Chicago rents may be going up a bit but it’s really the most bang for your buck city in America. It has everything you’d ever want in a city and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to live there.
@@MCHammer79I mean… gas wise yeah Driving wise there are some gems, like my dad, who does moves and save 5+ minutes every drive than what google says it will be, by taking roads parallel to the interstate
Indianapolis has a more fun downtown than any other Midwestern city besides Chicago and maybe Detroit. Their downtown is like a clean version of Poydras and Canal Street in New Orleans
Yeah as someone who lives in Indiana I’m allowed to say Indianapolis is boring as hell there is literally more to do and more walkability in my little college town
I can only truly speak for Detroit, but I have a feeling all of the Midwest/rust belt cities are going to look way better with infill development and safe, connected bicycle networks within the next ten years. All we missing is investments in our regional rail and fast, frequent, RELIABLE transit!
Imagine how well the cities would improve with HSR connecting them, too. The commerce and infrastructure improvements alone would bolster the region so well.
The Midwest is not exciting or glamorous, but has plenty of fresh water, few earthquakes, no hurricanes and no massive wildfires. So many people moved to those kind of zones in recent years.
Im planning to make it there. Excited for all the future projects going on in Columbus, id love to be able to take a train to Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee whenever i want. too many underrated cities in this region
@@kh884488Unfortunately, all the fastest growing places in the U.S. are still the places that are going to be the most deviated by climate change, even though the Midwest is going to be much better off than the rest of the county.
The funny thing about the surface lots in Cleveland is currently the ones you showed is where they are currently building the Sherwin Williams Global HQ so they are gone but yeah we are working on getting rid of as many surface lots as fast as possible.
@@williamerazo3921It’s too bad Cleveland Cliffs couldn’t close on the U.S. Steel deal because that definitely would’ve expedited their new HQ development.
The distinction between the Northeast and the historic Great Lakes and river cities - Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. louis - has only blurred over time. These cities are certainly less urbanized than the Acela Corridor, but their centuries-long economic connections to the Northeast and their shared reputation as immigration havens have given them many shared characteristics (as opposed to the 'new' big cities like Columbus, or the booming new cities of the South).
The thing about Midwest cities is that are they more interesting places compared to places like San Jose or Tampa. Look at the art and architecture and the sciences.
I just noticed the comment you hid about Imo's Pizza (and Skyline Chill but I have never heard of that) but HOW DARE YOU slander the Imos name. It is an institution here in StL. :/ lol @@climateandtransit
@@climateandtransit I've lived all over the east side; Euclid, Wickliffe, Willowick, Mentor-on-the-lake, Mantor. I love it there. But that's the suburbs for ya :P The lake is such an asset. Its like living on the ocean 6-8 months out of the year for bottom barrel prices.
They banned LRT specifically in Central Indiana, just to give Indianapolis the middle finger. Also, the state government has repeatedly tried to kill the trio of BRT lines that have already been approved by voters. They have a new attempt to try to ban bus only lanes.
@@eriklakeland3857 Don't forget the recent effort to ban right on red in the Mile Square. The city-county council wanted it, and the state leg tried to kill it (and maybe were successful? I'm not the most up to date)
@@MeteoraZeroYup, lol Indy’s transit is garbage. I only live here because it’s one of the best cities in the nation to make money and live. However my suburb (Carmel) is building lots of biking infrastructure around town, and building shit ton of roundabouts. Carmel is like a european wannabe suburb with american style suburban neighborhoods
Yeah I went to Detroit when I was attending the FRC world championship back in Spring Break 2019 and I was impressed with downtown. Considering the original plan of the Detroit People Mover was a downtown distributor for a proposed city and metro-wide light rail transit system, I'm glad the Q-Line was built! The city definitely has potential. And the food culture is great! I may live in the NYC metro area, but man is Detroit-style pizza so good! Detroit-style is similar to deep dish but it's rectangular! You know how Detroit is called the Motor City? Well its car industry is why Detroit style pizzas are shaped rectangular! It was invented in 1946 at a place called Buddy's by Gus Guerra. Gus was searching for a high-end pizza pan to create the perfect pizza until he realized something. Detroit's auto assembly plants used blue steel utility trays used to hold parts (like nuts, bolts, etc). For these plants, they were just a thing to hold parts...to Gus, it was a Sicilian-like deep dish pizza.
Skyline Chili lore: In 1912, Nicholas Lambrinides emigrated to Cincinnati from Kastoria in Western Macedonia, Greece, and brought his favorite family recipes with him. To save up the money to bring his wife to the US as well, he first worked as a cook for a railroad crew and in a hotel kitchen, then opened a short-order diner. After nearly a decade, his wife was able to join him in Cincinnati and they raised five sons. By World War II, Lambrinides was working as a chef for the original Empress Chili restaurant, where he continued to tinker with a recipe which he had been developing for years. He adapted a Mediterranean stew spiced with cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and adding chili powder along with other spices they'd grown up with. In 1949, he and three of his sons opened their own place. That diner was located at the intersection of what is now Quebec and Glenway Avenue. While local lore says the name is from the view of the Cincinnati skyline seen in the original restaurant, the family claims it was inspired by a skylight and the view from a second-floor storage unit over the restaurant. After some local resistance in the predominantly German Catholic neighborhood that observed meatless Fridays, Skyline developed a large and devoted following.
Are we...twins? You actually ranked everything exactly how I feel. I moved to St Louis 10 years ago for an affordable, urbanist city after hating the sprawl of my hometown, Orlando Florida. From hating on Kansas City to properly pointing out that Chicago+Minneapolis are S tier and that Cleveland definitely punches above its weight, it is obvious you gave each of these cities a very fair shake.
Hey fellow Orlando native. I'm glad to be out of Florida too. Probably looking to relocate to Minneapolis myself for that amazing bike infrastructure, only need to find a job there.
@@povertyspec9651 I was half joking when I said that but it's ranked as the top city for biking, usually alongside Portland. If the cold keeps it very cheap for rents, I'd gladly deal with the weather.
@@GirtonOramsay It does get cold in the winter but people are outside 365 days a year. The bike paths are plowed but folks there just go from regular bikes to fat tire bikes and keep going. Same with the water. When the weather is warm, people are on all the lakes but when it freezes, they're still out there cross country skiing, ice yachting/boating, and ice fishing. People in Minneapolis are outside a lot no matter the weather and are some of the fittest and healthiest cities in America.
I’m as big of a Minnesota homer as they come, but when it comes to urbanism, Chicago and Minneapolis are not on the same level. I’ve lived in both, and it’s just not a fair fight. I think Chicago’s pretty clearly the one S tier for the Midwest, with Minneapolis slotting into the A tier.
I think Minneapolis/St Paul is kind of the perfect sized metro area. Chicago is really great in so many ways, but on a day to day life scale, it feels like too much. The Twin Cities has most of the amenities that Chicago has, but on a more approachable scale. I grew up in the Cities, moved to Boston and Denver and am back in the Cities again. It just feels right. The winter months are really what keeps others from wanting to move here.. but I actually really like the change, the snow, the frozen lakes and water falls... It's a fun feature. And just when you're over it, the seasons change again.
Minnesota also just passed a metro area sales tax to fund transit and affordable housing on an ongoing basis, which is really exciting! I know St Paul wasn't on the list but they're also updating their regional bike plan to hopefully start catching up with Minneapolis on bike infrastructure
The St. Louis metro is actually very good imo. I went there before covid so things are most likely different. My family took the metro everywhere inside the city because it was so affordable, frequent, easy to use and most importantly got us where we needed to go within a few blocks of the nearest station
Great video! From Cleveland spend some time in Columbus. The rent is outrageous for Columbus when you are close to the university. Cleveland is making a lot of improvements, you should look into the plans they have to remodel the lakeside by Browns Stadium!
Cincinnati is easily the most frustrating of the bunch, had there not been so many boneheaded decisions made in the 20th century it would have been an S tier, a mini east coast city in the Midwest, but years of car oriented development and a heartbreaking amount of tear downs of some of the most fabulous Victorian architecture in the country makes it deserve its C. I sincerely wish the city would do better, and that desire IMO is part of why I became an urbanist, because no where is the built environment so divorced from good urban policy.
@@neilworms2 I wouldn’t say that it’s all that bad now. I can’t really compare it to Cincy directly though…I just don’t keep up with what’s going on enough. We have had it worse than the rest of the state previously, but there’s a ton going on right now that makes me wonder if we’ll sink as far or as fast in the future…it’s hard to tell. I know Cleveland has been a welcome improvement economically for a lot of people moving here the past few years, but who knows if that’ll hold true either because the entire national economy has been turned upside down the past few years too. I don’t think we’re as well off as Columbus, sure, because we don’t have the state government or that giant university, but things have been going a good way for a while. It’s just hard to say what will actually happen, what is true, and what is all made up. The suffering in Rust Belt metros is simultaneously exaggerated and understated over the course of my lifetime.
