The Northeast City Tier List

One of the most transit dense and walkable regions in the country, the northeast is home to many vibrant cities. Now let's have some fun and rank them in an urbanist scale using data on transit, walkability, and rent. This is my longest video yet, so I hope you folks enjoy!
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[@ezekielcarsella]

I'd rather serve in the North Korean military than willingly live in Newark. Fine video though overall based on your parameters.

[@climateandtransit]

Understandable

[@legowagfles7287]

Newark isn’t that bad, bro. Like with other cities, the media loves to over exaggerate safety. Stop listening to Fox News and actually visit a place for once.

[@legowagfles7287]

Ah, based on past replies, you’re from Charleston…yeah I’d rather live in Newark than live in a pretty much car-oriented Confederate flag-waving city

[@ezekielcarsella]

@@legowagfles7287 I'm born and raised in NJ LOL. I've been to Newark flown in and out and I have no desire to live in Newark.

[@legowagfles7287]

@@ezekielcarsellawell I was born in Newark, and of course you have no desire, you betrayed NJ for the South. You’re not “born and raised” in my eyes.

[@humanecities]

WHAT?! [INSERT CITY HERE] was done dirty by this video!

[@anthonywong7906]

Hello, New Yorker here, I agree NYC should be higher lol. In all seriousness, I feel that certain criteria’s have been left out that could have hurt NYC. For example, crime rates/safety or sanitation. Sure, some cities are worse, but NYC could have deceased in points from that.

[@AustinSersen]

I know. How could Calgary be left off the list? Serious shade thrown our way. ;) At least we have direct flights to many of the cities mentioned (NY JFK, Newark, Washington Dulles, Boston, and Hamilton...1hr away from Buffalo).

[@jaykay1899]

I’m just happy Albany made it on the list. It really has potential but a lot of changes need to be made. It’s a special place

[@AustinSersen]

​@@jaykay1899 I've been to both Albany, and most recently: Schenectady. Both would be such amazing places today if white flight and urban freeways for personal commuting weren't a thing. I love the older parts of town that were built before cars (and decided to save from being bulldozed). How do locals feel about the Egg? I don't know what to think. That area is very Brutalist which I typically don't like.

[@jaykay1899]

@@AustinSersen There's mixed opinions on the egg but I personally enjoy it. I think it's a cool contrast with the older historic architecture around it. If you ever go back to the area you should definitely check out Troy! It's by far the best downtown area in the capital region and they have a great night life scene going rn

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Besides the fully-electrified regional rail system in Philly, there's also NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line as well as the PATCO Speedline connecting Philadelphia with places in South Jersey. The PATCO Speedline opened in 1969 and was actually the first line/system in the world to incorporate automatic train operation, while BART did so in 1972. On top of this, just like the PATH in North Jersey and the NYC Subway, PATCO operates 24 hours a day and provides wonderful views of the city on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge! And both the Atlantic City Line and PATCO have connections with the River LINE, the light-rail that connects Trenton with Camden at Pennsauken Transit Center and Walter Rand Transportation Center respectively. I wouldn't rank Baltimore below Buffalo, because it's not just intercity rail services, it's FREQUENT intercity rail services, and a commuter rail system which Buffalo of course doesn't have! Yes Baltimore has been neglected, but the city has a lot and continues to move in the right direction! The guy who worked on the neon at 7:56 was Stephen Antonakos. He's done neon work for stations in Los Angeles (Pershing Square), Detroit (Greektown), Athens, Exchange Place PATH in Jersey City, and Charles Center in Baltimore as shown here. He's also done work for Hartsfield Jackson Airport and for a power station in Tel Aviv. He was a WWII veteran who served in the Philippines. He died at age 86 back in 2013.

