🏛️ Is Boston Really The Most European US City?
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- Опубликовано: 7 ноя 2023
- 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!
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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
Yes I totally agree! Coming from Toronto where transit is open until past 2am, it was a shock to discover the T being closed by midnight! Still love living here of course 😊
We found out the hard way about the T closing early after a Red Sox game. But otherwise, I love Boston!
The City of New York has a subway system which has very rarely shut down since it started operating in 1904. It's nearly always open (Superstorm Sandy did shut down the subway, though.)
Boston is an academic city!
Students AND their Teachers need the required Sleep in order to function wisely!!
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.
Every city in the USA has planning, they just might call it something else. For example, Houston technically doesn't have zoning, but they still have onerous land use regulations.
Thanks for having me on the video guys!! 😊 If anyone has any questions, feel free to let me know!
I’m from Boston but I live just outside of it. On the ground it feels just like any other big city, but I can see why someone would say this. You guys should go to Boston to really feel a welcomed and historic vibe.
Thank you for the invite! Our visit is definitely overdue :)
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!
I’m from DC, the city always looked European in my eyes, thought it would be a great mention!
You’re so right - perhaps our next video should be about DC! 👌🏻
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
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!
I always liked the vibe there in boston.
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.
Boston was founded in 1630 and therefore the 17th century. Or, 171 years before the 19th century or 71 years before the 18th century.
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.
Potholes can be fixed. Extremely limited spaces should be viewed as an offering to the charm of the city and the pedestrians for walkability. High costs of living can be thought of as a mark of desirability.
If one can't change the externals, one can remodel the internals by changing one's perspectives. In any interaction, there are *ALWAYS* two sides. Taking both sides as one's very own means that one can seldom lose.
Ultimately, it's one's peace of mind which really matters.
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.
There are photos of S.F. and L.A. going back into the mid 19th Century and the further back you go the more European those two cities become.
As someone who grew up in the ‘burbs outside Boston, it was always a nice place to go in and visit when out of town relatives came to visit or to go to a championship parade, but I would not want to trade in my nice green yard and 2 car garage to live in it every day
Nice green yard sounds splendid! ☺️👌🏻
That's because the suburbs around Boston are nicer than most. You have nice green yards full of gardens, shrubs and trees, while in most of the country you have these cookie cutter houses on postage stamp lots where you can't have anything but driveway and lawn, often enforced by totalitarian homeowners' associations (HOAs).
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
Very interesting subject, but I can't stand the TTS. Especially this more "advanced" kind where it can be almost convincing for short periods... at least with Microsoft Sam there was no pretence.
Boston is the melting part euro american architecture. Also, the best city in new england region. The only downside, most of the roads/sidewalks are not wide enough to add a bus lane and protected/seperate bike lanes.
As someone from Boston I have to agree especially Cambridge my hometown
I’m in Boston at the moment.
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.
Wait, this isn't _Not Just Bikes..._
I'm looking to Smallish Cities in East Kentucky & East Tennessee, Not near big Cities!
45 minutes or More to Airport is fine.
How do you Find Great Candidates for conversion to Residencial/& or Mixed use for States & Cities that aren't Like Boston?
(Are New & San Francisco Like Boston, as far as Walkable & Much larger Percentage of Public Transportation use?)
I'm not a fan of "car dependent Cities!🙄😬😎
Boston born here and proud of the European roots of my Birthplace. Anybody from the area will tell you how the MBTA (aka the "T") can become hit or miss these days. Public Transit here, even though accessible, has now been showing its age especially with the ever growing capacity of the People who use it. Expect potential delays due to transit and track related issues that happen here and there; as Murphy's Law is by and large in that particular area.
Boston does remind me of Frankfurt, Germany, where its River Main separates the more Historic Area from the Metropolitan, akin to Boston's Charles River. It's no wonder why I affectionately call Frankfurt "The German Boston" from time to time.
Also interesting to add the Ayer Mill Clock Tower of Lawrence, MA on 6:52. Brick Mill Buildings have been a staple in American Architecture back in the day.
@rachel_c4558
I am worried by the rebar concrete retaining walls (with exposed rusting steel) next to the Massachusetts Turnpike in Newton. Rusting steel expands and breaks apart concrete. Then there may be a collapse onto the roadway.
Also the undersides of many steel-beamed overpasses show rust. These should be regularly checked and replaced if necessary.
@rachel_c4558
The problems with the 'T' are probably due to the "let it rot" Zen philosophy over decades. It's now a Zen-like fashionable mind state of the young people in China.
ABSOLUTELY!!
I SPENT MOST OF MY LIFE IN THAT GLORIOUS
CITY, MOST OF MY STUDY
YEARS AND ALL OF MY PROFESSIONAL YEARS.
I certainly agree that its reputation of being "the Athens of America" is very well-deserved.
Maybe it's a kind of cultural affinity because I lived some of my formative teenage years in the "Academic Acropolis" on Morningside Heights in the City of New York.
The title of the most European city in the USA would actually go to New Orleans, at least for the old part of the city.
Debatable? :) If you want an English aesthetic, then Boston. If you prefer French, New Orleans. If you want Spanish influence, St. Augustine. And there’s still few more cities to consider.
@CuriousMuse washington dc is the most European city in the us and it's not even close or debatable lol it's just slightly more modern than NOLA or Boston
So is France more European than Great Britain? Also Boston is close to a century older than New Orleans.
