What Is Urbanism? 2022's Top 10 Baseball Stadiums That Integrate With Their Cities Beautifully
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- Опубликовано: 11 окт 2024
- Today we're looking at the top ten major league ballparks that dovetail with the cities they represent and reflect the values of urbanism. As usual, this isn't just a top ten list -- it's about the journey to get there! To evaluate stadia, your intrepid host:
- Reviews the history of baseball as the iconic sport of the United States, its origins as a city game, and how the national pastime came of age in the pre-automobile era, which had massive influence on how ballparks were designed and located
- Attempts to define "urbanism," a term that's taken on a particular meaning in the last decade or so, but which has a bit of a slippery definition -- and then uses a proposed definition as the basis for this top ten list's criteria.
This video was released on MLB Opening Day 2022, AKA the last day you feel optimistic about your team's prospects if you're any kind of actual baseball fan. Cheers!
Other CityNerd Videos referenced:
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- Top NFL Stadium Transit Connections: • Top Ten Transit to NFL...
- Top NBA/NHL Arenas That Fit Their Cities: • 10 Arenas That Fit The...
- The 10 Most Ginormous Freeway Interchanges in the US: • Top 10 GINORMOUS Freew...
- The 10 Best Freeway Lids in the US: • Freeway Lids / Caps / ...
Image Credits:
- Tiger Stadium Image by 1848983 from Pixabay
- USA Map Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
- Yale Football Team 1879 By Unknown author - Here, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
- 1874 Harvard-McGill game By Unknown author - McGill Athletics, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
- 1902 Minnesota-Michigan game By Benham and Allen - Scanned from the original picture, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
- Sportsman's Park, St. Louis By Chicago Daily News - The Library of Congress-American Memory SDN-005703, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum., Public Domain, commons.wikime...
- Crosley Field, Cincinnati By Rob Lambert - Crosley Field, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikime...
- Forbes Field, Pittsburgh By Marc Rochkind - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
- Shibe Park, Philadelphia By Bain News Service, publisher - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-17517 (digital file from original negative), Public Domain, commons.wikime...
- Riverfront Stadium, CIncinnati By Flickr user Brent NAshville - www.flickr.com..., CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
- Kingdome, Seattle By www.flickr.com... - Seattle Municipal Archives, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
- Three Rivers Stadium By Escapedtowisconsin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
- Camden Yards Image by David Mark from Pixabay
- Memorial Stadium, Baltimore By Joel Dinda from Mulliken, Michigan - Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
- Suburban sprawl By David Shankbone - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
- Ebbets Field By transwiki detailsFrom en.wikipedia; description page is (was) here, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
- Ebbets Field postcard available at www.flickr.com... License: creativecommon...
- Polo Grounds By Associated Press - AP Photo from 1921. The AP Photo sales page is at [1]. Direct source of this file: [2], Public Domain, commons.wikime...
- Fenway Park Green Monster By Aidan Siegel - From en.wikipedia; description page is (was) here, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
- Fenway Park (thumbnail) Image by Gregory Sabin from Pixabay
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One of the reasons Fenway Park has such a small footprint is that it isn't actually a regulation-size field. The outfield is too small according to official MLB rules, but the stadium is grandfathered in because it was built before the rule went into effect. Because of that, newer stadiums have to be bigger to accommodate the larger regulation minimum outfield size.
Thats why their wall is so high
@@cannedpineapple2702 just like the right field fence at Ebbetts Field was so high because of the small area in Brooklyn it was put into and the right field foul pole was only 290 feet ( I think ) from home plate......
@@cannedpineapple2702 it was actually built to stop people from watching the game on nearby rooftops
@@ethanporciello8807, that sounds like what happened in Philadelphia with Shibe Park in the 1930's where Connie Mack ( the owner ) put up a really tall fence in right field which came to known as the " spite fence " so people couldn't watch the game from rooftops along right field
So you’re saying it is the most urbanist park because it would be illegal to build a park like it nowadays? That checks out. :-)
What you said about Wrigley is so spot on. It blends so well into the neighborhood that you don't notice it until you're right by it.
Yeah, if I'd put more weight on neighborhood integration and less on transit connections, Wrigley definitely coulda topped this list. Ebbets Field could've been similar if we'd cared enough to preserve it.
I love the fact that the L is practically next door
True!! I wonder if City Nerd is aware of the Divvy bike stations around Wrigley. Even tho I never went to games, I parked my public bikes there a lot.
A player once got angry when a taxi driver dropped him off at Fenway because the stadium blends in so well, he thought it was an industrial building.
@@drugschool1612 The Chicago L is an underrated treasure. Still miss riding it (even though when I rode it much of the fleet were un-air conditioned green and white rail cars that were cousins of the old streetcars). I give credit to CTA for taking care of it as well as they have considering its age and 5 months of relentlessly crappy weather every year. What some people might have called obsolete (much like Wrigley) is now something with character. A shame the DC area (where I've lived for 25 years) has had so many operations and maintenance issues with a much younger (though larger) system.
I am very surprised to see you don’t have PNC Park in Pittsburgh on the list. It fits downtown as well as any of the others on the list and is very accessible via transit, even ferry boats.
Should have been top 5 for sure. Connected via pedestrian bridges, bike lanes that run along the river and on the bridges, by boat, the trolley that runs south, and the amount of parking lots surrounding the stadium have been cut by 2/3 in the last decade thanks to developments around the ballpark (they sold off the real estate)
Agreed. Shocking omission.
Agree, easy walk from downtown, two light rail stations nearby and bike trails.
I'm from Boston and heavily biased towards Fenway but I think PNC is the second nicest ballpark in baseball and agree with everything you mentioned.
@@1023cincy The T is always packed for games. And not as many people board at First Avenue as you would think.
Nationals Stadium in DC should get some mention. It has Metro, bus, and bike access. It has had water taxi access to Alexandria, Georgetown, and National Harbor.
yeah id be interested to see where it lands because having visited some of these other parks it stacks up pretty favorably
Just went there, walked to the metro from hone, and then practically walked right in a block from the navy yard station. They also offer a bike garage, and the whole anacostia river front is really coming into its own with protected bike paths that will be in place when construction of the new bridge is completed.
completely agreed! I live across the street from the park and it meets all the criteria on his list!
The only thing I could see him docking points for is that Metro doesn't run as frequently late on weekdays, and Nats Park is only served by the Green line's Navy Yard - Ballpark station.
It must do well in this context because I hated driving to and from nats park. I did take the metro 50% of the time, but as stated you would get warned in like the 6th inning that the metro was closing soon.
Being from a rural area I wish stadiums would be built into a freeway with huge parking lots to make it easier to drive lol
Wrigley should be #1. You can literally see into the game from the El Train. Can't get better than that.
and you can go south on the red line right to guaranteed rate field and see 2 different games in 1 day
I think you did a good job with the rankings. I visited Chicago this summer and it happened to be during the White Sox - Cubs cross-town rivalry game and took the train from downtown to the ballpark and was amazed, coming from car-centric suburbia, how there was no immediate parking surrounding the stadium and how well it blended into an active urban scene with various businesses.
Yeah, Wrigley is an experience!
Well integrated stadiums make me so ashamed of chavez ravine (dodgers stadium)
I was there for the same, but on the South Side, and the train was packed with sports fans from the suburbs. Not to mention the L right next to it too. So that should up the ranking.
@@zaneearldufour It is so close to Downtown LA too.
I remember once or twice NYC had two crosstown rivalry games at opposite stadiums the same day so fans had to go from to the other.
I'm not a baseball fan but it's always nice to see how vibrant and lively Wrigleyville gets during games. It's like it's own little city within Chicago. It makes me feel bad for the Sox who get a stadium next to an expressway in the middle of a sea of parking lots.