[@YoshiandsubwayTrains]

Yes I live in nyc

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Jersey City has truly done a lot! Jersey City was the first in New Jersey to implement Vision Zero and under Steven Fulop in 2022, there were ZERO fatalities on city-owned streets! The first of ANY city its size in the country! I used to live in JC (our rent was really cheap; around 700 a month because I have family that own an old building with railroad apartments) and when I lived there, everything from the supermarket, swimming pool, pharmacy, salon, pet shop, fast-food, good local pizza, banks were all a walk away. If we wanted to go to the mall, we could either take a Spanish jitney, NJT bus, or walk to the HBLR to get to Newport Centre. Or if we wanted to spend the day in NYC, we took a direct NJT bus to the PABT. The HBLR is such a goated system. I'd walk to 9th/Congress and take the elevator down to the platform. The fact they went above and beyond to build the elevator off the Palisades so that people from the Jersey City Heights can use the station in Hoboken is so great. Not to mention building an underground station in a reused tunnel to serve Bergenline Ave! It's so useful from its ferry connections, the PATH, serving the mall, commuter rail at Hoboken Terminal, and it even goes to Bayonne! Jersey City is an example of a transit city in North America done right, and that's not talking about how much development has popped up downtown because of the HBLR and how pedestrianized downtown JC is. And not just downtown, they've also been densifying around the Journal Square transit hub too and affordable housing TOD around the Bayfront HBLR development

[@phillipbassuk3869]

I agree jc is much cleaner and has grown in a positive way, but sadly it’s come at the expense of the Puerto Rican communities of the area, with the intention being to bring in white ppl

[@morkallearns781]

@@phillipbassuk3869Expense? Those Puerto Ricans sold their properties for a killing and retired to Florida.

[@morkallearns781]

JC is incredible and if it continues to focus on quality development it will continue to thrive (and be insanely expensive lol)

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The WMATA system designed by Harry Weese is one of my favorite systems when it comes to aesthetics, up there with Pyongyang, Tashkent, and Moscow (though in general, my five favorite metro systems are NYC, Hong Kong, DC, Singapore, and Tokyo). For DC's city plan, Pierre L'Enfant was hired to design DC, who presented a vision for a bold, modern city featuring grand boulevards (now the streets named for states) and ceremonial spaces reminiscent of another great world capital, L’Enfant’s native Paris. This plan was much more than the simple federal town Jefferson had in mind. People back then thought L'Enfant was crazy, but not Washington! His design was based on European models translated to American ideals. The entire city was built around the idea that every citizen was equally important! The Mall was designed as open to all comers, which would have been unheard of in his native France. L'Enfant placed Congress on a high point with a commanding view of the Potomac, instead of reserving the grandest spot for the leader's palace as was customary in Europe. Capitol Hill (which back then was known as Jenkins Hill) became the center of the city from which diagonal avenues named after the states radiated, cutting across a grid street system. These wide boulevards allowed for easy transportation across town and offered views of important buildings and common squares from great distances.

[@lolgod1695]

As a New Jerseyan, I am so happy that our state isn't getting slandered for once

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

More on the Newark Light Rail: The Newark Light Rail has two different sections, with one being the Newark City Subway that has four stations (Penn, Military Park, Washington St, Warren St/NJIT) underground and if you only travel between those downtown stations, it's cheaper than the regular light-rail fare. The line then continues up towards Grove Street in Bloomfield (which was extended from Branch Brook Park in 2002), hugging Branch Brook Park which has the largest cherry blossom collection in the US. The City Subway line opened in 1935 along the old Morris Canal right-of-way, from Broad Street (now known as Military Park) to Heller Parkway (now replaced by the nearby Branch Brook Park station). From 1954 to 2001, this line used PCCs bought from Minneapolis/St Paul. The other section of the system connects Newark Penn to Newark Broad Street Station with NJPAC (a performing arts center) along the way. You can actually see the Center St/NJPAC station at 1:56. It branches off the older City Subway using the existing junction that had led to the former Public Service terminal. The former Public Service terminal was a three-level streetcar station that served as the terminus for streetcar lines from as far as Trenton. This was demolished in 1981 and became PSE&G headquarters. The Broad St extension opened in 2006 and was originally meant as the first phase of the Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link, but the rest of it wasn't built. The artwork at the new stations has a common theme, "Riding with Sarah and Wayne." It is a tribute to Newark-born jazz greats Sarah Vaughan and Wayne Shorter, and includes the lyrics to Vaughan's signature song Send in the Clowns