Compared to other cities, Cincinnati has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to older buildings. OTR, Northside, Clifton, Covington, Newport, etc…entire neighborhoods remain intact.
As a downtown Cleveland resident, I was way too giddy about the review and low placement of Columbus on this list haha. But actually, you are pretty spot on about Cleveland needing infill with all those surface lots. Though I will say that the perception is skewed a bit by Google Maps not updating their 3D view of the city in what looks to be about a decade or so (*edit*, they've finally updated this in the past few days. That lot you rightfully showed as insane is getting pretty close to finishing the Sherwin Williams headquarters tower, which was planned to be able to include more surrounding development in the future. Beyond downtown, also check out Ohio City and University Circle. Lots of development going on in those areas, as well).
I travel almost all these cities for work monthly and cleveland is by far my favorite city in the midwest columbus and cincinnati may not even be in the top 5
9:55 Hey now, we here in Milwaukee want nothing to do with Chicago, and are insulted being called its suburb. But, we do appreciate the A. The Hop has some potential, but right now it's often mocked because it doesn't really go anywhere.
st Louis also has some of the prettiest and unique architecture in the country in my opinion. You can take one look and say "that's St Louis" My favorite are the brick shotgun houses that look like lil castles
St. Louis has some beautiful architecture and can be car free depending on where you work. If you work downtown or west end no problem, but the suburbs can be difficult.
Milwaukee desperately needs way more dense development. The rent prices and home prices skyrocketed the past 2 years. Thankfully, a crap ton of apartment towers are being approved as well as a zoning code change for the city. The bad thing is that I-94 is getting expanded and that KRM commuter rail development is at a stand still.
@cadethomas5686 Yes, but that's just the city of Racine. We need a whole lot of more money for the KRM, and right now, there is no funding coming in because Scott Walker banned regional transit agencies over 10 years ago.
In 2019 my wife and I moved to Chicago from Santa Barbara, CA and we absolutely love it. My wife is originally from Houston and I'm originally from Reno and the fact that we don't have to have a car while living in the city is amazing. It has noticeably decreased our stress and walking to get places and using the CTA has improved our health. I know Chicagoans demand more from the CTA because it can be better like pre-pandemic, which I'd like that as well, coming from non-transit oriented cities we really enjoy this city.
Chicago and New York city are the ONLY American cities with a full on transit system that runs across the entire city, no other US city even comes close.
Since a lot of cities weren't included on this list, I would like to see tier lists within individual states. Such as a Minnesota tier list that can include more notable cities and towns, particularly from the transit angle, focusing on fixed route service transit agencies and bus operators. That could be made into a whole series, and cover the bases with more small to medium-sized cities. Duluth, Madison, Green Bay, wherever you can get footage! I like this breakdown and tier list, even if I would argue Indianapolis has a solid bus network overhaul plan.
I'm surprised Milwaukee was as high up as it was, I grew up there and visit family twice a year and my inner urbanist is sad with the bus service as a whole, I think since 2020, it has declined. I would like to see if they will remove highways from the city, it destroyed and segregated the city and my parents lived through that. Guess I need to give credit to Milwaukee. I laugh that you put Pittsburgh in this list because most Midwesterners don't claim it and the east coast don't claim it either...but I understand why it's on here.
I am surprised you missed (maybe not) his pun of "Milwaukee - Chicago's largest suburb"... 😮 As expressways help create white-flight and Realtor "blockbusting" scare/paranoia of - if a minority family moved in a block or 2 away that your home will lose value... sell now and get 80% vs lower if last out or go and we can rent it for you. With white-flight was ongoing taking with them the retail too plus our de-industrialisation of the northern cities taking those middle-class wage jobs with benefits when ALL had jobs paying more than minimum wage and needing no gov assistance dried up as mills were just totally abandoned to rot as some moved to suburbs and then to Asia en masse. The Federal Housing Administration FHA, which was established already way back in the depression New Deal by FDR in 1934, furthered the segregation efforts by refusing to insure mortgages in and near African-American neighborhoods - a policy known as "redlining." Banks had the maps of high-risk redlined areas and no loans to minorities to buy there. Some got other means of high-risk loans where missing a payment one was quick to lost a home. At the same time, the FHA was subsidizing builders who were mass-producing entire subdivisions for whites - with the requirement that none of the homes be sold to African-Americans.and fact Gov GI loans did not go to minorities then.... especially for suburbs where they had white-only mandates legal for decades. Then came "reverse-redlining" - a term used to describe the targeting by banks and mortgage lenders of minority communities for exploitative loans, called subprime loans. They were typically loans designed to induce African-American and Latino homeowners to refinance their homes at a low-interest rate that then exploded into a very high rate once they’re locked into the mortgage into the 2000s. Others were duped too. POINT IS - it was not just Milwaukee and ALL these Midwest cities show that damage of hollowing out and civil rights riots late 60s when MLK and RFK were assassinated was fuel on the fire. WE DID it ALL along with GOV to OURSELVES GROWING our UNDER-CLASS that now is generations in.
lived in MKE 2017-2019 and didn't have a car for part of that time. I found the bus network to be pretty extensive and timings were good (better than PGH where I lived previously). Maybe it's changed since then, but when I was there it was solid. I agree that it's also pretty good for biking (the bike path system is really useful). They opened the Hop streetcare when I was moving away, so I didn't get to use it, glad to hear they're expanding it.
Loving life in Minneapolis. This really is a fucking fantastic place to live! The BRT system lines that have opened so far are incredible, and to think there are like 5 more lines opening, and 2 more LRT lines opening. The biking infrastructure is unbelievable, too. This coupled with the general awesome walkability of the neighborhoods and lowish rent makes this the sweet spot city. Hopefully as more people know about and move to MPLS we'll keep building high density and missing middle housing to keep rents and multi family housing mortgages low. Thanks for the list, I mostly agreed with it (I probably would have switched Pittsburgh and Milwaukee though)
@@rizzoli7 Minneapolis (and St. Paul) are wonderful, really cosmopolitan cities with a lot to do....and great access to nature as well. For me, moving here from PA it seems that the Twin Cities present a perfect balance. But it does get cold in the winter, so invest in some warm winter gear and take up some kind of winter sport to make sure you keep moving and get outside in the winter. People here actually embrace winter and get kind of bummed if the winter is too warm for the lakes and ponds to freeze.
Cincinnati is making tons of great progress and I wouldn't be surprised if soon it is in the B or A tier. The metro bus system is underrated imo, with multiple 24/7 routes and pretty much every local route having only a 20-30 minute wait, along with being able to not just get around Cincinnati, but all of Hamilton county. The streetcar is incredible for getting around downtown, and the ridership numbers on it are leading to numerous expansion talks. Cycling infrastructure is blowing up too, with central parkway, wasson way, and the CROWN project. It is a city on the rise and I am so happy seeing all the progress living here!
Indianapolis is doing much more than KS. There’s the heritage trail, dedicated busways galore, lots of infill, and solid urban development all over. Not sure why you ranked Indianapolis in the F tier. Ever visit?
As someone who moved to Chicago last year it's always great to see lists like this one. :) I'll just throw in there that the future of Chicago transit is bright, but it's a big system, so things move slower. That being said, the CTA is going to extend the red line from 95th/Dan Ryan all the way down to 130th, the Red/Purple Modernization project is making those lines run a little faster while updating the older stations in the far north side, we're finally seeing some good BRT proposals to link the outer "spokes" of the L trains (instead of the way more costly and time-consuming project of building new transit rail and stations), the CTA is committed to an all-electric bus fleet by 2040, and we're finally getting *some* protected bike lanes on popular streets and roads, although we still need to decrease the default car speed limit from 30 mph to 25, or even 20 (although I can foresee riots if that happens).
Being an MKE resident, I was happy to see an A rating. Moved here from Texas a couple of years ago and the consensus I see is that most people like living in the shadows of Chicago down south. Without a big tech scene in the economy, there’s no hustle and bustle nor do I feel stuck in a rat race. It’s not a perfect city, but it’s hard to top all the cheese, sausage and of course beer.🍺
Chicago is by far and away the king of the Midwest. It’s not even a debate. Minneapolis with a high bike score is useless 50% of the year. Chicago public transit is so much more useful than a high bike score. Anyone relocating to the Midwest would be moronic if Chicago wasn’t their top destination with all it has to offer.
In Minneapolis there's a lot of momentum around redoing the I-94 highway, and possibly diverting it outside of the downtown. The massive rezoning in the "Minneapolis 2040" plan (which would eliminate exclusionary single family zoning) is being held up in courts by a couple NIMBY orgs (they used the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act to argue that the change would damage the environment, and the judge bought it), but after the environmental review we'll be able to build much faster. We're improving our pedestrian-only networks, we just approved a new tax to fund housing and transit projects, we have easily one of the best green space networks in the entire country with one of the highest park densities in the nation (extremely important for community health and childhood wellbeing), and we're continuously building out our light rail network, from the airport all the way through downtown, and branching out into different parts of the burbs. We're already S tier, and we're just getting started.
