The Most Freeway-Heavy Downtowns in the US: 10 Cities With Huge Downtown Freeways and Interchanges

[@knutthompson7879]

Just imagine going back 50 , 60, or 70 years when the decision was made to plow through now forgotten living central city neighborhoods with dead, bleak cement rivers. How could you convince them it was a bad idea? At the time these were seen as hugely positive development. And BTW, I can confirm Dallas and Fort Worth are both enormous stretches of nonstop highway interchanges.

[@Jack-fw4mw]

This is a problem of the American wealth immediately following WW2. European countries that were flattened rebuilt their cities assuming most citizens didn't drive. Cars were too expensive. However, in American cities the political majority were wealthy enough that they were buying cars and wanted to use them, so they flattened the cities themselves to make room for the cars.

[@strawberrysoup1]

They weren't seen as positive, most of them saw huge protests in response. Most of these highways were built as an excuse to push poor and POC out of cities bc it was the 50s.

[@Ensivion]

when do you think these were made? they were made around then. people thought cars were the future. they wanted this crap. it wasn't just because they thought of the economics of having one, but for 'freedom'. (also racism but I won't go into too many details there). The simply didn't understand the problems of these massive traffic inducing life suckers.

[@rosskgilmour]

Downtowns were dying back then as they were basically post industrial wastelands. Most cities were hadn’t changed to a service economy were living close to work was desirable because work no longer has a toxic chimney or smokestack attached.

[@dlazo32696]

@@Ensivion Cars are the future. The automobile has revolutionized travel forever.

[@guspolly]

Youngstown might be the hardest-hit Rust-Belt city. It had 166,000 people in 1960. The city was almost entirely dependent on steel production. Then everything went overseas. The day in 1977 when the last big plant closed and laid off 5000 workers is still called Black Monday in the area.

[@CityNerd]

I was shocked when I looked it up and found the city proper only has about 60,000 people. I remember it being over 100k!

[@r.pres.4121]

I think that Detroit was harder hit than Youngstown. No other city suffered the population loss, disinvestment, decline, and abandonment that Detroit suffered over the past 60 years. The only other cities that come very close to Detroit are Gary IN, Flint MI, Camden NJ.

[@guppy719]

@@r.pres.4121 For a big city maybe but Detroit metro area population hasn't had the same magnitude of decrease.

[@demetriuskarathanos5723]

Also St. louis and E St. louis

[@JayYoung-ro3vu]

​@CityNerd Unfortunately, it's truly the fastest shrinking city in Ohio as they are demolishing the blight and returning the land back to the townships.

[@timothytao898]

Do a surface parking downtown list! It would be amazing to see you shame cities that are awful.

[@simoneh4732]

I second this! I saw a lot of surface parking lots in this video.

[@generalfuzzywuzzy]

third this.

[@eriklakeland3857]

Indianapolis would be a contender in this

[@CityNerd]

I like it

[@texastuna]

Dallas probably #1 again

[@misuvva]

Maybe you could do a video about the most walkable neighborhoods in otherwise unwalkable cities? I live in Long beach, CA, and as an extension of LA it's about as car infested as it gets, but around downtown there are lots of mixed use and mixed density neighborhoods where living without a car is possible. Since a lot of us live in NA it might be nice to see what little glimmers of hope exist in otherwise typically north american cities.

[@roygreen9890]

Joshua Wright, good idea! Midtown/Montrose in Houston is a great example!

[@CityNerd]

I like it

[@polywerden]

love this idea

[@ttopero]

@@CityNerd I think it’d be fascinating to see which non-CBD neighborhoods would qualify as 15-minute areas (how you would define that would be interesting too😉). Maybe set a minimum area size to help make analysis doable. I’m sure a combination of -scores would help here.

[@FunkBison]

I'd give walkable neighborhood in LA to Culver City

[@edipires15]

The urban freeways around US cities remind me of the old fortifications European cities used to have, but now those fortifications have become urban parks, let's hope that someday some of these freeways follow the same fate

[@fluuufffffy1514]

You will climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears tower. You will look down at tiny specks of people pounding corn in the car pool lanes of abandoned super highways...

[@socope17]

I lived in Dallas area for 8 years and can confirm their highway system is insane, especially when you include the Arlington, Fort Worth highways that connect to it. Nowhere in the US will you see such high concentration of highways and hwy interchanges. It’s truly a never-ending maze.

[@rickb3078]

Everything is bigger in Texas!

[@CityNerd]

It's pretty wild.

[@rickb3078]

The Katy freeway is mind boggling. I hope to drive on it one day just to have seen it. A car has a place in the world for sure, but it’s nowhere near where people reside.

[@reilandeubank]

fun fact on that, arlington is the largest city in the world with 0 public transport

[@squirlez6349]

Gotta say, I'm proud of LA for avoiding this list. If we were looking at the entire metro area, I wonder if that would change.

[@georgewhite8118]

Same with Detroit! And we’re actively removing highways too! The good news with Detroit for this list is the highways are relatively compact, not too too many lanes

[@expiredmilk....8917]

DTLA has the benefit/curse depending on how you look at it for having 2 older freeways (110 and 101) closest to the “downtown” 1 mile radius, but you’re right if it was metro area which includes the 700000 lane freeways in Orange County it would definitely be there. But I’m still proud of LA for not expanding those downtown freeways

[@seanfraser8325]

But LA is still heavily relied on automobiles and did bad on transit and pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure. DTLA and other regional cores like Pasadena are seriously divided and impacted by freeways

[@expiredmilk....8917]

@@seanfraser8325 you’re 100% right I’m from Pasadena lol and the 210/134 cut straight through historically marginalized communities and now serve as a barrier between them and the “rose bowl + mansion area”, plus south pas has been blocking the 710 for decades and the 105 was built without a second thought. But all of this is like a drop in the ocean of how poorly LA was constructed, I do agree with you 100% tho

[@IceCat3751]

@@expiredmilk....8917 don’t you love the weird bubble of OC. I’m in the south part and the fact some of our roads are freeway speed and width, my gosh lmao. These intersections get wayy too big. I have a burning passion for where highway 74 and La Pata/ Antonio road meet. If you catch the red light to left it’s a minimum 2 minute wait. When the pedestrian crossing has the timer almost a minute idk how that isn’t a head turner

[@w.s.soapcompany94]

As an Atlanta resident I have to correct your mistake..that is not an interstate running through the city it's a twelve lane parking lot.