[@JokersAce0]

I live in NYC and used to live in Philly (and might go back). I never used transit in Philly in my area, the trains were so bare bones. I'm glad there are still trams and they are expanding them by slowly bringing back some defunct lines. If you live in the more core area of the city, it feels more walkable than NYC because you can practically just walk to most key areas/destinations of the city. You can still own a home in the city, it's cheaper than in the Philly suburbs but the main issue why is because of the school system and crime (a valid concern depending on the area), so there's that. The other problem is that there are often more lucrative jobs just outside the city causing a reverse commuter problem where a lot of residents live in the city and work in the suburbs. This is the number 1 reason I'm not there now, because if it were possible, it would be a dream to simply just walk to work. NYC is great with the trains. It's not as good as London's perhaps, but it's cheaper. The problem is the Manhattan commute focus of the lines where it's more about getting in and out and around Manhattan rather than a ton of missing connections there should be between Brooklyn and Queens should have multiple lines connecting them rather than the extremely limited existing lines. This is where London blows NYC out of the water, since it's more cohesive throughout the city with multiple ways to get to different places instead of NYC where you have to often go through Manhattan just to go from one outer borough to the other. The Interborough Express is a good start but it's light rail not heavy rail like a normal subway train. There also needs to be more lines between Bronx and Queens, and Brooklyn and Staten Island. Bringing back trams would be nice, downtown Brooklyn would be a good start since they already have bus only streets. The other thing with NYC is that it's so massive the neighborhoods are the only walkable part, since to go anywhere else would take too long to walk to. Even going from different parts of North Brooklyn would take hours by foot.

[@Yort781]

I disagree about the city being massive and not walkable between neighborhoods. It is actually very compact and dense which makes it feel bigger than it really is. I regularly traverse the Bronx and I used to live in Queens and Manhattan as well. A 20 minute walk can actually take you across two or three average sized neighborhoods and its not difficult to walk 40 Manhattan (North-South width) sized blocks in less than an hour if you move at an average speed. The city's total land area falls somewhere in the middle as far as American cities go and is smaller than most comparable cities globally like London, Tokyo and Sao Paulo.

[@pavld335]

Newark actually has decent transit, I never really had to wait too long for a bus on my travels unless it was a bus that goes to another city like Patterson. The lightrail is kind of crappy.

[@wilkinsandwontinsachievemu3772]

Pretty stupid that theres no direct Paterson-Newark train service considering they are both sizable cities with more than 100,000 people.

[@pavld335]

@@wilkinsandwontinsachievemu3772and it takes forever because of all the stops it makes.

[@kailahmann1823]

shouldn't Jersey City also get a bonus for making "vision zero" reality and not just an empty phrase?

[@brianholmes1812]

Its kind of crazy how Boston's rent is approaching NYC levels. And having been recently job hunting in the Northeast, I've noticed that although rents are comparable, pay in New York actually scales to its rent. Glad to see my New Yorker bias confirmed though!

[@aimxdy8680]

Boston metro incomes are ALOT higher than NYC metro. However the best city in this list for Income-cost of living ratio is DC. DC metro has a median household income of 117K, it gets even better in Northern virginia which is covered by the DC metro.

[@aimxdy8680]

Median household income in Boston metro is 104,300 USD meanwhile NYC is 91,600 USD.

[@brianholmes1812]

@@aimxdy8680 I'm always skeptical of Median as an average, its very easily skewed by outliers. I'd be much more interested in the modal average income, as I'd suspect the results would skew differently

[@kacamac]

I live in Providence comfortably car free. Rents are going up but I love it here. Easy access to NY and Boston via rail is super nice too. I just wish the state would invest more in transit. Providence itself is great but the state government definitely still is more worried about cars than anything else. Still, the bus system is great especially if you live in Providence itself since lines overlap. I have 4 lines within a 3-4 minute walk. With each having 30minute frequency so between them I have like 8 buses downtown every hour. But honestly city is small enough that I could even walk down there when I don't mind the extra time. Now if we could only invest in some high capacity transit with dedicated right of way, it'd be perfect.

