]

I dunno, it’s a longer walk from most of O’Hare to the CTA station than it is from SeaTac to the LINK station there. Even longer walk to the CTA at Midway. Are the Chicago airports really linked by rail?

[@fatviscount6562]

Overall the video has both head and heart in the right place, and is a pleasure to watch. I find your ranking subjective, but reasonable. Though I have a dispute on methodology based entirely on the duration of transit ride. This penalizes Dallas, Denver, and Portland, which built the airport far away from city center. Instead, it should have been based on transit duration vs peak and/or Sunday morning drive time, to show how effective transit is. It shows that the train in Denver is a great time saver compared to getting stuck on the Interstate, it also shows SFO as comparatively bad, because 101 connects airport and Downtown directly, but BART makes a huge loop around Daly City. SJC deserves a special dishonorable mention: with downtown less than 3 miles from the airport, yet transit unable to to connect the two points in under 40 minutes. Thoughts on individual cities for your next visit: 1. Chicago: I've worked in Willis Tower, so I know the Hancock observation deck, with a great view of the lake, is superior. Go at twilight to see the sky and lake change color. In the summer, go in late evening to see the firework (and the ticket *might* be good for a repeat visit next day. 2. Cleveland: it should be more touristy. the R+RHoF stands on a beautiful water front, with locks to Lake Erie worth spending all day. As a poli-sci nerd, you'll enjoy walking from rail transit to a magnificent Presidential mausoleum next to that of John D Rockefeller. It also has a beautifully landscaped park for all the museums and concert halls. Finally, as a transit nerd, you'll love Terminal Tower. If you try to spend a week in Cleveland, you'll run out of time. The downside: Cleveland get more snow than Minneapolis in the winter, and as hot and muggy as Atlanta in the summer. 3. Besides being the gateway to the Rockies, downtown Denver is far more interesting than most people give it credit. Majestic Union station is connected to a transit mall. The state capitol gives an excellent FREE tour. Besides, few other places allows you to get off the airport train and go directly to see the government literally MAKE money. (I'm prejudiced because I visited on the first day of issue for the Colorado Quarter). 4. Baltimore: the excellent rail museum (near downtown, not to mention a separate streetcar museum) alone is worth a visit for anyone watching this channel. 5. St. Louis: another comment has already said it better. Just to add the Union Station is a magnificent sight to behold. A poli-sci nerd would want to visit the old courthouse, where one of the worst American legal decision (Dred Scott) originated. The city has a urban park even better designed and bigger than New York's Central Park. It is a rich experience. 6. Dallas: is more than JFK's crime scene. You can use transit from the airport to a Presidential library (need to transfer to Bus 743, not a coincidental route number). Anyone who like street cars can spend all day riding the McKinney Street Car, a wonderful urban corridor even without the street cars. 7. DC: Metro does not serve the two most interesting neighborhoods: Adams Morgan (home of Politics and Prose bookstore, which often offers great book talks) and Georgetown--where the political operatives live and brunch.

[@stevekluth9060]

Lots of excellent points. Thanks for pointing out the importance of time saved rather than actual time to highlight what transit should offer. Disagree with your assessment of Cleveland's weather. Its winters are nowhere near as cold as Mpls; I grew up in Green Bay which as has winters between the two, both temperature-wise and in snowfall. Cleveland's summers are far milder than Atlanta's and more akin to Memphis or St Louis; Atlanta averages a high of 89°F in July while Cleveland's average is 83° and is usually less humid despite its lakeside location.

[@fatviscount6562]

@@stevekluth9060 Thanks. I didn't say CLE is colder than MSP, I said it gets more snow, and 40 years after having to shovel two winters, my back still hurts.

[@gevans446]

The LRT to LaGuardia was a terrible plan that would made travellers go all the way from the end of the 7 Line to Manhattan.