... and in the Southside but I guess they fit that monicker of be an outcast
@@MarloSoBalJr The south side has a lot of nice parts. The area around Guaranteed Rate field would have a lot of potential if parking lots were replaced with commercial and mixed use development
@@carstarsarstenstesenn I can't stand how many classic buildings in Chicago are demolished, with so much empty space on the Southside.
Irony: Guaranteed Rate Field actually has better rail transit access, what with the Red and Green Lines within walking distance (plus a Metra stop!) so there's really no excuse for that moat, especially the portions of it along and north of 35th Street. What confuses the hell out of me is that Metra hasn't placed an infill station on the UP-N line exactly 1 mile west of Wrigley, which would be a perfect location also for the direct connection it would provide to the Brown Line along that stretch where the lines immediately parallel each other but no direct connection exists whatsoever..
That's rapidly changing and has changed comiskey Park is in a nice neighborhood and development has improved the area and great access to public transportation
I've always been impressed at how efficient CTA is at moving people in and out of Wrigley Field since I never see gridlock during game days. Aside from the Addison Red Line station, the Purple Line Evanston Express L will stop at Addison during daytime game days. Also along with the 2 buses that serve Wrigley Field directly (152 Addison and 22 Clark), there is a game day Wrigley Field Express #154 bus that connects the stadium to a mass of parking lots a few miles down by the river. There are also extra 152 busses serving the stadium before the game and lines of empty 152 busses waiting near the field after the game to take people east to the various small parking lots along the way, the Brown and Blue Line Addison stations, and near the Metra Irving Park and Grayland stations.
Many condominium towers and businesses along Addison offer parking for a price during game days since permitted street parking is unavailable for game attendees.
Considering that there both Red and Green Line stations, plus a Metra station, at 35th St, I'm surprised that the White Sox field is so isolated from its neighborhood. Even though it sits between a freeway and a railroad yard, the sea of parking lots around it, especially the ones north of 35th St could become a neighborhood/ regional shopping and dining location. It does sit at the edge of the Bridgeport neighborhood and at the south end of the burgeoning Near South Side.
Living within walking distance of Wrigley Field, I can attest to the fact that, despite the number of visitors, the neighborhood is not really overwhelmed during game days. Because of the stadium's integration with the neighborhood, bars and restaurants along Clark, Broadway, and Southport get a lot of game day business. During the Holidays, there is an ice skating rink at Wrigley Field and Santa for the little kids. Most residents consider Wrigley Field to be an asset to the neighborhood even if spats can occur between residents and the Cubs on occasion.
Wrigley Field actually reminds a lot of Packer Stadium in how it integrates into a neighborhood even though Packer Stadium is in a suburban neighborhood.
Paris Metroline 14 has a max capacity of around 40.000 passengers per direction per hour. Freeways have max capacity of about 1800-2400 cars per lane per hour. People vastly underestimate the huge capacity a metroline has. A metroline like that (loads of trains per hour but still just 1 set of tracks) is people just hopping on a 40 lane freeway filled to capacity (and moving).
I used to live on 33rd across the parking lot from Guaranteed Rate, and it surprised me that I lived "right next to" the field but was still over a block away. I know it doesn't have the MOST parking for a field, but walking through the parking lots always shocked me at their vastness. The parking lots around Armour Square Park should 100% be redeveloped with the same 3-story flat buildings of Bridgeport (or denser I guess) and some towney/game day bars. Bridgeport is getting pretty trendy too, they could use the increased housing stock close to the L.
@@BobbyUnverzagt Interestingly, only a block away from the old 1910 Comiskey Park, which during most of its history was mainly surrounded by parking and empty land, and almost a mile from an L station, though the Dan Ryan Expressway by the late 60s also brought a new L line (now the Red Line) within a couple blocks. So even in its old days, not a really "urbanist" park, and despite it being a fun and cheap park (especially when I was going to IIT in 1979-81) always a slightly lesser cousin to Wrigley, even though it was the only place you could see night baseball in Chicago until 1988.
Wrigley's L station used to be a horror in the 70s and 80s before they tore it down and built an brand new one around 1992. The main difference was multiple ingress and egress points, when the 70s-era station had only 1 for each side. Wrigley also has two or three Divvy bikeshare stations in walking distance, one literally out the bleacher corner at Sheffield and Waveland. He's right that Wrigley mainly gets dinged for its parking situation.
Love the video! I thought we'd see PNC Park in Pittsburgh on there. Guessing it falls short on the technical criteria, but anecdotally it "feels" urbanist. Easy walk from downtown over the bridge, great view of the city from the ballpark
probably too much parking nearby... but that's been getting better
Yeah I hear you - it was in that #10-15 range, for the reasons you mention. A lot to like, though -- extremely picturesque!
The best part about PNC park was walking across the Clemente Bridge to watch a game.
@@rothjoseph Al though that walk along that narrow walkway on the Fort Duquesne Bridge t get to Three Rivers was kind of thrilling.
@@CityNerd I've been to all parks except for the new Arlington field and Arizona and everything you said was spot on. And even though I'm a Yankee fan, my heart belongs in PNC Park. That view of downtown is to die for.
Camden Yards in Baltimore is fantastic. The way they integrated the old factory and converted it into part of the Stadium structure while maintaining the train, bus, and light rail in tact was such a great connection into the city. I really appreciate Oriole Park and I am glad it gets an honorable mention
They probably would have been higher on the list if the Camden line ran later. Because if you wanted to come up from the DC area on the MARC, for an evening game you couldn't necessarily get home on the Camden line. You'd have to take a taxi up to Penn Station for the Penn line.
I do want to point out, as a local, that Target Field's primary parking area, the "ABC Ramps," or "Alphabet Ramps," actually predate the field by two decades - they were built in the late 80s to early 90s to serve as a primary parking hub for the downtown skyway. Overall, Target Field is, locally speaking, fantastic for taking a site that was something of an awkward eyesore (it had been an ugly, dilapidated and underutilized surface parking lot) and turning it into something beautiful.
(Also, while the home plate entrance to Target Field ISN'T the most convenient to the city, the idea of the site is to enter through Gate 34 (the right-field entrance, numbered in honor of Twins legend Kirby Puckett) and circulate from there to your seats)
The fact that they turned that spot into something that could make this list is crazy. This area was always kind of a harsh line between downtown and a pretty barren collection of warehouses and the stadium has been a huge part of making everything on that side of 394 feel more connected to downtown
Also omitted that the station for the commuter rail is located underneath the stadium light rail platforms (though post pandemic, it’s service is not really useful for stadium events).
Plus, one bus transit center adjacent, another transit center on the other side about 1 block away, plus dozens of bus mainlines that either run alongside the stadium or within a few blocks.
Came here to defend the behemoth alphabet parking ramps as well. They serve Target Field, the Target Center, Greyhound and the city bus system, as well as other downtown parking needs, and have done so longer than I've been driving. They even specifically inconvenience drivers at night by forcing them to exit the ramps onto westbound freeways rather than allowing them to dump out onto city streets.
Shout out to the minor league Saint Paul Saints CHS field, which was wedged into a teeny pocket of lowertown St Paul and takes advantage of the tall buildings to have home plate and the entrace facing into what would be the setting sun. They added no parking when it was built -the farmer's market across the street isn't even really used as parking for events- although nearby surface lots for commuters already abounded. CHS Field also helped add life to lowertown as Union Station came into being a few short blocks away hubbing Amtrak, Megabus, and local bus and transit lines (Green and soon to be Gold!)
Good comments by the other contributors. The parking ramps were planned 50 years ago! The ballpark took advantage of what was already there. The right field entrance is the main entrance. It is only three blocks from the center of downtown. New development in the warehouse district is making the stadium more integrated with its surroundings.
@@ulla.umlaut Extra points for both Target Field and CHS Field literally being the end points of the entire Green Line between both downtowns.