[@GreenDavidA]

One thing to keep in mind about Youngstown is the city was built for a quarter million people, and the metro area for a million. We’ve had major population losses, so everything seems overbuilt. Also, Youngstown was historically a stopping point as it serves as a midpoint between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, as well as (roughly) New York and Chicago. A lot of cargo trains are in the area, so there is a ton of truck traffic as well.

[@CityNerd]

The population loss is pretty staggering.

[@drtee51]

David Green, You make an excellent point! Youngstown was a LOT bigger and busier before the Sheet & Tube closings. And that's the size of city those freeways were planned for.

[@ryanwolff4058]

The loss of U.S. Steel's Ohio Works (the Youngstown Works and McDonald Works), Republic Steel, Sharon Steel, LTV Steel - Briar Hill (now North Star Steel), Copperweld Steel, etc... Impacted the entire Youngstown-Warren-Sharon PA metro area... And Youngstown was designed to hold 225,000 residents (which is why they annexed much of Coitsville township into Youngstown's east side).

[@ryanwolff4058]

@@CityNerd you have no idea. It's really very similar to Detroit in terms of population collapse and the square mile foot print of Youngstown 34.56 mi² versus Rochester, NY footprint (37.17 mi²) with Rochester having a similar built out expressway system for a city of 211,328 (versus Youngstown's 60,068). Of you look closely, the expressways run along the Mahoning River and it's tributaries (which is where the steel industry was located... There were steel mills in downtown Youngstown).

[@r.pres.4121]

Rochester finally got rid of half of the Inner Loop Freeway that severed the downtown from the city’s northern sections. But I-490 still slashes across the southern edge of downtown Rochester.

[@fictionaliza]

This is the most underrated channel on KZbin for sure. You're hilarious and do so much research per video! Thanks for the fresh unique content.

[@CityNerd]

Wow, thank you!

[@Tolya1979]

Ohio prioritises highways over public transit, because, traditionally, Ohio has been an "automotive state", with deep ties to the automotive industry.

[@kellenw6856]

To be fair to dallas, they are doing their best to build deck parks over as many freeways as possible. Klyde Warren Park did a fantastic job of reuniting downtown and uptown while adding a lot of much needed green space. If you aren’t aware of it you should check it out.

[@pjkerrigan20]

My grandparents’ first house (in the US at least) was on Hartford’s north side, but was demolished to make way for I-91! From what I gather, there was a fairly important Italian-American neighborhood there before the highway was built. The city is small, but it’s so chopped up by the highways. I’ve spent some time living in New England’s best kept secret of Worcester, MA as well and it’s got a similar problem. Highways wreak havoc on all cities, but some of those small, compact northeastern cities are hit pretty hard, since they’re small enough to be really broken up by only one or two highways.

[@Madzielle]

They decimated Hartford with the highways.

[@stevenjlovelace]

Fort Worth's T&P station was originally cut off from downtown by I-30, but when they rebuilt 30 a few years ago, the community rallied to get them to move I-30 to the south. The old I-30 alignment is being redeveloped as Lancaster Ave.

[@r.pres.4121]

Actually Lancaster Avenue existed before the I-30 was originally built. When TXDOT agreed to move the 30, they also agreed to work with Fort Worth in rebuilding and restoring Lancaster Avenue back to an urban street.

[@KevinButler55]

There's also a tunnel from the park and Ride

[@stevenjlovelace]

@@KevinButler55 Really? I might have take the TRE from Dallas to find out.

[@DavidEynon]

Love your witty sarcasm. It makes your videos fun to watch!

[@mysteryman7877]

As someone who spent *way* too long looking at Google Maps cities, my guess is that Google looks at a few categories and picks one of them: 1. Center of the road network (where address numbering starts and where directions in names change) 2. Geographic center of the city 3. Population center of the city (this is helpful in places like New York which are more concentrated on one side)

[@InLoveWithCities]

8:30 Actually Tokyo has a lot of downtown highways. Many of them were built when the new waterfront area wasn't reclaimed yet and were built to to take through traffic off the surface streets. Of course nowadays there are plenty alternative routes. Though the sheer size of the Tokyo metropolitan area means they are still in pretty dense areas. Tokyo and cities approaching its size are kind of a difficult case as there isn't a good way to build around it.

[@matthewmullings2618]

Fun fact: The reason Miami was not in one consolidated place is it because there are technically multiple Miamis. The city hall that you showed at the bottom of the map is the city hall for the city of Miami while the downtown Miami at the top is not the downtown for the city of Miami but the downtown for the county, which is named Miami-Dade County. This downtown is where the county hall is. Fun fact 2; There are also a bunch of different cities with in Miami-Dade county that use the name Miami. To name a few there is Miami Beach, Miami Lakes, North Miami, South Miami, etc…

[@heinuchung8680]

Mia local also very true

[@CityNerd]

OK, that's super interesting. There's a separate downtown for the county? Extremely weird.

[@matthewmullings2618]

@@CityNerd yeah and to add to the confusion downtown Miami also is within the city limit for the city of Miami 😂 “Miami” is very interesting… it’s probably one of the only places where the the city and county share power

[@ericalbright4943]

From my understanding Louisville Nashville and Indianapolis is like that too.

[@asm673]

Miami's unusual federated city structure is the reason why it's at the top or bottom of almost every "city list." Metro areas are much better at adjusting for this.

[@jmchristoph]

Topic idea that follows on from this video: what are the best potential urban highway removal projects in the US? Either removals under consideration already, or removals not yet planned but which would be justified by some empirical criteria.

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, I have this on my list -- just not sure what criteria to use!