[@Meyerc-yv2bi]

The best way to get to LGA is take the E Subway from anywhere in Manhattan to Astoria Blvd. and catch the free airport bus right outside the subway station. Problem is traffic . It can take well over an hour if you hit a jam and you will miss your flight. The 9 billion renovation was a waste. The airport is much more inefficient and still no rail service to the airport.

[@Meyerc-yv2bi]

I have to agree the Bay Area is the best with excellent rail service. It's also a fantastic city, gorgeous, great food, tons to do, but very expensive. You can also get to San Francisco from SJC airport via CalTrain in under 90 minutes, or take the bus to Miliptas and then BART. As for NYC, you have to pay $8.50 at JFK to ride the "airtrain" to the E line subway, but the station is disgusting and you have to walk outside in a rough neighborhood. I much prefer Newark, because their airtrain takes you directly to NJ Transit platform. You can be in the heart of NYC at Penn Station in less than 30 minutes (There is also a bus that goes from EWR every 15 minutes to Port Authority from each terminal outside baggage). LGA is awful. A 9 billion dollar renovation, which made the airport far less efficient, and still no rail service. Chicago (I prefer MDW), MSP, DCA, BOS, PHL, SAN all great. ATL is a hot mess in the summer. STL and CLE are underrated. Both have excellent direct airport rail service. These cities are underrated. Tons to do and not nearly expensive as NYC or San Francisco.

[@todgod]

Appreciate it!!!

[@Newspeak.]

The Portland airport connection really is pretty slow. We desperately need a downtown MAX tunnel which would cut alot of time getting to downtown.

[@Alejandro-vn2si]

At first, I thought that the Bay Area would have a in the low top 10. But, I was surprised that it actially was number one. Just one thing, when are you going to make a video about BART and their expansion into silicon valley?

[@todgod]

BART is certainly on the short list of systems I wanna tackle. It’ll probably be the longest video to date

[@erik_griswold]

AirTrain JFK to Manhattan via LIRR takes a lot less time than you quote. 37 minutes with a longish connection at Jamaica.

[@fatviscount6562]

Too bad Jamaica is poorly signed to show when the next trains leave, how to get there, and how to buy tickets, so visitors opt for the hour long agony. Though your comment points out the difference between google answers and practical results on the ground.

[@TohaBgood2]

More TODGod videos! More! Drop whatever you're doing real quick and make us a new video! The people demand the videos! Ignore your personal and professional life and work for us for free! Come on! You know you wanna 😁😁😁 Seriously though, when's the next video coming?

[@todgod]

Definitely not soon sorry bud hahahaha

[@TohaBgood2]

@@todgod Lol, I literally saw that new video ten seconds after I posted this! 😁😁😁 If I knew that just asking nicely would work so well I would have asked like a month ago 😁

[@peterj.giannini7276]

What about LA?

[@todgod]

LA does not have a direct rail connection with LAX yet... but a light rail station and people mover system will come in 2024 /25 I believe!

[@fatviscount6562]

This is where I disagree with the "single seat rail" criterion: LA has Flyaway Buses that uses HOV lanes so it connects the airport and Union Station reliably in under 30 minutes. Too me, transit modes are just different tools, and I use whatever the tool that works best. Right now it is possible to take the shuttle to C Line metro, then transfer to the Silver Line BRT. I concede it's PITA, but during most of the day still faster than driving, and the $7 day pass is a bargain. For that matter, not even in 2025 will LA have a single-seat ride downtown--requiring a transfer at Crenshaw/Expo. It will be much more pleasant than transferring at the gawdawful 105/110 monstrosity. LA is not as car-friendly as outsiders think, and its transit has a long way to go, but its transit is much better and more convenient than people (even native Angelinos) believe. LA will never build a single-seat rail between airport and downtown, and frankly that is moot: LA is multi-centric, and the airport is tapping into a vast interconnected transit network that can get people to a whole host of densely-built destinations from the airport faster than driving, at unbelievably low cost. LA will have to build rail connecting Redondo Bech-LAX-Westwood-Sherman Oaks: they don't have space to expand I-405, which is a parking lot 6 hours a day.