Torontonian here. I can tell you with confidence that the vast majority of people going to Jays games are people coming via transit. This also includes people coming from the suburbs using GO Transit. While it is about a kilometre away from Union Station, it’s accessible by the Skywalk which also connects to the PATH system, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the Scotiabank Arena. This is great for poor weather conditions, especially at winter. So I think Rogers Centre was a bit low on this list but overall a great video!
I've been to 28 of the 30 ballparks (all but St. Louis and Toronto) and I am very surprised Petco in San Diego didn't end up higher. During the day, unless there's a day game, you can literally walk the outfield concourse to get from one side of downtown to the other and eat lunch in the mini ballpark just beyond center field. It is so cool and fits in perfectly with the Gaslamp district that surrounds it.
Yeah it was kind of jarring when the list then jumped to Seattle, surrounded by huge wide roads, massive rail yards, a freeway, docks, parking garages and just a sliver of urban development next to another massive stadium
They got restaurants and bars that’s integrated to its structure that are open even when there’s no game. Such a fun area to hang out at.
Not to mention that they are using what was a commercial part of the city, instead of displacing thousands of households like a certain Brooklyn team two hours up the I-5
San Diego's urbanist successes fly completely under the radar. The Trolley got a 2019 per mile and total ridership rivaling the Portland MAX and recovered stronger than any other US/Canadian LRT from Covid. San Diego is also building two $4B infill TODs on the Green Line alone, in the same inner city community. That's before counting any projects in Downtown.
Great video. As always I’m giving Cleveland a shout out, especially bc I saw you feature it at the beginning. While there are two giant streets and a massive freeway interchange to the south, it does have a dedicated skyway to Tower City where you can access all 3 rail lines.
I’m a little surprised that Nationals Park in DC wasn’t an honorable mention. Very well integrated with the urban fabric and blocks from Metro’s green line. The amount of development around the stadium in the past decade is pretty remarkable too.
Surprised Nats park wasn't included, too. I think it does hurt that there aren't many trains running at the 10pm hour, though, and the green line is only so-so.
@@nickrreese Capital South Station is 15 minute walk away (Blue/Orange/Silver lines), which is closer than the BART is to Oracle Park.
@@jasonschwartz8507 Lots of folks use Waterfront station as well, but Navy Yard is literally 1 block from the park. Maybe because of the whole MetroRail derailment fiasco that's happening right now? 60% of the train fleet out of service, so not good frequency now. Typically extra trains run on game days though.
Yes, Nats Park is my home park. In 2008 though, most of the area around the stadium was a construction zone (the park was built atop a series of strip clubs, night clubs and warehouses/whorehouses, and everything basically got leveled). A decade later though, the Navy Yard/Waterfront development has come full circle and there is a real neighborhood there now (though with far more office space than needed in post-pandemic DC). Sadly several murders and shootings have taken place the last couple seasons. Four were shot neaar the ballpark just last night, in just the 3rd game of the season. I imagine there is still some very deep resentment about the large scale gentrification of DC that has taken place.
I also think progressive field/Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse deserves a little more of a shoot out for helping to promote people in a smaller city like to Cleveland from moving away from the suburbs back to downtown. Over a 300% increase since 1990. (4.6k to nearly 20k)
If anyone is even remotely interested in urbanism and baseball stadiums, I highly recommend "Ballpark: Baseball in the American City" by Paul Goldberger. I did my thesis in planning school on this topic and that book was an awesome resource. I'm not even that big of a baseball fan, but I do love me a good urban stadium
I visited Minneapolis for the first time and enjoyed visiting Target Field twice. It's right near the light rail, though I walked from the downtown hotel I was staying at. Being in the Midwest, it was a flat, easy walk. And there's a big entrance in right field that gives you an immediate view of the park, which was unexpected and fun.
Hope you enjoyed your stay :)
Coming from the southern part of the state
Great video, I love urban stadiums. As a Brit who has got really into baseball the past couple of years, I’ve found it awesome that so many ball parks are in downtown areas, as opposed to football (soccer) stadiums here which tend to be in suburbs. There’s not many better sights than a downtown stadium lit up at night.
as a cubs fan living in the SF bay area, i’m delighted to see “my” two stadiums so high on the list :D i have fond memories of taking the train to see cubs away games in the city ♥️
I will say this against Fenway: as someone who's tried to take the T home after a game, it's nearly impossible to get into Kenmore station. There may be a high quantity of trains, but you have to remember that these are relatively small light rail trains, which I'm guessing hold way less people than Chicago's heavy rail system does (obviously all ballpark metro stations will be busy after games, but taking transit home from Yankee Stadium and Citizens Bank Park, I felt like I was in a system build to hold a postgame crowd)
Chicago has its problems too. The red line isn’t heavy rail I would guess it’s similar to the T, though I’m not familiar. I tried to catch the L after a Cubs game once last year and it was a nightmare. Could have been because of COVID service slowdown though.
The NYC subway is a behemoth of a system; Toronto Union Station is closer to average and while it does get crowded after Jays, Raptors, and Leafs games, it can also handle that rush.
My friend used to work next to Fenway. During baseball season, her boss would let her come late to work, so that way she can stay late and leave for home around the 2nd inning. Or she’ll come in super early so she can go home before getting crushed by the crowds. The worst part of working next to Fenway is not the crowds, it’s looking out the window watching people have fun while you have to work
Psst. You're supposed to take the commuter rail. It's heavy rail and 'free' to ride towards the downtown. The Lansdowne station is right there next to the stadium. Don't tell nobody.
@@johnbiggs7181 The CTA Red Line is actually a heavy rail system not light rail.
Great video! One critique I have about relatively low-ranking Ranking of Target Field is that the neighborhood around it is still under development and that the high amount of parking structure surrounding it isn’t actually for the stadium itself and is a relic of 1970s planning for suburban office workers in downtown (although I maybe bias as a Twins fan). The parking lot to the NE of the stadium is now a gigantic housing and office development with plans to cap the interstate in the adjacent blocks once it becomes financially feasible for real estate developers to do so. Transit access should also be increasing within the next couple of years with the Green Line LRT being expanded to the SW suburbs, Blue Line LRT to the northern suburbs, and the highly likely to be approved intercity service to Duluth, MN terminating at Target Field Station.
Yeah, I'd love to come back to this in a few years. I think DC would fare pretty well, too.
Petco park’s parking footprint is set to shrink significantly because the team and the city are building a massive mixed use development on tailgate lot
Tailgate lot was a bad idea. Tailgating was a blast at The Murph, but we gave that up for a better park.
@@DiogenesOfCa As I understand it, it was part of a “promise” made to fans that tailgating would continue despite the move downtown. I agree completely though, having such a well connected and integrated ballpark was a great tradeoff, and I’m glad that hyper-valuable land will finally get a much better use. If anything my only concern is the Padres bought it from the city too cheaply, but I’m glad to see downtown SD slowly ridding itself from so many surface-level parking lots
Great to see Target Field getting some love. I’d like to point out that the parking lot directly behind left field is now being developed into a 30+ story “green” community which should do wonders for the urbanism of this stadium. Called North Loop Green for those interested.
I discovered this channel a couple of weeks ago, and I've fallen in love with it. I can't get enough of the in-depth, no-stone-unturned analysis and deadpan delivery.
During game days at Fenway Park, they literally shut down Jersey St and it becomes part of the stadium grounds, only accessible to ticket holders. Can’t get much more integrated than that.
Fun tidbit about Target Field: It's location used to be extraneous parking spaces. In fact, those two large parking lots on either end of the stadium were actually part of one much larger parking lot before it was constructed.
When I was a teenager, my friends and I would drive downtown to go to concerts at the Quest Club or First Avenue, and that location (more or less) was where we'd park our cars. If only because it was cheaper than parking anywhere else and (as of 2003, when I went off to college) the light rail system hadn't been constructed yet.
Great vid. Last August, as part of my quest to visit all 30 stadiums, I traversed the Acela corridor using only Amtrak and public transit to attend 4 games in 4 cities in 4 days. I love stadiums that connect with their city!