[@ttopero]

@@CityNerd it seems that those getting removed have significantly less volume traveled than design capacity, don’t lead to any *centers*, aren’t part of a larger network or don’t meet the minimums for rebuilding after determined useful life is over. One of the new stretches that could be removed IMHO is the I-394 stretch into downtown Minneapolis beyond I-94; don’t know how you’d discover such a thing data wise though.

[@benw3864]

Imo its 695 & 395 in DC. DC is literally the least highway infested city in the country and removing that chunk would redeem the city so much, especially since many other cities seem to be pretty hopeless at this point.

[@jmchristoph]

@@benw3864 having lived in the DC area, there's a few in Baltimore I'd prioritize higher.

[@Electrodexify]

@@CityNerd Omaha is one midsize city that is dumping the car centric model. I've traveled to Tulsa for work and Tulsa is similar in size to Omaha. I am so grateful that Omaha is transforming into a walksbility paradise, with giant parks, mixed use development, highway caps with parks and pedestrian walkability and even future plans to turn i480 into a boulevard. Omaha has a vision to become people centered, with a strong urban core. I would love for cities like Omaha , who are rejecting the depressing car centric model; to be looked at. There is plenty of hope for our NA cities to improve.

[@theawesome224]

Oh we got a Winnipeg mention in a positive light I am completely overjoyed right now. Just please don't talk about our surface parking lots or virtually non-existent rapid transit.

[@sunny-delite]

Almost missed the Winnipeg mention! Nice to know the analysis did include us since we are 500k+ pop. If he makes a surface parking video we might just get a spot in a negative top ten though 😐

[@CityNerd]

Hey I've only had nice things to say about Winnipeg on this channel so far! Don't make me start taking a closer look!

[@Droidman1231]

Atlanta has three Interstate going through downtown, I-75 and I-85 merge in Midtown and run concurrent through the center of the city (Downtown Connector). The freeways are pretty bad though, I used to cross it every day to get to class and it is massive and always full of traffic. I find it interesting we end up on this list but also the list for good Airport transit.

[@kittymedusa3618]

The best transportation within Atlanta is the airport tram.

[@aangitano]

Yes. No matter time of day, except after 1am, there's always so much traffic. Driving to school from Gwinnett was a nightmare

[@WilliamAkins-rw2hv]

Comparing the sizes of the cities here, metro Atlanta might be much bigger in terms of population than the others. If so, it falls in a category of larger cities that he doesn't include. But the fact that he doesn't know how many freeways Atlanta really has says enough. I-75/85 have a much smaller footprint as a single combined freeway they would if they ran through as two parallel freeways.

[@Itsatrap365]

@@WilliamAkins-rw2hvthat would have been a great idea but it was sadly canceled

[@WilliamAkins-rw2hv]

I disagree. The point of this video is that city centers would be better off with less bisection by freeways, not more. While I understand the need for adequate infrastructure, I generally agree with the case he makes. As an Atlantan (who deals with its traffic), I think the lack of a second connector does not make the city worse in a wholistic sense.

[@Codraroll]

I think the most telling thing here is that you only included a one-mile radius from the downtown areas, on the basis of downtowns usually not being any bigger than that. In most international cities above 500k, if you go one mile from the center of downtown ... you're usually still in the middle of downtown.

[@standardannonymousguy]

You are a wordsmith City Nerd. Digging this video as usual!

[@Protocoding]

I live in Dallas and I couldn’t agree more with this #1 placement. There are dozens of high rise apartments placed about 10ft from a massive highway. The only thing more annoying than the highway noise is the Love Field planes basically taking off over the city! Regardless Dallas a great city, just not for light sleepers.

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, I hate to imply by this list that these are "the worst cities" -- I like Dallas, and I like a lot of aspects of KC, Atlanta, and Cincinnati too.

[@johnmeraz7348]

Dallas is just a huge cities with nothing but suburban spraw and No walkable places a awful city sorry not a very nice city to begin with.

[@theojaquenoud419]

@@johnmeraz7348 that’s the crazy part though, there are a few walkable areas within a mile or two of downtown that are very nice, everything is just encased in highways though.

[@carolynt.4455]

Interestingly most of the suburbs are completely isolated from Dallas. Nothing to draw anybody downtown (occasional trips in for sports or the “arts” when unfortunate family is in town). No reason to be sweaty-bored downtown when there’s plenty of bored sweat in the ‘burbs.

[@naffhf]

I'm kind of surprised St. Louis didn't make the list with I-70, I-64, I-55, and I-44 all converging downtown.

[@andrepoiy1199]

Also Montreal does have a freeway that goes right through downtown, but it's underground/sunken. What do you think of underground freeways?

[@simoneh4732]

I immediately thought of MTL when he mentioned Canada. Toronto's not much better with the Gardiner blocking off the financial district from the waterfront, but pedestrian access isn't horrible due to it being elevated. However, the view is!

[@beckobert]

He recently made a video about underground freeways. You should check it out.

[@andrepoiy1199]

@@beckobert Montreal's buried freeway was built that way since day 1, it wasn't really a replacement of a former surface freeway. And it actually doesn't really get jammed up that often. His video seems to talk about freeway replacements being underground

[@andrepoiy1199]

@@simoneh4732 Well if you consider when the Gardiner was built, Toronto's waterfront was completely industrial and so the freeway made sense - served a purpose to take trucks off city streets. What's nice is that the Gardiner is actually built a lot taller than other elevated freeways so noise pollution is less on the ground - and that's a plus.

[@CityNerd]

Underground freeways are "better" but why not just have no freeway at all? I'm not convinced burying them is the better solution. I'm sure it's not a one size fits all situation, but...maybe it is?

[@md6280]

Thanks!

[@CityNerd]

Thanks!

[@ronclark9724]

The interstate highway system was designed and located in the 1950s to early 1960s when most of these urban cities warehouses and industries were located near downtowns. Most of the warehouses and industries were served by the railroads as well as the trucking industry in a time when the city leaders desired to get the large trucks off their main thoroughfares and onto freeways. Fast forward sixty years, many of the new industries and warehouses have been built on the outer loop freeways in the suburbs, the former warehouses and industries still remain near the downtowns, if not redeveloped with lofts and apartments especially around hospital areas...

