10 Cities That Brim With Vitality and Why

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Cities where your neighbors don't change all that much from year to year are...fine. But I like a place that has high demand, lots of turnover, and new people bringing energy to the city.

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[thomasmcroy]

Minneapolis is definitely the western most Midwest city but it was never a rust belt city. Its early manufacturing base was grain and cereal products, something that never had the bottom fall out like coal or steel.

[syawkcab]

#1 Seattle, WA
#2 Austin, TX
#3 Salt Lake City, UT
#4 Minneapolis, MN
#5 Denver, CO
#6 Boston, MA
#7 Washington DC
#8 Orlando, FL
#9 Tampa, FL
#10 Houston, TX

[Nozizaki]

Kinda innovative to make a list of the cities with the most Cheesecake Factories!

[awilder]

Yes, people in NYC do not move. I've met people who live in the homes that their grandparents owned and just passed the house down to the next generation. It's a smart move since these places likely have rent control ( I know a person paying $1, 000 for a 1-bed in Harlem). I'm jealous lol

[genethrowe]

As a DC resident for 30 years now, I can attest that DC cannot build out due to the borders but what the city has been doing is redeveloping areas that were underutilized like the closed DC General hospital, the ancient water filtration area at pleasant plains, the old Walter Reed hospital, and other areas.

[rrogersyt]

4:39 Absolutely spot on observation (at least, for our situation).

We traded less space at home for more access to shopping/dining within easy walking distance and it's constantly proven to be a great decision for us.

[colinneagle]

The focus of this video really demonstrates how a relatively neutral data set like housing turnover can show both a healthy urban area (where neighborhoods are stable and filled with families who've lived there for decades), or an unhealthy urban area (where people are trapped in their current living situations because moving would be prohibitively expensive). It shows how the same piece of data can mean different things in different contexts

[LiquorWithJazz]

"I just get ideas for new videos while I'm in the middle of working on other ones." Creativity breeds creativity.

[gingermany]

If you take that Austin street view back to 2007 it is even more of a contrast. The only people who think falling home prices are a problem are NIMBYs that are about to retire and downsize. Our property taxes are so high in TX that any decrease in valuations is welcome by most.

[CarterBreunig]

Love the commentary on Minneapolis. There is a saying here that St Paul is the last city of the East and Minneapolis is the first city of the West

[Dangermouse]

I can't prove this, and yes this is totally anecdotal, but as a lifelong Florida resident, and current South Florida resident, what I have sort of noticed is this area has become a haven for the ultra wealthy. People are either VERY wealthy (and not just rich, but like silly money), or Doordashing and working in food service.

While Orlando and Tampa have an actual middle class and seem to have more "normal" people, with a far more "normal" distribution of wealth. Now, I can't prove this, but this is very much how it feels. The fact that there is a functioning middle class in Tampa and Orlando makes these areas more appealing to me than my current location. The people there seem like regular human beings. People with a ton of money absolutely do not, and South Florida has become unpleasant because of the visible gap between the uber wealthy and the dirt poor.

[wagsbrew]

For context...I grew up in PA, went to college in WV, lived in NC, OH (have traveled extensively)...and eventually made my way to Mpls- now I've been there 18 years and your comment is something I've used to describe the area to non-Minnesotans since I moved there. St. Paul (small town feel, insular, a bit closed off, older infrastructure, architecture) is the last (furthest West) of the East coast/midwestern industrial cities, ie. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincy, Milwaukee and Mpls is the first of the "dynamic" cosmopolitan modern western US cities- ie, Denver, Seattle, Salt Lake, San Fran...etc. It's a pretty solid description to explain the dynamic between the two twin cities and an explanation of their place in the broader US. Love your channel, since finding a year ago...keep up the good work and hope to connect at some point. Bummed I missed your visit recently to Mpls to bike all around!

[matthays]

Seattle does a pretty good job of making infill possible. There's tons of process and fees, but there's no veto process or politics at the end. The State requires all cities to plan for and accommodate growth (look for mass upzones throughout the region late this year!) So we add huge numbers of units. We also have a lot of new residents cycling through for their 20s before leaving to chase cheap lawns in their 30s.

[cameronjohnson]

Can you do a video on the strange urbanism of Atlanta? There's no planned urban design and lots of sprawl with lackluster public transportation, yet people continue to move there at record numbers and there's insane levels of new building all throughout the city. The Midtown neighborhood is completely unrecognizable from 10 years ago. I just think an in-depth look at Atlanta from your unique perspective would be interesting despite its rather poor urban design on a macro-level (though the beltline is cool). I mean Atlanta just seems so weird. Is there any other major city where the metro area population is so disproportionately larger the inner city pop? Atlanta only has 500K but the metro area has over 6 million. That's crazy to me.

[minnybiker]

As many others have already said, Minneapolis is viewed as the Easternmost Western city, and St Paul as the Westernmost Eastern city. I've also lived in Boston and Denver, and I very much agree with this viewpoint. It's very cool living in a metro area with so much variety, all very accessible and comparatively affordable. The value here is excellent.

[bz]

Houston, Texas (3:01) - Ranked #10
Tampa, Florida (3:35) - Ranked #9
Orlando, Florida (4:23) - Ranked #8
Washington, DC (4:55) - Ranked #7
Boston, Massachusetts (5:42) - Ranked #6
Denver, Colorado (6:18) - Ranked #5
Minneapolis, Minnesota (6:58) - Ranked #4
Salt Lake City, Utah (7:33) - Ranked #3

Ames, Iowa (8:44) - Honorable mention
College Station, Texas (8:51) - Honorable mention
San Marcos, Texas (9:22) - Honorable mention

Detroit, Michigan (9:52) - Dishonorable mention
New York City, New York (10:06) - Dishonorable mention

Austin, Texas (10:22) - Ranked #2
Seattle, Washington (11:11) - Ranked #1

[justusroloff]

Midtown in Tampa is like a three block "urban" development in the heart of the city. The issue is that its literally an island surrounded by the most gross type of development pattern possible. I lived one mile from there and would not walk there, having to cross a minimum of 14 lanes of traffic to do so. Wishing Tampa the best, but with a strong nimby presence, and a mayor focused on looking liberal while also being responsible for implementing the "biking while black" policy. Just being outside of a car while you're black in the city earns you the right to be searched. Awesome.

[darcyreadssometimes]

Yay! I went to Iowa State University. It was my first ever exposure to a bus system that worked for me. I’m not sure how good it is, really, but I appreciate that it had me thinking good thoughts about public transit as a young adult.

[jacksonboyle]

Would love to see a video about best cities (big or small) for access to nature. Not only urban parks (which are great) but also bigger parks, national parks/forests, etc. that are easily accessible by public transit or walking/biking. I think there are some really interesting examples to talk about like the train to Glacier National Park or the Trailhead Direct bus in Seattle.

[iTzDritte]

5:44 Students make up ~20 percent of Boston’s population, so I don’t find this too shocking.