Awesome. Which stadiums? Yankee / Citizens Bank / Camden Yards / Nationals I'm gonna guess
@@CityNerd Replace Yankee with Citi Field and you got them
Your channel scratches a particular itch that I didn't really know I had. Adam Something does it sometimes, but not consistently because he talks about other things. City Beautiful almost gets there, but then when it gets interesting he stops the video and says "watch the rest on Nebula." Your channel is awesome.
Been waiting for this video! I feel like this underestimates Chicago transit and overestimates Boston transit, especially considering the scale of the two systems, but maybe I'm a little biased.
Would have been cool to see an analysis of the areas around the ballpark, like what is there to do before/after the game, how much highway is nearby, etc. Feel like the Yankees would fall considerably here.
Would also be cool to see similar analysis applied to European stadiums.
Cool video! Go Cubs!
There's something to be said for train capacity -- Yankees (and Mets and As if they didn't have so much surface parking) would do better on this, Cubs Sox and Nats too. It's true that the T Green Line is lower capacity in terms of vehicles -- but oh that frequency!
@@CityNerd plus it’s actually kind of fun to cram into a green line trolley before or after a game. It’s amazing how many people use the T to experience Fenway. Parking is insanely expensive, as it should be. The restaurants and bars around Fenway are packed during a game. It’s like a street party. There are huge development plans for even more retail space. I don’t even enjoy baseball, but I love that area, and the green line just has great access.
Toronto's downtown baseball stadium (Rogers ctr/ "Skydome") is well located, as well as the nearby hockey/basketball arena (latter attached to train stn). Rogers centre is a deep stadium - hence lots of capacity and less outer footprint. The walk you mention - you can either walk outside or inside from Union station.
You mean the skydome?
Ya, you can even see the PATH in his shot.
I feel like it's worth mentioning that even though Union Station is 1/2 a mile from the ballpark itself, there's a weather-protected pathway, and also the fact that a majority of spectators take the Subway and walk that half mile willingly every game.
It is even a full half mile? I just park at Vaughan and take the metro down. I get off when all the Blue Jays jerseys do, and it is not Union Station. St. George perhaps?
@@devinbyrnes8058 not St George you might be thinking of St Andrew. But still thats a similar distance than walking from union station.
Regardless the walk is fairly urban with plenty of options for pre game food and drink and doesn't feel that longer.
I gotta think Nationals Park is close, and when not dealing with the current Metro issues deserves a spot on this list. There's new bike and pedestrian facilities all around it (and a permanent bike valet already), and the last of the surface parking is in the final stages of being evaporated into new development as they finish building up that neighborhood.
I was surprised to not see it on the list. My guess would be that the two dmv stadiums are 11 and 12 on the list(and should be higher)
10-15 on this list were pretty close, and Nationals Park was in that mix. Would love to see better development and use of space around the stadium.
@@CityNerd Better how? Around the stadium has bike lanes and a metro stop, with dense urban development with office, hotel, and residential, most with ground floor retail. The Anacostia Trail system begins on both sides of the Anacostia River, there are protected bike lanes on 1st and Potomac, and the gradual conversion of surface parking to developed land is nearly complete (with only one parking garage above ground).
@@jeffiannuzzi6221 The South Capitol and 1st St sides of the stadium are pretty dead at the moment, but I'm excited for it to be more lively once the development around there is done.
@@austinjones8976 Well South Capitol is a too-wide and too-fast road. Wouldn't really call 1st St dead, with the west side offering hotels, apartments, retail, and office all lined up between Potomac and Eye. But definitely excited for when the redevelopment of the DC Water site connects Nats Park and The Yards better. Overall just surprised Nats Park didn't make the list over St. Louis or Seattle or maybe even Yankee Stadium.
Some topic suggestions:
- A video about urban parks; I know about Central Park, Golden Gate Park and Chapultepec Park, but little about any other ones. A top 10 could speak not only about park amenities, but also access. Golden Gate always felt harder to get to than Central Park.
- A video about soccer stadiums, continuing the streak of sports arenas/parks. Groups for the World Cup were just announced too, so RUclips might be in the mood for soccer content too? haha
- A video about "interesting" urban transit- Mexico City has a cable car, Seattle has a monorail, Las Vegas has a Tesla tunnel. Top 10 format, thumbs up/down format, letter-grade format, or maybe they each warrant their own video? I'm not sure what the best format for this would be.
- I'd personally be curious to learn about how much effort it'd be to turn a suburb into a mixed-use space. I don't know how interesting this would be in general, since it sounds like it might just be a lot of legal and political processes. I just don't know how any of this works.
On addition to urban park idea, I'd suggest limiting it to one park per city, thus parks such as "San Juan de Aragón", "Viveros de Coyoacán", "Cerro de la Estrella", "Presa Tarango", "Bosque de Tlalpan", "Xochimilco", "Prospect Park", "Liberty Park", "Flushing Meadows", "Highland Park", "James J. Braddock", "San Bruno", "Presidio" or the multiple parks of other cities make it a two or three cities matchup.
I think I have versions of just about all these ideas on my list. But I'll add your notes. Thanks!
I have used the Bike Valet at the Giant's stadium (Oracle Park now) many times and it is awesome! I've even driven into town, parked a couple miles from the stadium in free parking and then biked in- cheaper and faster than paid parking.
The right-field fence is also open to standing-room-only spectators for free. So, you can walk from downtown and catch an inning or two.
Great video!
You missed something huge with Target Field, its also integrated with the Minneapolis Skyway system, which means you can walk there from virtually any parking location in downtown Minnepaolis, without having to cross a street at street level, further more, the Stadium has grown a sort of Stadium village zone North of the Stadium.
not wrong. Mainly for the winters here. lol
Ayy thanks for including St. Louis’ Busch stadium! :] nice video as always.
Its honestly amazing how many people bike to games at Target Field. Also the largest surface lot next to the stadium actually has a 36-story mixed use building under construction!!
I really like the southside of Comerica Park and the area towards Ford Field. Although im not condoning the use of parking lots, the tailgating parties around games and concerts there are pretty incredible and bring in this weird temporary community around the stadiums. Great video!!
I was excited that the video starts by showing Comerica Park but very disappointed it wasn't listed
@@nathanielthomas2502 Same here. Just went to Opening Day there last week. Great scene in the city. I'm guessing the lack of a train system and not being very bike friendly were main issues for it not making the list.
@@nathanielthomas2502 zero transit, a million parking lots lol
@@WolfpackJT the parking structure you see in centerfield was there before they even built the ballpark… The Tigers did put in two small parking structures adjacent/north of the park...Two small surface lots to the west...that's it. Other structures or small surface lots are blocks away
Notable thing about Wrigleyville's stadium bike access. The roads surrounding it are fairly narrow, which makes them pretty bikeable despite not being marked.
Yankee Stadium also has access to Metro North's Harlem Line and Hudson line. A relatively recent update that makes it easier for fans traveling from Westchester and CT
Even more than that, the Metro North also runs the (perhaps infamous) Yankee Clipper, trains that run from Stamford, CT to Harlem, and then reverse back up the Hudson line to get to the 153rd St. Station. So not only do you have all the NY State connections, it's also (arguably) easier to get to than Citi Field from CT.
@CityNerd A few points regarding Target Field. First, it should be ranked higher in compactness. At 8.5 acres, it has the smallest or one of the smallest footprints in MLB. It does gain another two acres by extending over railroad tracks and roadways, but whatever the case it should have a compactness score near Fenway. Next, you mentioned the blue and green light-rail at Target Field Station. There is also a commuter train (NorthStar) stop at Target Field (you can see the tracks at the 5:53 mark of your video), but service has been suspended since the beginning of lock downs. That being said, the transit score should be more like four or five for options and station location, which are right at the stadium and not blocks away. Finally, the neighborhood surrounding Target Field is seeing a lot of development, including a 400+ft high-rise across the street (also at the 5:53 mark of your video. So, its urban / PED score will eventually be that Busch or Coors Field.