[@SulfuricDonut]

Horray for the Winnipeg callout of "at least not the worst in the continent", despite being almost 100% car-centric in every other way.

[@paulgardner5079]

I am a native Dallasite and I love downtown and the surrounding areas

[@jeramiahcoffey103]

I've driven the freeways in downtown Dallas probably a hundred times, and not once have I successfully navigated to where I needed to go without having to turn around to get back on the freeway. It's absolutely atrocious and super dangerous.

[@acedino535]

if you look up the ohio "find it here" signs, you will see that creating absolute monstrosities is ODOT's bread and butter. cincinnati is particularly egregious because the highway forces a huge gap between downtown and the waterfront, where the stadiums are and where there's been a lot of development recently. thanks for this video!

[@r.pres.4121]

Both Toledo and Cleveland are carved up by freeways. Why weren’t they on this list. Detroit is another city carved up by freeways. The Route 10 John Lodge Freeway is the most damaging to the urban fabric of Detroit as well as the most confusing highway.

[@patronage]

5:18 that overpass so cool, the top of that bridge is coffe shops and stuff like that, you should do a video on stuff like this

[@ml92399]

Surprising that Charlotte, NC isn't in the top 10, the 277 ring highway around Uptown completely isolates the CBD.

[@adamt195]

Probably built it 1.1miles radius just to avoid the list.

[@ronniejanuszki]

Charlotte is bad with the Inner loop - although KSC's loop is significantly worse.

[@rrryder]

Was thinking the same re. Charlotte

[@CityNerd]

@@adamt195 I think this is literally correct. If I make the criteria 1.5 miles, Charlotte ends up on this list. As it is, it's #16.

[@adamt195]

@@CityNerd I wondered what the list might be like at 1.5 or 2.0

[@noelrenson5283]

My mind just flashed at 5:55, love how you wandered in Brussels haha! Took me one rewind before I could start to process how strangely familiar this was looking.

[@ilajoie3]

As a resident of Columbus Ohio it's weird how much of the city is highway, and how often the highways come to a standstill

[@GeographRick]

"Hartford has an interstate that runs right along a river just as God intended." I died laughing.

[@Steve_Hunts96]

I’m surprised Pittsburgh isn’t on this list. I feel like that city, which is one that deals with geographical challenges in that it’s settled in a valley surrounded by rivers, is also confined by a ring of freeway that’s even smaller than that of Kansas City’s & Dallas’

[@liamtahaney713]

Everyone loves Pittsburgh, but yes I really did not enjoy it for this exact reason

[@asm673]

Pittsburgh highways are all old and narrow, so they take up relatively little space. Half of them are stacked almost on top of each other on the South side of the city. Always messes with my GPS.

[@kamX-rz4uy]

I was also waiting to see Pittsburgh mentioned. 579, 376, & 279 should all be within the mile radius. Maybe the map marker is in the wrong place?

[@purplerabbit638]

Your passive aggressive humoristic editorial take in your videos are just so hilarious. Love it lol

[@jonathanwoods3136]

Louisville is a pretty egregious example. It has 3 interstates converging at a huge interchange, an interstate that cuts off riverfront access and views, and above street level disruption that just seems so awkwardly placed that it seems like it may just be ripped out for a boulevard eventually.

[@rohanabraham4169]

As a twin cities resident I find the freeways very annoying because living next to them is terrible, but they take up so much space around the cities.

[@Electrodexify]

I've traveled to Tulsa for work and Tulsa is similar in size to Omaha. I am so grateful that Omaha is transforming into a walksbility paradise, with giant parks, mixed use development, highway caps with parks and pedestrian walkability and even future plans to turn i480 into a boulevard. Omaha has a vision to become people centered, with a strong urban core. I would love for City Nerd to look at cities like Omaha, who are rejecting the depressing car centric model.

[@thomascevallos5042]

due to size you missed Huntsville Alabama. Where you can drive under 6 individual highway bridges to get to the bus hub

[@ajs11201]

As always--an informative and interesting video. I'm surprised Detroit didn't make the list, and I also wonder what would happen if you expanded your radius to, say, two miles. Anyway, it's a great video just as it is. Thanks!

[@hamishashcroft3233]

Detroit is insane

[@dantecasali9821]

Maybe the population is too low to include? Having 2 boarder crossings downtown does bring traffic to Detroit.

[@ajs11201]

@@dantecasali9821 It shouldn't be too low in population to include. He said his methodology was to consider any city with a population of over half a million. Detroit is just under 640,000, so it should pass the population test for inclusion. I haven't measured the exact mileage, but to my eye it looks like I-75, I-375, and U.S. 10 are all within a mile of the downtown marker. What's really insane is that U.S. 10 actually goes through Cobo Hall before its terminus on Jefferson Avenue....and there's also an exit ramp diverting freeway traffic to rooftop parking at Cobo (now called the TCF Center).

[@CityNerd]

Funny -- when I started researching this video I started with a radius of 2 miles, and then I realized (1) it was making way more work and (2) for nearly every city you're already way out of downtown after you get a mile out. Detroit has some nastiness, but it probably benefits from having really no freeways that cross into Windsor. It was #18.

[@tonywalters7298]

@@ajs11201 mdot is planning to replace 375 with an at grade boulevard

[@paddaydaddy]

“A freeway right along the river, just as god intended” fucking lol Kyle!

[@whophd]

Tulsa! Fascinated when this came up, because I always visit there from another country, and it seems SMALL ENOUGH to handle the freeway system and made the weird car utopia dream a reality. I come from a big city where the mass transit is excellent and the freeways would never be big enough if you tried. But Tulsa seems to hit that sweet spot of lotsa freeways, smallish city. Getting around by car in Tulsa is fast!

[@silver6380]

I'm from Kansas City and it's the same here. Traffic just doesn't happen here. There are just so many roads and so many lanes that demand literally cannot get high enough to use it all. The city has overbuilt so much that it has exceeded the limit of the "demand for road rises to match supply of road" phenomenon. Which I guess makes it work okay, but it's incredibly ugly.