[@peterj.giannini7276]

The same can be said about San Jose. The free VTA Airport Flyer (Route 60) connects both SJC terminals to the Metro/Airport VTA light rail station. The entire trip to downtown is approximately 20 minutes.

[@fatviscount6562]

@@peterj.giannini7276 Impossible at SJC: the light rail alone takes more than 25 minutes. It takes 5 minutes to walk between the light rail and Bus 60--for people who even know where the unmarked stops are, since it has always been poorly marked. Long waits during the transfer is the norm--not unusual for Bus 60 to simply cancel a run. Connect Bus 60 to 522 at Santa Clara is faster, but that's a circuitous route.

[@andrelukin6364]

I went to Philadelphia once. after landing I decided to take the train to downtown. It stopped on second or third stop due to some problem either with the train or on the tracks. So I was forced to call Uber because we were in the middle of nowhere and they could not to find out how long the shuttle bus will take to appear by the train. What a waste of time! I love cities with easy rail connection from airport to city center but the connection should not just exist but more importantly it should be predictable and reliable! I would say Philadelphia is off track on this list..

[@misteriknow2069]

Seattle should be ranked higher. There’s only 2 lines and it’s pretty efficient for the mileage it serves. The 2Line just opened up almost 2 weeks ago…kinda😁. And cheap. Much cheaper than BART in the Bay Area. I would slide it right above Atlanta at #4…and slide SF at #2 behind NYC. The Bay Area Bias is definitely real in this video 😂

[@tristanexists1806]

Not nad second place for nyc At least we're on the podium

[@dal7411]

Would love to know what station downtown is only 39 min from ohare 😂😂

[@todgod]

That’s what trusty google maps said haha, I believe it’s from OHare to Clark Lake

[@aminsennour5571]

... Boston??

[@todgod]

Boston does not have an easy connection to its airport transit-wise, as there's no one seat ride to Logan's terminals.

[@erik_griswold]

@@todgod There’s a single seat ride on the Silver Line bus. You can also take the airport loop bus to the on-property Airport Blue Line stop or the ferry dock. But unfortunately there’s nothing historic or cultural to see in Boston.

[@TohaBgood2]

@@erik_griswold That's not a rail connection. It's barely even BRT. Boston needs to do better and that should be recognized. It's ridiculous that such a walkable city does not have a rail airport connection.

[@erik_griswold]

@@TohaBgood2 Because it has a rail station on long existing line (Blue) that also serves the area north of the airport instead of deadending at the terminal.

[@aminsennour5571]

@@todgod The Silver Line (SL1) offers a one seat ride from the terminals to Boston South Station.

[@frankdai]

i like how SJC contributes nothing to this #1 ranking lmao. srsly add some connections it's so close to downtown

[@todgod]

Instead San Jose wants to build a weird pod thing to their airport instead of a transit system. SJ's exclusion is entirely intentional

[@TohaBgood2]

@@todgod Did you know that you could build literally 0.6 miles of track from the existing VTA light rail line to a staff parking lot at SJC and get a perfectly viable airport light rail connection that would be about 700-800 ft from both SJC terminals? It would go from N First st via the Airport Pkwy median. I think someone proposed that a long time ago but VTA wanted "a proper airport station" and the plan went nowhere. This would have been soooooo much cheaper and better than that crazy plan they have now! I'm pretty sure that that can be built for less than 1/10th the $500 million that San Jose is about to spend on that ridiculous pod gadgetbahn! Arghhhhh! I just don't understand what the fippity flip San Jose is doing here! It's like they want to fail on purpose!

[@fatviscount6562]

@@todgod Thank you for making the video informing us of that.

[@GuillermoLG552]

Another internet researched video.

[@Aroncsik]

I've seen villages in Eastern Europe with more vibes than San Francisco

[@Meyerc-yv2bi]

then go to Easter Europe and make your own video.