Easily one of the STUPIDEST moves yet.....let's drive ALL high income folks into the suburbs, so there is no real wealth to sustain the city proper. Well meaning, short-sighted concept.
Would love to see a ranking of the smaller midwest cities. As an adult I've lived in Des Moines, IA and Kalamazoo, MI and think they are wonderful places to live, although on the smaller side.
Cinci tried building a Subway multiple times in the past, but always seems to run out of funding and abandons the project every time. There’s a couple miles of abandoned subway tunnel underneath central parkway
As someone who has lived in Columbus and Cleveland and routinely travelled to Cincy, Indy, and Chicago, this is pretty much perfect. Being in Cleveland has definitely been an improvement over Columbus, where I seriously fear for my life biking on streets. Indy's BRT line is very nice though, and I would almost rate Indy above Cbus on it alone. But yeah, in the end the sprawl of Indy, KC, and Columbus are just heinous compared to the others on the list.
I live in Cincinnati and I totally agree. The past of Cincinnati might’ve been a solid S, A, or B, but currently it is more than deserved to be ranked in the D tier. There are some things making it better but I doubt it will change completely unless there’s a lot of political will.
The emerging rennaissance of St. Louis has become practically inevitable. We are fairly self aware of our problems, weve got an abundance of good bones, we're making small but meaningful infrastructure improvements, new developments are rapidly "closing the gaps" between the more stable neighborhoods -- and once those dots start to really connect (think cwe to midtown to downtown as an example), then the magic of the city will multiply in a blink!
As somebody who lives in the Indy area, we’re held back all of the suburban neighborhoods that are technically part of the city from Unigov. D tier is true of the whole city, but we have some great neighborhoods. I’d love rail, but the BRT system is going to be a huge benefit with three lines along dedicated lanes spanning the city. With bus lanes this gets the most benefit with our lack of capital. There’s also huge plans for our bike network, infill in Transit Oriented Development, and road diets north of downtown. The city has struggled to break out of Indiana’s conservative mindset, but is slowly chipping away with progressive policies.
No Grand Rapids?! Heresy! Also, if one incoudes Pittsburgh than it's only right to include Erie, PA and Buffalo NY. Easily midwestern oriented cities rather than East Coast
This is a pretty fair list, as most people here seem to agree. I think the underrating of some cities is because your categories don't account for the vibe, for want of a better word offhand. I'm a Cleveland native (but like many natives, no longer living there) who loves the city, and right now it's on an amazing uptick, with neat new places to live in the city, and some acknowledgment that wow, our old architecture is great. I don't think there's a city on the list that has anything like Playhouse Square, or the Flats, and the Cleveland Orchestra is better than any other ensemble like that anywhere in the nation. All that said, Pittsburgh may be more interesting and re-invented itself quicker and better than any of them, Cincinnati is interesting (but marred by its conservative in politics and attitutde) and Chicago is, hands down the most livable big city in America.
As someone who grew up east of the Alleghenies and moved to Pittsburgh west of the Alleghenies…Pittsburgh is certainly Midwest. I would love for it to be better connected with the east coast but we need more than two trains a day for that lmao
Aside from the sprawl in the hills, Pittsburgh has retained much of the density of East Coast cities. However being far removed from NEC gives it the lifestyle and culture of more midwestern cities. Honestly I don't think you can say Pittsburgh is one of the other.
Pittsburgh defies a singular geographic category. It's an eclectic mix of East Coast, Midwest, Appalachia, and Great Lakes regions. Nonetheless a great city, especially near the urban core.
Socrates, St Paul is larger than Cincinnati, St Louis and Pittsburgh all on this list. Grand Rapids is small by comparison. FYI Omaha actually has more people than Minneapolis so you really should check your facts. Not sure why Pittsburgh is on the list. It's not the midwest.
As a Chicagoan I’m happy you put Chicago in the S tier. Our commuter rail system is weird. I mean some lines have good frequency, others not so much. Metra’s problem is that it’s still stuck in the past regarding its rolling stock. Now I don’t actually hate gallery cars as much as some people, mainly because I grew up riding them, but the big problem with gallery cars is that they are not future proofed at all and we can’t keep operating them moving forward. Although the gallery cars aren’t even Metra’s biggest problem. That dishonor goes to their old ass locomotives, most of which date back to the mid 70s when there were no environmental regulations for trains, which means they’re super polluters. Metra needs to electrify, but even if they ever get Siemens chargers, that’s a massive step in the right direction
Visited MKE last Spring and I was pretty impressed with its relatively affordable urbanism. Attended a concert there and afterward not everyone drive themselves home since there was a busstop in front of the venue.
Thank you for making a positive honest video. unlike some other Transit content channels that say mostly negative things and straight up false statements, especially about Chicago transit.
Same question. As vibes go, it's outstanding. Art, music, and food put it ahead of all the cities on this list. It isn't a coincidence that a city as small as KC has world-class marks in all those categories. KCAI, UMKC Conservatory, and nearby major universities feed into these strengths to allow KC to punch far above its weight. And no, I'm not talking about barbecue.
I feel like cities in Western New York and Pennsylvania might be East Coast in common perception, they're basically part of the Rust Belt, and besides, they're Midwestern at heart anyway!
I think people in general are wayyyyy too harsh on Indianapolis. Yes, there are some definite problems and they need to be worked on. However, we need to remember that the state government is basically the whole reason why Indianapolis cannot improve itself; we shouldn't blame Indianapolis itself for lack of improvement.
Tbh very good list. In Detroit and I think B is fair. Wish you mentioned our freeway removal and how qline/people mover are free! Might have bumped us ;)
I recently visited a small slice of the Midwest for the first time in my life. To be honest, lots of the cities (even the smaller ones) were fairly walkable, had vibrant and unique cultures, and were unlike anything I was used to from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the South.
It's unfortunate, but Indianapolis is screwed by the rest of the surrounding state, which is very conservative. Biased laws means small rural towns get a disproportionate amount of money for their roadways, for instance, than Indy other dense urban areas and you can see feel it when you drive thru town, which you are forced to do as mass transit is non-existent. I believe funding for roads is actually calculated more by length than by width, meaning a mile-stretch of a two-way rural road gets as much funding as a mile stretch of a bustling, six lane city street.
Columbus is improving but not fast enough. It reminds me a lot of “what if Indianapolis had a massive college” That being said, I think it has some of the best inner city neighborhoods in Ohio along with Cincinnati being University District and German Village. I foresee a future where things change for Columbus, but for now, I’d put it in C or D yeah
They are actively not trying to invest in a metro system and copying out with a bus rapid transit. It's a really great basic city, but it's not exciting to live here. The walkable neighborhoods is a very tiny fraction of the sprawling Columbus proper. I have enjoyed my time here but not because of Columbus itself. People are moving here though so some folks dig it
@@NicksDynasty good college, good sports, good location, tons of jobs. Columbus is happening. It’s just the city itself needs a lot of work. The most astounding Columbus fact is that the awfulness that is 670 was completed in *2008*.
Yeah Columbus around High Street is actually pretty great, but you get past high street and the city goes to complete garbage. Cincinnati's bones are way better, but Columbus does more with the little bit it has.
I think it is really flawed to consider rents but not look at wages. The fact that Minneapolis wages are similar to, if not higher than, Chicago make makes it an even better city.
Indianapolis’ greenway network deserves a mention for good and bad reasons. Their cultural trail is a great model for other cities, but there’s quite a few rail-trail conversions that threw away the some of the best alignments for transit.
@@aimxdy8680 the Green Line proposal for that corridor would’ve been so much better. Ever since it fell through, billions have been spent on highway improvements paralleling that alignment.
@@eriklakeland3857 Everytime Indianapolis tried to propose a project, a Highway is always put first. We seen this just like a decade ago when they converted US 31 into basically an interstate and now the same is happening with I-69 south, and a decade and a half ago when they expanded I-465 from 3 lanes each side into 4-5 lanes each side from 2005-2010.
If you're considering Pittsburgh a midwest city, you might as well add Buffalo too. Western NY, sort of like western PA,, feels more midwest than northeast.
The aerial shots of Cleveland are from 2016! Public Square got a nice facelift and that awful surface parking lot you point out is the site of Sherwin-Williams’ new HQ, a beautiful 36 floor skyscraper which will open in 2024 ☺️
Currently live in Indianapolis. I would probably bump them up a letter grade, because while the busing system is pretty abysmal they have great infrastructure for cycling and downtown is very walkable. There are also the larger party Centric areas like a Broad Ripple and Fountain Square which are extremely walkable and all interconnected through the trails.
@@robertlunderwood Pittsburgh is that weird cusp between Midwest and East coast. Culturally and socially, it feels like a midwestern city but still has elements of that east coast attitude.
