10 Worst Big City Downtowns in the U.S.

The problem is that there are about 25 cities tied for #11 on this list. Everyone thinks that their downtown is one of the best or one of the worst. Nobody thinks thinks their downtown is "pretty average".

How is Atlanta not on the list? Mostly empty offices and a 14 lane highway going right through the center.

Hey Kyle, I have a video idea. How about the top largest cities not located on/near a body of water (lake, river, bay, ocean)?

Downtown LA is also in a weird location, it's not on the LA River and it's not in the middle of LA, it's in LA's extreme east, so the gravitas of LA is split between Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, and West LA. Even it's beautiful train station is off to the side, alone and across the freeway; disconnected from downtown. I lived in LA for half of my life in the 80s and 90s and I'm as big a LA booster as anyone but the reality is that while downtown LA "could" become a cool and lively place, the city just doesn't know how to do that organically and tries to force places to exist instead of letting downtown be what people want it to be. Right now it's just a place of little disjointed districts with nothing to bring them together, no cohesion, with pockets of character amid blocks of no-man's land. Am I talking about the LA of 1984 or 2024? Yes. People will say it's gotten better and so much has changed, which may be so but it's basically still the same. It's stunning to me that the 2nd largest city in the US with a very lively and diverse entertainment and social scene has such a drab downtown. It's shocking. But then again, that is what LA is all about, isn't it? Stage sets with nothing behind them. The universally hated Pershing Sq is a perfect example of a staged plaza that has had the soul programmed out of it and instead of creating something people want there, a shaded human scale plaza like what used to be there (before it was ripped out for the underground parking lot, which precludes any trees, in an attempt to imitate SF's Union Sq without the amenities around it, and refusing to take the parking out), the city is intending on another over-designed and lifeless plaza, a "forced" place. I live in Chicago now with one of the best downtowns in the world, and as much as it pains me, something LA will never likely come close to having.

Washington, D.C.’s downtown is fine, and it is not across in Virginia. There are museums, historic homes and churches to tour, and lots of cafes and restaurants.

Kinda surprised San Jose, CA didn't make the list -- the downtown is very small and is majorly height-restricted due to the nearby airport. It's very empty outside of a few bars by the university, and there's not a lot of jobs in Downtown specifically -- most of the jobs are in sprawling tech campuses way out in the suburbs (Cupertino, Mountain View, Los Gatos, etc.) I think your inclusion of DTLA is very fair, it is quite dirty and dilapidated. There are some areas of improvement -- the area by Staples Center has notably improved -- but a lot of Downtown is very underdeveloped and nasty. Century City and the Westside are the largest job centers in the city, and while city leadership has been trying to increase tourism in DTLA, it's not somewhere I'd recommend tourists to spend a lot of time in.

Strong disagree about using Rosslyn as the proxy downtown for DC. DC has its own downtown, and it's not the national mall. There's the Foggy Bottom area, Farrgut Square area, McPherson Square area, Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center area, and Gallery Place/Chinatown area that could all be considered a part of DC's downtown. It's very walkable and has a lot going on. No one from DC would consider the national mall to be downtown.

Madison, WI is similar to Columbus, OH in that it is a state capitol and home to a Big Ten University - but in Madison, those two institutions are connected by State Street and many people who work for the University and the State and the City live within walking distance, and both have many activities on the weekends as well as good bars and restaurants in the area.

I liked this video but would definitely like to see a “best 10 downtown” version

Kansas city is just crazy. So much highway. Its unbelievable

Been a fan for years, love the new intro lol

Covid really hit downtowns hard. Many of them are going to need to reinvent themselves.

How did Indianapolis avoid the list?

Couldn't disagree more with the DC placement. Like... I just don't get the logic whatsoever.

“One more lane bro,” had me smirk and chuckle out loud. lol Man i absolutely love the content on this channel, u do such an incredible job. I really appreciate the wide range of geographic and demographic topics. I’m always looking forward to the next video to come. Just wanted to say I wish u nothing but success, the passion and hard work absolutely shows!

I'm a resident of downtown Atlanta. I'm a little surprised we didn't make the Top 10. We definitely have our issues. BUT we do have football/soccer/basketball and major concerts here. Maybe that kept us off the list. On the downside, It's pretty rough here.

I'm glad Vegas made this list. As a local, people don't realize how boring Las Vegas can be because it lacks things like a functioning exciting downtown.

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city. Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty. How can you lose? The lights are much brighter there. You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares. So go downtown.

Downtown DC is a thing that’s not the national mall. And it’s probably one of the best in the country. The height restrictions just make it so you can’t see it super obviously

Mill Ave in Tempe has become such a soulless, grey, plastic and culture less heat dome in such a short time