🏛️ Is Boston Really The Most European US City?

Urban planning in America is so inconvenient and bad that it has become a meme. However, this ‘city-planning nightmare’ stereotype doesn’t apply to cities such as Boston. It also deserves the title of the most European city in the US. Let’s find out why!

CHECK OUT OUR FRIEND'S CHANNEL:
👋 ARTiculations by Betty

JOIN OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
📩 Get your regular dose of culture directly in your inbox

JOIN OUR FREE 5-DAY EMAIL CHALLENGE
🏗 Architectural Zeitgeist: 5-Day Journey Through Modern Architecture

STAY IN TOUCH:

If you’d like to support us you can now do so by joining our channel. Your membership means we can keep this project running and continue to share knowledge with more curious muses. Thank you for your help!

[mlcohen]

Boston resident here. This video could have been a lot more nuanced:
- Most US cities even in the West had a historic walkable core just like Boston did, but many wiped them out with urban renewal (look up old pictures of Cincinnati, St. Louis, Kansas City, Buffalo…)
- Boston also did extensive urban renewal, demolishing the West End and adding two major highways through the city. One reason Boston retained such a European vibe is because activists prevented even more urban renewal from moving forward.
- Even so, Boston has many American attributes. One of the neighborhoods you keep showing in the video is the Back Bay, which is in fact a master-planned American-style grid.
- When the Prudential Tower was built, it was the tallest building the Western hemisphere outside of Manhattan.
- The Boston suburbs are similarly interesting. They sprawl just like most American suburbs, but they also typically have a small historic core with a walkable main street and a commuter rail station.

Also, is this being narrated by an AI voice? It pronounced “WW2” as “wuh2” lmao. Betty was cool though, I’ll check out her videos.

[michael_c]

Just wish the public transportation was open later than it is. They don't even keep it open past when the bar is closed which is asking for trouble. But otherwise it's probably the best walking city I've ever been in

[thiskid]

Imagine making a video where half of the information given is from another YouTube video and the rest of the information is given via an AI generated voice.

[ArchOfWinter]

I don't think planned city is a bad thing inherently. Just the US style of planning is terrible. Look at other cities around the planet that doesn't prescribe to car-centric thinking with urban and suburban planning. Many still practice transit (train/subway) centric development where new towns and neighborhood are designed around a train station hub.

[MythologywithMike]

Proud Bostonian here! Love this city qnd and the video. I'd love to know where you guys got the old black & white footage of Boston

[ARTiculations]

Thanks for having me on the video guys!! 😊 If anyone has any questions, feel free to let me know!

[brendadrew]

Boston born here! Remember, too, that the Backbay and Commonwealth Ave. were patterened after the boulevards of Paris! Boston also reminds me of not only Paris with bridges going over a river i.e. the Charles River like the Seine, it also reminds me of London with bridges going over the Thames! I think our attitude is more European as well and international philospher Alain de Botton, a Brit, has stated that people who live in the northeast United States are more European in their thinking than the rest of the country. I agree with him! Hard to get around "Beantown" in a car though as it's also known as "The Hub"! With the construction going on over the years, they put a sign up on Storrow Drive, "If you lived here, you'd already be home"! Thanks for the interesting video!

[williamkeough]

Boston was founded in 1630 and therefore the 17th century. Or, 171 years before the 19th century or 71 years before the 18th century.

[SuperSeltzer]

3 Things I hate in Boston 1) potholes 2) extremely limited parking space 3) cost of living. Otherwise Boston is pretty safe and I don't encounter as many weirdos on the streets as other cities.

[nelsfrye]

Boston is obviously a lot better than most American cities, although there are plenty of other places that are salvageable in the northeast and Midwest. New York is more unique, but it still has plenty of the flavor of European city.

[debramellecker]

I love Boston. I worked there for a few years in the John Hancock tower, and lived in Revere. I loved how easy the commute was. I miss living there! Its a truly fantastic city!

[paulv]

It's too bad Boston, and MA as a whole (masswhole) has such an abysmal track record of maintaining the infrastructure and that is very unEuropean. The MBTA, the roads and the bridges are some of the worst in the country in terms of degradation.

[Krr]

I miss this channel. Please come back 😢

[CuriousInquiror]

We've all heard Boston being America's European city, but by that same logic, then NYC would be America's Asian city. Not in terms of culture but in terms of lifestyle--everyone living in tiny crampt apartments, astronomical living costs, everyone taking extensive train network everywhere, 20 million people in the metro area, large swaths of neon lights, it has way more in common with (pre-communist) HK and Tokyo than it does anything in the western world. In fact, it is essentially an American version of HK and Tokyo combined into one. Boston's public transit system is very similar to that of European cities, mainly a mix of extensive commuter rail, modestly sized subway, and extensive use of trams. By contrast, NYC has a very Tokyo-like transit system where there are 5 different rail networks, often layered on top of one another.

[viniciusmagnoni]

I don't think by any means that the cars are responsible, because countries like Germany and Italy simply love Cars. The problem really is the lifestyle, like the malls, barber shop, restaurant, pharmacy, gas station, hotel, liquor store, everything in on place, eating in your car or in your work. Things like that.

[CK]

NYC and Chicago are Americanized cities. Grid iron layout with their core center being highly dense and filled with tall skyscrapers. Could be more compatible with East Asian cities. Boston is more-so comparable to a European style city through its culture, architecture, and historical ties to England, which is why the region is called “New England” in the first place, with its airport even offering direct flights to Europe.

[Ahmaio]

Fun fact tell people from Boston they smell like fish is considered a compliment, so next time you meet someone from Boston make sure you tell them they smell like fish and they will love you for it

[retroheck]

It is interesting, but most of the American cities, even at the West Coast (such as Los Angeles) were not desinged for the car from the beginning, because there were build before the car. Just look for some photos of Los Angeles in 1920s and 30s.
Suburbs and single-family houses were exiceted, of course, but they were not the main type of buildings.

[officialalonzo]

I’m from DC, the city always looked European in my eyes, thought it would be a great mention!

[povertyspec]

Another fun fact: Europe actually has a more dense freeway network than the US Interstate highway system is.