I like the access you have to things you need in the city plus more opportunities, but I don't like the cold, "we don't give a damn about you", attitude
I was born and spent 40+ years in Alaska, living in anchorage for several years. It is very literally the only city in Alaska that feels even remotely close to " normal" America. Most Alaskans who don't live there think of it as the "big city" , and not real Alaska . I worked for the company that owns that Beautiful three tower copper colored hotel featured several times in the Video. The smallest of the three is the original. After the 1964 9.0 Earthquake, the owner, who was the governor of the state at the time built the two bigger towers basically on the fault line as an expression of Alaskan spirit and confidence . He very literally put his money where his mouth was. He later served in Nixons cabinet, and was famously fired for a leaked letter to Nixon lamenting the he was paying too much attention to outside advisers, and not to his cabinet. He died in 2010, and per his request was buried standing up facing east toward Washington D.C. God I miss Alaska,and stand up folks like Wally Hickel
From Anchorage too. Moved away in 2015, and live in Indiana now. I'll always think of myself as an Alaskan, but I don't think I'll ever move back. Anchorage has just gone really downhill in the last couple decades. My relatives back home have been complaining about how bad the city snow removal has gotten...and we all know how important that is after a heavy snowfall. Just sad.
I liked Wally, person to person, but he was a shitty governor. I've gotten to have a few long chats with him... one while he was in hospital at Prov... he really was a nice guy, but that made him unsuitable as governor. I left in 2016, and not exactly by choice (my parents needed a driver and had moved to rural Oregon near Corvallis). I miss the amenities, but I don't miss the winter dark, nor the midsummer skyglow. I miss some friends who still live there, too. I won't move back.
Hubby & I are introverts, so even at almost 70 & 68, my dream is 14 acres. In the middle of it, I want a tiny house & trees all around the surrounding outskirts of acreage. My dogs, cats, chickens & maybe a rescue mule or smaller horse. 🤔💭😘
It's true, OKC is huge. If you don't have a car it's hard to get around, even though there is city busses. JFYI the buss system is garbage. I'm so glad I don't live there anymore.
And enough horrible tornados to blow it all away. The highest sky scraper they wanna build there, that should be interesting. And by interesting I mean in a horrifying way.
Tulsa is a beautiful city. They put the land to good use. They have wonderful parks and a nature reserve in the city. They have excellent museums and a vibrant downtown. Tulsa is a jewel.
There is a story behind Virginia Beach being so large in land mass. Prior to 1963, it was a rather small resort city that adjoined northeastern Princess Anne County. Norfolk was on the western side of the county and kept annexing portions of it. Princess Anne wasn't happy about this and made arrangements to merge with Virginia Beach. It took approval of voters in both Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach as well as the State Legislature of Virginia. Princess Anne County ceased to exist on January 1, 1963 and became part of Virginia Beach in its entirety.
If you don,t carry yourself well you just might get robbed by people who came here from another country as many a time I have had some punk hit me up for money! Most LOCAL people are GOOD its the many that have contempt for our laws and our ways that are the problem!
Having lived in Jacksonville for a bit I was perplexed by its enormous size when looking at a map. It is large by square miles because of a unique event in its history: the consolidation of the city and county governments in 1968. This consolidation merged Duval County and Jacksonville into a single entity, which drastically expanded the city's geographic size. The result is that Jacksonville is one covers over 840 square miles.
I was driving down Lem Turner Rd yesterday between 295 and Callahan. If you didn’t know better you would think you’d have already left the city. Population: Cows and Trees
Maybe he mentioned how the "Tulsa Race Massacre" narrative was complete BS and decided to tell the REAL story of who actually started it and who murdered people first, but then TH-cam threatened to demonetize this video and flag his channel if he didn't remove the problematic facts and stick to the woke script. That's my guess.
I moved to Tulsa from DFW, I love the slower pace, less traffic, friendly people. I lived in Virginia Beach for a while when I was in the Navy, you know it's a seasonal town when they even board-up the McDonalds for the winter!
Anchorage is perfect for me. All the amenities of a city without the people. Speaking of social distancing, that was the best time of my life because I had an excuse to interact even less.
thank you, Mr. Briggs, another entertaining video. i’ve been fascinated by population densities since I was a kid because I grew up in one of the least populated states, Wyoming fun fact, Cheyenne is 137.5 people per square mile:-):-).
Tucson may not be as packed as other cities but there is traffic. Its a college town close to the border and huge homeless problem. It opens up as you reach the outskirts of the city
I attended a conference in Tulsa about 5 years ago. It was the least busy big city downtown I had ever seen. We were commenting "where is everyone, where is all the traffic, does anyone work downtown?"
I-30 and 40 across Arkansas is a major drug trafficking route, so the Arkansas cops don't fool around. My niece got her car stolen in Memphis (shocking I know) and the Arkansas state troopers Pitt maneuvered the car at 115mph. You run from them, they assume you are a tweaked out drug runner and look to end you.
@@zimmejoc The Troopers I've met are very tough no nonsense. I was a minor accident last year that reinforced that perception. Yes there is way much drug trafficking taking place in Arkansas. Some may be in transit but a lot gets drooped off along the way.
i live in tulsa and to me it feels populated enough there’s a moderate amount of traffic but there’s always people walking places but downtown is pretty much a ghost town at night.
I feel like the person who made this video has never been to any of these places. Like drive around Kansas City and you will see lots of folks driving and walking around. OKC does really feel empty on a weekend, though. When I saw the video title I figured it must be on the list.
Great stuff as always! As far as neighbors, having spent my childhood and early adulthood living in Southern California, I am loving being in a small town of less than 500 in PA. For me, I prefer fewer neighbors and the peace and quiet a small town provides.
I drive from Colorado to Memphis twice a year. I will never, ever, ever try to drive through Tulsa again. The drive through Oklahoma City is a little longer, but getting through the construction in downtown Tulsa is impossible. Never again.
