I always log on right when my videos publish so I can leave a pinned comment. Right now, the video has been up for 30 seconds, and there are already 2 comments! WHO LEAVES COMMENTS BEFORE THEY'VE EVEN WATCHED THE VIDEO?? I'm certainly not reading them! A better use of your time would be to sign up for Nebula, the ad-free creator-owned streaming service! Using my custom link gets you 40% off an annual subscription, and really helps the channel! go.nebula.tv/citynerd
I'm doing what I can to pressure Ames to convert the main street full of diagonal parking into a ped mall. So far the town folks I've spoken with are all for it, as well as some of the council members, but the biggest hurdle to these kinds of projects tends to be the local business owners afraid that removing parking means removing customers. This is quite the opposite as you've covered in other videos. It's a shame that these messages haven't penetrated local governments more than they have. Thanks for bringing awareness to these subjects.
I have a Nebula subscription and usually try to watch your videos there. Unfortunately, though, that platform lacks viewer comments, and those often provide opinions and/or insight specific to the viewers' locations. That lack of interaction makes it seem sterile. UA-cam, for all its faults, at least still has some semblance of community.
I'm a bus driver in Ann Arbor and I just feel like you should know that I literally can't even take the bus to work because by the time my shifts end, the buses have stopped running for the night. In fact a lot of my coworkers live quite far away because of how expensive it is here, and pretty much all of us drive to work. Also so many of my coworkers have massive pickup trucks... I feel like I should also mention the sort of "us vs them" attitude that's really prevalent amongst bus drivers with regards to cyclists and cycling infrastructure? I've heard many of my colleagues express the belief that, with the proliferation of bike lanes here, the city is communicating that they don't want us here (a belief which makes no sense to me, given that we are funded by local taxes and got a tax millage to increase our service last year)
I had a coworker straight up express no concern at all at the prospect of hitting and killing a cyclist because "they need to watch where they're going"
I'm curious if you've spoken to the A.A. bodies that make decisions. It can get tricky these days with work schedules, just like you are speaking about, another facet that drives me a bit crazy when a person does want to get involved. Do you not feel important enough to speak up? If you do have time, why not speak before the city council on those two very issues? You are important. You are not expecting to live in some large house I take it. People like you need to start speaking up and _demand_ change. It's not going to happen from one person. It's going to happen when more people start speaking up. A chief reason I believe is because of automobiles and how AA is indeed a college town, more educated and left-leaning. A lot of Ann Arbor residents, I think somewhat understandably so, oftentimes oppose new residential developments, because of how auto-centric the U.S. is not only in design but also in culture. More people is going to mean more cars proportionally speaking. Sure, some people take the bus and I'm sure you have a better idea than some but I'd be curious about the more detailed numbers. Maybe there are other reasons. Cars are awful in a lot of ways. I was in Ann Arbor for the first time in a while to visit a bike shop last year and the traffic is always on the moderate side and it's more sane there in that regard. I also again feel that,. not being a science person, I'm not the most well-versed to speak about this, but Dictator-Wannabe has been exploiting this part of human brains since he came on the scene in '15. The us against them mentality vs. the part of our brains that is inclined towards cooperating that has helped us survive throughout time, whether in small groups or larger groups. If people don't feel secure financially, I could see how it might activate the parts of people's brains that might feel threatened. Not saying AA bus drivers are that way politically, but I feel the economics, how some of these large U.S. companies are so big that they can set the prices on necessities like groceries or rent (there has been a class action against Realpage as an example who knows what else is going on in an important part of the economy) , it's not as easy to get by, people are not as secure financially. I don't even think people are as inclined to make decisions or form opinions based on reality often enough. Look at the '20 election. Lot of people still think the 2020 election was stolen, but when the clown group had to actually subject their selves to perjury by testifying about election fraud, they didn't have much to say and had no real case. Only Trumper I spoke to had to say was "They didn't look at certain evidence" I didn't press him on it but should have. He's not one to reason with though..big surprise there. Almost none of them are.
I am so thankful for this train station. I got to school in Chicago but live in town not far from Champaign and it’s saves my mom soooooo much time to not have to come all the way up to Chicago to pick me up.
I have lived in both Champaign IL and Iowa City IA and enjoyed each. When I moved to a large city on the east coast I realized how affordable midwest college towns were. I travel to West Lafayette for work once a month and it is now at the top of my retirement city list. Great list Ray.
new haven mentioned!!! we love you here, ray. lots of people here will argue with you on whether or not the city is still affordable, but if you compare it to boston and new york it's still a bargain. great place to live car-light, as well. this morning i rode my bike on nearly 100% protected bike lanes to get the train to bridgeport. tonight, i am taking a different train line up to hartford to watch the uconn huskies play. come visit sometime!
i just moved to Tempe and it's changed my life after living in central Phoenix for over a decade. I walk and enjoy city life, more than I ever would have, anywhere in Phoenix
State Street has suffered from several store closures/vacancies in recent years, but it is still pedestrian only (aside from the city buses). Additionally, housing on the Isthmus can be competitive (and pricey), especially for students--many students sign their lease agreements up to a year in advance. Despite these challenges, I believe the city is still a gem! Go Badgers.
I grew up in Urbana, and biked, walked or (when cold) took the bus to my high school (Uni High) on the U of Illinois campus every day. What a joy. Then I went to college there, worked and lived there, right next to campus. Had no idea how privileged I was to be living a college town/urbanist lifestyle back in the 70s and 80s :)
@@elli6220 I agree. As a Jayhawk I want better for my College town. There is no reason for there to be cars on Mass Street, and every time you propose decreasing the excessive amount of parking downtown someone has an hernia. The stroads are egregious, and sprawling is the only way people within a 200 mile radius of Kansas City think to solve their problems.
Madison state street only allows busses and delivery vehicles. Pretty normal to walk on the street. Bottom half of state street doesn’t get busses so it’s where you’ll find the most people hanging out in the street itself. Last summer, the bottom half was completely closed off to delivery vehicles for most of the day so people were very comfortably sitting and hanging out at that time. Even after that ended, it still mostly functions that way. Delivery vehicles aren’t that disruptive. We also just got our first BRT line with brand new buses, stations, dedicated lanes, and signal priority. It goes all the way from one edge of town to the other. It’s pretty sick. Car people are malding about losing some lanes on the isthmus.
As someone who previously "complained" that Madison is definitely a college town, I'd like to point out that Ray's comment re. New Haven very much applies to Madison. UW (much more than the state government) has a huge overall influence on the city.
Can confirm that Corvallis is bikeable. Lots of bike paths, with clearly demarcated lanes to avoid confusion. Main thoroughfares are car heavy, but there is always a bike friendly option on a nearby street.
As a MSU student living in East Lansing, I can definitely confirm that lots of people bike around campus and the city, and people spend time on campus quite a bit. It's a very green and spread out campus, so really it's more like spending time in a large park than in a busy college. The city of East Lansing has some great apartments and houses right next to the main shopping and living strip, and it's experienced a lot of growth the last few years, so there's only more to come. The one negative that EL has compared to similarly sized college towns is our bus network, which is definitely above average (compared to where I've lived before at least (Denver and Fort Worth)), but lacks the frequencies of towns like Ames or Iowa City. Go Green!
Purdue senior here. This town has pleasantly surprised me in a lot of ways I didn’t expect coming from out-of-state. Campus has transformed from pretty extreme car centrism in the 70s to a (fairly beautiful) pedestrian and cyclist centered campus. Being an aviation heavy school, we’ve got plenty of images from above over the years. I’ll never forget the summer I did research here. Biking a couple miles to and from work every day was so pleasant, though it was hot! I’ve also grown to appreciate downtown Lafayette for its restaurants, shops, and bars. There’s also a very nice pedestrian bridge across the river, which lands directly next to the Amtrak station and citybus center in lafayette. Amtrak service appears to be only 3x/week to Chicago, and relatively slow. I see a ton of potential in that station though, it’s well-placed and could be a great option for students. State street is very college-centric, but is fairly mediocre in terms of bars and restaurants. Harry’s is great, but it’s the only compelling bar on this side of the Wabash. We’ve had a pretty severe housing crisis that seemed to enter its peak during my freshman year. Every year admin over admits students, and it’s become a vicious cycle. Housing prices have exploded and dorms are overloaded. More dorms are being built, and the area around state street has seen a handful of 4-16 story buildings pop up pretty quickly. Most are overpriced though, so we’ll see if class sizes can stabilize and drop housing prices in the future.