I hate to bring it up, but if you're ranking cities based on livability and mobility, crime rates need to be taken into account (other than the "vibes" score). There are portions of some of the cities on this list that are outright dangerous to operate in without the use of a motor vehicle. Source: I've spent the vast majority of my life in a poor inner-city neighborhood in St. Louis.
Learn to dress properly. Too many people who come to colder climates complain about the cold but it's mainly because they don't know how to dress for it.
@@beasley1232 Same here. I gave Chicago a try for about a year and left after the first winter. I grew up on the east coast so I know cold weather. Midwest cold is a whole other level. It's horrible. The whole "But the summers here are worth it" bs I hear from Chicagoans is all baloney. The 3 month summers are NOT worth it lol.
It's interesting to see the Western half of the Midwest is continuing to make great progress in terms on walkability and transit...and then there's Indiana and Ohio who are both working backwards, with intercity rail even being overlooked.
Columbus would benefit SO much from having just 2 subway lines: One running N/S and one running W/E converging in downtown. It would cut down heavily on traffic to campus for OSU games, allow people to get to and from the Short North Arts District to party safely, and just make it less of a hassle to go anywhere. There are so many times I want to go across town to go to a certain restaurant or a Crew game but in the back of my mind I'm always thinking about driving and figuring out where to park.
I visited Philly (from the UK) and it has pretty much that, subway running north/south and east west, crossing at city hall. It helped greatly getting around.
I live in Pittsburgh. Our light rail is terrible. Definitely needs expanded. Pretty good buss system. Still very car dependent. I live 10 minutes north of down town and I need a car to get around. Waling is not terrible. A lot of hills.
Agreed that PGH needs more rail, but unfortunately the hilly topography makes it challenging. Walkability and car necessity depends on the neighborhood. South Side Flats, Mt Washington, Downtown, Strip District, and Lawrenceville are very walkable with only minimal need for cars. Other neighborhoods are more car dependent...
@@mcarstonAlmost every neighborhood is walkable outside of Banksville, Overbrook, New Homestead, Hays, and Lincoln Place. And you generally got some bus option anywhere in city limits, though frequency varies.
I think you should have ranked Madison, WI, and put Madison in the S or A category. Madison has no rail transit, or even Amtrak service, but being built on an isthmus, a lot of housing is compacted into a small space. You should not have to travel more than a few miles a day in Madison, and that's great.
CITYNERD YOUR [sic] WRONG AND THIS LIST SUCCCCCCCCS pittsburgh goes in the A tier with STL, cincy goes in the B tier with detroit and cleveland. ALSO KC > columbus just on the downtown and art museums alone.
Bit off topic: I'd love to see walkscore being available for European systems, it exists for walking but it doesn't seem to be too accurate (my city is good for walking , but it's not Manhattan, so 96 seems a little too high) and cycling and transit aren't available sadly. I'd say the cycling is better than anything in the US from what I've seen in videos and on street view, but I think scores are a better way to measure than vibes and I'd love to be able to compare the most urbanist cities in the US and Europe with more than personal feelings or North American urbanists who moved to Europe and seem to overlook the problems we have (looking at you NJB). Anyways, great video and a nice insight for me as an outsider on different US cities urbanism. Keep it up!
Can you do a video of the best places to live with that have some decent walkability. Feel like Chicago and Philly are two places that punch above their weight but would love your insight
Spoiler alert... S-tier: Chicago, Minneapolis A-tier: St. Louis B-tier: Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland C-tier: Cincinnati D-tier: Kansas City, Columbus F-tier: Indianapolis
Hey everyone! im glad yall are seeing the formatting error I made with tallying columbus! It should be 160!
Buffalo, NY is the Midwest.
Where not claiming Buffalo
Chicago rents may be going up a bit but it’s really the most bang for your buck city in America. It has everything you’d ever want in a city and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to live there.
and its got water and doesnt border the ocean which will probably become increasingly relevant in future decades...
Other than hideous corruption sure
@@DefenestrateYourself And sky high taxes
Dude, it costs me an arm and a leg just to drive through Chicago!
@@MCHammer79I mean… gas wise yeah
Driving wise there are some gems, like my dad, who does moves and save 5+ minutes every drive than what google says it will be, by taking roads parallel to the interstate
Indianapolis, when you want the fantastic urbanism of the sunbelt with the stunning weather of the Midwest
Indianapolis is the only city to have its suburbs be more bikeable than its city.
Indianapolis has a more fun downtown than any other Midwestern city besides Chicago and maybe Detroit. Their downtown is like a clean version of Poydras and Canal Street in New Orleans
Indianapolis streets resemble a war zone with the worst pavement conditions imaginable
Yeah as someone who lives in Indiana I’m allowed to say Indianapolis is boring as hell there is literally more to do and more walkability in my little college town
@@christophergrimes6710 Indy has been fun to me, I have never been bored. Maybe its just you.
Gary, IN *4000/360*
Heyyyy
You forgot the “negative”
😂😂😂
Gary is making progress, give it time! It’s not great, but it certainly isn’t the Gary of the 90s
Woah, Milwaukee is removing a downtown highway? I'd like to learn more about that! Great stuff.
Well, we gotta see if WisDot is going to approve it. I'm going to be partying like crazy if they approve 794 removal🎉🎉🎉
@@flyingbanana4179We’re getting rid of 794 and the stadium freeway!
@@cadethomas5686 Is it confirmed?
Detroit has plans to remove one section as well
@@erykirzenski2080 both are still in the planning phase right now, but a decision on 794 should be made sometime next year
I can only truly speak for Detroit, but I have a feeling all of the Midwest/rust belt cities are going to look way better with infill development and safe, connected bicycle networks within the next ten years. All we missing is investments in our regional rail and fast, frequent, RELIABLE transit!
Imagine how well the cities would improve with HSR connecting them, too. The commerce and infrastructure improvements alone would bolster the region so well.
I would rather walk on broken glass than ride transit with smelly, disgusting people
The Midwest is not exciting or glamorous, but has plenty of fresh water, few earthquakes, no hurricanes and no massive wildfires. So many people moved to those kind of zones in recent years.
Im planning to make it there. Excited for all the future projects going on in Columbus, id love to be able to take a train to Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee whenever i want. too many underrated cities in this region
@@kh884488Unfortunately, all the fastest growing places in the U.S. are still the places that are going to be the most deviated by climate change, even though the Midwest is going to be much better off than the rest of the county.
Great list, love your delivery. Good move checking Chicago's ego by reminding us of the double doink lol
Yoooo it’s StrongTowns!!!!
Strong Towns needs to plan new projects
We truly just have to remind you of the Bears' very existence 😂
Still checking the ego after almost half a decade seems a bit odd 😂
The funny thing about the surface lots in Cleveland is currently the ones you showed is where they are currently building the Sherwin Williams Global HQ so they are gone but yeah we are working on getting rid of as many surface lots as fast as possible.
Exactly. Plus the largest steel producer is building a mix use development for a new tower downtown.
@@williamerazo3921It’s too bad Cleveland Cliffs couldn’t close on the U.S. Steel deal because that definitely would’ve expedited their new HQ development.
@@noahbonner5853 the US steel deal isn't solidified yet and Cleveland cliffs is giving it another go
If you call Pittsburgh midwest, you're gonna have to put Buffalo on that list as well. Buffalo is much more midwest than PGH
You’re right!
Yes, how on EARTH is Buffalo on the Northeast list and Pittsburgh isn’t?
Buffalo is definitely Midwest. It's literally on the Great Lake of Erie.
The distinction between the Northeast and the historic Great Lakes and river cities - Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. louis - has only blurred over time.
These cities are certainly less urbanized than the Acela Corridor, but their centuries-long economic connections to the Northeast and their shared reputation as immigration havens have given them many shared characteristics (as opposed to the 'new' big cities like Columbus, or the booming new cities of the South).
@@VidaBlue317 Well... Chicago is pretty well urbanized
The thing about Midwest cities is that are they more interesting places compared to places like San Jose or Tampa. Look at the art and architecture and the sciences.
Those surface parking lots your showed in Cleveland are currently being turned into buildings :) Hopefully next time we can bump that score!!
Exactly. Sherwin Williams is building another tower
It’s exciting! Unfortunately the east side of Downtown isn’t much better
I just noticed the comment you hid about Imo's Pizza (and Skyline Chill but I have never heard of that) but HOW DARE YOU slander the Imos name. It is an institution here in StL. :/ lol @@climateandtransit
Sherwin Williams HQ!
@@climateandtransit I've lived all over the east side; Euclid, Wickliffe, Willowick, Mentor-on-the-lake, Mantor. I love it there. But that's the suburbs for ya :P The lake is such an asset. Its like living on the ocean 6-8 months out of the year for bottom barrel prices.
Milwaukee as a suburb of Chicago-you really want to pick a fight LMFAO
I would’ve liked to have seen a few more cities ranked like St. Paul, Des Moines, Madison, etc but overall great list and I think fairly accurate.