Anchorage was beautiful to visit in the summer. The flowers were beautiful since they had sun , morning and night. Don’t think I could take the winters.
I lived in Virginia Beach for 2 years, we just moved due to family reasons. I absolutely loved it. It does not feel like a busy city at all. There are local beach spots away from the ocean front that are much nicer. Safe, semi-affordable, clean, and easy going style. Some people complain about traffic, but unless you are crossing the bridges between the towns around VB I rarely had issues. There is a lack of a real downtown and lots of road construction where the 2 main drawbacks. I will be spending some time there every year after I retire, and visiting friends there a lot.
I can imagine it’s a hard sell considering the high risk of another storm destroying homes and lives like that again. The city is below sea level and get hit by storms often. Huge risk
@@AlexP-dz7ew not true - about half of the city is. Mostly lakeview, lower 9th and areas that were sold for cheaper land in the late 1800's after the pump was invented. French Quarter, Uptown and the hipper areas are not below sea level. Heavy rains are a problem with street flooding though.
For me, personally, when I visited South Dakota back in 2008, a traffic jam was like three or four cars. South Dakota was so empty, I remember watching a commercial in my hotel room that was trying to get people to move there and/or stay there.
Well, that was fun different and amusing. Thank you for always stating the name of the city that you’re into -this minute or that - , in the beginning, the middle, and the end,
The Jacksonville land mass is large because the city effectively annexed the all of Duval county, with a couple small exceptions. They did this so that as the urban area grew the city would continue to collect the taxes.
Last May, my wife and I visited Nashville. We were surprised how easy it was to find open street parking at their Parthenon, and downtown at a brewery. Considering how popular Nashville has become, we didn't expect to find any availabke street parking. As for neighbors, I'd prefer one house per acre at the most. When we stopped at Cody, Wyoming overnight on our way to Yellowstone a few years back, we were driving through some of the surrounding areas. There would be only 1 house for as far you could see. That would be awesome
I have just over an acre. I have neighbors but they aren't in my face. Perfect to take care of and feel like i have a "cushion". The neighbors are great and there if you need them. ❤
First place I thought of when I saw the title was Montgomery, Alabama. I was hanging out in the center of town on a normal weekday morning. Over the course of about an hour, I saw maybe three or four locals. The only other people I saw at all were folks from a tour bus. It was genuinely kind of creepy how empty the place was. There were cars parked in various places, which made me think there had to be people around, working or whatever. But NOBODY out on the streets at all. Super weird. With a population six times that of the small town I grew up in, where even on the quietest Sunday morning there would still have been bunches of people wandering around, it felt wrong. As for the question, I've grown to like having neighbors. The older I get, the more of a city person I become. I like sitting on my patio and saying "hi" to my neighbors as they walk by, or chatting with folks in my neighborhood if I'm out walking a dog. The more I look around at the culture of fear we're building for ourselves, always stuck in our cars, behind fences, trying to move our families out into the sticks, suspicious of everyone, convinced there's crime everywhere, etc. I want to go against that. I want to get involved with my neighborhood, build community, and fight against the mindless fear. I've been stuck in the suburbs since moving to this metropolitan region almost 20 years ago. Finally, I'll be moving into the city proper next month, and I'm thrilled. My wife & I have already started striking up some friendships with folks who will be our neighbors, and we're looking into some of the various community activities. We have a loneliness epidemic, and hiding in the woods isn't going to help with that. Dropping out of society is a coward's path. It's lazy. I'm ready to do the work of being part of a community.
For some, living away from people is a legitimate preference. There’s nothing cowardly about that. As for the rest of your comment, I do agree though. Many people are misled into fearing being around people in cities.
@@facingthewind I agree with that. It's one thing if you have a preference. It's why I often get annoyed with folks who say, "but I don't want to live in a city" when I tell them that living in a city has a lot of positive aspects. That's fine. You don't need to. But the culture of fear and hate, often with more than a little smug moral superiority, that comes from a vocal group of folks who choose to live away from cities, along with their refusal to understand how much of their choice to live there is directly subsidized by all the urban people they look down upon really gets my goat. Especially when part of the reason cities are so expensive to live in are the taxes that pay for suburban & rural infrastructure AND the votes of folks who live in cities are less meaningful than those of rural voters. Frustrating.
"...the culture of fear we're building for ourselves, always stuck in our cars, behind fences, trying to move our families out into the sticks, suspicious of everyone, convinced there's crime everywhere, etc." Exactly! For so many, this must get worse with each generation. They're raised by scared parents, so they grow up scared, they become parents who are even more scared than their parents, etc. With each generation, they move farther out, into "communities" that are even more dominated by vehicles (and even more hostile towards pedestrians). However, in their desperation to escape crime, they move to places that are even more dominated by vehicles, which increases the likelihood that they'll have a serious vehicular accident. Americans can be so scared of crime, yet so oblivious to vehicular danger. Here's another factor: parking. Most Americans just can't get enough of it. 🙄 Here's another factor: ego. Vehicles are ego machines. Many, many people derive enormous ego satisfaction from their vehicles. Using public transportation? That's inherently beneath their high-status selves.
I have awesome neighbors on either side of me. For one, we shout across the fence and then walk toward each other, talking over the fence just like in a 1950s sit com. I like having neighbors very closeby!
One of the main reasons OKC, OK has such a low population density is because for what ever reason they have extended the city limits miles and miles and miles outside of the "built up" part of OKC. its one thing not wants the suburbs to encroach and not let OKC grow and expand, but OKC takes this to a whole new level x10.
I was in Anchorage in June...24 hours of light... downtown was almost a ghost town. It felt unsafe. It really sucked. Ditto Fairbanks downtown. Rest of Akaaka... dreamy and wonderful
Detroit has 4,829.9 people per square mile making it the 20th most dense city in America as of the most recent census. That makes it more dense than Dallas, Phoenix or Denver. It doesn't belong on this list.
