Why a 26-Lane Freeway Didn't Fix Houston (US Cities Ranked)

Every American city is the result of one decision someone made decades ago — a street map, a vote, a lawsuit. We ranked 12 major US cities from best to worst designed, and found the exact decision behind each one. Why does New York work without a car? Why does Chicago have miles of free public lakefront? Why was Los Angeles built around trains — and then rebuilt for cars? And why is the city in last place not badly designed, but never designed at all? Which city did we rank wrong? Defend it in the comments. CHAPTERS 0:00 The worst-designed city in America? 1:24 #1 New York City — the 1811 grid 2:21 #2 Washington, D.C. — diagonals and a height limit 3:17 #3 Chicago — "forever open, clear and free" 4:27 #4 Boston — streets built before the car 5:31 #5 Philadelphia — William Penn's five squares 6:19 #6 San Francisco — the 6–5 vote after an earthquake 7:14 #7 Portland — the freeway that became a park 8:03 #8 Los Angeles — the city built around trains 8:59 #9 Salt Lake City — a surveyor's chain from 1620 9:54 #10 Jacksonville — the city that swallowed its county 10:36 #11 Atlanta — the train system the suburbs voted down 11:30 #12 Houston — the city that voted not to be designed 12:38 The pattern behind every city SOURCES • Houston zoning referendums (1948, 1962, 1993): City of Houston Planning Department; Houston Landing • Katy Freeway lane count: PolitiFact • Chicago lakefront and A. Montgomery Ward: Illinois Supreme Court Historical Preservation Commission • Embarcadero Freeway removal (6–5 vote, 1991): SPUR; Livable City • Harbor Drive removal (1974): Congress for the New Urbanism • Pacific Electric Railway: Orange Empire Railway Museum; LA Metro Library • Salt Lake City plat and Gunter's chain: 99% Invisible; Utah AGRC • MARTA referendums: Atlanta Magazine; Georgia Encyclopedia • Big Dig cost: Associated Press / MassDOT • NYC car-free households and land areas: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS, 2020 Census) • Height of Buildings Act (1910): National Capital Planning Commission Images: Wikimedia Commons (cropped, color-graded, animated): • 4300streetcar — CC BY 4.0 • Andrew Smith — CC BY-SA 2.0 • City of Boston Archives — CC BY 2.0 • David Adam Kess — CC BY-SA 4.0 • David Daniel Turner — CC BY 4.0 • dbking on flickr — CC BY 2.0 • DXR — CC BY-SA 4.0 • Ed Uthman — CC BY 3.0 • Famartin — CC BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Flickr photographer sanbeiji / Joe Lewis — CC BY-SA 2.0 • formulanone — CC BY-SA 2.0 • Frank Schulenburg — CC BY-SA 4.0 • Frederick Dennstedt — CC BY-SA 2.0 • Gary Halvorson — CC BY 4.0 • GeraldPHawkins — CC BY 3.0 • Greenway Conservancy — CC BY-SA 4.0 • JaGa — CC BY-SA 4.0 • John Phelan — CC BY-SA 3.0 • Johnny Xmas — CC BY 3.0 • Ken Lund — CC BY-SA 2.0 • Laurence's Pictures — CC BY 2.0 • Los Angeles Times — CC BY 4.0 • Marc Merlin — CC BY-SA 4.0 • MrJARichard — CC BY 4.0 • Sharon Hahn Darlin — CC BY 2.0 • Tamanoeconomico — CC BY-SA 4.0 • Tony Webster — CC BY 2.0 Stock video: Pixabay Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors, © OpenMapTiles #urbanplanning #cities #citydesign