[@Electrodexify]

I've traveled to Tulsa for work and Tulsa is similar in size to Omaha. I am so grateful that Omaha is transforming into a walksbility paradise, with giant parks, mixed use development, highway caps with parks and pedestrian walkability and even future plans to turn i480 into a boulevard. Omaha has a vision to become people centered, with a strong urban core. I would love for City Nerd to look at cities like Omaha, who are rejecting the depressing car centric model. Omaha may be midsized, but the livability stats are among the top in the country along with Des Moines.

[@BaronBytes]

Quebec City has the Dufferin Montmorency highway which razed one of the more vibrant neighborhood to build. They even had 2 ramp heading into a cliff. It is a eyesore.

[@CityNerd]

unfortunate

[@dylanc9174]

Yeah, and Quebec city is beautiful for the most part. Thankfully the city got its head out of its @$$ and is investing in rail.

[@corderajones]

What’s crazy about Dallas, is that they did this on purpose. 1-30 was supposed to end on the east side of town. And I-35 was supposed to go bypass downtown Dallas (and Fort Worth) it would’ve ran almost in between both outer limits (where DFW airport is now), that’s why I-35 is split between 1-35E Dallas and I-35 West Fort Worth

[@Notimp0rtant523]

Fun fact about Cincinnati: There are EIGHT exits off of I-75 in its southernmost mile in Ohio - which coincidentally is a hair's breadth to the west of Downtown Cincinnati. In fact, four of those interchanges hit you before you even get off the Brent Spence Bridge!

[@CityNerd]

It's almost worth doing a video just on the Brent Spence Bridge alone. One of the great traffic chokepoints in the whole country!

[@Notimp0rtant523]

@@CityNerd As someone who grew up less than a mile from the bridge on the Kentucky side... can confirm swimming across the river is faster. Let me know if you wind up doing a video on the BSB and I'd be more than happy to provide some local info on the bridge and the area itself

[@CityNerd]

@@Notimp0rtant523 Cool, I will keep in mind!

[@jeffreyhueseman7061]

I hate to mention I-74 dumping its traffic into the vortex that is Cincinnati.

[@Notimp0rtant523]

@@jeffreyhueseman7061 While true, unfortunately not relevant to this video because 74 is three miles outside downtown. Technically an eastern extension of 74 is in the works, but it's been in the works for thirty years!

[@ilavalolipop]

As a Houstonian watching this vid I was prepared to say I was disappointed our monstrosity of a downtown didn't make it into the top 10.... Until I saw that Dallas was #1, and now I'm experiencing schadenfreude. There is only one place worse to try to commute through than Houston, and that's Dallas.

[@davidnielson9139]

His system doesn't accurately work for Houston. I-69 should bee included as well as the I-45, I-69, SH 288 interchange. Instead, he only includes I-10 and 45, he misses most of the Eastern part of downtown.

[@thechikage1091]

Being told to seek professional help for enjoying your content is probably the funniest roast I've gotten as a viewer. Deeply funny

[@tunnel6773]

in cleveland i'm never really conscious of the freeway while downtown because it's pretty much out of the way. it's generally easy walking from the west or east side to downtown. in youngstown the building of the interstate bulldozed strong neighborhoods as i understand it and today downtown is often eerily quiet.

[@jamesmcguire4122]

Some would argue that the shoreway in Cleveland does quite a number by cutting off the city from the lake. And the 77/90 interchange is pretty bad, but it’s even more so since the central market used to be in its place. As for Youngstown, one of my uncle’s childhood homes was demoed for the freeway loop near the university.

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, the really offensive chunk of freeway in Cleveland is south of downtown -- I drag Cleveland a bit in the video, but it comes in #29 on this list, which is really not that bad (for the Midwest).

[@JennRighter]

I knew before watching Ohio was going to have several contenders. I love Ohio, but the freeway system is pretty awful.

[@litz13]

Actually in Atlanta, that north-south highway is I75/I85 combined together ... which + I20 means there's three highways there.

[@mcsomeone2681]

I think its important to note thay even for drivers these big over complicated interchanges are dangerous and confusing to drivers on top of being tax money draining eyesores. They always widen them, expand them, and add new ramps but it just makes it even more complicated and makes traffic even worse.

[@nathanb3301]

Do a top 10 dedicated to some well done urban freeway integration. Your premise is often that an ideal city does not have urban freeways but that's such a non-starter in most places that it would be interesting to see some ways that the impact of urban freeways can be mitigated

[@CityNerd]

Interesting idea!

[@jon9103]

Kind of surprised Seattle didn't make the cut, the city is split east-west by I-5 and SR99 (which is freeway through downtown, and a stroad in other parts), and north-south its divided by I-90 and SR520, plus the West Seattle Bridge is practically a freeway.

[@maroon9273]

Sr 99 is a tunnel within the downtown area. I-5 can be capped since it's a sunken highway.

[@taylorhoge8181]

The Columbus portion was actually a nice touch. It pays homage to the former Train station that was torn down in the 60s. Both great steak houses on either side of the street. It also leads to the coolest neighborhood in the midwest (yes really) The Short North. Route 315 is actually being considered for demolition.

[@CityNerd]

I kinda joke about Columbus but some of the urban form is pretty good (if you can look past the freeways!).

[@r.pres.4121]

Columbus is a beautiful clean city with a lot to offer which puts it at stark contrast to both Dayton and Cincinnati which are both much older and more blue collar. The only bad thing about Columbus is it is flat as a kitchen table topography wise.

[@DGTelevsionNetwork]

@@r.pres.4121 Cincinnati is the tourist city for people in Columbus. Both Cincy and cbus are really great Midwest cities, especially now with the revitalization of distressed areas.