@@ThatGuyPotatoes It's a bit interesting with Detroit. On paper, it's pretty dense... but as a resident, I can confirm that a lot of Detroit is comprised of denser neighborhoods and less dense patches in between. Heck, it even has a couple smaller cities completely inside its city limits. It's been seeing more people moving in over the past decade or so, but yeah, there's still spots that are effectively wilderness. Detroit is geographically pretty large - I remember seeing a map once that showed that Detroit could actually fit Boston, San Francisco and Manhattan inside the city limits comfortably.
Tucson is very packed in January. The largest rock and gem show in the world happens. It basically covers most of the city. Millions of people from around the world swarm there. So yea, in January the traffic is absolutely terrible.
I do not care what the stats say.... Nashville, is OVERPOPULATED and traffic is a nightmare. There isn't room to BREATHE between Hendersonville to Murfesboro.
Spacing should be such that you can have a large party at your house - and your next door neighbor would not be disturbed. I would say roughly 2 to 5 acre plots for each family home is my ideal.
Sounds like you want to live in an area that is not financially sustainable. Either have the space and no services or have neighbors with service. The taxes the government make off of people isn't enough to cover city amenities in a suburb area. You can't have city amenities in a sprawling car dependent suburb otherwise your city goes bankrupt because it's not financially solvent and is subsidized.
The fastest growing county in Mississippi is the one just south of Memphis. Not all cities are really all city, so the units can be confusing. Like some cities like SF are small and compact, and have lots of other cities near them, other cities like Chongqing are the size of Vermont and mostly rural with a smaller urban core (and many urban cities inside them). So calling anchorage a city just because it has control over what we would call a county down here is a bit misleading (same prob with Jacksonville).
Okay, so these stats are correct but unhelpful. Wichita KS, where I live is a pretty lightly populated city, but its pop per sq mi is too high to be on the list. This video really says way more about how massive a lot of city limits are. Nashville or Jacksonville traffic is insane compared to Wichita.
Anchorage is fine for a day or two for flying in and out of. It's where you rent a car and head down to the Kenai Peninsula or go North up to Denali National Park and Fairbanks. Yep it seems pretty dead in downtown Anchorage. Palmer and Wasilla are decent typical suburbs with less crime than Anchorage.
Im from Amarillo. was just there visiting family, crime there is like 4rth highest in Texas gangs and homicides, my sister lives out in the country and only shops in Canyon by Palo Duro Canyon.
of course in virginia beach there is little public beach parking and a lot of private lots that support local predatory towing. you'll get used to it. just don't plan to use the beach from may to september.
Anchorage is decieving. Within the city limits are two military bases (now a joint army/air force base) an international airport, numerous general aviation airports, a destination ski resort, two day-trip ski areas and chugach state park. At 772 square miles, the state park makes up about 45% of the city. While not dense by any means, the livible land area is relatively small and the density adjusted for land use is probably around 500/sq mile. Also, you used the Florida state flag to represent Alaska.
technically, the numbers you're giving, @WC3isBetterThanReforged, are for the borough, not the city. And you left out the huge chunks of Chugach National Forest.
New Orleans being on the list surprised me. I love the place, food lovers paradise and whilst it never felt crowded to me I do not think it was a deserted place. Likewise, surprised with Nashville on the list. I really enjoyed visiting it, plenty to see, lots of bars to visit, great restaurants - but it never felt empty. The city in the US which felt most deserted to me was Rochester, NY. Central Rochester at night time was quieter than a convent, but with less excitement. I am guessing the suburbs must be packed
@@garymarvin4668 it’s a phrase from the hit show Friends (at least that’s where I think it originated from). One of the characters was trying to convince his partner to move to Tulsa by saying it’s like Paris but in Oklahoma lol
I prefer 2 or more acres between me and my nearest neighbor. I grew up in a nyc suburb , i have definite people overload. I would run through a gauntlet of bears with a rare hunger for human blood before choosing to live close to other people :)
As someone who wants to move to the US in the future and likes cities but is an introvert and dislikes crowds, this video is perfect for me! Definitely wouldn't consider one of the high-crime cities though. Anchorage seems perfect but sadly not many job opportunities atm.
I think there's about 55 people in my neighborhood. It's forested, so there's natural sound barriers all around, and the river flowing outside drowns out most noise (except when neighborhood kids are swimming in the summer). I think I'd enjoy even less density, but this will do.
FWIW: if it was mentioned in the video, I missed it -- the land area of Anchorage AK is 1946 square miles, making it one of the largest city land areas in the country. According to Wikipedia, the largest city in the US by land area is Sitka AK, with an area of 2871 square miles.
New Orleans city limits, for some reason, extend very far east of the main urban area. This whole region of "the city" is just marsh and wetlands. Thats the reason for New Orleans having such a small person per square mile number
As a resident of Virginia Beach I was surprised to see it on this list, but there is still too much traffic there for me; but since I am looking to leave anyway now I have an idea of what sort of density to look for to narrow down where to go.
When I last checked Tulsa was shrinking. The Tulsa MSA is growing, but all the growth is in suburbs which are actually different cities, like Broken Arrow.
*Louisville should have made this list.* The population is 624,444 with 325 square miles within the city boundaries. That equates to 1921 people per square mile.
You go 5 blocks off Bourbon street in the wrong direction and you just may find out why none of the locals are there before too long. As we used to say in New Orleans, the only places people want to be is the roads you’re trying to drive on.
Went to Oklahoma for the ‘24 solar eclipse n stayed in downtown Tulsa. That was the emptiest DT area i’d ever seen-which is a shame since it’s a really pretty area. It’s criminal how Tulsa doesn’t take advantage of its DT area and make it vibrant, cause some cities would luv to have such a resource.
These cities, by and large, aren't low population density due to any population loss. It's because they've got huge square mileages compared to other US cities. (Memphis and New Orleans have relatively large areas, AND are losing population, but they're exceptions on this list.) Most of these are fairly fast-growing Sunbelt cities that have annexed sparsely-populated areas around them. This list is all about population density, not population loss. Most of these cities are gaining residents, not losing them!