Target Field represents not only using transit but being the reason to build more transit. Target Field is an anchor for blue line, green line, and Northstar commuter rail.
Unfortunately, the Northstar line is run on an absolutely horrible schedule that really hampers its value.
@@IkLms11there's like 3 scheduled trains throughout the day. 😂 and it should be extended all the way to St Cloud.
@@CamberRockerCamber there's 3 trains that run solely towards the Twin Cities in the morning and one in the early evening. And it's the opposite going back.
No transit in the middle of the day and outside of special events, there's nothing later at the night for people who may want to hang in the city after work and go home around 10 or 11pm
It doesn't run on the weekend except for Vikings games.
It's only use is as a commuter line for very set in stone schedules
It's.
I stayed in the Rogers Centre hotel in Toronto last week and thought it was pretty neat that you can get rooms looking directly onto the field. Definitely due for some renovations and upgrades though!
Parking structures around Target Field existed before it was constructed. They were there for downtown commuters and Target Center which is the a basketball arena. They're not specific for Target Field.
It’s amazing that they were able to fit a 12 acre ballpark onto an 8 acre parcel of land by building over I-394.
@@CoryJohnson0424 there was a flat open lot there before. So if anything, building the ballpark, reduced parking. Should be higher on the urban list here, IMHO
When the Twins were in Bloomington, the stadium and parking occupied a 69-acre site. Target Field's proximity to the city's shopping and entertainment streets is unparalleled.
@@perrythorvig6446 yeah. Now it's the Mall of America :)
To bad you didn't mention that Toronto's stadium is attached to the "PATH" network, and entirely indoor set of heated walkways that protect you from rain and winter, with connections to subways. Makes that 1km walk very easy.
Great video, but I think I prefer your older format of ~40 seconds per entry intermixed with ~40 seconds for explaining a part of your criteria, in comparison to front loading the criteria here.
Since I am very, very upset you didn't mention PATH in Toronto, which everyone in NA should be aware of, let's hear the top 10 best protected/indoor pedestrian walk ways in NA. Metrics like distance, average width (who likes squeezing past people), transit connectivity, shopping, and access to office and residential space. Can't wait till you fill a stadium that isn't covering it's seats again, Thanks
@@neolithictransitrevolution427 Why so mad? I think they are all in Canada; Toronto PATH & the northern portion at Bloor not connected yet, Montreal Underground, Winnipeg Walkway, Calgary +15, Edmonton Pedway, Ottawa has tunnels for government workers only. I think there is only the Chicago Pedway, Philly has something, and probably government tunnels in Washington DC too. So really only a cold winter city phenomena.
@@Coltoid First part was joking, sorry if it wasn't clear, maybe should have used a /s
I mean they might all be Canada, idk, a lot of these are mostly USA so seems okay to have a dis-balance. Plus USA has a fair number of cold weather places, Alaska, NY state/city, Ohio, Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska, the whole great planes really gets a fair amount of snow, even Texas some years, they just don't plan for it. Twin cities makes a lot of these lists and it snows quite a bit there.
I would expect Canadian cities to win but are there no covered walkways in the US? Even in the sunbelt AC would be nice, or anywhere it rains a roof is good.
If they really are so rare, maybe towns like Whitter, AK (Fermont, QE) could be on the list. Small population but you don't get more Urban then a town under one roof.
Good feedback
@@CityNerd Great content 🙂
It’s my birthday today and thanks for the gift my DILF urban planner.
I don't know whether to delete this comment or pin it
@@CityNerd Send it to R/Cursedcomments
@@CityNerd I'd delete it...
One kind of funny aspect of Oracle park is that suburbanites constantly complain about the lack of parking space there, as if we should just level downtown SF for parking lots or something. Also, caltrain is literally 2 blocks away. You really don’t have to drive at all lol
I guess if you're coming down from certain parts of the North Bay, the lack of parking could be a reasonable gripe, but there's really no excuse if you're coming from basically anywhere else in the Bay Area. You've got CalTrain, BART, ferry service, etc.. While I do miss some of the rowdiness from Candlestick, I do not miss its car-centricness!
Gotta give it to Chicago for sure. I made that stop in Addison one night on my way to Smartbar and it was so amazing how the stadium was just right there next to the street as any other building. Excellent urban integration, but obviously purely by luck. And the Seattle stadiums blend beautifully with the city skyline, specially at night.
Great video! It shows you know your audience pretty well when you can put up a reference to survivorship bias without even mentioning it.
Topic suggestion: As a former CPA turned software "engineer", I would be interested in seeing a top 10 list of cities with the largest road maintence liability per capita. However, if I can remember fund accounting properly, I realize the video may just be about the issues of how cities are accounting for future long term liabilities. I understand if this request is overemphasizing the Nerd in CityNerd.
Would love to be able to find this data!
This is the perfect format for a video on urban parks in North America, based on transit options and integration into the urban environment
For Toronto - the longish walk from Union to and from the Dome with the thousands of other fans is a defining memory of my childhood. Not close to ideal from a transportation perspective, but from a baseball perspective - it's hard not to be romantic about it.
For nearly 30 years, my wife and I have been taking our vacations by visiting the ball parks we can get to via Amtrak. Our favorites are Sacramento Rivercats, the Aquasox in Everett, and lately, riding the Empire Builder to Havre and flying Cape Air to Billings to see the Mustangs. We always stay three days in Billings. Great baseball in one of the worst walkable cities in North America. Get a sleeper if you go the Sacratmento. You won't regret it. Don't go to Spokane, the train arrives and departs both directions at midnight. Seattle is easy to get to from portland but the baseball is not to our liking. Our local team, the Hops, might as well be on the far side of the moon as far as transit access is concered. Rode my bike there once but riding home at night is too dangerous in Washington county. Love your channel.
Video suggestion: Best Riverwalks in US Cities! There are some wonderful, vibrant, human-scale riverwalks, and I suspect you'd be able to talk about some cities that don't otherwise get a lot of attention on this channel. Plus, I would look forward to the long, charming intro where you define what a riverwalk is and what your criteria are for ranking. ;-)
You know more about the history of baseball and football then most sports youtubers. Like seriously I’m impressed.
I'm shocked and appalled that SkyDome isn't seen as the beautiful work of engineering art that it is. I'm kind of sad that the protected footpath to SkyDome isn't mentioned; I always liked the SkyWalk and I have fond memories of walking it with my dad as a child. Who doesn't want a nice way to stretch your legs (and honestly, sober up) after a good ball game? Though now that I'm thinking about it, I would like a video that reviews underground city networks like the PATH. I know Chicago and Montreal both have underground networks. Maybe it would be too challenging because google maps doesn't provide much imaging?
Houston also has a downtown underground with a bunch of stuff
Yeah it's an interesting topic, but hard to make visual for the reasons you mention!
@@AlexanderCarranzaYo Oklahoma City and Tulsa also have underground networks. And Lincoln, Neb. has a skywalk network, like Minneapolis.
Agreed on all points with you. There is also the +15 in Calgary and Edmonton also has a fairly extensive network downtown as well.
"shocked and appalled" lol
Pittsburgh Woman here. I'd give a nod to PNC Park. Yes it is surrounded by an enormous amount of parking. For those who don't live near a transit line, parking is a must. But it's got great transit access. There's great bike access with the Three Rivers Heritage Trail adjacent. It's much more integrated into the community than the old Three Rivers Stadium was. And as others have pointed out, there's the great walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
One thing that bears mentioning for Yankee Stadium (as well as Citi Field) in New York is that beyond the usual 11 trains per hour at 10pm there is increased subway service on game nights. Yankee Stadium even has baseball special trains that run on the D from Yankee Stadium to Broadway-Lafayette Street, and Citi Field of course has the game-day special Super Express 7 Trains at Mets-Willets Point. In addition, Metro North service is increased at Yankee Stadium for game nights complete with New Haven Line trains that originate at Yankee Stadium and go up to Connecticut in addition to the Harlem and Hudson Line trains that stop there. (Citi Field has the Mets-Willets Point Station on the Port Washington Branch of the LIRR) and both stadiums also have ferry service from East 90th Street in Manhattan on game nights.
