10 Best Universities for Urbanism In North America: Colleges With Great Transit, Walking and Biking

This won't be your typical "best universities" list -- rather, these are the best colleges, not necessarily in terms of exclusivity or research grants, but in terms of where you can live, work and study without a car and still live in a great city with lots of urban amenities. In other words: urbanist universities.

We'll look at the university campuses that have great walk and bike scores, but also have strong rail transit connections within their cities, and are sited away from urban freeways. It ends up being a pretty interesting list, and I hope you enjoy!

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[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

The NYC Subway may not the best, there’s no denying it’s still an effective and convenient system with how many stations there are. Gustavo Petro says that a developed country is where the rich use public transportation, and this is what we see with NYC. ALL walks of life use it! The city relies on the subway to function. And NYU’s location when it comes to the subway is perfect. As for our own Kim Il-sung University, it’s by Jonu and Polgunbyol stations on the Pyongyang Metro’s Chollima Line. And there’s the Kumsusan tram line which connects Kumsusan Palace of the Sun (on the east side of campus) to Samhung on the Metro’s Hyoksin Line

[Rexluna]

I’m shocked George Washington University didn’t make an appearance on this list, even as an honorable mention. Right in the heart of DC with metro lines running under it and protected bike lanes throughout.

[freedomdollars]

The funny thing about University Village in Seattle is how it's a simulated urban walking/shopping lifestyle center adjacent to actual walkable neighborhoods. Despite being "pedestrian-friendly, " it still manages to be disconnected from the fabric of the relatively pleasant city around it with a confluence high-traffic roads and sprawling parking lots discouraging actually walking to it. It's like if you took a Vegas shopping center and dropped it right in the middle of walkable residential area. For a fun contrast, see also: U District.

[tedsmith]

I went to George Washington University (in the heart of D.C) and I believe we deserve a shoutout! Metro stop right on campus, new bike lanes and capital bikeshare brought into campus, no freeway, all walking distance from the National Mall, The White house, Smithsonians, Georgetown, Dupont, and many other places in the city!

[jtl]

I went to northeastern university and absolutely loved the walkability, bike ability, and transit access. From my dorm I could hop on a green line train, transfer to commuter rail and be in my hometown ~45 miles north of the city at the end of a line without ever having to take a car. It was incredible

[gameaddiction]

Suggestion: since you ran out of stadiums to shout out for your subscriber count, maybe you could shout out a new interesting city every week that your subscriber count has surpassed, maybe giving you a chance to shout out cities and areas you haven't touched on before. Plus it'd be cool to think about how your subs have surpassed entire cities where you or your subs live/visit!

[RatingRecords]

10. University of Minnesota [3:47]
9. Toronto Metropolitan University [4:13[
8. Arizona State in Tempe [4:42]
7. Northeastern University [5:57]
6. University of Washington in Seattle [6:20]
5. UC Berkley [6:54]
4. University of Quebec in Montreal [7:22]
3. Columbia University [7:52]
Honorable Mentions: [8:33]
2. Toronto University [10:04]
1. New York University [10:32]

[microtubules]

Normally, I hate academic rankings of Universities based on random bogus metrics. But this is one ranking that I actually appreciate! (From a University of Toronto faculty member who, from his office, can see the corner of College Street and University Ave. that was featured in your video).

[travelsofmunch]

George Washington University in DC got absolutely robbed, a Metro station on campus serving 3 lines, a 97 Walk Score, protected bike lanes abound and situated in the city blocks from the National Mall and White House

[ryanreed]

I grew up in a typical American city where the car is king, and the number one thing that set me on a path towards New Urbanism and channels like yours was my experience at Drexel. After 4 years of incredibly easy access to subways, buses, regional and intercity trains, walkability, etc. I grew to hate cars and couldn't go back to living anywhere else. The campus itself leaves a lot to be desired, but the location is top tier. I'd actually rate Drexel higher than Temple just because of 30th St Station, but then there's also the Schuylkill River trail and Penn in close proximity. Obviously I-76 is right there, but I can say from experience that it's a lot less obtrusive than other urban highways because of its position below street level at the major crossings.

[therealadaa]

As an ASU student, being on the Tempe campus basically inspired my love of urbanism, everything is just so damn convenient and fun to get to.

[jacobechele]

This was AWESOME to see. I am studying urban studies at Fordham University and it was great to see it in this video even if it’s slightly small. Great transit with the Metro North and subway plus more and super walkable surroundings. Thanks for the content! People like you are what inspired me to start studying urbanism, keep it up👏🏻👏🏻

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Honorable mentions for NJIT and Rutgers Newark. Yes NJIT has a light rail, but it’s underground and acts like a subway so it’s faster. Not to mention there’s a special underground fare if you’re just going between downtown stations (Penn, Military Park, Washington St, Warren St/NJIT) which is even cheaper than the regular fare. As for Rutgers, besides using Warren Street or Washington Street, you can also use the Broad Street extension which connects the two NJT rail stations of Newark, Newark Broad Street station to Penn. And of course, both are close to Newark Penn Station which is on the Northeast Corridor.

[samgould]

I visited NYU for a work conference a few years ago and was seriously impressed with the transit options and walkability. I’ve been dreaming about going back ever since.

[isaacho]

It would be interesting to see a video on the top 10 cities that ignore urbanism and continue to go down the spiral of becoming a car dependent hellscape (eg. Widening highways, sprawling outwards, destroying neighborhood to build new freeways (I'm looking at you bakersfield) creating more car oriented development as opposed to densifying and upzoning.)

[CordyFinance]

I went to NYU (Class of 2017). I wouldn't change it for anything, but it always felt like I never had the "true" college experience. It felt more like I moved to NY in my own apartment at 18. There is no campus rather it's just a bunch of buildings scattered all across the city. I remember having to go to class on 4th St and walk 15 minutes to 11th St. Some classes were even in Brooklyn. You had to build your class schedule based on where the classes were located or you could miss a class due to commute from one building to another.

[cmbakerxx]

Pitt ranks high on WalkScore 94 and BikeScore 75, which is impressive giving the terrain that requires stairs and escalators to access half of campus.
It is served by many frequent bus routes but no rail.

[luisjarquin]

As a student at McGill University, I can say that I'm satisfied with the infrastructure that's on campus/close to campus. We have a metro station a block away, the rem will be here soon. There are protected bike paths on university Street and on a street parallel to Sherbrooke. There are many bus lines that get to McGill. There's no proximity to any highways. I'd like to highlight that this is pretty much the experience at ETS and Concordia, since both universities are in close proximity to McGill.

TLDR: any university in downtown Montreal is great for urbanism

[xoasmxo]

As an admissions counselor at a university on this list, im going to use this list in my information sessions.

[dc_rapper]

As a former ASU student, I loved how walkable the university is. It has become an urbanist university in the last 15 years due to the light rail passing through. They’re planning planning to expand the streetcar.