I think a half a mile from the nearest neighbor is good. There's still neighbors nearby, but not too close. My city was on the list, and I think we have enough people as it is.
For those of us with potentially catastrophic health conditions, the higher density neighborhoods near to quick-response ER hospitals do have advantages worth considering. But in general, it’s totally the neighbors that make the place. Better a tenement slum where we look out for each other than a Montana ranch where the neighbors have decided you don’t belong.
Dang Briggs, the first I wanted to slam you about how great NO is. Then Tuscon and I was like...no that place is awesome. You got to Mephis and I statrted to realize it was me. Tulsa [I'm and Okie] broke me. I don't care how bad a city is as long as I can avoid people but still have a favorite sushi bar [which is acctually in Weaton Maryland...pretty crowded but woth it if anyone is curious].
Is Anchorage considered a city that got a large enough population to warrant being on this list though? I mean the population density is just so much lower than the the city before it. And yes I'm extremely surprised to see the most populated Florida city Jacksonville on there. I was initially surprised to see Tucson Arizona on there, but as you were describing that, I realized that yeah you're definitely right. Many of my cousins moved to Tucson from different parts of the country and while yes it is noticeable that there are a lot of people there, sometimes I have noticed there's not that many people around in some areas. Tucson is also just way too damn big. When it comes to neighbors I prefer to not have any especially with some bad experiences with some of my neighbors at my apartment complex or just one in particular while the rest have actually been fine, but ultimately even though I have nice neighbors now I still would prefer just not to have neighbors so that we don't actually hear them talking to each other or yelling or whatever the case may be
I do like cities, but not crowds. A true conundrum! Thank you for the video!
I like cities but usually not the people in them
I like the access you have to things you need in the city plus more opportunities, but I don't like the cold, "we don't give a damn about you", attitude
I don't like crime either and too many people.
Then avoid Anchorage!
No neighbors are the best neighbors 😊
As long as they don't eat cats 😢
Good Fences make Good Neighbors 😊
@@MoonlightXYZI hear they taste like chicken
@@timk7073 I've got two of them on my lap right now. Hmm, chicken.
Agree
I was born and spent 40+ years in Alaska, living in anchorage for several years. It is very literally the only city in Alaska that feels even remotely close to " normal" America. Most Alaskans who don't live there think of it as the "big city" , and not real Alaska . I worked for the company that owns that Beautiful three tower copper colored hotel featured several times in the Video. The smallest of the three is the original. After the 1964 9.0 Earthquake, the owner, who was the governor of the state at the time built the two bigger towers basically on the fault line as an expression of Alaskan spirit and confidence . He very literally put his money where his mouth was. He later served in Nixons cabinet, and was famously fired for a leaked letter to Nixon lamenting the he was paying too much attention to outside advisers, and not to his cabinet. He died in 2010, and per his request was buried standing up facing east toward Washington D.C. God I miss Alaska,and stand up folks like Wally Hickel
I miss Anchorage, but don't miss it taking three hour of flying just to make a first connection.
Anchored down in Anchorage, Alaska
From Anchorage too. Moved away in 2015, and live in Indiana now. I'll always think of myself as an Alaskan, but I don't think I'll ever move back. Anchorage has just gone really downhill in the last couple decades. My relatives back home have been complaining about how bad the city snow removal has gotten...and we all know how important that is after a heavy snowfall. Just sad.
I loved watching the snow fall in Anchorage but didn't care to drive on it for five months a year.
I liked Wally, person to person, but he was a shitty governor. I've gotten to have a few long chats with him... one while he was in hospital at Prov... he really was a nice guy, but that made him unsuitable as governor.
I left in 2016, and not exactly by choice (my parents needed a driver and had moved to rural Oregon near Corvallis).
I miss the amenities, but I don't miss the winter dark, nor the midsummer skyglow.
I miss some friends who still live there, too.
I won't move back.
Tucson's population density varies with the season. When the snowbirds are in town -- circa November to April -- it's significantly higher.
Snowbirds in Arizona? That’s interesting. They usually all flock down to Florida.
@@ATH-camChannelwithNoNameMore and more are moving here, they've been outpriced in Florida so they come to AZ
West coast snowbirds.@@ATH-camChannelwithNoName
Just like Florida...
@svenrio8521 they are up in phoenix area
Hubby & I are introverts, so even at almost 70 & 68, my dream is 14 acres. In the middle of it, I want a tiny house & trees all around the surrounding outskirts of acreage. My dogs, cats, chickens & maybe a rescue mule or smaller horse. 🤔💭😘
Don't feel alone. My wife had careers in hustle and bustle. The solitude in retirement is great.
Until a fire comes along and destroys everything.
@@mrxman581I don't think they were planning on moving to California. Most places don't have the wildfire problems that godforsaken state has.
That's sounds wonderful except I'd need an 8000 sq ft house in the middle of nothing.
Sounds heavenly to me.
The stat about Okc having enough land to fit Boston, San Francisco, Miami and DC combined is crazy 😮
I never knew that!
It's true, OKC is huge. If you don't have a car it's hard to get around, even though there is city busses. JFYI the buss system is garbage. I'm so glad I don't live there anymore.
It's not shocking considering the state has little of anything else. Same with Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.
And enough horrible tornados to blow it all away. The highest sky scraper they wanna build there, that should be interesting. And by interesting I mean in a horrifying way.
@@Lainer1 Yeah, when they started building that, I started laughing my butt off, and just waiting for the inevitable.
Tulsa is a beautiful city. They put the land to good use. They have wonderful parks and a nature reserve in the city. They have excellent museums and a vibrant downtown. Tulsa is a jewel.
@@waichui2988 Tulsa is a Black American city that was destroyed. It has always been beautiful
If you think Tulsa is beautiful with it massive parking lots and huge freeways you have NEVER been outside the USA and need to travel more.