[@elijahjp2158]

@@CityNerd I live in the suburbs of Columbus and I definitely agree! We do need a metro/tram system though, since COTA (Columbus' Bus System) and other local bus systems are all we have in terms of other public transportation. Also, while I'm replying anyways, I can answer/update you on your questions about ODOT. Currently, ODOT has a MASSIVE project for the Downtown Highway and Bridge system under construction. You may have noticed some of the work looking at Google Maps recently. But essentially, they are trying to eliminate as much lane switching and merges as possible while making the bridges much more pedestrian-friendly (see the Long Street bridge over 71 in the NE corner of the innerbelt for a general idea of what that would look like). They are building retention walls on either side of the highway to save space and allow for access ramp roads (I think they're called frontage roads if I'm not mistaken?) on either side of the innerbelt. The negative aspect is that they are increasing the area of the 315/70/71 interchange in the SW corner of the innerbelt, but the new ramps being built will be used to access downtown directly, so there is no merging onto the innerbelt just to get off at one of the exits downtown. Also, there will be an elimination of free-flow ramps in order to have safer pedestrian crossings, according to the ODOT website. In fact, here's a link to that website, which describes the whole project in detail if you are interested in the details, renderings, and maps: www.transportation.ohio.gov/projects/mega-projects/mega-projects/downtown-ramp-up

[@austinmckenzie610]

@CityNerd I want you to know that your sanity is important. Separately, in an ironic twist, your channel is one of the first I've ever subscribed / Liked videos while the narrator is simultaneously bashing me for liking his material. It is funny also because it's not so much the depressing subject matter but the quips you make that I listen for.

[@bnnyboyy101]

Being from Ohio born and raised to now living in DFW Texas this is hilarious and i knew i wasnt crazy, our roads are insane

[@imaniblack]

I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for you to say Dallas 😂 I AGREE.

[@Phingolfina]

Top ten list of the cities with the best infrastructure to mitigate highway interruptions to pedestrians without removing them. Or top ten of the urban North American cities that have done the best at removing the blight of city freeways.

[@drtee51]

Good idea. I'd love to see a study of cities that have closed and torn down freeways---Rochester, Milwaukee, Portland, San Francisco, and even New York--and see what the result of the closures was. Did the neighborhoods actually improve?

[@r.pres.4121]

Boston buried a downtown freeway entirely and everything along that corridor became red hot in demand.

[@1973Kenny]

I don't argue your assessment, but I wanted to add some points on Cincinnati. Cincinnati's 71 running along the river called Fort Washington Way used to be much larger with crazy exits running on the left and right. In the early Millennia this was streamlined to have one exit and entrance on each side of downtown onto second (eastbound) and third (westbound). The opportunity was taken to build a transit station under second street, and the rest of the saved land became the Banks and Smale Riverfront Park. So much Kudos to them for that. The 471/Columbia Parkway interchange on the east side is about as tight as it can be with lots of infrastructure beneath the various overpasses. Mount Adams which is there at that interchange is what makes that part tricky. What is more difficult to explain is the mass of interchanges on the west side of Fort Washington Way where I-75 and I-71 part ways as well as US 50 goes west along the river towards Indiana/Lawrenceburg. I have no excuses for this, but it was originally part of the Mill Creek Expressway built in the early years to get people from downtown to the GE Plant about 14 miles north. In preparation for a new and wider bridge to be built to replace the Brent Spence Bridge, there has been a lot of widening and reorganizing interchanges leading to your one mile radius area. Until the bridge is built I don't see this getting any better as they plan to keep Brent Spence Bridge as I-71 only meaning a bigger footprint in that huge west-end "ribbonfest" of interchanges and exits. I also am concerned as to how this will add more interstate infrastructure in Covington KY. Sigh.

[@CityNerd]

The connectivity over I-71 is really, really good.

[@donovanbright3942]

“What are you going to locate next to a monstrosity like (the I-35/I-30 interchange)” Fuel City Tacos and bail bonds services 😏 Also, I would have to agree with you on the Giant Eyeball being the true center of Dallas

[@CityNerd]

* Google put the word "Dallas" ten blocks south of where all the skyscrapers are*

[@KevinButler55]

Google placed it over city hall. Definitely not the center of downtown but it kinda makes sense.

[@wadecampbell5295]

@@KevinButler55 that was the historical center of town before I-30 was built, a good deal of residency and industry in the Cedars/ Fair Park area, and much of the middle class suburban development to the south (Red Bird, Cedar Crest, Wynnewood) up until 1971 when Dallas finally integrated schools (and implemented bussing). That's what led the development of the northern and eastern suburbs (Rockwall, Plano, Flower Mound, Carrollton, etc)..

[@chloehuettig5981]

I know that one mile circle saved us but I was readily expecting my beloved Detroit, home of the freeway, to be on this list

[@jettbridger2358]

Loved the video!

[@markleos8007]

Surprised Detroit did make the list. We have a horrible motorway box around our downtown

[@bdmcc442]

Having lived in Dallas for 12 years I’ve always said if there’s grass on the ground it won’t be for long because a highway is being planned 😂.

[@CityNerd]

Ouch

[@mocowan6642]

In Atlanta, it is actually three interstates. I-75 comes in from the south and merges with I-85 south of downtown, becoming what is called the downtown connector. I-20 crosses the connector just a block south of the State Capitol. North of downtown I-75/85 diverge with 75 going to Chattanooga and 85 takes you to South Carolina.

[@jondavis7624]

Maybe a slight redeeming quality for Birmingham: underneath 2 miles of I-59/20 there will be a linear park with skate park, amphitheater, market space, dog park, and more. At least a little redemption

[@absea7918]

Great video. I just found your channel, and am enjoying it. It's interesting to note that the plan for the Interstate system was done it two phases. The first was to connect the major cities for freight and travel. That was (understandably) a massive and expensive effort. The second phase was to connect/link these new arteries within those Cities. This is where things got really complicated and messy. Generally the local governments would influence how/where the freeways and interchanges would be sited, and in some places, this resulted in "renewal" projects that impacted the poor and POC. This often aligned with the Highway department's budget concerns - they wanted to locate freeways on land that was most affordable.

[@carfreeneoliberalgeorgisty5102]

I have no idea why any government would build highways through the downtowns of their major cities. Downtowns are supposed to be destinations, not throughfares. They're also the heart of economic activity in any city so destroying businesses to put up a giant freeway is economic suicide.

[@CityNerd]

Lies detected = 0

[@oscar6338]

I can see how much effort you put on this, thank you so much.