The problem is when he's ranking Minneapolis he is also Ranking St.Paul, you can't really seperate the two.
lol I’m from St. Paul. Were overlooked by Minneapolis.
Madison is tiny though compared to these. You’d need Omaha on the list before that.
@WalzRocks-wq5fi I was just gonna say, we need a Twin Cities ranking now, as well as the medium sized cities in the Midwest.
I’d argue st paul exceeds Minneapolis, specially in walkability in it’s downtown.
I feel kinda bad for Indianapolis. Their state BANNED LRT just to fill the pocket of automobile lobbyists
They banned LRT specifically in Central Indiana, just to give Indianapolis the middle finger.
Also, the state government has repeatedly tried to kill the trio of BRT lines that have already been approved by voters. They have a new attempt to try to ban bus only lanes.
@@eriklakeland3857 Damn, Indianapolis has it ROUGH, ong. Man, Indiana really hates anything that isn't the car
@@eriklakeland3857 Don't forget the recent effort to ban right on red in the Mile Square. The city-county council wanted it, and the state leg tried to kill it (and maybe were successful? I'm not the most up to date)
@@MeteoraZeroYup, lol Indy’s transit is garbage. I only live here because it’s one of the best cities in the nation to make money and live. However my suburb (Carmel) is building lots of biking infrastructure around town, and building shit ton of roundabouts. Carmel is like a european wannabe suburb with american style suburban neighborhoods
Indianapolis is the only city to have its suburbs (carmel, fishers zionsville brownsburg etc) be more bikeable than its own city 😂
Yeah I went to Detroit when I was attending the FRC world championship back in Spring Break 2019 and I was impressed with downtown. Considering the original plan of the Detroit People Mover was a downtown distributor for a proposed city and metro-wide light rail transit system, I'm glad the Q-Line was built! The city definitely has potential. And the food culture is great! I may live in the NYC metro area, but man is Detroit-style pizza so good! Detroit-style is similar to deep dish but it's rectangular! You know how Detroit is called the Motor City? Well its car industry is why Detroit style pizzas are shaped rectangular!
It was invented in 1946 at a place called Buddy's by Gus Guerra. Gus was searching for a high-end pizza pan to create the perfect pizza until he realized something. Detroit's auto assembly plants used blue steel utility trays used to hold parts (like nuts, bolts, etc). For these plants, they were just a thing to hold parts...to Gus, it was a Sicilian-like deep dish pizza.
You can always count on detroit for taste, style & culture
Detroit has lots of potential to be a world class city with time and effort we’ll get there!
@@PookieLoc It has potential to be a world class city because it was a world class city
Skyline Chili lore: In 1912, Nicholas Lambrinides emigrated to Cincinnati from Kastoria in Western Macedonia, Greece, and brought his favorite family recipes with him. To save up the money to bring his wife to the US as well, he first worked as a cook for a railroad crew and in a hotel kitchen, then opened a short-order diner. After nearly a decade, his wife was able to join him in Cincinnati and they raised five sons. By World War II, Lambrinides was working as a chef for the original Empress Chili restaurant, where he continued to tinker with a recipe which he had been developing for years. He adapted a Mediterranean stew spiced with cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and adding chili powder along with other spices they'd grown up with.
In 1949, he and three of his sons opened their own place. That diner was located at the intersection of what is now Quebec and Glenway Avenue. While local lore says the name is from the view of the Cincinnati skyline seen in the original restaurant, the family claims it was inspired by a skylight and the view from a second-floor storage unit over the restaurant. After some local resistance in the predominantly German Catholic neighborhood that observed meatless Fridays, Skyline developed a large and devoted following.
FYI Detroit Cheese coneys are a weird cousin also developed by Greek Macedonians.
I absolutely love minneapolis. It's such a cool city imo
Are we...twins? You actually ranked everything exactly how I feel. I moved to St Louis 10 years ago for an affordable, urbanist city after hating the sprawl of my hometown, Orlando Florida. From hating on Kansas City to properly pointing out that Chicago+Minneapolis are S tier and that Cleveland definitely punches above its weight, it is obvious you gave each of these cities a very fair shake.
Hey fellow Orlando native. I'm glad to be out of Florida too. Probably looking to relocate to Minneapolis myself for that amazing bike infrastructure, only need to find a job there.
@@GirtonOramsayAmazing bike infrastructure LMAO. Plus it is freaking cold there.
@@povertyspec9651 I was half joking when I said that but it's ranked as the top city for biking, usually alongside Portland. If the cold keeps it very cheap for rents, I'd gladly deal with the weather.
@@povertyspec9651 It can be very cold. In The Winter. There are 9 other months.
@@GirtonOramsay It does get cold in the winter but people are outside 365 days a year. The bike paths are plowed but folks there just go from regular bikes to fat tire bikes and keep going. Same with the water. When the weather is warm, people are on all the lakes but when it freezes, they're still out there cross country skiing, ice yachting/boating, and ice fishing. People in Minneapolis are outside a lot no matter the weather and are some of the fittest and healthiest cities in America.
I would say the vibes in Pittsburgh have to be higher than only a 6/10 but other than that most of the list is pretty solid.
I’m as big of a Minnesota homer as they come, but when it comes to urbanism, Chicago and Minneapolis are not on the same level. I’ve lived in both, and it’s just not a fair fight. I think Chicago’s pretty clearly the one S tier for the Midwest, with Minneapolis slotting into the A tier.
Chicago vs the Midwest is like NYC vs the rest of the country. It really just feels like a completely different league and hard to compare.
I think Minneapolis/St Paul is kind of the perfect sized metro area. Chicago is really great in so many ways, but on a day to day life scale, it feels like too much. The Twin Cities has most of the amenities that Chicago has, but on a more approachable scale. I grew up in the Cities, moved to Boston and Denver and am back in the Cities again. It just feels right. The winter months are really what keeps others from wanting to move here.. but I actually really like the change, the snow, the frozen lakes and water falls... It's a fun feature. And just when you're over it, the seasons change again.
@@minnybiker4505I agree, its also cheaper than other metros with a similar quality of life
Then create and place Chicago in S+ and leave Minneapolis where it is
@@ztl2505Chicago is overrated in my opinion. Only thing good about Chicago is the downtown area.
Minnesota also just passed a metro area sales tax to fund transit and affordable housing on an ongoing basis, which is really exciting! I know St Paul wasn't on the list but they're also updating their regional bike plan to hopefully start catching up with Minneapolis on bike infrastructure
They've also made school lunch free for all kids. They're doing so well.
Yeah, I wish where I live right now could catch up with the times. I miss Minnesota
Kansas City is the hidden gem of the Midwest. Give it another shot! (Although I will agree their mass transit needs a ton of work.)
The St. Louis metro is actually very good imo. I went there before covid so things are most likely different. My family took the metro everywhere inside the city because it was so affordable, frequent, easy to use and most importantly got us where we needed to go within a few blocks of the nearest station
Great video! From Cleveland spend some time in Columbus. The rent is outrageous for Columbus when you are close to the university. Cleveland is making a lot of improvements, you should look into the plans they have to remodel the lakeside by Browns Stadium!
I would say MSP area is S tier.
Cincinnati is easily the most frustrating of the bunch, had there not been so many boneheaded decisions made in the 20th century it would have been an S tier, a mini east coast city in the Midwest, but years of car oriented development and a heartbreaking amount of tear downs of some of the most fabulous Victorian architecture in the country makes it deserve its C. I sincerely wish the city would do better, and that desire IMO is part of why I became an urbanist, because no where is the built environment so divorced from good urban policy.
They actually have a subway they started building and stopped !
Cleveland is in the same boat. Lots of bonehead decisions…way too much car.
@@LeeHawkinsPhotoPlus the added bonus of a much worse job market (though tbf, Cleveland has a not so bad transit system).
@@neilworms2 I wouldn’t say that it’s all that bad now. I can’t really compare it to Cincy directly though…I just don’t keep up with what’s going on enough. We have had it worse than the rest of the state previously, but there’s a ton going on right now that makes me wonder if we’ll sink as far or as fast in the future…it’s hard to tell. I know Cleveland has been a welcome improvement economically for a lot of people moving here the past few years, but who knows if that’ll hold true either because the entire national economy has been turned upside down the past few years too. I don’t think we’re as well off as Columbus, sure, because we don’t have the state government or that giant university, but things have been going a good way for a while. It’s just hard to say what will actually happen, what is true, and what is all made up. The suffering in Rust Belt metros is simultaneously exaggerated and understated over the course of my lifetime.
Compared to other cities, Cincinnati has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to older buildings. OTR, Northside, Clifton, Covington, Newport, etc…entire neighborhoods remain intact.