[@appa609]

This feels very incomplete considering how broad his definition of the NE is. New Haven? Rochester, Syracuse, Portland, Bangor, Atlantic City, Springfield, Wilmington, Burlington, Manchester, etc.

[@RipCityBassWorks]

Possibly unpopular opinion, but I actually like Philly better than DC. DC has a very sterile vibe and doing anything there is incredibly expensive. Philly has an excellent vibe and is relatively affordable for the region. The area where DC wins is the Metro: it blows Septa out of the water.

[@heythere8318]

gorgeous video and so good i’m so grateful you’ve been making these ranking vids

[@aidanpeck180]

As someone from Providence I am surprised that we made the list. Providence is actually pretty walkable and is the 6th place in terms of least car depend according to CityNerd but I could be mistaken. The problem with Providence is that it’s actually a massive city when you look at its metro area and population. Providence needs a subway system that connects its downtown where the jobs are to the rest of the city and surrounding cities and further suburbs. A commuter rail network wouldn’t hurt too. Overall it’s kind of a sea of parking lots with its old dense neighborhoods spotting the land space with a massive highway that bisects the city with everything to the west is ghetto and the to the east is great.

[@sonicboy678]

I think something akin to Vancouver's SkyTrain would work well there.

[@megnutk]

I grew up next to an old rail line in RI that used to provide service from my hometown to newport, providence, etc. It was never in service in my lifetime (maybe not my parents either?) but I used to dream about being able to just hop on a train just a few blocks from my house. I've since moved to philly but I'm always on the NEC to RI to visit family and every time I see new bike infrastructure/development in providence it gives me hope about the future of walkability in my home state. Rhody's such a unique little place and it really deserves better transit but I feel like theres a very rhode islander-style resistance to change that has made that very hard (despite the fact that this car dependency in the first place was a big change from how the state 'USED TO BE' as they say). Rooting for lil rhody always 😤

[@kewejuankenobie]

Albany Busses are interesting. They have "BRT" busplus lines (express busses no dedicated right of way) and connections to the train station are not great (I have to make 2 transfers and it takes 1.2 hours). I wish a little more effort was put into frequency

[@davisyewell1795]

Baltimore under Hartford is pretty insane

[@chrispontani6059]

Nailed it. Need to check out the complete list

[@danielbatmanj349]

I disagree with Baltimore being worse then buffalo, intercoty service is much better if nothing else, so you can do stuff like work in phillie or DC which you can't really do in buffalo

[@officialalonzo263]

A lot of people in Baltimore work in DC!

[@everacite]

If ya ding DC for humid summers, you gotta ding Boston for bad winters DCs bike infrastructure is significantly better (and improving at a greater speed) than NYCs as well, so those scores should be further apart. Also the height limit isn’t the main issue (or close to the main issue) causing DCs cost (it’s our zoning codes)

[@appa609]

Boston winters are average

[@silvercrystal13]

@@appa609 the coldest major city in the us tbh, the wind of the water makes it awful

[@raucousraptor]

​@@silvercrystal13What about Minneapolis

[@Brotatochip6507]

Jersey City was such an amazing place to live and I regret moving out 😭

[@Linkbetweenus27]

Great list as always

[@mrrockdaddy100]

I'm happy that you talked about Newark I agree with you you really said some positive things about Newark. Newark is my home and we have wonderful Transit and we do have good walkability but I do agree with you the bike Lanes do need to be fixed but thanks for putting it up on the map and I hope more people see this and come and visit my great City🎉❤

[@heythere8318]

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO

[@jayys26]

Great video! Hoping to see a west coast / western US tier list soon!