Lafayette and WL could benefit so much from increasing the Cardinal line frequency. its hard for a student to make it to indy or chicago for concerts or other events on the weekend. for chicago the only service gets in at 10am and leaves at 5:55pm. for indy you get in 11:50pm saturday and leave 6am Monday. also, faculty and employees in the surrounding area commute from indy/chicago. plus students can go back on break that way. also an alternative way to get to the airport with IndyGo's Blue line, CTA Orange line for MDW, and CTA Blue line for ORD.
@@pikeangler56 Purdue students now have free shuttles to indy, serviced by Purdue running at least 5 times a day. I do agree that increasing line frequency would be beneficial, but non-car owning students now have a free option to get to indy in less than 1.5hr.
@@chrisjames8979 The north/south lines are not yet running but the plan is to get that line going in 2026. It is not as bad as it sounds as the east/west line is the main line and runs through the isthmus while the north/south will be just extensions of the east/west. All of the lines run through the isthmus (for those that don't know Madison the isthmus covers all of downtown). I have been using the BRT and it works well.
Alumni here. I hear that the East Side, especially near the river, has improved since I was there in the late 1980s. I lived on the East Side for a while back then, and as someone from rough urban areas, I had no issues with it.
Champaign-Urbana was my urbanist awakening-my sheltered suburban carbrain was overjoyed to learn how pleasant a car-free life can be when the built environment and transit network supports it. Champaign-Urbana also has a great restaurant scene-Maize, Black Dog, Farrens, Papa Dels, etc. 💙🐦
I was excited to see a streetview of Bloomington in the opening but sad to hear no information or mention of it later in the video. I personally prefer it over West Lafayette even though it might lag behind in terms of walk or bike score; Bloomington has been making great efforts to improve access to other forms of transportation, and has taken an initiative to turn Kirkwood into a car-free street area when it's warm outside. Plus, when I used to live in Bloomington just 2 years ago, I was paying only $370/month in rent for my share of a 2 bedroom apartment measuring a bit over 800 square feet in size, which is an amazing bargain in today's economy, and the apartment didn't even have maintenance or infrastructural issues!
And I trust you mean Bloomington, Indiana versus the other Bloomington college town in Illinois, home of Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University.
@@sihplak I figured you meant Indiana since you initially mentioned West Lafayette. I grew up in Indiana and knew nothing about the IL city until I relocated to the Chicago for work.
As a Purdue student (looking forward to the game against IU this Friday) I think West Lafayette benefits from being split from Lafayette in the census and WalkScore data. Lafayette has a lot more outer sprawl and a much more car-heavy mode share. Bloomington is all one city and the scores are just averaged together. West Lafayette is also the densest city in Indiana, even higher than Indy!
Great list! As an Iowa grad, super happy to see Iowa City on this list! Living in Iowa City for 4 years helped inspire my interest in walkable, transit-oriented communities because I got to see firsthand how vibrant they can be. (And shoutout to Ames for being great too - just not AS good 😉)
Totally fair to give Iowa City the win here! Ames is a great community too and I’m proud to have been a part of it, but Campustown and Downtown could never be as great as the downtown and campus urbanity in Iowa City, what with the ped mall, new high rises, quality architecture, and wonderful event programming that keeps downtown vibrant. But Ames is a great community too with a hometown feel, and it would be awesome to see downtown develop further with projects like The Linc on the horizon. Just need to finally address that failed infill project on Lincoln Way in Campustown with the petty developer who refused to compromise with the city, leaving the site in ruin.
La Crosse Wisconsin might have been deserving of an honorable mention (50k pop and home to UW-La Crosse). It can't sprawl too much because it is sandwiched between the Mississippi and Mississippi bluffs. It has a great vibe with a lot of nice outdoor things to do...kayaking (not just the Mississippi), great bike trails, and a local downhill ski resort. The Amtrak Borealis & Empire Builder pass though giving you travel options to the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Chicago, and beyond. The river bluffs are gorgeous (kind of like the Hudson Valley) and there is an iconic overlook. It's also relatively affordable for real estate (way more so than UW-Madison which you mentioned). Most people that live in La Crosse love it.
I loved living in La Crosse for literally all the reasons you mentioned! It was a dream place for college and my first job. But damn, had to move away due to the brutal winter temps and the MAGA-ocean that surrounds the city.
Charlottesville is adorable! I lived there for several years and worked in a gallery on the Downtown Mall. I absolutely loved the vibrant culture, restaurants, live music, pace of life, walkability, historical buildings, etc. If it wasn't for the crushing heat/humidity they get 5 months out of the year, I'd have stayed. PS: I'm surprised Citynerd didn't decamp to Spain to wait out the next 4 years!
No way, one of my photos and two of my homes made it into this video! You can see my photo at 7:27, and Welch Ave in Ames and State St in Madison are two streets I’ve lived just off of. You can see my old dorm in Ames at one point, and the aerial view of Madison shows an apartment I’ve lived in! This video is so fun to watch from one of my favorite channels. Wait stop I had to edit this in, Iowa City also totally deserves to be on this list! It’s such a nice small city and they’ve done great work to urbanize and densify over the past 10 years. UI has amazing architecture, the downtown is very cute and pedestrian friendly, and Eastern Iowa is much more charming and green than the Iowa stereotype of i35 and western Iowa. Wow this video was awesome to watch lol.
Hi Ray, can you make a video about inner ring suburbs, in many cities this type of suburbs although have low population density, mostly single family homes, but they are not very stretched out, inside the blocks you can find corner stores, and along the roads the development is dense and mixed use, examples of this are Lakewood (Cleveland), Dearborn (Detroit), Evanston, Cicero, Skokie (Chicago)
Not to mention hartford and springfield both should qualify as college towns too if new haven does. If we include these medium sized cities in our definition of college town than pretty much the whole connecticut river valley from new haven ct to amherst ma is all dominated by college towns and then boston/worcester/providence to the east is also very well represented for college towns. I highly recommend new england in general if you are looking for an enclave type of community like this. Even in cities aside from the college towns u will still find many of the same qualities that make our college towns so great
@@ecurewitz yeah the whole CT river valley has a lot of dinosaur themed stuff. Its one of the places where u can actually go see dinosaur footprints fossilized right into the ground and they have found tons of fossils in the area so they turned the footprint sites into almost a cross between nature reserve and tourist locations and the area has a selection of museums for dinosaur exhibits too so its a great area for dinosaur enthusiasts. Underrated area for tourism in general really but i would especially recommend to anyone who is a fan of dinosaurs
Madison resident here, state street is used by busses, bikes (we get the whole road, it's great), big delivery trucks for the shops, and cops. No standard civilian cars. Still means most don't walk on it unless the street is entirely closed for a farmers market or night market. I think the current state of the street is pretty much ideal
I live in Lincoln, and as a Nebraska fan it pains me to see Iowa City at the top. But Lincoln unfortunately has a pretty weak transportation system, just the one downtown protected bike lane, and four lanes of traffic going through its main downtown strip - among other things that don’t help it make this list (it’s also got a fair amount of suburban sprawl on the south side of town). I do think our bike trail system punches above its weight though. Fortunately there are plans to spruce up the heart of downtown with some “music district” branding, and the mayor has a goal of making our main street attractive to walk on from the west to the east side of the urban core. Hopefully she can get this stuff done before the republicans convince everyone that she hasn’t done a good enough job filling potholes and vote her out of office. I’m glad you like Lincoln though. I think a lot of people are surprised when they come here.
I went to University in Aberystwyth in Wales, it is a University and tourist seaside town. It's brilliant, beautiful and so many people fall in love with the place and never leave. I can garentuee I would go back to live there in a heart beat and I know dozens of others. Also it is very affordable compared to England in general (although not the cheapest place in the country). The population is 14,000 and half of that population is students. I lived there for 3 years and never had a car. The town centre has lots of interesting architecture, quirky shops and a lot of pubs.