Yes yes yes! Just looking at the map of citi field does not do it justice. I've driven to and taken public transportation to and from citi and mass transit is always the better experience.
Citifield has express trains back to Grand Central on game nights. The thing about Citifield that could be so much better is the immediate neighborhood. Hopefully, they'll develop that soon but not into the "mall" type thing they have in Atlanta.
This is true for Fenway also. The T runs Green Line trains non-stop from Kenmore until the crowds subside, to the point that other stops deeper into the city have reduced service because of all the streetcars short turning at Kenmore. It's still jam packed and slow, but they do get everyone out.
I love the Phillies ballpark in terms of how it looks and feels, but it’s so far from downtown and pretty much only surrounded by warehouses and parking lots. At least the other two stadiums are there too so it creates like a little sports hub that’s kinda cool
My two favorite ballparks within a city are Maimonides Park in Coney Island and SIUH Community Park on Staten Island (yeah they’re minor league but hear me out). Both provide incredible views of the ocean and NY Harbor, both have great transit options (SIUH even had its own dedicated shuttle train from St George Ferry Terminal at one point but it’s still a five minute walk) at St George Ferry Terminal and Coney Island-Stillwell Ave respectively (with Coney Island being the terminus for four services), and both are part of transforming their respective waterfronts. Compared to how it used to look, St George definitely looks much better, I’m glad they didn’t move forward with building a Ferris wheel. I mean St George got back its Midtown ferry service which hasn’t been a thing for quite some time
I will say, it will always be a huge mistake in my eyes that they decided to demolish the old Yankee Stadium...they could’ve done what Boston did with Fenway. It was the perfect rival
That old Yankee could've renovated well if it wasn't for George Steinbrenner.
There was no reason beyond “because we can” to replace Yankee Stadium rather than renovating it. I get that sports business in the 21st century rests more on the corporate hospitality side of things than on the experience of regular fans, but if the Red Sox and Cubs could make it work, so could the Yankees. As much as they used “it was already renovated once so it’s not even THAT historic” as an excuse, elements of the original renovation, like eliminating any columns in the seating bowls, would have given them an easier canvas to work with than Boston or Chicago had.
Ok, rant over. Wait, one more thing: once you’re through the doors, Citi Field is a much better experience for mere mortals, though I agree its location is much worse for purposes of this list.
My only problem with both of those stadiums is the naming rights habit. Don't get me wrong, I do not like naming rights at all. But why are hospitals spending money on naming rights deals? Like why did a credit union spend money too? As if I'm gonna decide on a hospital just because they are naming rights john for a ballpark that is the home park for a team I like? As for the views and such, I am sure they are good.
@@de-fault_de-fault If they ever actually build the 7 train extension to Secaucus, Citi field will have a big step up for NJ fans.
Haha, I'm super familiar with both those stadiums and in fact was just snapping pics of the Staten Island stadium a couple weeks ago. Did they get a new sponsor for MCU Park? I know that one hosts CUNY league games too, and maybe the Cosmos at one point?
When I lived in cambridge for a couple of years, I biked to Fenway all the time (my girlfriend lived blocks from the stadium) and he's right. Biking there is a breeze and it is seamlessly connected to the surrounding areas both to the south and north (despite the mass pike running nearby)
Having the home plate entrance away from downtown allows for a spectacular view of the city while watching the game. While it does require some extra walking for fans who are coming from downtown, I think it helps connect the park with the city visually
Yeah, this was my only gripe in an otherwise wonderful video. I would have paid far more attention to view from the seats (a three hour experience) over where the home plate entrance is. In St Louis, the stadium is arranged so that the Arch is visible, a lovely engagement with the city’s most iconic landmark. Demerits for Busch Stadium bike access is very fair. While the city’s neighborhoods are actually pretty good for biking, the lack of bike infrastructure… hoo boy… well, it would be really cheap to fix that.
For Yankee Stadium, you mentioned the B and D trains, but you kinda glossed over the much more important 4 train. On game nights, they stage bunch of trains in the Bronx, and run them downtown on the 4 with 2-3 minute headways (basically just long enough to pack each train completely full and as soon as a train leaves and the signal clears, the next train rolls in).
The 4 train runs express downtown on the Lexington Ave line, which is the fastest and busiest subway line in the entire system (and all of North America) and has direct connections to EVERY other line in the system (except the G line, but we don’t talk about that line 😉), plus Metro North Railroad in Harlem or Grand Central Terminal, and Long Island Rail Road in Brooklyn (and soon in Manhattan). They empty the stadium out in about an hour with the game night 4 train special service. It’s pretty impressive.
I knew from the very beginning Boston was gonna rank highly, but I was very happy to see we got number 1!
I'm also dead center in thatVenn Diagram, I wrote my final paper for my Geography adjunct major on baseball's geographic history domestically and internationally. Love the video! (but I do have to complain that Wrigley should be #1)
Haha, I did go into this expecting Wrigley to come out on top. That Fenway transit service is too good, though.
As a former Houstonian, one of only a few things I miss about the city itself (i.e. the built environment) is Minute Maid Park, so I'm a little sad it didn't make your honorable mentions. Yeah, it has way too much parking, and Downtown Houston is generally not the greatest, but Minute Maid does have good pedestrian access and transit access and it is right downtown with some apartments, hotels, etc adjacent to it. It's no Wrigley or Fenway, but it's pretty good compared to some of these suburban ballparks.
I agree. I think Houston's blazing summers just make it less accessible to people who are wanting to walk / bike to the park, so there is less access for that. That also forces MMP to have a larger than average parking footprint.
I was also surprised Minute Maid didn’t make the list. It integrates a historic train station, sits one block away from a light rail station, and has a lot of bars and restaurants right outside. The enormous amount of surface parking nearby must have dinged it, though.
This is a great one! I love this topic for a video. I drove to a sporting event once (at San Francisco's long abandoned Candlestick Park), and I will never, ever, go to any sporting event I can't walk to or take a train to again in my life.
Looks like Fenway's gonna get even better! Portion of the mass pike is getting capped, and a massive mixed use development is going on top, with some increased public transit, and removal of some small surface parking lots.
Curious to see where PNC Park fell, parking was certainly a big hit against it but has gotten better recently (and there are plans for high-density residential development adjacent to it). It's right across the river from downtown, has a subway station, great bike access, and good pedestrian access from the riverwalk and across from downtown.
After Fenway and Wrigley,PNC Park is my favorite ballpark.Its a short walk over a lovely old bridge and its just wonderful to see a game there.Should be ahead of crappy Rogers Center!.
@@tommytrinder.1226 And St. Louis.
I agree. As usually Pittsburgh and the Prates get very little love. I have been to both Three Rivers Stadium and PNC Park and I love PNC so much. it's great they close the bridge on Game days to foot traffic only. Best decision Pittsburgh made was to tear down Three Rivers Stadium.
I really love GABP I’m Cincinnati. Great view of the river, good facade, and close to bars and restraints for pregame and postgame. Unfortunately it’s biggest problem can’t be controlled. The interstate cuts the city in half and there is little public transit to get there from surrounding areas. I would love to see some sort of green space over the interstate as well as some transit so people in nearby areas can get there without a car.
If I can be a Citi Field apologist, the transportation there is really very solid. The 7 Line offers frequent service both before and after games, and the LIRR offers half hourly service up until about 11pm and run extra trains post game (when the Mets don't suck). There are also bus routes which I am less familiar with.