[@aimxdy8680]

Seattle, and Bay area would easily top the list.

[@johnnichols371]

Hey, that house isn’t in Newark, it’s in one of the Hanovers (where a lot of the Italians from Newark moved oddly enough) That said, there’s some really fascinating palimpsests from before we tried shoe horning cars in. It’s a city with really good bones

[@hsantanam]

Good episode BUT disappointing in that it didn't include crime and safety stats or discuss them. Why are rents in some cities so cheap? because of high crime and low job availability. Should have mentioned that.

[@matthewconstantine5015]

I think (hope) Albany is on the rise. I've been a couple times in the last few years and it seems like they're maybe moving in the right direction. Fingers crossed. I'm one of those DC area folks forced to live in the suburbs because of rent. I don't know that it's height limits as much as it is unwillingness to actually build residential, or to make developers include genuinely affordable homes in their plans. There's actually a lot of room in DC, but a surprising amount of it is full of single family homes, parking lots, and urban freeways. It's a great city, but it could be a LOT better with some policy changes.

[@jaykay1899]

As an Albany resident - I hope it’s on the rise as well. However, Saint rose (a college in the city) just shut down this year which I’m assuming will have a big effect on the city as there is less students to spend money on things. Our two historic movie theaters also just closed within the past month. There’s changes being made but simultaneously a lot of things are closing down and struggling. It seems like Troy (our neighboring city) is getting all the improvements

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

to keep in line with steamed hams will you be reviewing utica?

[@officialgreendalehumanbeing]

cant wait for the western us tier list

[@himbourbanist]

Man Baltimore deserves better transit. The city is so cool and the people are great. The original plan for the Subway link would have made it absolutely one of the coolest systems in the nation; like a 1980's, neon-clad version of the DC metro.

[@JoaoPedro-sb5sq]

Growing up in the Ironbound area of Newark was really a privilege in my opinion. I took for granted how I could, as a kid, walk everywhere with my friends. Hartford should be rated lower. City is dead after 8pm. Stay away lol

[@michaelsharp3615]

I went to DC back in 2012 and basically walked or took the Metro Train everywhere I went. The only time I was in a vehicle was my hotel shuttle from DC Reagan to my hotel in Crystal City (Arlington near the airport, had suitcases to carry and was required to take the hotel shuttle if not renting a car) (also didnt want to walk a distance carrying suitcases either)

[@justasquirrelwithaguitar7980]

What do you think about Stamford ct? Pretty car dependent but great intercity service, also metro noryh

[@jackwright7854]

once providence gets an extensive tram system through the city its over for boston

[@dextrose11]

You have a scoring rubric here then completely ignore the scores when assigning them to the tier list (Jersey city 215 = A, Baltimore 218 = C).

[@CaradhrasAiguo49]

7:34 the JC rubric sums to 244, similar to D.C.'s (A-tier) 243, the total on the screen is wrong

[@user-yi7zj3lv5t]

no Pittsburgh :(

[@shsav2012]

I think Pittsburgh’s in the Midwest video And western PA does give more Midwest vibes than they do Northeast

[@RodoMallard]

Pittsburgh is absolutely nothing like Cleveland, Chicago Indianapolis etc

[@tyb9975]

It’s a midwestern city not northeast

[@user-yi7zj3lv5t]

@@shsav2012 except its got more northeast vibes, not much farther west than buffalo, and definately not a sprawling flat city like most midwestern ones

[@yassincowboy3876]

Pittsburgh is a NE city. Western PA has more in common with western NY than NE Ohio.

[@AnisPunjwani]

If NYC gets a 9/10 on vibes, WHAT ON EARTH gets a 10??

[@danielvisintainer3352]

Probably NOLA

[@MrAronymous]

Europe lol

[@trainluvr]

Berlin of course.

[@SeaBassTian]

Great urbanist infrastructure aside, it's insane to me what "reasonable" rent in the northeast is considered. Thought you were going to mention Yonkers (former resident!) and its famous beeline which I used to take everyday but guess it is more like a NYC suburb.