I also currently live in Ann Arbor! I love your content! (It's crazy expensive here. I currently live in an attic for more than my sister's really nice apt in Grand Rapids)
I moved to Eugene for college and I like it here so much I still havent left five years after graduating This town is so bike and pedestrian friendly among other things
Corvallis has a pretty substantial fully separated network of bike paths that go a pretty good distance outside of the city that many people commute on
An East Lansing mention woo!! Speaking from experience, our campus has an absolutely insane amount of bike parking, over 30K spots on campus alone, so a lot of students bike because there will always be parking there
I think a lot of us were waiting for this one. Although given the... stuff... going on this week politically, maybe a video about good value in other parts of the world?
“Affordability for expats” would be super interesting as it should take into account having to continue paying US income taxes. So places that may seem more expensive but don’t add to American expat tax burden might just be more affordable.
Not to put words in his mouth but I think CityNerd is more of a stay and fight person. Especially considering he really only talks about North America on the channel
@@wtfareperfectplaces Pretty sure I remember him saying this in the video about NotJustBikes awhile ago. I'm really just losing all energy to "fight the good fight" when so many fellow citizens are reveling in the pain they're causing just because it doesn't *yet* affect them.
@ wtfareperfectplaces Totally agree with that mentality personally, but I also get a lot of people might need the distance right now. Maybe it will give them ideas and inspiration to push harder when the winds change. Living abroad can reinvigorate and broaden the people we bring to the fight.
Sad to see Lincoln, Nebraska didn’t make the cut. A surprisingly dense and walkable downtown with a plethora of amenities in a place one wouldn’t usually expect a large urban area.
Love to see the Blacksburg mention!! I’m a Virginia Tech student and work part time as a bus operator for Blacksburg Transit. So I can attest that BT ridership is huge! And it’s also such a cool job, I would recommend it to any college students who live in a town with a bus system
It's a beautiful area if you can live with the weather in the winter. Any mention of Va Tech instantly brings to mind the student body harassing Greg Paulus at the free throw line. LOL
New Haven really punches above its weight class within the Northeastern US, and the regional rail connections are fantastic. Besides easy access to NYC, we're under 4 hours to Philly and under 6 hours to DC on the low-speed Northeast Regional Amtrak line. We also get game-day express train service directly in and out of Yankee Stadium. Somehow, though, it still makes nearly-unconditional sense to drive up to Boston from New Haven compared to taking the train. Another cool thing: New Haven is the southern terminus of a (mostly) road-separated recreational cycling route that runs 90 miles north up to Amherst MA, with a ton of overlap with the official East Coast Greenway route.
NEW HAVEN!!! Finally! I've lived in a lot of places and settled here. Came for the apizza, stayed for the culture. And talk about affordable. I could even afford to buy a house here. Come visit.
The State Street pedestrian mall experiment listed on Madisons website is referring to a project for West Half of State Street to further pedestrianize the half of the street that is no longer in use in as transit mall I.E. converting the road to be flush with the sidewalk and further limiting delivery vehicles.
Thanks, Ray. I love viewing all your content while living abroad (Budapest) because this channel has been something I've been passionate about for such a long time. When I plan to return to the US in the near future, it will help me decide where to consider living. This particular episode was one of my favorites!
As a person who has lived in seven cities in my life and four of them were college towns, I recommend Muncie, IN (Ball State University) and Oxford, OH (Miami University). Muncie has less to do, but is dirt freakin cheap, and has an incredible trail system in the region and on campus. My bestie has lived car-free in Muncie for almost 30 years. Oxford has a little more to do “Uptown” but is more expensive. Both cities have decent bus service, a great art museum, good coffee shops, and fun places to eat.
State Street in Madison is still entirely closed to traffic except for emergency, transit & delivery vehicles. The “experiment” was to close about 3 blocks closest to the campus to anything besides emergency vehicle. But considering there’s no bus routes on those blocks and delivery was still allowed during the experiment, just restricted to specific times, I’m not sure how much will change. I can tell you no one on that street was second guessing jaywalking a decade ago, so I imagine it still belongs to pedestrians.
I lived in TN and didn't expect any Southern city to make the list, so when I saw Neyland I was really intrigued. But low and behold, I was right (except for the two cities in Virginia which are Southern-ish)
The state street pedestrian mall experiment in Madison was to restrict ALL non-emergency traffic on the 400-600 blocks of the street. Prior to the experiment, regular traffic couldn't access the area, but city buses and shipments still could. Seems like they'll be reverting back to allowing delivery and buses on those blocks. The 700-800 blocks (mostly occupied by university buildings) have been a true pedestrian mall for some time, which is completely raised from street level. 400-600 blocks have a street through them, which is only lightly used by the buses and delivery vehicles. It's pretty safe to bike on, and pedestrians can cross it pretty freely, but its not primarily used for foot traffic, most pedestrians travel on the sidewalks beside it.
My wife's family is from the New Haven area so we go there a lot, and it's better than I thought it would be back when I was visiting Yale in HS. (Also, BOTH my kids are sick, so tomorrow is looking dicey, unfortunately.)
Blacksburg is a great town, but it doesn't meet your rail transportation criteria in a rigorous manner. To reach the nearest Amtrak station, you need to take a bus to Roanoke.
I used to live in Ames and it's pretty bucolic (when the scent of the surrounding fields are not drifting over the town). It was one of my favourite places to live.
In Iowa City, you used to be able to ride a train to the football games. Out of towners would park at the various hotels, the mall, or vacant lots in Coralville and ride to Kinnick. The shortline operator and the athletic department stopped a few years back. A real shame.
Lafayette - West Lafayette are absolutely phenomenal twin cities, I'm glad they made a list finally. The only thing that's missing is frequent train service at the Amtrak station downtown. I'm moving to Colorado for work soon and I'm going to miss it here
I'd recommend Decatur, IL as a dishonorable mention. It has a cute, mildly usable but lightly used bus network, four main streets (cardinal directions), is one of the largest cities in Illinois without Amtrak service, and its college, Millikin University (my alma mater) tops out around 2,000 students. Be sure to visit campus when the wind is blowing from the northeast, and the whole area smells like rotten cat food. Thanks ADM. Millikin University is an underrated school though. The theater program in the college of fine arts punches above its weight, claiming an outsized number of graduates on Broadway and in Hollywood.
My wife and I stopped in Decatur on a trip from St. Louis and we were pleasantly surprised on how nice the downtown is. I'll be sure to look for Millikin University the next time I'm there.
I'm glad to see Madison on the list even if it is, as noted, a bit more than just a college town. Still, the western portion of the isthmus is pure college and it has a generally very young, hyper liberal population. (Actually liberal, not performatively liberal but then fiscally conservative like Californian metro areas).
Can we stop using the term “undervalued” and change it to “actually reasonable”? “Undervalued” sets a precedent that unaffordable places are “fairly valued”, which is not the case.
I’m originally from California, a left coast lefty. I’ve lived in Iowa since 2005 and having worked as a Cellular Technician in and around both Ames and Iowa City and on both campuses you did pick two great ones. As a California FFA kid I visited many of the colleges in California every year for contests, and yes Cal Poly would be great but it is very expensive. Chico State, CA, might also work well for you, better weather than Iowa. Hang in there. Hopefully the country is just in some temporary midlife crisis after its 250 years. GO HAWKEYES!!!
Madisonian here, State St does not allow through traffic (only service vehicles and delivery trucks) the experiment (which was conducted last summer) was for like the last 2-3 blocks (closest to the Library Mall) to be completely pedestrianized for certain times of the day (mainly during business hours). Idk if there are any studies or reports out on how well it did, I was personally a little disappointed with the lack of people using the street during the experiment and wish the city did more to promote it but we'll see what happens. More recently we got a huge upgrade in our bus system with BRT lines and articulated buses. We also have BCycle and zipcar as alternatives for owning cars. I think Madison is doing a pretty good job with public transportation and really trying to make more housing. PLUS there's a big project to upgrade the lakeway park (which will take like a decade but still). I've been enjoying living in Madison for the last 6 or so years now
Whether it's the hospitals, culture, transit, sports, WFH compatibility, retirement suitability, on the blue oasis of it all, the attractiveness of college towns is pricing out people who work there. Source: I'm a full-time college professor who has to live 45 minutes away of my rural University employer, which happens to be on this list. Thanks for qualifying with a (Maybe)! Enjoying the channel as always.