As a downtown Cleveland resident, I was way too giddy about the review and low placement of Columbus on this list haha. But actually, you are pretty spot on about Cleveland needing infill with all those surface lots. Though I will say that the perception is skewed a bit by Google Maps not updating their 3D view of the city in what looks to be about a decade or so (*edit*, they've finally updated this in the past few days. That lot you rightfully showed as insane is getting pretty close to finishing the Sherwin Williams headquarters tower, which was planned to be able to include more surrounding development in the future. Beyond downtown, also check out Ohio City and University Circle. Lots of development going on in those areas, as well).
I travel almost all these cities for work monthly and cleveland is by far my favorite city in the midwest columbus and cincinnati may not even be in the top 5
9:55 Hey now, we here in Milwaukee want nothing to do with Chicago, and are insulted being called its suburb. But, we do appreciate the A. The Hop has some potential, but right now it's often mocked because it doesn't really go anywhere.
Wish you had included Omaha in your survey too!
st Louis also has some of the prettiest and unique architecture in the country in my opinion. You can take one look and say "that's St Louis" My favorite are the brick shotgun houses that look like lil castles
Mansard Roofs > everything else. 😊
a lot of the downtown has this really cool gothic look to it
@@legochickenguy4938 AGREED and as a goth I love it
St. Louis has some beautiful architecture and can be car free depending on where you work. If you work downtown or west end no problem, but the suburbs can be difficult.
Milwaukee desperately needs way more dense development. The rent prices and home prices skyrocketed the past 2 years. Thankfully, a crap ton of apartment towers are being approved as well as a zoning code change for the city. The bad thing is that I-94 is getting expanded and that KRM commuter rail development is at a stand still.
Funnily enough, Racine received $5 million to advance KRM.
@cadethomas5686 Yes, but that's just the city of Racine. We need a whole lot of more money for the KRM, and right now, there is no funding coming in because Scott Walker banned regional transit agencies over 10 years ago.
I’ve lived in Minneapolis for the past 7 years, and absolutely love it!
In 2019 my wife and I moved to Chicago from Santa Barbara, CA and we absolutely love it. My wife is originally from Houston and I'm originally from Reno and the fact that we don't have to have a car while living in the city is amazing. It has noticeably decreased our stress and walking to get places and using the CTA has improved our health. I know Chicagoans demand more from the CTA because it can be better like pre-pandemic, which I'd like that as well, coming from non-transit oriented cities we really enjoy this city.
Chicago and New York city are the ONLY American cities with a full on transit system that runs across the entire city, no other US city even comes close.
@@beasley1232 I would slid the Bay Area in there.
I love me some Cincinnati and Chicago. Detroit and Minneapolis has really surprised me when I visted. Dope cities for real
Since a lot of cities weren't included on this list, I would like to see tier lists within individual states. Such as a Minnesota tier list that can include more notable cities and towns, particularly from the transit angle, focusing on fixed route service transit agencies and bus operators. That could be made into a whole series, and cover the bases with more small to medium-sized cities. Duluth, Madison, Green Bay, wherever you can get footage!
I like this breakdown and tier list, even if I would argue Indianapolis has a solid bus network overhaul plan.
Not to mention St. Paul!
I'm surprised Milwaukee was as high up as it was, I grew up there and visit family twice a year and my inner urbanist is sad with the bus service as a whole, I think since 2020, it has declined. I would like to see if they will remove highways from the city, it destroyed and segregated the city and my parents lived through that. Guess I need to give credit to Milwaukee. I laugh that you put Pittsburgh in this list because most Midwesterners don't claim it and the east coast don't claim it either...but I understand why it's on here.
I was just in Milwaukee and couldn't don't think that it's very easy to get around with transit.
I am surprised you missed (maybe not) his pun of "Milwaukee - Chicago's largest suburb"... 😮
As expressways help create white-flight and Realtor "blockbusting" scare/paranoia of - if a minority family moved in a block or 2 away that your home will lose value... sell now and get 80% vs lower if last out or go and we can rent it for you. With white-flight was ongoing taking with them the retail too plus our de-industrialisation of the northern cities taking those middle-class wage jobs with benefits when ALL had jobs paying more than minimum wage and needing no gov assistance dried up as mills were just totally abandoned to rot as some moved to suburbs and then to Asia en masse.
The Federal Housing Administration FHA, which was established already way back in the depression New Deal by FDR in 1934, furthered the segregation efforts by refusing to insure mortgages in and near African-American neighborhoods - a policy known as "redlining." Banks had the maps of high-risk redlined areas and no loans to minorities to buy there. Some got other means of high-risk loans where missing a payment one was quick to lost a home. At the same time, the FHA was subsidizing builders who were mass-producing entire subdivisions for whites - with the requirement that none of the homes be sold to African-Americans.and fact Gov GI loans did not go to minorities then.... especially for suburbs where they had white-only mandates legal for decades.
Then came "reverse-redlining" - a term used to describe the targeting by banks and mortgage lenders of minority communities for exploitative loans, called subprime loans. They were typically loans designed to induce African-American and Latino homeowners to refinance their homes at a low-interest rate that then exploded into a very high rate once they’re locked into the mortgage into the 2000s. Others were duped too.
POINT IS - it was not just Milwaukee and ALL these Midwest cities show that damage of hollowing out and civil rights riots late 60s when MLK and RFK were assassinated was fuel on the fire. WE DID it ALL along with GOV to OURSELVES GROWING our UNDER-CLASS that now is generations in.
lived in MKE 2017-2019 and didn't have a car for part of that time. I found the bus network to be pretty extensive and timings were good (better than PGH where I lived previously). Maybe it's changed since then, but when I was there it was solid. I agree that it's also pretty good for biking (the bike path system is really useful). They opened the Hop streetcare when I was moving away, so I didn't get to use it, glad to hear they're expanding it.
Loving life in Minneapolis. This really is a fucking fantastic place to live! The BRT system lines that have opened so far are incredible, and to think there are like 5 more lines opening, and 2 more LRT lines opening. The biking infrastructure is unbelievable, too. This coupled with the general awesome walkability of the neighborhoods and lowish rent makes this the sweet spot city. Hopefully as more people know about and move to MPLS we'll keep building high density and missing middle housing to keep rents and multi family housing mortgages low. Thanks for the list, I mostly agreed with it (I probably would have switched Pittsburgh and Milwaukee though)
I’m glad to hear that! I’ll be moving from Austin Tx. To Minneapolis. Any tips on the city and what there is to do?😊
Where BLM burns entire neighborhoods..no thanks
@@rizzoli7 Minneapolis (and St. Paul) are wonderful, really cosmopolitan cities with a lot to do....and great access to nature as well. For me, moving here from PA it seems that the Twin Cities present a perfect balance. But it does get cold in the winter, so invest in some warm winter gear and take up some kind of winter sport to make sure you keep moving and get outside in the winter. People here actually embrace winter and get kind of bummed if the winter is too warm for the lakes and ponds to freeze.
Cincinnati is making tons of great progress and I wouldn't be surprised if soon it is in the B or A tier. The metro bus system is underrated imo, with multiple 24/7 routes and pretty much every local route having only a 20-30 minute wait, along with being able to not just get around Cincinnati, but all of Hamilton county. The streetcar is incredible for getting around downtown, and the ridership numbers on it are leading to numerous expansion talks. Cycling infrastructure is blowing up too, with central parkway, wasson way, and the CROWN project. It is a city on the rise and I am so happy seeing all the progress living here!
Cinci also recently approved plans for its first BRT lines. Now if only there was more push to complete the abandonded subway...
Cincy is actually far more cycle friendly than I think the score reflected as well!
Minneapolis is the best f**king city in the US. Heck, the world! I wish I could move back there, I miss living there every day!
Indianapolis is doing much more than KS. There’s the heritage trail, dedicated busways galore, lots of infill, and solid urban development all over. Not sure why you ranked Indianapolis in the F tier. Ever visit?
Kansas City is a cooler city then Indy
As someone who moved to Chicago last year it's always great to see lists like this one. :)
I'll just throw in there that the future of Chicago transit is bright, but it's a big system, so things move slower. That being said, the CTA is going to extend the red line from 95th/Dan Ryan all the way down to 130th, the Red/Purple Modernization project is making those lines run a little faster while updating the older stations in the far north side, we're finally seeing some good BRT proposals to link the outer "spokes" of the L trains (instead of the way more costly and time-consuming project of building new transit rail and stations), the CTA is committed to an all-electric bus fleet by 2040, and we're finally getting *some* protected bike lanes on popular streets and roads, although we still need to decrease the default car speed limit from 30 mph to 25, or even 20 (although I can foresee riots if that happens).
Being an MKE resident, I was happy to see an A rating. Moved here from Texas a couple of years ago and the consensus I see is that most people like living in the shadows of Chicago down south. Without a big tech scene in the economy, there’s no hustle and bustle nor do I feel stuck in a rat race. It’s not a perfect city, but it’s hard to top all the cheese, sausage and of course beer.🍺
Chicago is by far and away the king of the Midwest. It’s not even a debate. Minneapolis with a high bike score is useless 50% of the year. Chicago public transit is so much more useful than a high bike score. Anyone relocating to the Midwest would be moronic if Chicago wasn’t their top destination with all it has to offer.