[@mrrockdaddy100]

I live in Newark and love it here I visited DC a few times and love it i have visited NYC lots of times

[@rushs11]

Why did you use a photo of Washington Street in Hoboken for Jersey City?

[@dvderek]

Lol the Ok Computer cover inspiration pic for Hartford

[@remiphillips]

Good list! Only thing I'd have done different is put Philadelphia in S tier, and Providence in A tier. Also, as someone who is from Hartford, B tier is respectable. Hartford is going to build some better transit, and more housing development soon, for the citys 400th anniversary. It's called the Hartford 400 project, and it's going to radically change the urban landscape of Hartford for the better

[@Marylandbrony]

I wonder what would the tier list would be for each of New York's boroughs individually.

[@hs5331]

For transit its 1. Manhattan by far 2. Brooklyn 3. Bronx 4. Queens

[@Slouchingintothewind-kf3qq]

@@hs5331 Staten Island does not exist

[@landon2806]

the picture for jersey city is in hoboken

[@whsxc12]

Rent in Hartford is low because it’s a low income city, the suburbs are on the other hand double in rent at minimum

[@colinbauer1538]

Id say this list is pretty good. Thats pretty much exactly how the major cities should be ranked at least. NYC on top, Philly, DC, and Boston are better at certain things than each other and worse at certain things than each other but id say are on the same tier. And Baltimore unfortunately last. In terms of the small cities id say Buffalo might have to be knocked down a tier but idrc that much lol. Also personally I consider Pittsburgh a northeastern city so wish it was included but it likely would’ve been B tier.

[@harvesterofeyes8813]

Agree. Pitt is a northeast city. I've been there a couple times and went to college in Erie. Not really much different than where I grew up in NY state.

[@yiannisd8286]

you forgot the regional rail lines that run thru north broad.

[@ReapTheWhirlwind]

Buffalo's transit and walkability suffer greatly from the fact that Buffalo is made up of several towns and villages that incorporated in the 1800's. So it's rather newish for a city of it's size and is comprised of several different planners attempts to integrate different street plans into a single city. 😂 Nothing is more than 20 minutes away by car but cars are pretty much required because even though people are moving into the city neither normal development or gentrification are moving fast enough to keep up with demand.

[@appa609]

Buffalo is really about the suburbs. The city of buffalo is like 22% of its metro population. And a lot of those suburbs are rich, white, and very car dependent. East Amherst for sure.

[@aldenthompsonvought]

REVIEW MAIDSTONE KENT UK! Great small city and I want to see what you think of british urbanism

[@matthewgarcia1499]

hmmm where's Pittsburgh?

[@SamsonOhsem]

Each city has its own unique character and transit systems, including subways, buses, and commuter rail services.

[@jaykay1899]

No offense, but yeah obviously

[@joshuafajardo5697]

MARC also goes to WV

[@tunedtfin917]

Yeah i got off newark penn once i won’t ever forget that urine musty smell in the stairwells and booths

[@cornkopp2985]

You said you took rent into account but it didn't feel like it meaningfully impacted the ranking tbh, otherwise philly might have gotten the S tier over nyc. I also think you kinda underranked baltimore, it's not perfect but imo its still easily an entire class above somewhere like albany or Buffalo.

[@shsav2012]

I will agree with the BTT on Hartford however ), I feel something mentioned were not the best, and I feel like your rent source might as well be dead wrong. I’ve heard that the 1191 you’re mentioning is the minimum price to get into the crappy neighborhoods of that city from a retired cop However, despite not having any intracity rail. I feel like the bus system within Hartford is better than the bus system in St. Louis and overall I have better transit vibes with Hartford as opposed to St. Louis

[@soige2037]

I used to live in downtown Hartford and my rent was about that price fyi

[@joshuafajardo5697]

Don’t forget Newark Broad Street

[@cameron_o]

Baltimore...home sweet home, glad I live in Philly now though

[@UnicornDreamsPastelSkies]