Big Ten college towns represent! I grew up in West Lafayette and have visited almost every college town in Big Ten. So many good ones. I have lived in big cities since i graduated college and I definitely miss college town vibe.
Whoo. Madison made the list due to peer pressure! I've been living here for 25 years. I dig it. Great mix of people, but maybe a little segregated. The State Street is mainly for bikes and buses but they were experimenting with making a section of it pedestrian only for a short time. I don't know if it will shift to being fully pedestrian. The bus system has been overhauled with bus lanes and routes that run a bit more often. Bike trails are great. Stop on by for a visit.
Glad to see Madison on the list! I always thought State Street was open to buses, bikes, and pedestrians only, but I never considered delivery vehicles. It is true that there aren’t many alleys behind businesses.
I feel like the biggest negative of some of these cities is that they are a good distance from an international airport. Yes, they have regional airports but they are at least 1hr away by car. I'm thinking UW Madison and UICU, the main airports being in Chicago.
So awesome to finally see my hometown in a CityNerd video! I grew up in East Lansing, and my parents both worked for the city. My dad was actually the Director of Planning, Building, and Development for quite a few years. It was a great place to grow up, and yes, you will definitely spend a lot of time on campus if you live in EL. I ran cross country all through middle and high school, so I've probably traveled more miles of MSU trails than most students. Thanks Ray!
Champaign is amazing (although technically you got it wrong and the main campus is in Urbana :P but it may as well be 1 city ), i graduated in december after 5.5 years there getting both my bachelors and masters in urban planning, and I wish I could have stayed there longer! Its genuinely an amazing place to live
As a person who used to live in Ann Arbor for college and now don’t live there anymore. Yes it’s fairly expensive especially if you’re a college kid and if you aren’t it’s still expensive anyways but boy do I miss living there. Extremely walkable and an incredible sense of community
BLACKSBURG MENTIONED!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ The city has actually done a ton of work on Blacksburg Transit, building a multimodal transit facility on the north side of campus where students can take the bus to off campus apartments or to Roanoke, DC, etc. Amtrak is also set to open up train service to the neighboring town of Christiansburg as well. So exciting 🤗
Curious where Columbia Missouri fell. Probably low on the urban fabric but the rent is really cheap. It did really well on a previous video you did on zip codes
One Saturday back in November I tailgated a football game in the afternoon and then saw the Berlin Philharmonic perform in the evening, all walking distance from my apartment. I love living in Ann Arbor.
I pretty much started hopping up and down when you mentioned my city (West Lafayette, IN)! Indiana cities are never mentioned positively on this channel (for good reason), so it's refreshing to hear a shout-out to all the new bike and walking lanes that have been added over the last 2 -5 years.
I went to college in Corvallis and it's a super bike-able city! I didn't have a car and lived 6 miles away from campus and never felt like I needed one to get around. I would have to take the Amtrak or ride with a friend to go to Portland or Bend or whatever but it's a great town to get by with just a bike.
The very large parking lot right near the river in West Lafayette is scheduled to be largely demolished and converted into a street grid, last I'd heard.
Champaign, IL mention! I've been living here for over 15 years. I love being within a 10 minute walk from downtown and the Virginia Theatre at 1:49 in the video.
Here in Ann Arbor, many high rises apartment buildings aimed at rich students are under construction. I would love to see more affordable downtown rental options. For now, I’m living in a condo townhouse where every unit has a one car garage, and it is relatively easy to bike downtown. I’m annoyed that I don’t have a store or a restaurant in walking distance.
Iowa City student here! I’m very impressed by our pedestrian mode share, and since the city buses became free in 2023, ridership has exploded. I wish it were more city wide, because the walkability doesn’t expand far past the downtown area
As a 16-year New Havenite I am over the moon to finally see it on this list (and the time Union Station was on it) so much love for this underdog city!!! 🥳
downtown madison resident. state street is still "pedestrian & bike only*" the * being they allow delivery vehicles, busses, and emergency service the "pedestrian mall" was an experiment over the summer to even further limit the use of the space by all vehicles. they rerouted busses, and restricted deliveries to a given time window early in the morning. personally I loved it - while it's already quiet and nice (not many vehicles with current restrictions) - further limiting busses and deliveries opened up the space for more street art and performances. I think it makes sense to suspend it during the winter months, but I hope it comes back this spring. Love your videos! hope you come visit this great city sometime soon!
I always log on right when my videos publish so I can leave a pinned comment. Right now, the video has been up for 30 seconds, and there are already 2 comments! WHO LEAVES COMMENTS BEFORE THEY'VE EVEN WATCHED THE VIDEO?? I'm certainly not reading them! A better use of your time would be to sign up for Nebula, the ad-free creator-owned streaming service! Using my custom link gets you 40% off an annual subscription, and really helps the channel! go.nebula.tv/citynerd
lol
Pretty half of comments are made before watching the video, and at least a quarter by those who will never watch the video.
I feel like Troy, NY should have been on this list
I'm doing what I can to pressure Ames to convert the main street full of diagonal parking into a ped mall. So far the town folks I've spoken with are all for it, as well as some of the council members, but the biggest hurdle to these kinds of projects tends to be the local business owners afraid that removing parking means removing customers.
This is quite the opposite as you've covered in other videos. It's a shame that these messages haven't penetrated local governments more than they have. Thanks for bringing awareness to these subjects.
I have a Nebula subscription and usually try to watch your videos there. Unfortunately, though, that platform lacks viewer comments, and those often provide opinions and/or insight specific to the viewers' locations. That lack of interaction makes it seem sterile. UA-cam, for all its faults, at least still has some semblance of community.
I'm a bus driver in Ann Arbor and I just feel like you should know that I literally can't even take the bus to work because by the time my shifts end, the buses have stopped running for the night. In fact a lot of my coworkers live quite far away because of how expensive it is here, and pretty much all of us drive to work. Also so many of my coworkers have massive pickup trucks...
I feel like I should also mention the sort of "us vs them" attitude that's really prevalent amongst bus drivers with regards to cyclists and cycling infrastructure? I've heard many of my colleagues express the belief that, with the proliferation of bike lanes here, the city is communicating that they don't want us here (a belief which makes no sense to me, given that we are funded by local taxes and got a tax millage to increase our service last year)
Xenia, you raise really interesting issues about class, transportation choices, housing costs, identity. I hope CityNerd takes a look at your comment.
I had a coworker straight up express no concern at all at the prospect of hitting and killing a cyclist because "they need to watch where they're going"
I'm curious if you've spoken to the A.A. bodies that make decisions. It can get tricky these days with work schedules, just like you are speaking about, another facet that drives me a bit crazy when a person does want to get involved. Do you not feel important enough to speak up? If you do have time, why not speak before the city council on those two very issues? You are important. You are not expecting to live in some large house I take it. People like you need to start speaking up and _demand_ change. It's not going to happen from one person. It's going to happen when more people start speaking up.
A chief reason I believe is because of automobiles and how AA is indeed a college town, more educated and left-leaning. A lot of Ann Arbor residents, I think somewhat understandably so, oftentimes oppose new residential developments, because of how auto-centric the U.S. is not only in design but also in culture. More people is going to mean more cars proportionally speaking. Sure, some people take the bus and I'm sure you have a better idea than some but I'd be curious about the more detailed numbers. Maybe there are other reasons. Cars are awful in a lot of ways. I was in Ann Arbor for the first time in a while to visit a bike shop last year and the traffic is always on the moderate side and it's more sane there in that regard.