Yeah well, you need to travel more.😂
@@neilboulton9813 you said never when you have never been to Tulsa
It's all about land mass obviously. My favorite neighbors are lots of trees and a good high fence.
My wife and I haven’t seen anyone else in over ten days. We are at our remote cabin six miles from the nearest road.
@@Chris_at_Home You are living the dream! Enjoy. ❤
Amen to that!
And... LOTS of Rusted Barbed Wire, and...Guns.
Lolz. We do that a lot in West Africa. High fences+barb wires. 😂😂
There is a story behind Virginia Beach being so large in land mass. Prior to 1963, it was a rather small resort city that adjoined northeastern Princess Anne County. Norfolk was on the western side of the county and kept annexing portions of it. Princess Anne wasn't happy about this and made arrangements to merge with Virginia Beach. It took approval of voters in both Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach as well as the State Legislature of Virginia. Princess Anne County ceased to exist on January 1, 1963 and became part of Virginia Beach in its entirety.
Virginia Beach and Chesapeake are city/counties. Virginia is an odd place for this stuff
I live way out in the country,on almost 1 square mile,just me the wife and dogs.I cannot imagine thousands of people in that amount of space.
Remarkable lack of imagination.
*Memphis is a VERY dangerous city. Would live homeless in the Vermont woods before living there!*
Good luck in the wintertime
@@bhendrikabel *I understand why some would be worried, but for me it's a walk in the park. Store up. Arm up. Act local.*
@@gailmrutland6508Why is every word in bold?
If you don,t carry yourself well you just might get robbed by people who came here from another country as many a time I have had some punk hit me up for money! Most LOCAL people are GOOD its the many that have contempt for our laws and our ways that are the problem!
The Vermont woods are so dreamy.
Having lived in Jacksonville for a bit I was perplexed by its enormous size when looking at a map. It is large by square miles because of a unique event in its history: the consolidation of the city and county governments in 1968. This consolidation merged Duval County and Jacksonville into a single entity, which drastically expanded the city's geographic size. The result is that Jacksonville is one covers over 840 square miles.
Thank you. I learned my something new today.
Well done!!
I was driving down Lem Turner Rd yesterday between 295 and Callahan. If you didn’t know better you would think you’d have already left the city.
Population: Cows and Trees
Briggs, on number seven: Tulsa, you say the same phrase twice, and you've got about ten seconds of dead air, black screen after it.
If you turn up the volume really high, you can hear him say “stop typing.”
Maybe he mentioned how the "Tulsa Race Massacre" narrative was complete BS and decided to tell the REAL story of who actually started it and who murdered people first, but then TH-cam threatened to demonetize this video and flag his channel if he didn't remove the problematic facts and stick to the woke script. That's my guess.
Just got there 😂… odd
I moved to Tulsa from DFW, I love the slower pace, less traffic, friendly people.
I lived in Virginia Beach for a while when I was in the Navy, you know it's a seasonal town when they even board-up the McDonalds for the winter!
@@SuperMickey57 That McDonald's was being aware of hurricanes
Anchorage is perfect for me. All the amenities of a city without the people. Speaking of social distancing, that was the best time of my life because I had an excuse to interact even less.
you're a hermit like me. If I stay in my cave all day by myself, I'm perfectly happy.
thank you, Mr. Briggs, another entertaining video. i’ve been fascinated by population densities since I was a kid because I grew up in one of the least populated states, Wyoming fun fact, Cheyenne is 137.5 people per square mile:-):-).
Yes, Jax, is spread out. It has a very small urban core and a patchwork of neighborhoods. Traffic can still suck.
Where do you get all that great drone footage? Love your vlogs! Keep up the great work!👍
Tucson may not be as packed as other cities but there is traffic. Its a college town close to the border and huge homeless problem. It opens up as you reach the outskirts of the city
I attended a conference in Tulsa about 5 years ago. It was the least busy big city downtown I had ever seen. We were commenting "where is everyone, where is all the traffic, does anyone work downtown?"
That highway to memphis from little rock is crazy arkansas police
It's bumber to bumper 18 wheelers
Some are driven with truckers with a real attitudes. Nasty convenience stores .
I-30 and 40 across Arkansas is a major drug trafficking route, so the Arkansas cops don't fool around. My niece got her car stolen in Memphis (shocking I know) and the Arkansas state troopers Pitt maneuvered the car at 115mph. You run from them, they assume you are a tweaked out drug runner and look to end you.
@@zimmejoc The Troopers I've met are very tough no nonsense. I was a minor accident last year that reinforced that perception. Yes there is way much drug trafficking taking place in Arkansas. Some may be in transit but a lot gets drooped off along the way.
i live in tulsa and to me it feels populated enough there’s a moderate amount of traffic but there’s always people walking places but downtown is pretty much a ghost town at night.
I feel like the person who made this video has never been to any of these places. Like drive around Kansas City and you will see lots of folks driving and walking around.
OKC does really feel empty on a weekend, though. When I saw the video title I figured it must be on the list.
Everyone is at Costco in Anchorage
How do u know lol? Are u there too!
Even if the cities have cheap real estate, they still have burdensome city regulations. I will choose a place outside town or city limits every time.
Jacksonville merged with Duval County in the 1960s, that’s why it has a large land area.
Similarly Nashville merged with Davidson County.
Great stuff as always! As far as neighbors, having spent my childhood and early adulthood living in Southern California, I am loving being in a small town of less than 500 in PA. For me, I prefer fewer neighbors and the peace and quiet a small town provides.
I drive from Colorado to Memphis twice a year. I will never, ever, ever try to drive through Tulsa again. The drive through Oklahoma City is a little longer, but getting through the construction in downtown Tulsa is impossible. Never again.
Anchorage was beautiful to visit in the summer. The flowers were beautiful since they had sun , morning and night. Don’t think I could take the winters.
"It's got that whole remote, pricey and freezing vibe goin' on..." - just about snorted my drink... My wife grew up there. Thanks for the vid sir.