I love Citi field, but until the surroundings get renovated to not just be chop shops, it’s at a disadvantage
One important note on Yankee stadium (Mets fans feel free to chime in about Citi Field I haven't been in years) is that the MTA lines up a bunch of consecutive trains at around 10 PM so that no one is waiting too long on the platform. It may average 11 trains per hour but for the 15 minutes just after the game, the apparent rate is much higher. It helps a lot with avoiding crowding on the train.
yah they do that at mets willets point too
The MTA runs as many as 12 extra trains (up to 7 more 4 trains, and 5 more D trains) after Yankees games conclude, in addition to normal service.
@@joesteindam6640 Thanks for providing numbers for my purely anecdotal take. I think this type of thing, combined with how much better the subway is than any other transit in the US, should bump Yankee Stadium to a 10 in transit.
As a former Train Operator for the subway system, I once worked a baseball special for the World Series vs. Padres. I'm on the side track and it's the 7th inning when my train gets the green signal to go into service. I radio the tower to make sure. They told me people are leaving early and filling up the platform. So I pulled into 161st and it was full of fans who have no faith in the Yankees. As we go express under Central Park West, my Conductor tells me that Tino Martinez hits a Grand Slam to give the Yankees the lead. He asked if he should share this with the passengers. I said, 'If you don't, I will!' He tells them the news, and people are cursing, banging the doors, arguing with people who suggested that they leave early. I was laughing in my cab.😆😆😆
Also most of the commuter trains that line up run on the Harlem and New Haven lines which aren't regularly served by the station, because it is a bit out of the way.
Even as a Bostonian I have to give the nod to Oracle over Fenway. Although Fenway is better integrated into a dense part of Boston, that’s because Oracle has the bay on one side, so it’s just much more scenic. Add to that more public transportation options (Caltrain, Muni) than Boston with its weakest subway line (Green); the free viewing area at Oracle where you can watch a couple of innings behind center field (security keeps people moving in and out), while you’re on your way to get a beer at some bar on the pier; and the sheer beauty of the bayside, and you have baseball at its best.
Always had these thoughts in my mind but I’m glad you formalized and organized it! Kansas City is looking at moving the park to the city. Maybe do a bottom 10 list??
I love Kauffman but listening to this list I was like we gotta be bottom 10
San Francisco is the best in my opinion. Located bang in the middle of downtown with dense housing and offices all around. The stadium's parking lots have all been developed with more housing, offices, AND retail (much better than only building housing), and it's a 10 minute walk from the main train station! There's also two light rail lines that directly serve much of the city. The city's rapid transit, BART, isn't too far away either (just 15 minutes by foot), and the intercity bus terminal is quite close by as well. And to top it off, there's a massive ferry terminal just a few blocks away. The surrounding region is filled with entertainment and leisure options, including a beautiful waterfront (that used to contain a freeway that was torn down), a giant shopping mall, numerous public parks, and countless restaurants. Should be a model for stadium developments across the US.
I used to go to Cambridge every year and when I had a chance I would walk past Fenway Park. It is a lovely stadium.
There's nothing like it.
As someone who has been obsessed with ballpark design since I was a kid, this video resonates tremendously. As an Ohioan, I appreciate that both Jacobs Field and the Great American SmallPark get mentioned here, and there's great urbanist minor league ballparks in Ohio too, such that at Canal Park in Akron, kids at the Children's hospital can watch the games from their rooms.
You ragged on the parking at CitiField, but all that parking proved quite useful for FEMA staging during Hurricane Sandy.
Just moved from LA to Boston last month. Running into Fenway while walking without even knowing I was in the area was quite the eye opener. Dodger stadium blows.
Dodger Stadium is amazing
Absolutely floored to see my native San Diego featured on this channel in a positive light. Never thought I'd see the day.
Suggestion: I'm a musician, so I wonder if there's some way to make some music-based content here. Top 10 transit-connected music scenes/venues? Or something like that? Eh, that one probably sucks, but if you can come up with a way to make the general idea work, I'd love to see it.
I am going to the tigers game tmrw, I can say that the ballpark (along with the Little Ceasers Arena and Ford Field) Fits in great with a lot high density around it. There is some parking lots but I would love to here your input about it. (I love ypur Videos)
I'd say baseball fans are some of the most appreciative of public transit here in San Diego. I live at the end of one of our trolley lines and yet it's still faster and cheaper than driving to the stadium. $2.50 for a one way ticket, no worries about parking, and we have three lines with stations next to the stadium, 12th and imperial is where the green, blue, and orange lines meet and it's a block away from the stadium while gaslamp is a block away on the other side of the stadium on just the green line.
I do feel like Oakland Collesium deserves a few props for the BART access. I mean, it fails on a huge number of other points, but there was something magical about getting off the BART and heading onto the overpass to the stadium. Short walk, but it felt like you hadn’t even left the BART station until you reached the stadium really. It’s the sort of integration that a lot of stadiums really could use more of, because it just creates a real welcoming experience.
Agreed. The bart access is amazing. Its way better than pacbell park for transit.
Not just BART, but Amtrak access too! The Amtrak station is actually closer than the BART station, and has direct Capitol Corridor trains running between Sacramento and San Jose, with service timed specifically for game days. For some bigger games (like Battle of the Bay) the San Joaquins route also stops there, letting you ride all the way from Bakersfield to the game. (Though it's also pretty trivial to change to BART at Richmond if you're coming from the central valley).
It's absolute insanity that the A's keep threatening to leave if they don't get a new ballpark at Howard Terminal, when they already have an awesome location at the Coliseum. They should just rebuild the Coliseum instead, and for the seasons it's being rebuilt, they can play in San Francisco.
They could add an Amtrak station at Howard Terminal if there were enough political will, but BART is off the table. Instead they propose some stupid gondola that can't move near enough people at once.
Love to see Camden Yards get the shoutout at the beginning. My dad's been an O's fan for ages, & even though the baseball bug never really bit me to the same extent, I still have really fond memories of riding the Baltimore light rail to watch the O's play the Devil Rays at Camden Yards when I was a kid (yes, we somehow always watched them play the Devil Rays, I don't know why).
The other ballpark I have good feelings about is AutoZone Park in Memphis, which you've mentioned in a previous video for the Main Street Trolley connection, but which I personally love for its outfield lawn seating w/ an adjacent playground. It meant you could turn going to a Redbirds game into a late-afternoon picnic, & an energetic kid who couldn't sit still during the downtime parts of the game had somewhere to go run around instead of bugging his uncles with impatient questions like "when is Stubby Clapp coming to bat again?"
LOL -- I'd like to come back to this topic and look at minor league and maybe spring training ballparks. Are there ballparks around Phoenix that are well connected to the LRT? (I know Chase Field is and probably warranted some kind of mention!)
@@CityNerd so I've never been to a Diamondbacks game myself but whenever they play at home the light rail trains get absolutely packed. Ditto for ASU home games in Tempe. There's also the Phoenix Municipal Stadium, which is just over 1/2 mile from the Priest/Washington station, but it generates a lot less ridership. The other big ballpark in the area is the spring training complex at Riverview in Mesa, which is slated to be the terminus of the Phase 2 extension of the new Tempe Streetcar line.
Whenever I hear someone touting the virtues of a venue’s proximity to transportation systems, I always wonder about the available continuing transportation or parking at the other ends of those transportation lines. Inability to access the “home” end of public transportation is the major reason I rarely use those systems to access the sport venues.
Yeah. Public transportation is useless if you can’t get to the public transportation
Not much of a Baseball fan but I have been to Fenway, Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, T-Mobile, Wrigley, and Oracle Park. I think Fenway, Oracle, and Wrigley stand out as they have so many bars and restaurants within a 5-10 min walking radius. The post-game party rolls out into the streets and continues in the nearby establishments. Camden is semi-similar although there just aren’t as many places to go directly around it (part of the problem is that one side is taken up by parking + M&T football stadium and the other side has the convention center so there is a lot of space used that would otherwise be used as restaurants, bars, shops, etc. It is at least integrated into downtown and easily accessible via train, light rail, bus, bike, and walking. The industrial district around T-Mobile doesn’t feel particularly lively but it is easy to get to from downtown for sure. Yankee isn’t it for me despite being fairly easy to get to.