I also again feel that,. not being a science person, I'm not the most well-versed to speak about this, but Dictator-Wannabe has been exploiting this part of human brains since he came on the scene in '15. The us against them mentality vs. the part of our brains that is inclined towards cooperating that has helped us survive throughout time, whether in small groups or larger groups. If people don't feel secure financially, I could see how it might activate the parts of people's brains that might feel threatened. Not saying AA bus drivers are that way politically, but I feel the economics, how some of these large U.S. companies are so big that they can set the prices on necessities like groceries or rent (there has been a class action against Realpage as an example who knows what else is going on in an important part of the economy) , it's not as easy to get by, people are not as secure financially. I don't even think people are as inclined to make decisions or form opinions based on reality often enough.
Look at the '20 election. Lot of people still think the 2020 election was stolen, but when the clown group had to actually subject their selves to perjury by testifying about election fraud, they didn't have much to say and had no real case. Only Trumper I spoke to had to say was "They didn't look at certain evidence" I didn't press him on it but should have. He's not one to reason with though..big surprise there. Almost none of them are.
That just doesn't make any sense. 😢😢 A bus driver cannot use buses to get to work? And there is no shuttle service? Poor girl!
That’s so absurd
There’s not even two services that go 24 hours?
Champaign also has the benefit of being a cheap 2 hour train ride away from Chicago (and I happen to live 100ft from the train station 🙂).
Yaas I miss the old apartment two blocks from the Terminal
We used to be neighbors apparently
I am so thankful for this train station. I got to school in Chicago but live in town not far from Champaign and it’s saves my mom soooooo much time to not have to come all the way up to Chicago to pick me up.
Illinois is one of our best states, I just wish the taxes were not so outlandish.
@@jeffholloway7974 Illnois is trash outside of Chicago.
Taxes is what makes a state great.
I have lived in both Champaign IL and Iowa City IA and enjoyed each. When I moved to a large city on the east coast I realized how affordable midwest college towns were. I travel to West Lafayette for work once a month and it is now at the top of my retirement city list. Great list Ray.
Midwest college towns are affordable cause who the heck wants to live in the midwest.
I lived in both also. They are great little cities with wonderful cultural activities.
new haven mentioned!!! we love you here, ray.
lots of people here will argue with you on whether or not the city is still affordable, but if you compare it to boston and new york it's still a bargain. great place to live car-light, as well. this morning i rode my bike on nearly 100% protected bike lanes to get the train to bridgeport. tonight, i am taking a different train line up to hartford to watch the uconn huskies play. come visit sometime!
Good to know
i just moved to Tempe and it's changed my life after living in central Phoenix for over a decade. I walk and enjoy city life, more than I ever would have, anywhere in Phoenix
State Street has suffered from several store closures/vacancies in recent years, but it is still pedestrian only (aside from the city buses). Additionally, housing on the Isthmus can be competitive (and pricey), especially for students--many students sign their lease agreements up to a year in advance. Despite these challenges, I believe the city is still a gem! Go Badgers.
I feel like you should do a version of this with winter-only photos, and then we can really see what it's like to live in most of these places.
Right? Even the two in VA get A TON of snow every year (50+ inch average in the western portion of Virginia per year).
I grew up in Urbana, and biked, walked or (when cold) took the bus to my high school (Uni High) on the U of Illinois campus every day. What a joy. Then I went to college there, worked and lived there, right next to campus. Had no idea how privileged I was to be living a college town/urbanist lifestyle back in the 70s and 80s :)
I know Lawrence Kansas isn't sniffing this list but it has a special place in my heart
Lawrence has some cute parts but is also pretty sprawly.
@@elli6220 I agree. As a Jayhawk I want better for my College town. There is no reason for there to be cars on Mass Street, and every time you propose decreasing the excessive amount of parking downtown someone has an hernia. The stroads are egregious, and sprawling is the only way people within a 200 mile radius of Kansas City think to solve their problems.
@@tod2450in Springfield MO within that 200 mile range and I fully concur
Madison state street only allows busses and delivery vehicles. Pretty normal to walk on the street. Bottom half of state street doesn’t get busses so it’s where you’ll find the most people hanging out in the street itself. Last summer, the bottom half was completely closed off to delivery vehicles for most of the day so people were very comfortably sitting and hanging out at that time. Even after that ended, it still mostly functions that way. Delivery vehicles aren’t that disruptive.
We also just got our first BRT line with brand new buses, stations, dedicated lanes, and signal priority. It goes all the way from one edge of town to the other. It’s pretty sick. Car people are malding about losing some lanes on the isthmus.
As someone who previously "complained" that Madison is definitely a college town, I'd like to point out that Ray's comment re. New Haven very much applies to Madison. UW (much more than the state government) has a huge overall influence on the city.
Can confirm that Corvallis is bikeable.
Lots of bike paths, with clearly demarcated lanes to avoid confusion.
Main thoroughfares are car heavy, but there is always a bike friendly option on a nearby street.
As a MSU student living in East Lansing, I can definitely confirm that lots of people bike around campus and the city, and people spend time on campus quite a bit. It's a very green and spread out campus, so really it's more like spending time in a large park than in a busy college. The city of East Lansing has some great apartments and houses right next to the main shopping and living strip, and it's experienced a lot of growth the last few years, so there's only more to come. The one negative that EL has compared to similarly sized college towns is our bus network, which is definitely above average (compared to where I've lived before at least (Denver and Fort Worth)), but lacks the frequencies of towns like Ames or Iowa City. Go Green!
They tore down Arby's and built a large apartment block.
Go White!
Purdue senior here. This town has pleasantly surprised me in a lot of ways I didn’t expect coming from out-of-state. Campus has transformed from pretty extreme car centrism in the 70s to a (fairly beautiful) pedestrian and cyclist centered campus. Being an aviation heavy school, we’ve got plenty of images from above over the years.
I’ll never forget the summer I did research here. Biking a couple miles to and from work every day was so pleasant, though it was hot! I’ve also grown to appreciate downtown Lafayette for its restaurants, shops, and bars. There’s also a very nice pedestrian bridge across the river, which lands directly next to the Amtrak station and citybus center in lafayette. Amtrak service appears to be only 3x/week to Chicago, and relatively slow. I see a ton of potential in that station though, it’s well-placed and could be a great option for students. State street is very college-centric, but is fairly mediocre in terms of bars and restaurants. Harry’s is great, but it’s the only compelling bar on this side of the Wabash.
We’ve had a pretty severe housing crisis that seemed to enter its peak during my freshman year. Every year admin over admits students, and it’s become a vicious cycle. Housing prices have exploded and dorms are overloaded. More dorms are being built, and the area around state street has seen a handful of 4-16 story buildings pop up pretty quickly. Most are overpriced though, so we’ll see if class sizes can stabilize and drop housing prices in the future.
Lafayette and WL could benefit so much from increasing the Cardinal line frequency. its hard for a student to make it to indy or chicago for concerts or other events on the weekend. for chicago the only service gets in at 10am and leaves at 5:55pm. for indy you get in 11:50pm saturday and leave 6am Monday. also, faculty and employees in the surrounding area commute from indy/chicago. plus students can go back on break that way. also an alternative way to get to the airport with IndyGo's Blue line, CTA Orange line for MDW, and CTA Blue line for ORD.
@@pikeangler56 Purdue students now have free shuttles to indy, serviced by Purdue running at least 5 times a day. I do agree that increasing line frequency would be beneficial, but non-car owning students now have a free option to get to indy in less than 1.5hr.
3:53 - Blacksburg, Virginia
4:24 - Madison, Wisconsin
5:01 - Corvallis, Oregon
5:34 - Charlottesville, Virginia
6:05 - West Lafayette, Indiana
6:37 - East Lansing, Michigan
7:23 - Ames, Iowa
8:27 - Eugene, Oregon (Honorable Mention)
8:39 - Tempe, Arizona (Honorable Mention)
8:53 - Logan, Utah (Honorable Mention)
9:08 - New Haven, Connecticut
9:52 - Champaign, Illinois
10:22 - Iowa City, Iowa
Spoilers!
state street in madison is still peds only! they also recently built a 2 line brt system that’s great
Doesn't the BRT system only have one line open as of right now?