Yeah honestly, I knew without clicking on this video where NYC would land... the one way you could have been more creative was to feature it as the 1st city mentioned and tease us with 'you all know it as well as I do, the Big Apple is easily in the S Tier, on to the next city!' and show the next one before being like 'OK maybe I should elaborate more on this.' Personally I include Richmond VA as the southernmost Northeastern city (or at least Mid-Atlantic), they would probably be the one D Tier city on this list; still a C Tier city by Midwestern and West Coast standards however, everyone else mentioned here would B Tier at worst, as well as Rochester NY which is a bigger city/metro than Albany FTR. I guess the only things to add are, thank you not just for all of these tier lists but for including Buffalo after leaving it out of the Midwest list, and NYC (when I saw its' cover pic, I said 'looks like Master Splinter loves pizza too') is also the American starting point for the last transatlantic ocean liner journey in existence which sails to Southampton, England aboard the RMS Queen Mary II... I've added that to my bucket list after watching Titanic for the first time in years recently. Thought you would like to know.

[@Roma_eterna]

As a relatively new DC resident (I’ve been here a year now) I wholeheartedly agree with your take! I do hope that it continues to be an excellent transit city, but judging by how things are going financially, I’m not sure how that’ll happen.

[@thebestbaseballguy]

The Soprano's house is not in Newark, it's in either Caldwell or West Caldwell, further out in Essex county. I'm sure you're aware but I guess I felt like saying it anyways.

[@mikesrailfanning2189]

The l is not reliable and the trolleys r only fast in the tunnel the BSL is having a lot of problems from ridership and the express only runs during peak hours

[@Absolute_Zero7]

I think I can agree with most of what you said, but I do take issue with giving Boston extra points for not being a grid. No, being a grid does not make you inherently more pro car.

[@khalilbehmen439]

As a Bostonian, I'm gonna have to say that A tier is a bit too generous for Boston. Cycling infrastructure is worse than what's portrayed in the video, it's very inconsistent. I live on a street where one block has elevated and fully separated bike lanes on one block to literally NOTHING on the next. In addition, the MBTA, frankly, sucks all around (with maybe the exception of the blue line). Whether it's the bus, trolleybus, streetcar, subway, or regional rail, everything is always delayed, infrequent, and slow. There are not NEARLY enough lines on the subway and the biggest gaps in coverage are in the poorest neighborhoods. The regional rail service only runs once an hour per line (once every TWO hours on the weekends), and are only good for getting to and from Boston. If you want to go from any place that isn't Boston to any other place that isn't Boston, driving is pretty much your only option. That combined with all of Boston's local deep-rooted businesses being replaced by corporate chains means that, unless you're employed by the Biotech or Education industries here, or just have money to throw away, it's really not worth the cost.

[@noahwebstermusicofficial7621]

BUFFALO MENTIONED LETS GOO

[@bensezer7966]

Overall I like your methodology, but I have to say that you’re wrong about the vibes of Albany. What you said sounds like the downtown, but if you head outside downtown a little bit, especially down Central Ave some of the neighborhoods have much better vibes. Also while their “BRT” is not BRT, it’s still fast, frequent, and reliable and overall the bus service is great.

[@James_Cy]

Putting Newark in B tier tells me you've never stepped foot in Newark in your life.

[@climateandtransit]

Was there for 4 days this summer! Overhated beyond all belief.

[@AlRoderick]

I'd expect that a lot of the people in the comment section will be complaining that you put their own city too high.

[@guinessbeer]

Can we get a west coast city tier?!

[@christianthomas7591]

Surprised you didn't talk about manchester nh but i guess it has basically no transit...

[@ternedo6074]

Honestly I’m just happy Albany made it

[@trendy4tmrw]

The clips you showed of Philly 😂😂😂 fr tho, amazing city for people of color and the lgbtq community in particular😊tough city but full of love❤

[@dmytro_beton]

would be nice if youd show cities on the map

[@tophu7903]

I am honestly shocked that Hartford is as high as it is.