[@Princecharming4]

👆⬆️⬆️👆ʜᴇʟʟᴏ, ғᴀɴ! ᴛʜᴀɴᴋs ғᴏʀ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴠɪɴɢ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴄᴏɴɢʀᴀᴛᴜʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ 🎁( ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ sᴇʟᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ ᴍʏ ʟᴜᴄᴋʏ ᴡɪɴɴᴇʀ)ᴄʜᴇᴇʀғᴜʟ sᴇɴᴅ ᴀ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴄᴋɴᴏᴡʟᴇᴅɢᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘʀɪᴢᴇ.🎁🎁🎁😍💬💬💬'

[@sunnysideupp1]

I think Youngstown OH may look like that because it used to be 3 times bigger around the time the highways were built

[@theporgwholived9606]

I live in Connecticut and the state dot is currently planning on redoing the hartford mixer master interchange. Hopefully it gets done.

[@chefjono]

Toronto avoided a horrible highway wreck, the Spadina Expressway, that would have gone straight south through the center of the city, destoying many lovely neighbourhoods. It was the turning point that kept the downtown very liveable. At least till the current condo boom.

[@TobyReese]

Not to mention in Atlanta, when you say I-85, it’s including I-75 as it’s a concurrency (as we call the Downtown Connector, or just the Connector). And when you expand the radius you use, it’s even worse. I-285 (the Perimeter), GA-400, US-78, GA-166. That’s all within the Perimeter. Even the interchanges: I-85/I-285 (Spaghetti Junction) is a beast, the I-75/85/I-20 interchange as you mentioned, the I-85/I-285 interchange on the south side near the airport, etc. Get into the metro area and there’s I-985, I-575, I-675, GA-316, etc. That’s without even mentioning the traffic. It’s insane here. This area is really only made for cars since MARTA sucks and is very limited and have fun walking.

[@dmaxsba]

Woohoo, Dayton made a Top 10. So proud of my hometown. Oh wait, this isn't a good Top 10 list to be on. Damn it!

[@redstonerelic]

Hey, at least you're below us in Cincy Ohio Represent lol

[@CityNerd]

@@redstonerelic Ohio is exceptional!

[@dmaxsba]

@@CityNerd To be honest I am very surprised that when I-70 cane through the Dayton area they didn't bend the route to go through downtown.just like they did for I-75. That would have made for entirely different monster. I can't even comprehend the mess that would have made. Well I guess I actually can... hello there @RedstoneRelic down there in Cincy with the I-75/I-71/I-471 mess downtown.

[@samhutchison9582]

I would say that not all downtown freeway space is created equal though. I-405 in Portland is below the grade of the city and fits, largely, within the preexisting block structure. It definitely sucks up useful space, but in no way creates the no man's land feel of the wide on grade highways with needless empty space nearby. Kansas City, with all of its freeway space, does tend to fit it into the flow of the city much better than the entire state of Ohio does.

[@maroon9273]

Portland and Kansas city highway layout is out of the downtown areas on its side instead of going through it like most cities.

[@danielaguilera474]

......"right along the river, just the way god intended"......😂😂😂

[@tysongardner1623]

I am a fan. I grew up in Atlanta, now live in Philadelphia. Cut my teeth on James Howard Kunstler's "The Geography of No Where" and Jane Jacob, which are two reasons I love and appreciate Philadelphia. I haven't owned a car in 20 years and because I am 70, I ride Septa for free. I think this city is the only one that has free fares for seniors. I may be wrong about that, though. I well remember when Atlanta was building its "perimeter expressway" around Atlanta. Today, it is perimeter, but hardly an expressway. I applaud Philadelphia for sinking I-676 and I-95 below grade. Few know that Philly also defeated an interstate down the middle of South Street, which would have ruined South Philadelphia. All is not perfect, though. We still have I-76 jammed through Fairmount Park's 3,000 acres. Thanks for your wonderful, accurate programs. I am rooting for you.

[@morrissmith5338]

Technically you could say Atlanta has 3 freeways converging - the N/S corridor is a combination of I-75 traffic and I-85 traffic. Also the interchange where they converge north of where you measured is nuts. I-85 goes northeast but you need to stay in the left lanes, and vice versa for I-75.

[@dariuspk2850]

i wonder who's idea it was to create a triple interchange converge into one single highway for a few miles, those damn fools

[@Snowstar837]

I've had people nearly kill me at that spot by realizing they're in the wrong lane at the last second and flying across the highway without looking lol.

[@dariuspk2850]

@@Snowstar837 is it the exit going south to any I-20 direction?

[@Snowstar837]

@@dariuspk2850 I was thinking of the 75-85 split by Atlantic Station, but the 85-400 split was also awful last time I was there.

[@dariuspk2850]

@@Snowstar837 when i lived in atlanta a few months ago, everyday I'd get a notification through the Citizen app that there was a crash at the 85-400 connector, honestly 2 times a day on average. Atlanta's highways are so dangerous and GA gives literally anyone a license since cars are all Georgians know

[@Blathers]

paid my respects to the algorithm. Hope your channel keeps growing 🙏

[@benlong1040]

with a smaller city, you can at least make the argument that you actually accommodate all the car traffic with interstates. Bigger cities have no excuse though. There is no way these large cities can rely on auto infrastructure. Furthermore the downtown land value is so high as you mention.

[@Tokahfang]

This is a good point. Richmond has a lot of downtown highway nonsense from my perspective, but you really can drive anywhere from a proper theater to a giant state park in about 20-25 minutes from anywhere else in the area as long as you're not doing it during commuting hours. For general purposes, the car system here genuinely works. It also still stayed walkable and now is even becoming bikeable in downtown. Downside - because everything is so practical and car accessible, the number of people who use the city far outweighs the number of people not paying anything but sales and hospitality taxes IN the city.

[@1waydago]

Appreciate the Winnipeg "shoutout"!

[@CityNerd]

Just trying to spread some awareness to my US viewers. Calgary and Edmonton have pretty freeway-light downtowns, too!