@@chrisjames8979 The north/south lines are not yet running but the plan is to get that line going in 2026. It is not as bad as it sounds as the east/west line is the main line and runs through the isthmus while the north/south will be just extensions of the east/west. All of the lines run through the isthmus (for those that don't know Madison the isthmus covers all of downtown). I have been using the BRT and it works well.
@@AlSelk Oh I'm well aware and didn't mean to make this seem like a "bad" thing, but wanted to double-check that only the one line was running so far.
West Lafayette! We made it ! ... the center of the universe
Alumni here. I hear that the East Side, especially near the river, has improved since I was there in the late 1980s.
I lived on the East Side for a while back then, and as someone from rough urban areas, I had no issues with it.
Just moved here a month ago (partner attending purdue) and I love it so far.
Yeah but indiana. Gross
8:55 Logan Utah getting mentioned! Never thought I’d see the day!
Never heard of it. Now I must move there.....plus 10000.
I, too, am interest in purchasing a town. Good to know there are affordable options out there!
Champaign-Urbana was my urbanist awakening-my sheltered suburban carbrain was overjoyed to learn how pleasant a car-free life can be when the built environment and transit network supports it. Champaign-Urbana also has a great restaurant scene-Maize, Black Dog, Farrens, Papa Dels, etc. 💙🐦
I was excited to see a streetview of Bloomington in the opening but sad to hear no information or mention of it later in the video. I personally prefer it over West Lafayette even though it might lag behind in terms of walk or bike score; Bloomington has been making great efforts to improve access to other forms of transportation, and has taken an initiative to turn Kirkwood into a car-free street area when it's warm outside. Plus, when I used to live in Bloomington just 2 years ago, I was paying only $370/month in rent for my share of a 2 bedroom apartment measuring a bit over 800 square feet in size, which is an amazing bargain in today's economy, and the apartment didn't even have maintenance or infrastructural issues!
And I trust you mean Bloomington, Indiana versus the other Bloomington college town in Illinois, home of Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University.
@timmmahhhh Correct haha, even though I know there's multiple Bloomingtons in the US I can tend to forget to specify
@@sihplak I figured you meant Indiana since you initially mentioned West Lafayette. I grew up in Indiana and knew nothing about the IL city until I relocated to the Chicago for work.
As a Purdue student (looking forward to the game against IU this Friday) I think West Lafayette benefits from being split from Lafayette in the census and WalkScore data. Lafayette has a lot more outer sprawl and a much more car-heavy mode share. Bloomington is all one city and the scores are just averaged together. West Lafayette is also the densest city in Indiana, even higher than Indy!
Pleasantly surprised to see New Haven underneath that $2,000 threshold. One of my favorite cities, period.
Great list! As an Iowa grad, super happy to see Iowa City on this list! Living in Iowa City for 4 years helped inspire my interest in walkable, transit-oriented communities because I got to see firsthand how vibrant they can be. (And shoutout to Ames for being great too - just not AS good 😉)
ISU grad here. Good comment, and I have to agree with you on Iowa City having the edge!
Iowa grad as well, Iowa City was really an awakening 😅
Totally fair to give Iowa City the win here! Ames is a great community too and I’m proud to have been a part of it, but Campustown and Downtown could never be as great as the downtown and campus urbanity in Iowa City, what with the ped mall, new high rises, quality architecture, and wonderful event programming that keeps downtown vibrant. But Ames is a great community too with a hometown feel, and it would be awesome to see downtown develop further with projects like The Linc on the horizon. Just need to finally address that failed infill project on Lincoln Way in Campustown with the petty developer who refused to compromise with the city, leaving the site in ruin.
La Crosse Wisconsin might have been deserving of an honorable mention (50k pop and home to UW-La Crosse). It can't sprawl too much because it is sandwiched between the Mississippi and Mississippi bluffs. It has a great vibe with a lot of nice outdoor things to do...kayaking (not just the Mississippi), great bike trails, and a local downhill ski resort. The Amtrak Borealis & Empire Builder pass though giving you travel options to the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Chicago, and beyond. The river bluffs are gorgeous (kind of like the Hudson Valley) and there is an iconic overlook. It's also relatively affordable for real estate (way more so than UW-Madison which you mentioned). Most people that live in La Crosse love it.
I loved living in La Crosse for literally all the reasons you mentioned! It was a dream place for college and my first job. But damn, had to move away due to the brutal winter temps and the MAGA-ocean that surrounds the city.
Charlottesville is adorable! I lived there for several years and worked in a gallery on the Downtown Mall. I absolutely loved the vibrant culture, restaurants, live music, pace of life, walkability, historical buildings, etc. If it wasn't for the crushing heat/humidity they get 5 months out of the year, I'd have stayed.
PS: I'm surprised Citynerd didn't decamp to Spain to wait out the next 4 years!
C’ville is likely the most expensive city on the list…but having grown up just over the mountains in the valley, it deserves to be listed for sure ✌️
The criticism that I've heard of Charlottesville is limited local transit.
@ my sister and niece live there, in a burb-like neighborhood not near downtown, and both live car-free and can pick a bus up just about anywhere
If you don't mind the weather in the winter time it's a great town.
I grew up in college towns. I really want to retire in one.
I like college towns
Would love an affordable Canadian cities index, being Canadian. US viewers will probably also like it right now while musing about moving up.
No way, one of my photos and two of my homes made it into this video! You can see my photo at 7:27, and Welch Ave in Ames and State St in Madison are two streets I’ve lived just off of. You can see my old dorm in Ames at one point, and the aerial view of Madison shows an apartment I’ve lived in! This video is so fun to watch from one of my favorite channels.
Wait stop I had to edit this in, Iowa City also totally deserves to be on this list! It’s such a nice small city and they’ve done great work to urbanize and densify over the past 10 years. UI has amazing architecture, the downtown is very cute and pedestrian friendly, and Eastern Iowa is much more charming and green than the Iowa stereotype of i35 and western Iowa. Wow this video was awesome to watch lol.
Go cyclones
Glad to see Logan make the list!
Hi Ray, can you make a video about inner ring suburbs, in many cities this type of suburbs although have low population density, mostly single family homes, but they are not very stretched out, inside the blocks you can find corner stores, and along the roads the development is dense and mixed use, examples of this are Lakewood (Cleveland), Dearborn (Detroit), Evanston, Cicero, Skokie (Chicago)
This would be super interesting.
New Haven is #1 it’s in the most dense part of the country. Not to mention by the coast and has access to 3 mountains
Quinnipiac University isn't far from New Haven either.
Not to mention hartford and springfield both should qualify as college towns too if new haven does. If we include these medium sized cities in our definition of college town than pretty much the whole connecticut river valley from new haven ct to amherst ma is all dominated by college towns and then boston/worcester/providence to the east is also very well represented for college towns. I highly recommend new england in general if you are looking for an enclave type of community like this. Even in cities aside from the college towns u will still find many of the same qualities that make our college towns so great
And it has a cool dinosaur museum
@ and a mini MET
@@ecurewitz yeah the whole CT river valley has a lot of dinosaur themed stuff. Its one of the places where u can actually go see dinosaur footprints fossilized right into the ground and they have found tons of fossils in the area so they turned the footprint sites into almost a cross between nature reserve and tourist locations and the area has a selection of museums for dinosaur exhibits too so its a great area for dinosaur enthusiasts. Underrated area for tourism in general really but i would especially recommend to anyone who is a fan of dinosaurs
Madison resident here, state street is used by busses, bikes (we get the whole road, it's great), big delivery trucks for the shops, and cops. No standard civilian cars. Still means most don't walk on it unless the street is entirely closed for a farmers market or night market. I think the current state of the street is pretty much ideal
As someone that bikes to work in Ames, I’m glad to see some representation on this list!
I was really expecting to see Bloomington, IN -- especially after the street view shot of Kirkwood Ave!
I used to go to Ames for a week every two years and it was a great place to hang out. Can't believe Lincoln, NB didn't get a mention.
I live in Lincoln, and as a Nebraska fan it pains me to see Iowa City at the top. But Lincoln unfortunately has a pretty weak transportation system, just the one downtown protected bike lane, and four lanes of traffic going through its main downtown strip - among other things that don’t help it make this list (it’s also got a fair amount of suburban sprawl on the south side of town). I do think our bike trail system punches above its weight though.