It is, but Chicago is expensive
In Minneapolis there's a lot of momentum around redoing the I-94 highway, and possibly diverting it outside of the downtown. The massive rezoning in the "Minneapolis 2040" plan (which would eliminate exclusionary single family zoning) is being held up in courts by a couple NIMBY orgs (they used the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act to argue that the change would damage the environment, and the judge bought it), but after the environmental review we'll be able to build much faster. We're improving our pedestrian-only networks, we just approved a new tax to fund housing and transit projects, we have easily one of the best green space networks in the entire country with one of the highest park densities in the nation (extremely important for community health and childhood wellbeing), and we're continuously building out our light rail network, from the airport all the way through downtown, and branching out into different parts of the burbs. We're already S tier, and we're just getting started.
Easily one of the STUPIDEST moves yet.....let's drive ALL high income folks into the suburbs, so there is no real wealth to sustain the city proper. Well meaning, short-sighted concept.
Cleveland is in fact filling in that parking area right now that was shown. I was just there in October. A skyscraper is going in there.
I feel like Cleveland and Pittsburgh are too low but otherwise a very good list.
Would love to see a ranking of the smaller midwest cities. As an adult I've lived in Des Moines, IA and Kalamazoo, MI and think they are wonderful places to live, although on the smaller side.
The parking areas that you showed in Cleveland is now yanno the massive sherwin Williams complex that’s being built for the last 2 years..
Cinci tried building a Subway multiple times in the past, but always seems to run out of funding and abandons the project every time. There’s a couple miles of abandoned subway tunnel underneath central parkway
It's a shame. We really need one
Yes it's expensive but has huge benefits
What's worse is that the state highway department routed freeways over unfinished surface extensions of the subway.
Cincinnati is the capital city of things that they almost done.
As someone who has lived in Columbus and Cleveland and routinely travelled to Cincy, Indy, and Chicago, this is pretty much perfect. Being in Cleveland has definitely been an improvement over Columbus, where I seriously fear for my life biking on streets. Indy's BRT line is very nice though, and I would almost rate Indy above Cbus on it alone. But yeah, in the end the sprawl of Indy, KC, and Columbus are just heinous compared to the others on the list.
I live in Cincinnati and I totally agree. The past of Cincinnati might’ve been a solid S, A, or B, but currently it is more than deserved to be ranked in the D tier. There are some things making it better but I doubt it will change completely unless there’s a lot of political will.
having pittsburg on this list and not buffalo is crazy
Thanks for showing the Lou our due respect. Once people over come the negative national stigma, we’ll be a true urbanists meeca! 💚
The emerging rennaissance of St. Louis has become practically inevitable. We are fairly self aware of our problems, weve got an abundance of good bones, we're making small but meaningful infrastructure improvements, new developments are rapidly "closing the gaps" between the more stable neighborhoods -- and once those dots start to really connect (think cwe to midtown to downtown as an example), then the magic of the city will multiply in a blink!
As somebody who lives in the Indy area, we’re held back all of the suburban neighborhoods that are technically part of the city from Unigov. D tier is true of the whole city, but we have some great neighborhoods. I’d love rail, but the BRT system is going to be a huge benefit with three lines along dedicated lanes spanning the city. With bus lanes this gets the most benefit with our lack of capital. There’s also huge plans for our bike network, infill in Transit Oriented Development, and road diets north of downtown. The city has struggled to break out of Indiana’s conservative mindset, but is slowly chipping away with progressive policies.
Pittsburgh is NOT a Midwestern city. It’s Appalachian if anything.
I'd question St Louis' rank, but then I remembered that they have Lion's Choice. Easily A tier indeed. ;)
STL has great food options. Bbq, great Asian, good locally sourced veggies.
No Grand Rapids?! Heresy!
Also, if one incoudes Pittsburgh than it's only right to include Erie, PA and Buffalo NY. Easily midwestern oriented cities rather than East Coast
This is a pretty fair list, as most people here seem to agree. I think the underrating of some cities is because your categories don't account for the vibe, for want of a better word offhand. I'm a Cleveland native (but like many natives, no longer living there) who loves the city, and right now it's on an amazing uptick, with neat new places to live in the city, and some acknowledgment that wow, our old architecture is great. I don't think there's a city on the list that has anything like Playhouse Square, or the Flats, and the Cleveland Orchestra is better than any other ensemble like that anywhere in the nation. All that said, Pittsburgh may be more interesting and re-invented itself quicker and better than any of them, Cincinnati is interesting (but marred by its conservative in politics and attitutde) and Chicago is, hands down the most livable big city in America.
The new Sherwin Williams building in Cleveland is actually being built on top of some of that surface parking.
Why did Indiana ban light rail? What a bizarre government decision.
That’s our bizarre GOP controlled state legislature.
As someone who grew up east of the Alleghenies and moved to Pittsburgh west of the Alleghenies…Pittsburgh is certainly Midwest. I would love for it to be better connected with the east coast but we need more than two trains a day for that lmao
Aside from the sprawl in the hills, Pittsburgh has retained much of the density of East Coast cities. However being far removed from NEC gives it the lifestyle and culture of more midwestern cities. Honestly I don't think you can say Pittsburgh is one of the other.
I took an Amtrak to Philly. Took for ever.
@@H3lue the sprawl really is terrible outside the core density, especially Robinson and Monroeville🤮
Pittsburgh defies a singular geographic category. It's an eclectic mix of East Coast, Midwest, Appalachia, and Great Lakes regions. Nonetheless a great city, especially near the urban core.
@@mcarstonYeah, it’s certainly its own thing.
man Pittsburg may have already been a controversial add but here i was waiting for Buffalo
When you analyzed Minneapolis, did you figure in St. Paul as well? We aren't called the Twin Cities for nothing.
St Paul is more of a Omaha/Grands Rapids sized city so probably not
Socrates, St Paul is larger than Cincinnati, St Louis and Pittsburgh all on this list. Grand Rapids is small by comparison. FYI Omaha actually has more people than Minneapolis so you really should check your facts.
Not sure why Pittsburgh is on the list. It's not the midwest.
Can't just be Minneapolis--you mustn't forget its twin, St. Paul!
Wait, Indiana banned LRT?
State legislature sure did.
As a Chicagoan I’m happy you put Chicago in the S tier. Our commuter rail system is weird. I mean some lines have good frequency, others not so much. Metra’s problem is that it’s still stuck in the past regarding its rolling stock. Now I don’t actually hate gallery cars as much as some people, mainly because I grew up riding them, but the big problem with gallery cars is that they are not future proofed at all and we can’t keep operating them moving forward. Although the gallery cars aren’t even Metra’s biggest problem. That dishonor goes to their old ass locomotives, most of which date back to the mid 70s when there were no environmental regulations for trains, which means they’re super polluters. Metra needs to electrify, but even if they ever get Siemens chargers, that’s a massive step in the right direction
Visited MKE last Spring and I was pretty impressed with its relatively affordable urbanism. Attended a concert there and afterward not everyone drive themselves home since there was a busstop in front of the venue.
Thank you for making a positive honest video. unlike some other Transit content channels that say mostly negative things and straight up false statements, especially about Chicago transit.
INDIANAPOLIS MENTIONED LETS GOOOOO WTF IS A TRAIN 🗣️🦅🦅🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🔥🔥🔥🔊🤩🇺🇸‼️🦅
Crime should be factored in, esp since it's highest in the Midwest. Don't see how KC got such a low vibe?? Lower than St Louis?
Crime isn’t an important factor
@@climateandtransit Maybe to you but most people don't want to get assaulted when going for a walk.
I'm kinda curious why your vibe score for KC was so low. There is a pretty strong culture here for how sprawled it is.
Same question. As vibes go, it's outstanding. Art, music, and food put it ahead of all the cities on this list. It isn't a coincidence that a city as small as KC has world-class marks in all those categories. KCAI, UMKC Conservatory, and nearby major universities feed into these strengths to allow KC to punch far above its weight. And no, I'm not talking about barbecue.
I feel like cities in Western New York and Pennsylvania might be East Coast in common perception, they're basically part of the Rust Belt, and besides, they're Midwestern at heart anyway!
I live in Ohio. Columbus has no vibe unless you like Ohio State. Cleveland and Cincinnati are much better.
I think people in general are wayyyyy too harsh on Indianapolis. Yes, there are some definite problems and they need to be worked on. However, we need to remember that the state government is basically the whole reason why Indianapolis cannot improve itself; we shouldn't blame Indianapolis itself for lack of improvement.