Post wtu lol I think the robot voice meant to say wwii 😂
Couldn’t tell it wasn’t a human narrator until that goof. Impressive
😬
I like my life in Americas suburbs.
I think our time has passed and cars n suburbs will continue to be the choice of most! Sad but I think true.’
We I thing there’s going to be an even bigger demand for tiny homes!
All because of rent and 🏠 being so out of reach, the cost of housing is only going to increase till cars and suburbs rule😢
Kathy
Washington State🇺🇸👋🏻
Türkçe altyazı da eklemelisin.
I want video about australia please ❤❤❤❤❤
Great, hopefully next one! 👍🏻
Thanks ❤❤❤❤@@CuriousMuse
I thought it was Philadelphia. Also European cities have problems too,
I agree that Boston is the most European city in the United States*, but I thought this video missed one of Boston's most European characteristics: that it is an economic and governmental center.
The European cities that this video celebrates are their countries' largest city, economic capital, the national capital. Boston obviously isn't the US capital, but it's the state capital of Massachusetts, as well as the economic capital of New England. The governmental + economic synergies give Boston benefits few other US cities get.
(with the necessary qualifications about not all of Boston having that quasi-European street layout and architecture and that European cities aren't a monolith)
I found the Back Bay neighborhood's street names to be as easily remembered as A, B, C..: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter...
It's quite ordered, a bit like Manhattan's street naming.
4:45 '...Boston's transportation system ranks among the nation's best...' What? I've lived in Boston my entire life and the MBTA (aka The T) is awful. The main problem is the T is a haven for patronage and has a very strong union. This leads to gross incompetence. The T is slow, with frequent delays, poorly maintained, and dirty. The streets, roads and highways in and around Boston are now much more congested than before the pandemic all because of a lack of faith in the T.
Take it as a joke, my dear !!!
"Let it rot !" is global Zen philosophy. Boston just led it earlier than China's youth discovering such a breakthrough. 😂
@@solconcordia4315 Huh?
I like Boston a lot but not to drive in. The most European city? I do not know. I do know that it doesn't feel very European to me. Boston is a fanatical sports city. Hockey, basketball and baseball. Hockey especially
Why doesn’t it feel European to you?
@@CuriousMuse I have been fortunate to have visited Spain and southern Italy a few times. For me Boston does not evoke Europe at all. It is a vibrant city no doubt due to the biotech sector,
It seems like we're stuck in this doom loop forever because despite romanticizing European cities, Americans will turn Kyle and Karen NIMBY on you the moment you suggest densifying suburban sprawl and make it more European. It can be done but usually you need a run-down stroad or derelict property such as a dead mall to redevelop, and also use the language of conservatives, such as "wise use".
Navigation in Boston was certainly a problem to me. It seemed to me that the whole vehicular traffic flow pattern resembles that of a tornado "Todo, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore."
There were *ONE-WAY* streets which seemed to bring one very close to the edge of the Atlantic Ocean before allowing one to join a way back out so after half an hour or stuck in traffic jam, one finally get another chance at making a correct turn to move towards the destination.
Then there were literally one-way streets leading to a brick wall 🧱. One had to back one's car all the way out to escape these driving-skill tests.
While walking, it's indeed relatively small so that one can reach destination *IF* one figures out which direction and street to walk in. I asked a pedestrian for directions.
I got street names such as Milk Street after the person had turned all around looking for taller building landmarks. I was half-expecting that I would meet a cow 🐄 near Milk Street. The streets meander and curve so the cardinal compass directions of North, South, East, West didn't work well at all. Follow the bovine traffic leader, eh ? 😂
Disclosure: I first landed in America to live in Manhattan which largely uses a grid-coordinate naming system: avenues run South-North and streets run East-West, both being increasing-ordinal-numbered starting from Lower Manhattan's East side.
i think boston is great
but i feel the rest of the country is too far gone
Americans romanticize European cities too much. We can all agree that sprawl is definitely not the urban future we want, but it’s important to have in mind that European style density also have it’s fair share of problems.
People simply generalise Europe too much. Many European cities are extremely well built and many are more comparable to American cities.
I think that my country has very beautiful natural wilderness landscapes, probably dwarfing Europe's: ruclips.net/video/zTBmv-Gzf2w/видео.htmlsi=21Ts5Bqz8e_VJxeE
I grew up in young childhood in a shantytown by a tall mountain in Kowloon, Hong Kong, so nature was my "backyard" playground which I loved.
Non è vero che romanticizzano troppo, sono nettamente più belle e storiche punto, poi spiegami te il senso di sviluppare una città un altezza quando puoi farlo in modo normale
She’s dead wrong about how many people lived in urban areas in the 1930s. It was about 56%. This is easily verifiable with a quick search. Makes me wonder about the accuracy of anything in this video of you can’t get basic facts right.
I got the 75% figure from research data done by The Brookings Institution. I’m happy to double check this figure and dig a little deeper if you let me know where the 56% figure you indicate is based on.
I hate these video about “America bad Europe good”
Boston is European because it's dense and basically unplanned. Yes it's easy to travel like Europe because it's density and small area.
The public transit is not close to European standards. It's plagued by incompetence.
The roads are a nightmare. London, Paris etc, as bad as there roads are, are not nearly as inefficient as Boston.
The people who made this video have a very superficial knowledge of Bostons transit system.
Thank you for sharing your opinion! What does make you think we have a superficial knowledge of Boston's transit system?
The ka-ching ka-ching music of the 'T', probably.