Fortunately there are plans to spruce up the heart of downtown with some “music district” branding, and the mayor has a goal of making our main street attractive to walk on from the west to the east side of the urban core. Hopefully she can get this stuff done before the republicans convince everyone that she hasn’t done a good enough job filling potholes and vote her out of office.
I’m glad you like Lincoln though. I think a lot of people are surprised when they come here.
I went to University in Aberystwyth in Wales, it is a University and tourist seaside town. It's brilliant, beautiful and so many people fall in love with the place and never leave. I can garentuee I would go back to live there in a heart beat and I know dozens of others. Also it is very affordable compared to England in general (although not the cheapest place in the country). The population is 14,000 and half of that population is students. I lived there for 3 years and never had a car. The town centre has lots of interesting architecture, quirky shops and a lot of pubs.
I also currently live in Ann Arbor! I love your content! (It's crazy expensive here. I currently live in an attic for more than my sister's really nice apt in Grand Rapids)
Ann Arbor > Grand Rapids though, am I right or am I right?
I moved to Eugene for college and I like it here so much I still havent left five years after graduating
This town is so bike and pedestrian friendly among other things
Corvallis has a pretty substantial fully separated network of bike paths that go a pretty good distance outside of the city that many people commute on
As a last semester college student, I’m really happy to see both my current city (West Lafayette) and future city (Madison) on this list
An East Lansing mention woo!! Speaking from experience, our campus has an absolutely insane amount of bike parking, over 30K spots on campus alone, so a lot of students bike because there will always be parking there
I think a lot of us were waiting for this one. Although given the... stuff... going on this week politically, maybe a video about good value in other parts of the world?
“Affordability for expats” would be super interesting as it should take into account having to continue paying US income taxes. So places that may seem more expensive but don’t add to American expat tax burden might just be more affordable.
Not to put words in his mouth but I think CityNerd is more of a stay and fight person. Especially considering he really only talks about North America on the channel
@@wtfareperfectplaces Pretty sure I remember him saying this in the video about NotJustBikes awhile ago. I'm really just losing all energy to "fight the good fight" when so many fellow citizens are reveling in the pain they're causing just because it doesn't *yet* affect them.
@ wtfareperfectplaces Totally agree with that mentality personally, but I also get a lot of people might need the distance right now. Maybe it will give them ideas and inspiration to push harder when the winds change. Living abroad can reinvigorate and broaden the people we bring to the fight.
@@blu_s0l_0nlineI'm feeling that statement in my bones.
Sad to see Lincoln, Nebraska didn’t make the cut. A surprisingly dense and walkable downtown with a plethora of amenities in a place one wouldn’t usually expect a large urban area.
Love to see the Blacksburg mention!! I’m a Virginia Tech student and work part time as a bus operator for Blacksburg Transit. So I can attest that BT ridership is huge! And it’s also such a cool job, I would recommend it to any college students who live in a town with a bus system
My kid has almost definitely been on your bus ✌️
It's a beautiful area if you can live with the weather in the winter. Any mention of Va Tech instantly brings to mind the student body harassing Greg Paulus at the free throw line. LOL
New Haven really punches above its weight class within the Northeastern US, and the regional rail connections are fantastic. Besides easy access to NYC, we're under 4 hours to Philly and under 6 hours to DC on the low-speed Northeast Regional Amtrak line. We also get game-day express train service directly in and out of Yankee Stadium. Somehow, though, it still makes nearly-unconditional sense to drive up to Boston from New Haven compared to taking the train.
Another cool thing: New Haven is the southern terminus of a (mostly) road-separated recreational cycling route that runs 90 miles north up to Amherst MA, with a ton of overlap with the official East Coast Greenway route.
Some gems on this list. When the subject of "college towns" come up, you often get the same old roster of big name places. I like this bunch though.
NEW HAVEN!!! Finally! I've lived in a lot of places and settled here. Came for the apizza, stayed for the culture. And talk about affordable. I could even afford to buy a house here. Come visit.
Make a video about the urbanism of the Disney theme parks!
The State Street pedestrian mall experiment listed on Madisons website is referring to a project for West Half of State Street to further pedestrianize the half of the street that is no longer in use in as transit mall I.E. converting the road to be flush with the sidewalk and further limiting delivery vehicles.
Thanks, Ray. I love viewing all your content while living abroad (Budapest) because this channel has been something I've been passionate about for such a long time. When I plan to return to the US in the near future, it will help me decide where to consider living. This particular episode was one of my favorites!
As a person who has lived in seven cities in my life and four of them were college towns, I recommend Muncie, IN (Ball State University) and Oxford, OH (Miami University). Muncie has less to do, but is dirt freakin cheap, and has an incredible trail system in the region and on campus. My bestie has lived car-free in Muncie for almost 30 years. Oxford has a little more to do “Uptown” but is more expensive. Both cities have decent bus service, a great art museum, good coffee shops, and fun places to eat.
:39 Bloomington in a CityNerd video, never thought I'd see the day!
State Street in Madison is still entirely closed to traffic except for emergency, transit & delivery vehicles. The “experiment” was to close about 3 blocks closest to the campus to anything besides emergency vehicle. But considering there’s no bus routes on those blocks and delivery was still allowed during the experiment, just restricted to specific times, I’m not sure how much will change. I can tell you no one on that street was second guessing jaywalking a decade ago, so I imagine it still belongs to pedestrians.
Blacksburg mentioned! The public transportation is awesome here (and free!)
You showed Neyland Stadium and I thought “surely not.” I was correct that Knoxville didn’t make the list. It’s become remarkably expensive.
I live in Knoxville - it is getting super picey!
Also, it's way too big for this list. He mentioned Madison being too big, Knoxville is almost twice the size!
I lived in TN and didn't expect any Southern city to make the list, so when I saw Neyland I was really intrigued. But low and behold, I was right (except for the two cities in Virginia which are Southern-ish)
@ Southern cities don't really champion pedestrian infrastructure or public transit. Knoxville has been taking strides in the right direction though.
The state street pedestrian mall experiment in Madison was to restrict ALL non-emergency traffic on the 400-600 blocks of the street. Prior to the experiment, regular traffic couldn't access the area, but city buses and shipments still could. Seems like they'll be reverting back to allowing delivery and buses on those blocks. The 700-800 blocks (mostly occupied by university buildings) have been a true pedestrian mall for some time, which is completely raised from street level. 400-600 blocks have a street through them, which is only lightly used by the buses and delivery vehicles. It's pretty safe to bike on, and pedestrians can cross it pretty freely, but its not primarily used for foot traffic, most pedestrians travel on the sidewalks beside it.
My wife's family is from the New Haven area so we go there a lot, and it's better than I thought it would be back when I was visiting Yale in HS.
(Also, BOTH my kids are sick, so tomorrow is looking dicey, unfortunately.)
Blacksburg is a great town, but it doesn't meet your rail transportation criteria in a rigorous manner. To reach the nearest Amtrak station, you need to take a bus to Roanoke.
Rail service to Christiansburg is on its way.
I used to live in Ames and it's pretty bucolic (when the scent of the surrounding fields are not drifting over the town). It was one of my favourite places to live.
In Iowa City, you used to be able to ride a train to the football games. Out of towners would park at the various hotels, the mall, or vacant lots in Coralville and ride to Kinnick. The shortline operator and the athletic department stopped a few years back. A real shame.
I miss B-Town and my time at IU. Bloomington is such a special city!! Go Hoosiers!
Lafayette - West Lafayette are absolutely phenomenal twin cities, I'm glad they made a list finally. The only thing that's missing is frequent train service at the Amtrak station downtown. I'm moving to Colorado for work soon and I'm going to miss it here
I'd recommend Decatur, IL as a dishonorable mention. It has a cute, mildly usable but lightly used bus network, four main streets (cardinal directions), is one of the largest cities in Illinois without Amtrak service, and its college, Millikin University (my alma mater) tops out around 2,000 students. Be sure to visit campus when the wind is blowing from the northeast, and the whole area smells like rotten cat food. Thanks ADM. Millikin University is an underrated school though. The theater program in the college of fine arts punches above its weight, claiming an outsized number of graduates on Broadway and in Hollywood.