I lived in Virginia Beach for 2 years, we just moved due to family reasons. I absolutely loved it. It does not feel like a busy city at all. There are local beach spots away from the ocean front that are much nicer. Safe, semi-affordable, clean, and easy going style. Some people complain about traffic, but unless you are crossing the bridges between the towns around VB I rarely had issues. There is a lack of a real downtown and lots of road construction where the 2 main drawbacks. I will be spending some time there every year after I retire, and visiting friends there a lot.
New Orleans never really recovered after Katrina. Not really hard to figure out
A lot of people in New Orleans left to Texas especially Houston after Katrina hit the city
I can imagine it’s a hard sell considering the high risk of another storm destroying homes and lives like that again.
The city is below sea level and get hit by storms often. Huge risk
@@AlexP-dz7ew not true - about half of the city is. Mostly lakeview, lower 9th and areas that were sold for cheaper land in the late 1800's after the pump was invented. French Quarter, Uptown and the hipper areas are not below sea level. Heavy rains are a problem with street flooding though.
I've lived in Tucson most of my life. It is always annexing large rural areas. There are plenty of people here and growing fast, too fast in fact.
It's not growing fast lol mesa is like 30,000 people behind city proper
I live in Corpus Christi. Feels pretty empty these days.
For me, personally, when I visited South Dakota back in 2008, a traffic jam was like three or four cars. South Dakota was so empty, I remember watching a commercial in my hotel room that was trying to get people to move there and/or stay there.
Aye!! We, Tulsa, made it on your list two days in a row!!
Well, that was fun different and amusing. Thank you for always stating the name of the city that you’re into -this minute or that - , in the beginning, the middle, and the end,
The Jacksonville land mass is large because the city effectively annexed the all of Duval county, with a couple small exceptions. They did this so that as the urban area grew the city would continue to collect the taxes.
Last May, my wife and I visited Nashville. We were surprised how easy it was to find open street parking at their Parthenon, and downtown at a brewery. Considering how popular Nashville has become, we didn't expect to find any availabke street parking. As for neighbors, I'd prefer one house per acre at the most. When we stopped at Cody, Wyoming overnight on our way to Yellowstone a few years back, we were driving through some of the surrounding areas. There would be only 1 house for as far you could see. That would be awesome
I have just over an acre. I have neighbors but they aren't in my face. Perfect to take care of and feel like i have a "cushion". The neighbors are great and there if you need them. ❤
First place I thought of when I saw the title was Montgomery, Alabama. I was hanging out in the center of town on a normal weekday morning. Over the course of about an hour, I saw maybe three or four locals. The only other people I saw at all were folks from a tour bus. It was genuinely kind of creepy how empty the place was. There were cars parked in various places, which made me think there had to be people around, working or whatever. But NOBODY out on the streets at all. Super weird. With a population six times that of the small town I grew up in, where even on the quietest Sunday morning there would still have been bunches of people wandering around, it felt wrong.
As for the question, I've grown to like having neighbors. The older I get, the more of a city person I become. I like sitting on my patio and saying "hi" to my neighbors as they walk by, or chatting with folks in my neighborhood if I'm out walking a dog. The more I look around at the culture of fear we're building for ourselves, always stuck in our cars, behind fences, trying to move our families out into the sticks, suspicious of everyone, convinced there's crime everywhere, etc. I want to go against that. I want to get involved with my neighborhood, build community, and fight against the mindless fear. I've been stuck in the suburbs since moving to this metropolitan region almost 20 years ago. Finally, I'll be moving into the city proper next month, and I'm thrilled. My wife & I have already started striking up some friendships with folks who will be our neighbors, and we're looking into some of the various community activities. We have a loneliness epidemic, and hiding in the woods isn't going to help with that. Dropping out of society is a coward's path. It's lazy. I'm ready to do the work of being part of a community.
America needs more people just like you! Thank you!!!
For some, living away from people is a legitimate preference. There’s nothing cowardly about that. As for the rest of your comment, I do agree though. Many people are misled into fearing being around people in cities.
@@facingthewind I agree with that. It's one thing if you have a preference. It's why I often get annoyed with folks who say, "but I don't want to live in a city" when I tell them that living in a city has a lot of positive aspects. That's fine. You don't need to. But the culture of fear and hate, often with more than a little smug moral superiority, that comes from a vocal group of folks who choose to live away from cities, along with their refusal to understand how much of their choice to live there is directly subsidized by all the urban people they look down upon really gets my goat. Especially when part of the reason cities are so expensive to live in are the taxes that pay for suburban & rural infrastructure AND the votes of folks who live in cities are less meaningful than those of rural voters. Frustrating.
"...the culture of fear we're building for ourselves, always stuck in our cars, behind fences, trying to move our families out into the sticks, suspicious of everyone, convinced there's crime everywhere, etc."
Exactly! For so many, this must get worse with each generation. They're raised by scared parents, so they grow up scared, they become parents who are even more scared than their parents, etc. With each generation, they move farther out, into "communities" that are even more dominated by vehicles (and even more hostile towards pedestrians).
However, in their desperation to escape crime, they move to places that are even more dominated by vehicles, which increases the likelihood that they'll have a serious vehicular accident. Americans can be so scared of crime, yet so oblivious to vehicular danger.
Here's another factor: parking. Most Americans just can't get enough of it. 🙄
Here's another factor: ego. Vehicles are ego machines. Many, many people derive enormous ego satisfaction from their vehicles. Using public transportation? That's inherently beneath their high-status selves.
I would like my neighbors to be 5 miles away.
I have awesome neighbors on either side of me. For one, we shout across the fence and then walk toward each other, talking over the fence just like in a 1950s sit com. I like having neighbors very closeby!
Good info with an entertaining and informative presentation.
One of the main reasons OKC, OK has such a low population density is because for what ever reason they have extended the city limits miles and miles and miles outside of the "built up" part of OKC. its one thing not wants the suburbs to encroach and not let OKC grow and expand, but OKC takes this to a whole new level x10.