[@moderatti]

Honestly kinda surprised (and sorta happy) that San Antonio, my home town, didn’t make the list. They’re all fairly space efficient though technically we have 5 numbered freeways downtown. I-10, I-35, I-37, Hwy 281, and Hwy 90

[@CityNerd]

Yeah I dragged San Antonio in my last freeway video, but I have to admit downtown comes out pretty clean (compared to a lot of other cities on this list).

[@moderatti]

@@CityNerd we’re pretty good for a sunbelt/Texas city Edit: At least in my opinion. Better than Dallas!

[@nicholasparker2086]

Holy shit I KNEW Tulsa would make the list as soon as I saw the video, and for some reason we are in the process of repaving all of it

[@MplsTodd]

Excellent video! Minneapolis could have ranked much higher if the originally proposed freeways had been built. They wanted to build I-335 which would have been north of downtown connecting I-35W near the University of Minnesota to Northbound I-94. In addition, the original plans for The Gateway Urban Renewal District called for Washington Avenue to become a freeway/boulevard mix. Freeways and widespread demolition/rebuilding was very much considered very progressive “state of the art” planning practice back in the late ‘50s-early ‘60s (a La Robert Moses). Cities that were growing relatively fast back then (which the Twin Cities were projected to do) sadly bought into this strategy whole-heartedly! At least Minneapolis deserves credit for the Lowry Tunnel, though the Hennepin/Lyndale mess above isn’t much better!

[@sebastianbrauer608]

As of U of M student, blessed this never occurred

[@lizcademy4809]

My commute is through that Hennepin / Lyndale mess … but I walk. Over the sculpture bridge, laughing at the cars crawling through the tunnel.

[@tomgilson9180]

The issue I have with the twin cities is a lack of highway lanes, period. In the downtowns, it's not terrible, it's getting downtown that's bad, DT layouts are horrid, and the convergence near the Lowery tunnel sux bad , but a 3 lanes beltway 494 is a joke, or three lanes with one lane dedicated as HOV. They charge for the HOV lane yet the highway is only 3 lanes wide, dumb. Then we have the 45 MPH interstate I-35 going into St. Paul, with only 2 lanes, wth is that? Seriously, 45 miles per hour and only two lanes...asinine. I'm off topic a little, but the manufactured traffic in the TC's 7 days a week is a pain in the arse and super unnecessary. Been here 12 years, and the cloverleaf's remain, also terrible. Yet state has 6+ bil surplus.

[@Immortalcheese]

Toronto has the Gardiner expressway which runs along the lakeshore but it's not that bad. It's actually elevated above another main road. Montreal has a freeway that runs underground through downtown too

[@lanespyksma8402]

Perhaps the most overbuilt/underbuilt compared to size? This could apply for road infrastructure (not even just freeways) or even for transit (although I realize there's not really such thing as overbuilt transit)

[@symphwind]

Great video! A related metric that I started looking at awhile back (but have yet to finish) was measuring the areas enclosed within the freeway rings in cities that have them. It seems that high-density development outside of the Northeast is often boxed in by this barrier, and that this area can be absurdly small (like in Kansas City, Charlotte, or Houston).

[@tjrtt]

Thank goodness Robert Moses failed at getting a massive freeway through lower Manhattan.

[@SqueezableBear82]

That comment about the freeways lining the river, "just as God intended," had me dying hahaha.

[@CityNerd]

You still see far too much of it.

[@moritzm.3671]

Can you do a video comparing European cities (e.g. Paris, Berlin, London, Rom) with American city's in regards to there Freeway's? I am always interested in how much the different between them would be.

[@simoneh4732]

Good idea! Like how he did the high speed rail city pairs.

[@beckobert]

Not sure how much sense this comparison would make. European cities are certainly not without fault, but I can't think of a single European city with an American style urban freeway anywhere near downtown. The yellow lines on google maps are usually big main roads, but with classical 4-way intersections or roundabout, but not the American behemoths. In Paris for example you have to get to at least to a 2 mile/3km radius to include any kind of freeway.

[@Nukeguy909]

@@beckobert Glasgow is one example, actually is more similar to US cities than European ones with an urban motorway and gridded streets. I think it actually served as a model for the US's city grids.

[@moritzm.3671]

@Hubert Beck While I do agree, that most city's in Europe are significantly better, and I would not expect any European city on a list like this, Europe also has some offenders and I believe it would anyway give an important comparison. In addition, I do agree not just the city centre should be looked upon but more generally the city. Berlin e.g. started the construction of a motorway ring around the larger city centre but luckily never finished it.

[@nonec384]

there bad exemple everywhere but most places outside the usa arent like the usa

[@19chucki74]

For a correction, I-75 and I-85 run converged through downtown Atlanta, starting from Cleveland Ave on the south side, up past Techwood and North Ave, where it splits, 75 goes northwest and 85 northeast. The entrance and exit ramps are good, but the bottleneck traffic is absolutely crazy in the morning and evening, with slowdowns abound. The actual center of downtown Atlanta is Five Points, the bus and rail transfer hub for MARTA, our metro transit system.

[@ericw.1620]

growing up in the northeast I had no idea that cities even had highways in the downtown area

[@NathanaelTak]

I think Albany, NY is a fair contender. With a pop. of 97k, and a relatively small footprint of a downtown, they managed to make it almost all highway and parking. I-787 starts just south of downtown for no reason and there's an "arterial" that deadends under the state capital and cuts the city in half. The monstrosity along the shore barricades the people from the river. There's a giant mess of an interchange with the bridge that went over the river and then got chopped off to correct the mistake of providing access to the Amtrak station. It's a lovely downtown with potential and a nice bus system, but a dozen parking garages and lots of surface parking that take up a good 40% of the town.

[@RyJones]

Probably where the main post office is for that city. When I worked at US-GEO at Microsoft, that’s where we would put the label. Mappoint, streets and trips, etc.

[@CityNerd]

OK, interesting

[@brianashmore6635]

Did you know. In Ft.Worth. They moved the I-30 freeway around that T&P Building. And they are still expanding I-35 w in that area too.

[@rossedwardmiller]

Making my hometown of baltimore look truly stalwart