My wife and I stopped in Decatur on a trip from St. Louis and we were pleasantly surprised on how nice the downtown is. I'll be sure to look for Millikin University the next time I'm there.
Wow, Logan even just mentioned, that's crazy.
Big Ten schools working hard on this list. There's just something so nice about Big Ten campuses and cities.
So glad Blacksburg made it! And as far as this list goes, its arguably the most "small town" feeling specifically (alongside Corvallis at least).
I'm glad to see Madison on the list even if it is, as noted, a bit more than just a college town. Still, the western portion of the isthmus is pure college and it has a generally very young, hyper liberal population. (Actually liberal, not performatively liberal but then fiscally conservative like Californian metro areas).
Can we stop using the term “undervalued” and change it to “actually reasonable”? “Undervalued” sets a precedent that unaffordable places are “fairly valued”, which is not the case.
I’m originally from California, a left coast lefty. I’ve lived in Iowa since 2005 and having worked as a Cellular Technician in and around both Ames and Iowa City and on both campuses you did pick two great ones. As a California FFA kid I visited many of the colleges in California every year for contests, and yes Cal Poly would be great but it is very expensive. Chico State, CA, might also work well for you, better weather than Iowa. Hang in there. Hopefully the country is just in some temporary midlife crisis after its 250 years. GO HAWKEYES!!!
Madisonian here, State St does not allow through traffic (only service vehicles and delivery trucks) the experiment (which was conducted last summer) was for like the last 2-3 blocks (closest to the Library Mall) to be completely pedestrianized for certain times of the day (mainly during business hours). Idk if there are any studies or reports out on how well it did, I was personally a little disappointed with the lack of people using the street during the experiment and wish the city did more to promote it but we'll see what happens. More recently we got a huge upgrade in our bus system with BRT lines and articulated buses. We also have BCycle and zipcar as alternatives for owning cars. I think Madison is doing a pretty good job with public transportation and really trying to make more housing. PLUS there's a big project to upgrade the lakeway park (which will take like a decade but still). I've been enjoying living in Madison for the last 6 or so years now
Whether it's the hospitals, culture, transit, sports, WFH compatibility, retirement suitability, on the blue oasis of it all, the attractiveness of college towns is pricing out people who work there. Source: I'm a full-time college professor who has to live 45 minutes away of my rural University employer, which happens to be on this list. Thanks for qualifying with a (Maybe)! Enjoying the channel as always.
My dad got his MFA at Iowa where his committee chair was Kurt Vonnegut. Great list - wondering what kept Columbia, MO off?
That is really cool! That must have been a bit intimidating. I have relative whose professor has an element of the periodic table named after them.
Big Ten college towns represent! I grew up in West Lafayette and have visited almost every college town in Big Ten. So many good ones. I have lived in big cities since i graduated college and I definitely miss college town vibe.
Whoo. Madison made the list due to peer pressure! I've been living here for 25 years. I dig it. Great mix of people, but maybe a little segregated. The State Street is mainly for bikes and buses but they were experimenting with making a section of it pedestrian only for a short time. I don't know if it will shift to being fully pedestrian. The bus system has been overhauled with bus lanes and routes that run a bit more often. Bike trails are great. Stop on by for a visit.
Glad to see Madison on the list! I always thought State Street was open to buses, bikes, and pedestrians only, but I never considered delivery vehicles. It is true that there aren’t many alleys behind businesses.
Madison mentioned!! As people have been saying, yes state street is still a pedestrian mall.
I feel like the biggest negative of some of these cities is that they are a good distance from an international airport. Yes, they have regional airports but they are at least 1hr away by car. I'm thinking UW Madison and UICU, the main airports being in Chicago.
So awesome to finally see my hometown in a CityNerd video! I grew up in East Lansing, and my parents both worked for the city. My dad was actually the Director of Planning, Building, and Development for quite a few years. It was a great place to grow up, and yes, you will definitely spend a lot of time on campus if you live in EL. I ran cross country all through middle and high school, so I've probably traveled more miles of MSU trails than most students.
Thanks Ray!
LOL. I love your content. I will not be moving to the US though. Stay safe y'all.
Champaign is amazing (although technically you got it wrong and the main campus is in Urbana :P but it may as well be 1 city ), i graduated in december after 5.5 years there getting both my bachelors and masters in urban planning, and I wish I could have stayed there longer! Its genuinely an amazing place to live
I study GIS there and am a senior. Its great!
As a person who used to live in Ann Arbor for college and now don’t live there anymore. Yes it’s fairly expensive especially if you’re a college kid and if you aren’t it’s still expensive anyways but boy do I miss living there. Extremely walkable and an incredible sense of community
😊 Having lived in Ann Arbor and in Blacksburg I am so excited to hear those be the first 2 cities you mentioned.
I went to college in Madison and I miss about lot of things about it. Especially it's bikability
Came here for Champaign in the thumbnail, stayed for the snarky commentary.
BLACKSBURG MENTIONED!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ The city has actually done a ton of work on Blacksburg Transit, building a multimodal transit facility on the north side of campus where students can take the bus to off campus apartments or to Roanoke, DC, etc. Amtrak is also set to open up train service to the neighboring town of Christiansburg as well. So exciting 🤗
Curious where Columbia Missouri fell. Probably low on the urban fabric but the rent is really cheap. It did really well on a previous video you did on zip codes
I traveled across America and stayed a night in Columbia Missouri. Great place
I know a city planner on YT that was working in Madison, so his work is part of what your praising.
Ray. You're awesome. Thanks for your work. I too fantasize about college towns. TUCSON!!!
One Saturday back in November I tailgated a football game in the afternoon and then saw the Berlin Philharmonic perform in the evening, all walking distance from my apartment. I love living in Ann Arbor.
I pretty much started hopping up and down when you mentioned my city (West Lafayette, IN)! Indiana cities are never mentioned positively on this channel (for good reason), so it's refreshing to hear a shout-out to all the new bike and walking lanes that have been added over the last 2 -5 years.
I went to college in Corvallis and it's a super bike-able city! I didn't have a car and lived 6 miles away from campus and never felt like I needed one to get around. I would have to take the Amtrak or ride with a friend to go to Portland or Bend or whatever but it's a great town to get by with just a bike.
The very large parking lot right near the river in West Lafayette is scheduled to be largely demolished and converted into a street grid, last I'd heard.
Yoo east lansing mention!
As for Lansing, if you can live somewhat near the grand river trail then biking is super accessible
Champaign, IL mention! I've been living here for over 15 years. I love being within a 10 minute walk from downtown and the Virginia Theatre at 1:49 in the video.
Here in Ann Arbor, many high rises apartment buildings aimed at rich students are under construction. I would love to see more affordable downtown rental options. For now, I’m living in a condo townhouse where every unit has a one car garage, and it is relatively easy to bike downtown. I’m annoyed that I don’t have a store or a restaurant in walking distance.
Iowa City student here! I’m very impressed by our pedestrian mode share, and since the city buses became free in 2023, ridership has exploded. I wish it were more city wide, because the walkability doesn’t expand far past the downtown area
would love to hear your thoughts on Athens, GA !!
Yoooo my old apartment is in the thumbnail! Champaign is so undervalued! I-L-L
I-N-I! I live there now
As a 16-year New Havenite I am over the moon to finally see it on this list (and the time Union Station was on it) so much love for this underdog city!!! 🥳
downtown madison resident. state street is still "pedestrian & bike only*"
the * being they allow delivery vehicles, busses, and emergency service
the "pedestrian mall" was an experiment over the summer to even further limit the use of the space by all vehicles. they rerouted busses, and restricted deliveries to a given time window early in the morning. personally I loved it - while it's already quiet and nice (not many vehicles with current restrictions) - further limiting busses and deliveries opened up the space for more street art and performances.
I think it makes sense to suspend it during the winter months, but I hope it comes back this spring.
Love your videos! hope you come visit this great city sometime soon!