I imagine that's to include more people in city services etc. Why else?
I Just BOUGHT a place in Cushing.
Congratulations! I live in Norman. I love Oklahoma! @@cathleenweston3541
Kansas City has done this as well: lots of land owned by the city, but without the tax base to support its maintenance outside of a few select areas.
I'd like to live somewhere where you can see your neighbors house, but aren't right on top of each other.
I was in Anchorage in June...24 hours of light... downtown was almost a ghost town. It felt unsafe.
It really sucked.
Ditto Fairbanks downtown.
Rest of Akaaka... dreamy and wonderful
Detroit, Michigan.
I'm from Detroit Michigan
Does Eminem Live in Detroit ❓
Detroit has 4,829.9 people per square mile making it the 20th most dense city in America as of the most recent census. That makes it more dense than Dallas, Phoenix or Denver. It doesn't belong on this list.
@@ThatGuyPotatoes It's a bit interesting with Detroit. On paper, it's pretty dense... but as a resident, I can confirm that a lot of Detroit is comprised of denser neighborhoods and less dense patches in between. Heck, it even has a couple smaller cities completely inside its city limits. It's been seeing more people moving in over the past decade or so, but yeah, there's still spots that are effectively wilderness. Detroit is geographically pretty large - I remember seeing a map once that showed that Detroit could actually fit Boston, San Francisco and Manhattan inside the city limits comfortably.
@@SchwarbageTruck that just means the areas that people live in are far more dense than it seems right? Am I misunderstanding?
Tucson is very packed in January. The largest rock and gem show in the world happens. It basically covers most of the city. Millions of people from around the world swarm there. So yea, in January the traffic is absolutely terrible.
All year phoenix traffic is terrible
I do not care what the stats say.... Nashville, is OVERPOPULATED and traffic is a nightmare. There isn't room to BREATHE between Hendersonville to Murfesboro.
The casual Nickelback diss had me laughing out loud. Well done!
Good video 👍
Memphis is very dangerous and to be completely avoided .
Thanks! Next do a video on the most overpopulated small towns
Spacing should be such that you can have a large party at your house - and your next door neighbor would not be disturbed. I would say roughly 2 to 5 acre plots for each family home is my ideal.
The less neighbors the better. I want the services though.
Far east Tennessee
Sounds like you want to live in an area that is not financially sustainable. Either have the space and no services or have neighbors with service. The taxes the government make off of people isn't enough to cover city amenities in a suburb area.
You can't have city amenities in a sprawling car dependent suburb otherwise your city goes bankrupt because it's not financially solvent and is subsidized.
I live in a city with services and most of the streets around me are "unimproved". Not a lot of sidewalks either.
Guess what, services go where there’s people.
The fastest growing county in Mississippi is the one just south of Memphis. Not all cities are really all city, so the units can be confusing. Like some cities like SF are small and compact, and have lots of other cities near them, other cities like Chongqing are the size of Vermont and mostly rural with a smaller urban core (and many urban cities inside them). So calling anchorage a city just because it has control over what we would call a county down here is a bit misleading (same prob with Jacksonville).
Everybody from memphis is moving there because it's literally safer to be a Mississippi resident.
Don’t punch your neighbors in the face.
especially in the Bronx 🙂life is short!
Okay, so these stats are correct but unhelpful. Wichita KS, where I live is a pretty lightly populated city, but its pop per sq mi is too high to be on the list. This video really says way more about how massive a lot of city limits are. Nashville or Jacksonville traffic is insane compared to Wichita.
Can't believe you misspelled T-U-C-S-O-N on the intro.
Anchorage is fine for a day or two for flying in and out of. It's where you rent a car and head down to the Kenai Peninsula or go North up to Denali National Park and Fairbanks. Yep it seems pretty dead in downtown Anchorage. Palmer and Wasilla are decent typical suburbs with less crime than Anchorage.
As a Dallas resident I went to Oklahoma City while traveling. During rush hour there was no traffic it was beautiful
Nashville is one of the fastest growing cities in America
I'm surprised that Amarillo, Texas didn't get mentioned----population density around 2050/sqmi.
It’s not a big city in the grand scheme of things
Im from Amarillo. was just there visiting family, crime there is like 4rth highest in Texas gangs and homicides, my sister lives out in the country and only shops in Canyon by Palo Duro Canyon.
@@BBQPorkSandwich3that’s dense for Texas cities. Meanwhile my suburban Philly town is about 9,500ppsm 😊
of course in virginia beach there is little public beach parking and a lot of private lots that support local predatory towing. you'll get used to it. just don't plan to use the beach from may to september.
That said after season VA Beach is still fine.
Anchorage is decieving. Within the city limits are two military bases (now a joint army/air force base) an international airport, numerous general aviation airports, a destination ski resort, two day-trip ski areas and chugach state park. At 772 square miles, the state park makes up about 45% of the city. While not dense by any means, the livible land area is relatively small and the density adjusted for land use is probably around 500/sq mile.
Also, you used the Florida state flag to represent Alaska.
What's sad is neither state flag resembles the other.
The alaskan economy rises and falls to the price of barrel of oil.
@@Daviddaze Sounds like Oklahoma.
technically, the numbers you're giving, @WC3isBetterThanReforged, are for the borough, not the city. And you left out the huge chunks of Chugach National Forest.
@@WilliamHostman The borough and city are one and the same.
New Orleans being on the list surprised me. I love the place, food lovers paradise and whilst it never felt crowded to me I do not think it was a deserted place. Likewise, surprised with Nashville on the list. I really enjoyed visiting it, plenty to see, lots of bars to visit, great restaurants - but it never felt empty. The city in the US which felt most deserted to me was Rochester, NY. Central Rochester at night time was quieter than a convent, but with less excitement. I am guessing the suburbs must be packed
Tulsa is the Paris of Oklahoma!
Are you bragging or complaining?