Tbh very good list. In Detroit and I think B is fair. Wish you mentioned our freeway removal and how qline/people mover are free! Might have bumped us ;)
I recently visited a small slice of the Midwest for the first time in my life. To be honest, lots of the cities (even the smaller ones) were fairly walkable, had vibrant and unique cultures, and were unlike anything I was used to from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the South.
It's unfortunate, but Indianapolis is screwed by the rest of the surrounding state, which is very conservative. Biased laws means small rural towns get a disproportionate amount of money for their roadways, for instance, than Indy other dense urban areas and you can see feel it when you drive thru town, which you are forced to do as mass transit is non-existent. I believe funding for roads is actually calculated more by length than by width, meaning a mile-stretch of a two-way rural road gets as much funding as a mile stretch of a bustling, six lane city street.
1:27 Moving to and setting down
3:20 Where I was raised ❤
9:04 My cousin was raised here.
Columbus is improving but not fast enough. It reminds me a lot of “what if Indianapolis had a massive college”
That being said, I think it has some of the best inner city neighborhoods in Ohio along with Cincinnati being University District and German Village. I foresee a future where things change for Columbus, but for now, I’d put it in C or D yeah
They are actively not trying to invest in a metro system and copying out with a bus rapid transit.
It's a really great basic city, but it's not exciting to live here. The walkable neighborhoods is a very tiny fraction of the sprawling Columbus proper.
I have enjoyed my time here but not because of Columbus itself.
People are moving here though so some folks dig it
@@NicksDynasty good college, good sports, good location, tons of jobs. Columbus is happening. It’s just the city itself needs a lot of work.
The most astounding Columbus fact is that the awfulness that is 670 was completed in *2008*.
@@NicksDynasty the growth in the Cincinnati and Columbus regions in recent decades have been driven by sprawl.
Yeah Columbus around High Street is actually pretty great, but you get past high street and the city goes to complete garbage. Cincinnati's bones are way better, but Columbus does more with the little bit it has.
@@grick7379Columbus needs to catch to up to the other Midwest cities as far as transportation is concern
I think it is really flawed to consider rents but not look at wages. The fact that Minneapolis wages are similar to, if not higher than, Chicago make makes it an even better city.
Right? Jobs here pay surprisingly well for how cheap rent is. So many union jobs too!
Indianapolis’ greenway network deserves a mention for good and bad reasons. Their cultural trail is a great model for other cities, but there’s quite a few rail-trail conversions that threw away the some of the best alignments for transit.
Indianapolis (or maybe more so Indiana) seems to hate trains I guess
I noticed this at fishers, when they converted a Rail line into a Bike trail
@@aimxdy8680 the Green Line proposal for that corridor would’ve been so much better. Ever since it fell through, billions have been spent on highway improvements paralleling that alignment.
@@eriklakeland3857 Everytime Indianapolis tried to propose a project, a Highway is always put first. We seen this just like a decade ago when they converted US 31 into basically an interstate and now the same is happening with I-69 south, and a decade and a half ago when they expanded I-465 from 3 lanes each side into 4-5 lanes each side from 2005-2010.
It the state government @@Not_Sal
If you're considering Pittsburgh a midwest city, you might as well add Buffalo too. Western NY, sort of like western PA,, feels more midwest than northeast.
The aerial shots of Cleveland are from 2016! Public Square got a nice facelift and that awful surface parking lot you point out is the site of Sherwin-Williams’ new HQ, a beautiful 36 floor skyscraper which will open in 2024 ☺️
Currently live in Indianapolis. I would probably bump them up a letter grade, because while the busing system is pretty abysmal they have great infrastructure for cycling and downtown is very walkable. There are also the larger party Centric areas like a Broad Ripple and Fountain Square which are extremely walkable and all interconnected through the trails.
Regarding Minneapolis- there are 4 major problems with transit by bicycle: December, January, February and March.
not this year
@@birusan2262 Winter went missing this past year! 🤣🤣🤣
I have never thought of Pittsburgh as midwest.
I’ve never thought of it as mid Atlantic 😎
It's neither. Pittsburgh is.... Pittsburgh.
@@robertlunderwood Pittsburgh is that weird cusp between Midwest and East coast. Culturally and socially, it feels like a midwestern city but still has elements of that east coast attitude.
@@knucklehoagies I think Buffalo and much of western New York could also be considered as more midwestern too.
Pittsburgh would be east coast because they are more high brow than the Midwest and they have an NHL team
What was your min population count for this? I'd love to see other Midwestern cities on here
I hate to bring it up, but if you're ranking cities based on livability and mobility, crime rates need to be taken into account (other than the "vibes" score). There are portions of some of the cities on this list that are outright dangerous to operate in without the use of a motor vehicle. Source: I've spent the vast majority of my life in a poor inner-city neighborhood in St. Louis.
As someone who lived in tropical rainforest climate country, I really wish I can live in the Midwest at least for a year. It's my dream.
Learn to dress properly. Too many people who come to colder climates complain about the cold but it's mainly because they don't know how to dress for it.
@@knucklehoagiesI can't stand Chicago winters and I was born here, I will NOT make it through the next winter I will leave 😭
@@beasley1232 Same here. I gave Chicago a try for about a year and left after the first winter. I grew up on the east coast so I know cold weather. Midwest cold is a whole other level. It's horrible.
The whole "But the summers here are worth it" bs I hear from Chicagoans is all baloney. The 3 month summers are NOT worth it lol.
Curious to see where Grand Rapids lands on the list, perhaps didn't make the cut by population?
It's interesting to see the Western half of the Midwest is continuing to make great progress in terms on walkability and transit...and then there's Indiana and Ohio who are both working backwards, with intercity rail even being overlooked.
Columbus would benefit SO much from having just 2 subway lines: One running N/S and one running W/E converging in downtown. It would cut down heavily on traffic to campus for OSU games, allow people to get to and from the Short North Arts District to party safely, and just make it less of a hassle to go anywhere. There are so many times I want to go across town to go to a certain restaurant or a Crew game but in the back of my mind I'm always thinking about driving and figuring out where to park.
I visited Philly (from the UK) and it has pretty much that, subway running north/south and east west, crossing at city hall. It helped greatly getting around.
Columbus can't even get its bus system together let alone think about rail transit
i think even just a high street line would be huge. from worthington to 104
I live in Pittsburgh. Our light rail is terrible. Definitely needs expanded. Pretty good buss system. Still very car dependent. I live 10 minutes north of down town and I need a car to get around. Waling is not terrible. A lot of hills.
Agreed that PGH needs more rail, but unfortunately the hilly topography makes it challenging. Walkability and car necessity depends on the neighborhood. South Side Flats, Mt Washington, Downtown, Strip District, and Lawrenceville are very walkable with only minimal need for cars. Other neighborhoods are more car dependent...
LOL! Pittsburgh is not Midwest, when I lived in Coraopolis Pittsburgh still had the PCC streetcars all over the city
@@mcarstonAlmost every neighborhood is walkable outside of Banksville, Overbrook, New Homestead, Hays, and Lincoln Place. And you generally got some bus option anywhere in city limits, though frequency varies.
I think you should have ranked Madison, WI, and put Madison in the S or A category. Madison has no rail transit, or even Amtrak service, but being built on an isthmus, a lot of housing is compacted into a small space. You should not have to travel more than a few miles a day in Madison, and that's great.
Madison would be F tier lol
Madison would have maybe made c tier, also it's not a major city
CITYNERD YOUR [sic] WRONG AND THIS LIST SUCCCCCCCCS pittsburgh goes in the A tier with STL, cincy goes in the B tier with detroit and cleveland. ALSO KC > columbus just on the downtown and art museums alone.
Do you consider Buffalo, NY to be a midwestern city?
....suburb of Chicago hurt me not gonna lie. Man I hope Milwaukee keeps expanding the HOP and gets rid of the freeway interchange!
Gary, Indiana is more like a suburb of Chicago, I mean it's literally connected to East Chicago via the Chicago skyway.
Bit off topic: I'd love to see walkscore being available for European systems, it exists for walking but it doesn't seem to be too accurate (my city is good for walking , but it's not Manhattan, so 96 seems a little too high) and cycling and transit aren't available sadly. I'd
say the cycling is better than anything in the US from what I've seen in videos and on street view, but I think scores are a better way to measure than vibes and I'd love to be able to compare the most urbanist cities in the US and Europe with more than personal feelings or North American urbanists who moved to Europe and seem to overlook the problems we have (looking at you NJB). Anyways, great video and a nice insight for me as an outsider on different US cities urbanism. Keep it up!
Can you do a video of the best places to live with that have some decent walkability. Feel like Chicago and Philly are two places that punch above their weight but would love your insight
Spoiler alert...
S-tier: Chicago, Minneapolis
A-tier: St. Louis
B-tier: Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland
C-tier: Cincinnati
D-tier: Kansas City, Columbus
F-tier: Indianapolis
St. Louis is Trash🤢🤮
St. Louis is great! I have lived in an urban area for 7 years and love how easy it is to get around and visit all the great parks and attractions