[@nodog1961]

Bro only made his channel and became interested in urbanism because he knows the east side of NYC - like me :(

[@organ5899]

I’d argue Toronto should be on this tier list

[@Brotatochip6507]

Oh come on DC deserves a way better transit score than 69/100. It’s also much cheaper than most US cities.

[@officialalonzo263]

DC is actually one of the most expensive cities in the country, but the Metro is great!

[@Brotatochip6507]

@@officialalonzo263 i know DC is expensive but the metro isn’t compared to nyc and la

[@sewasify]

Canada ranking after tackling the west?

[@climateandtransit]

Correct!

[@aerolynx33]

Damn this is New Haven erasure… Anyway, I have to stop myself from visiting Philadelphia. Every time I go I seriously consider moving there for the better rent to urbanism ratio and prime NEC location.

[@trainluvr]

So any NE city not on the list (like Bridgeport or Wilmington) would be a C or D. How about Camden, Trenton, Elizabeth, Mount Vernon, Yonkers, White Plains, Hempstead? Gotta fill up the empty space on the tier list.

[@shade0762]

Good list.. Philly should be S Tier IMO

[@cactusfondler9989]

BALTIMORE IS S TIER RAAAAHHHH WE THE BEST FUCK IT IS DUMMY (God i wish my hometown had a comprehensive metro system)

[@TheCicada]

As an Albany resident, you put us too high

[@Communistgunmc]

🐐🐐🐐

[@Trevor-Watlington]

Review beijing ?

[@evanc8057]

Pittsburgh?

[@danielkelly2210]

Probably considered "midwestern".

[@kiosk5595]

I’ll say my unpopular opinion on the DC Subway: It’s hideous. I can’t criticize the frequency or expansiveness (except during the pandemic, 30min headways wtf?) because it’s an efficient subway that works, and ultimately, that’s the most important thing. However, I personally find the 80s style of brutalist architecture to be dull and antiquated. It looks old but not with the charm of an old system such as NYC or Chicago. It also has this super uncomfortable waft that I can’t explain, where the air just feels heavy and gross, if you’ve been in it you get what I’m talking about. I came to DC with high hopes for the transit and left disappointed

[@louiszhang3050]

I'm going to have to disagree with Philadelphia here. Compared to Boston, DC, and Jersey City, Philadelphia's transit is seriously lacking. The regional rail, while it's had its improvements, is still far from being useful for many people (1-hour headways, really?). And its downtown connections are just not good enough compared to the other cities in the A tier. I hate to trash on Philadelphia, because its a city that has so much potential. In a sense, it is even more walkable and has more "missing middle" housing than Boston and DC. However, unlike those cities, Philadelphia didn't significantly invest into their transit either in 1900s like Boston nor later like DC. And it shows. Taking transit in Boston and DC makes sense. In Philadelphia, not so much. I ended up driving when I visited. However, if Philly can extensively increase service and build more transit, which it seems like they are planning on doing, then it can become great.

[@jesusmoreno4062]

Hell yeah New York City on top !!!!

[@spaghetti1able1]

I will not stand for Rochester erasure

[@railsand]

connecticut slander will be tolerated.

[@climateandtransit]

CT definitely deserves some slander. However, its better than a lot of other states

[@CABOOSEBOB]

Shouldn’t keep some cities for patreon, not a true tier list without that

[@paulfromsw3058]

dc better

[@silvercrystal13]

DC too low

[@liamhodgson]

Honestly thanks for not including Pittsburgh in NE…it’s really Midwest. And we don’t have to compete with ny and dc lmao

[@icetow33]

Does not make sense to ignore the crime element in these cities.

[@BrianBurkeProd]

Boston A-tier, NYC S tier. Yeah you’re probably an atheistic modernist. NYC made me physically sick.

[@appa609]

DC is not Northeast it's literally on the confederate border. New York is the southern limit of "Northeast"

[@officialalonzo263]

Not exactly true!

[@dmytro_beton]

Cool otherwise ;)