Can't belive Nats Park in DC is not even mentioned!! It should be in the top 5! Navy Yard is exploding with growth right now and the park will soon be completely encircleled by buildings. It has a bike valet with tons of protected bike lanes nearby and WMATA runs extra Green Line trains on gamedays. The area is beautiful with the brand new Fredrick Douglas Bridge with huge bike/ped lanes and really nice paths along the Anacosta River (which will be swimmable within the decade). Nats Park is also very close to the Wharf with ferry connections to Virginia. Also the Capital South Station is only 15 minute walk from the ballpark where you can access blue/orange/silver lines. Honestly Nats Park deserves the #3 rankings easily.
The moment he didn't include Oriole Park, I knew this list would be meh.
Nationals Park not even being mentioned is a sin!
Ha, I almost spent more time on Oriole Park than anything that was actually on this list!
It's possible there's so much new good stuff around Nationals that it would've moved up this list if I had access to more recent aerials? I dunno. Those WMATA headways are not great, and didn't they just simply not run trains at all after games fairly recently, so you were stranded if you go there by transit? (I didn't account for that in my calcs, just current service...but I sure thought about it!) Anyway, yeah, Nationals Park was worth a mention at least, I agree.
I was afraid that this, being a top 10 list, would fail to slander the Cobb Braves, but I was pleasantly surprised. Subscribed from Atlanta!
Laughed hard at “Indigenous Peoples”. Go Guardians!
Go Indians!!
@@chip6954 Go away!
Go Spiders!
@@supraphonic88 Lmaoo
Go Indians!!
Glad to see T-Mobile in there.
I live in semi nearby Everett, WA, and with the link line slowly growing closer. It makes it increasingly easy to trek the 25 miles to watch the M's, Sounders and Seahawks.
I think you really under-estimated how well integrated skydome is to public transit in Toronto. There is a flood of people after Jays games going to streetcar, subway, and regional rail and with the PATH underground connection weather isn't even a consideration. The walking distance to Union station platforms isn't much more than a big city block with all the shortcuts pedestrians can take. Public transit is by far the most popular way to get to and from Skydome and I doubt you can say that about many American ball parks outside of New York.
I grew up on the other side of Lake Ontario and would always ride the GO Train to and from Toronto for a few games a year. The train rides are an extension of the game itself since they are packed with people doing the exact same thing as you. It's the same experience on the subway and streetcar networks.
great video! as a giants fan, I’m proud to say that I go to about 3-4 games a year a bike to everyone (if I don’t, I take bus). the sf bike coalition has a great free service (still tip!) that stores bikes in a safe area. love going to games there, huge thanks to the urbanist design that went into making it
shame the 49ers couldn't have made a deal to get their stadium near the baseball stadium. It would have been sick to have the NFL, MLB, and NBA stadiums all walking distance from each other.
The Orioles are in 11th place on this list, 1st place in my heart, sure to be last in the AL this year!🔸◼️
This comment didn't age well lolol. Not even last place in the East and a (slightly) winning record!
@@wheeliebeast7679 I know, it was incredible.
I’m one of those urbanists you mentioned who’s not a huge sports fan. I do, however, live in Boston and so don’t have the legal option to completely ignore sports. Fenway is just a huge pleasure for me (or it would be if it weren’t for the cost of admission.) Even if I’m not going to a game, if I’m in the Fenway area at a restaurant or bar it’s so nice to hear the cheers from the park and see the crowds on the street. The year the Sox broke the curse we celebrated in the streets in a way that made me think that, yeah, this is what makes an urban park so special.
Don't have a ballpark but we do have the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium which at one point was the world's largest stadium (we will get our revenge on India). It's known for hosting the Mass Games, which has the record for the biggest gymnastics display as well as hosting a part of an inter-Korean summit when Moon Jae-in visited Pyongyang
You know your channel has arrived when Dear Leader has commented on your video.
The first neo-Urbanist (new urbanist) ballpark was actually in Buffalo in 1989 (it’s had many names) for their AAA team. The same folks then designed Camden Yards.
There is a pedestrian walkway directly from Union Station to the Skydome (Rogers Centre) - called the Skywalk. It goes past the UP express station, over the railway tracks and spits you out right at the stadium.
Also for Roger’s Centre/Skydome - there’s 3 streetcar lines within a 5 minute walk. 509 Harbourfront along Queen Quay, 510 Spadina, and 504 King. All of them run every 5 mins or better usually. You can pick up the 509 and 510 from Union directly, as an alternative to the longer walk.
I liked the opening shot of downtown Detroit from inside Comerica Park. I'm sad that you didn't mention it. In addition to the city and suburban bus systems, you can take the People Mover from the stadium to Mariners' Church and then take the Tunnel Bus to Canada!
Have you ever discussed the QLine on the channel?
I wanted to at least include a shot if it because it’s so nice! Didn’t quite hit the criteria
I grew up in Roxbury Massachusetts and use to take the subway and train to Fenway every day after school and pay $1-$5 to get into game and watch every game. It’s amazing how many ways there are to get to Fenway!
The Who Framed Rodger Rabbit reference!
I'm glad that you included Rogers Centre in Toronto. I remember when it opened in '89. It seemed very cool with its retractable roof, but within a few years - after Camden Yards, etc. - it seemed old before its time. It's hard to believe that now it is one of the oldest stadiums in baseball. Its location, though - in the downtown core - is terrific
The meme-ified highway interchange in Atlanta you mentioned is actually a different highway interchange than the one Truist Park is next to.
Also worth noting that *former* Turner Field south of Downtown has a future BRT line in design right now. So if the Braves had stayed, there would be at least *1* decent transit connection. But at the moment Turner is shit and they would just run shuttles from a MARTA rail station, which means no one would use it and parking and traffic at the stadium was a nightmare. Theres also not much bike access to turner, but more is coming in the area. Truist has some bike access, from a bunch of glorified sidewalks that technically qualify as MUPs, but we all know theres no-one that lives within biking distance of stadium in that suburban hell.
i think you're mistaken because that is the correct interchange. The photos in the memes are from before the stadium and its surroundings were built. The stadium sits on the forested area just to the left of the interchange shown in the photo at 11:46
@@PerniciousEel Fair point. I think I've also just seen the meme with I-85/285 Spaghetti junction
@@adamt195 Yeah, to be fair I think there are multiple Atlanta interchanges that get memed (sadly) -- so we are all correct!
@@CityNerd right. There's also memes about the one downtown right by Turner.
Also, the city of Atlanta prioritized the Falcons and Hawks over the Braves when it came time for new stadiums. This despite the Braves being the only team to deliver championships to the city.
Nationals Park in Washington DC is INCREDIBLY urbanist. Navy Yard has incredibly convenient bike connection, the stadium is served by the Navy Yard Metro Station on the green line, the parking footprint is condensed into two onsite parking garages that together take up less than half the footprint of the stadium itself, and even though there are large roads on 3 sides of the stadium, they are always shut down on gameday so the entire complex is walkable. Plus, the home plate entrance is at the top of a grassy knoll that faces Diamond Teague Park across the street. The park runs along the bank of the Anacostia river and affords beautiful views for fans waiting for the doors to open.
How the hell wasn’t pnc park on the list? Like seriously. 2 subway lines, bike paths all around, Ferries that let you off right outside the stadium… don’t get it
I live right on Addison St a few blocks from Chicago and consistently - at least during the winter - forget there’s a major MLB stadium right on my doorstep. And from personal experience, the 152 is really efficient. I take it and the red line for work just about every day