@@garymarvin4668 it’s a phrase from the hit show Friends (at least that’s where I think it originated from). One of the characters was trying to convince his partner to move to Tulsa by saying it’s like Paris but in Oklahoma lol
I prefer 2 or more acres between me and my nearest neighbor. I grew up in a nyc suburb , i have definite people overload. I would run through a gauntlet of bears with a rare hunger for human blood before choosing to live close to other people :)
A neighborhood where everyone has 5-10 acres would be so nice
I would rather wrestle wild cats than live in the country.
We’re number one!😊
As someone who wants to move to the US in the future and likes cities but is an introvert and dislikes crowds, this video is perfect for me! Definitely wouldn't consider one of the high-crime cities though. Anchorage seems perfect but sadly not many job opportunities atm.
I think there's about 55 people in my neighborhood. It's forested, so there's natural sound barriers all around, and the river flowing outside drowns out most noise (except when neighborhood kids are swimming in the summer). I think I'd enjoy even less density, but this will do.
Hey Briggs.Hope you had a great day.
I did! I hope you did as well
And this is why I left LA for Wyoming. No neighbors, just good ole fresh air and no traffic.
FWIW: if it was mentioned in the video, I missed it -- the land area of Anchorage AK is 1946 square miles, making it one of the largest city land areas in the country. According to Wikipedia, the largest city in the US by land area is Sitka AK, with an area of 2871 square miles.
Tucson traffic is mainly do to Highway expansions and “rush hours “ is a thing now. A lot of new home developments.
New Orleans city limits, for some reason, extend very far east of the main urban area. This whole region of "the city" is just marsh and wetlands. Thats the reason for New Orleans having such a small person per square mile number
Oracle is moving it's headquarters to Nashville. That is going to change things even more.
Hey it’s so cool to see Jacksonville on the list as a local. He’s right about the traffic, too. Oh well. DUUUUUUUUUVVVAAAAAAAAALLL!
As a resident of Virginia Beach I was surprised to see it on this list, but there is still too much traffic there for me; but since I am looking to leave anyway now I have an idea of what sort of density to look for to narrow down where to go.
Great work… good info…
Would never live in any city, have always lived in the country outside small towns.
When I last checked Tulsa was shrinking. The Tulsa MSA is growing, but all the growth is in suburbs which are actually different cities, like Broken Arrow.
I have a summer home in Gary and couldn’t be happier.
VB can’t be accurate. There are so many active duty families coming in and out I can’t imagine the stats are correct.
*Louisville should have made this list.* The population is 624,444 with 325 square miles within the city boundaries. That equates to 1921 people per square mile.
Jacksonville #3 💪
Not surprised Jax, Nashville, or OKC are on here. To be expected
You go 5 blocks off Bourbon street in the wrong direction and you just may find out why none of the locals are there before too long. As we used to say in New Orleans, the only places people want to be is the roads you’re trying to drive on.
Cleveland, Ohio.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota is pretty empty
I live in Fargo ,which is smaller and Fargo feels like a major city to me .
Went to Oklahoma for the ‘24 solar eclipse n stayed in downtown Tulsa. That was the emptiest DT area i’d ever seen-which is a shame since it’s a really pretty area. It’s criminal how Tulsa doesn’t take advantage of its DT area and make it vibrant, cause some cities would luv to have such a resource.
I like my downtown condo lifestyle; I worry about having to sacrifice location if I ever need a bigger place.
New Orleans is a beautiful city and I wouldn't trade it for any other place in the world!
There's simply no place like it anywhere else on earth!
Please get out more and travel the world properly you are either on drugs or delusional with statements like that.
Nashville here I’m over the growth the cost is crazy and traffic with construction
These cities, by and large, aren't low population density due to any population loss. It's because they've got huge square mileages compared to other US cities. (Memphis and New Orleans have relatively large areas, AND are losing population, but they're exceptions on this list.) Most of these are fairly fast-growing Sunbelt cities that have annexed sparsely-populated areas around them. This list is all about population density, not population loss. Most of these cities are gaining residents, not losing them!
I like having neighbours. Being in the middle of nowhere is boring.
Besides, you never know when you need a helping hand.
I think a half a mile from the nearest neighbor is good. There's still neighbors nearby, but not too close. My city was on the list, and I think we have enough people as it is.
For those of us with potentially catastrophic health conditions, the higher density neighborhoods near to quick-response ER hospitals do have advantages worth considering. But in general, it’s totally the neighbors that make the place. Better a tenement slum where we look out for each other than a Montana ranch where the neighbors have decided you don’t belong.
Briggs, this population density is often overlooked. Please do more of it.
Dang Briggs, the first I wanted to slam you about how great NO is. Then Tuscon and I was like...no that place is awesome. You got to Mephis and I statrted to realize it was me. Tulsa [I'm and Okie] broke me. I don't care how bad a city is as long as I can avoid people but still have a favorite sushi bar [which is acctually in Weaton Maryland...pretty crowded but woth it if anyone is curious].
Yes a lot about Tucson is awesome!!❤
I used to live in both Detroit and Newark, which are clearing out quickly. Maybe it was my breath.
Tulsa time! 😂
They would have to drive to borrow a cup of sugar!
Is Anchorage considered a city that got a large enough population to warrant being on this list though? I mean the population density is just so much lower than the the city before it. And yes I'm extremely surprised to see the most populated Florida city Jacksonville on there.
I was initially surprised to see Tucson Arizona on there, but as you were describing that, I realized that yeah you're definitely right. Many of my cousins moved to Tucson from different parts of the country and while yes it is noticeable that there are a lot of people there, sometimes I have noticed there's not that many people around in some areas. Tucson is also just way too damn big.
When it comes to neighbors I prefer to not have any especially with some bad experiences with some of my neighbors at my apartment complex or just one in particular while the rest have actually been fine, but ultimately even though I have nice neighbors now I still would prefer just not to have neighbors so that we don't actually hear them talking to each other or yelling or whatever the case may be