hey guys welcome back to 400 reacts today we're going to be checking out a video
very interesting one it's cited american cities versus european cities what's the difference so
should be a really interesting video we're going to get right into that video right now so uh if
you're not subscribed to foreigners please do subscribe uh um what you waiting for man
we're gonna get right into this video so without further ado guys let's go right into it
the united states and europe both have large urban populations and
deep cultural ties but their respective cities have some distinct differences
for starters there is a significant age gap between european and american cities
when europeans first arrived in the americas in the late 15th and early 16th centuries
there were as many as 10 million natives living in what is today the united states but the natives
were not concentrated in large urban settlements like the civilizations in what is today mexico
and central and south america if there had been you can only speculate on what would
have happened to them there are some exceptions though the oldest continuous settlements in the
united states belong to natives and are located in the southwest united states these settlements
were founded around 1100 a.d but they generally have never hosted more than a few thousand people
the largest known native settlement in the united states hosted as many as eighteen thousand natives
this city called cahokia was located in what is today the state of illinois
and just minutes from the modern day city of saint louis but cahokia was abandoned by the year 1350.
the 10 largest cities in the united states on average were settled around the early to mid
18th century while europe's 10 largest cities are hundreds and sometimes thousands of years older
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europe's 10 largest cities by population are on average larger than american cities when counting
the residents within city limits out of europe's 10 largest cities by population none have less
than 2 million people but in the united states six of its top 10 have less than 2 million people
european cities also have a higher population density out of europe's 10 most populated cities
only three have a density of less than 10 000 people per square mile st petersburg russia
kiev ukraine and rome italy the city with the highest density is paris with 53 000 people per
square mile nearly twice as many people as the united states densest city new york with 28 000
people per square mile after new york city it drops off pretty quickly the second most
populated city in the us los angeles has 8 500 people per square mile chicago 12 000 people
per square mile houston 3 500 people per square mile and phoenix 3 100 people per square mile
the differences in european and u.s cities populations and densities
are largely due to american suburbs people are living outside of city limits and in
homes instead of multi-storied structures these suburbs initially came about because of the train
they then exploded with the wider use of the car and cheap fuel to power them
land outside of american cities was also cheap making homes affordable for the middle class
chicago is often credited with inventing the suburb after the fire of 1874 the city banned
the construction of wood buildings so speculators built cheap wooden homes as fast as they could
just outside of chicago for the hundred thousand people that were just left homeless
after world war two the federal government started guaranteeing loans that required twenty percent
or less for a down payment and loan lengths as long as thirty years before this it was common
to have to make a fifty percent down payment with loan links as short as five to ten years
these new loans increase the amount of people that could purchase a home but these loans had
more favorable terms for new construction compared to existing housing since the government did not
want to back a loan on a house that may have issues this meant it was easier to get a new
home in the suburbs than a property close to the city center which was typically older
however african americans were often discriminated against when it came to these lines so few
were able to move to the suburbs while morris discrimination has improved significantly the
discrimination that occurred from the 40s to the 60s contributed to generational poverty and it has
had a lasting impact on the geography of american cities african americans are still less likely
to be living in the suburbs than whites though the demographics are slowly changing today more
african americans actually live in the suburbs at 39 percent than within city limits at 36 percent
the mass exodus in many of these cities often referred to as white flight led to severe urban
decay residential buildings were abandoned leading to local businesses shutting their
doors due to less customers which resulted in job losses which led to poverty and crime which led to
more people leaving this cycle continues in many cities today but he sounded like he from texas
or he could be from carolina he crime i heard that i heard hurricane i heard that i got that i caught
it day while others have seen an urban revival in the last couple of decades as many young
professionals move back to the city however where wealthier people in the united states tend to live
in the suburbs in europe wealthier individuals are more likely to live in the city center take
a look at this map of the london underground which shows the average income of the neighborhoods that
use each stop the highest incomes are at the center of the city and the lowest incomes are
at the farthest stops from the center speaking of fellow transportation because isn't it supposed to
be more expensive to live in the city like that's practically what i know about new york i've never
lived in a city before right but isn't it that's what's supposed to happen if you live in a city
supposed to be more expensive because that's practically what happens in new york because
i can tell you this right now ain't no broke boy gonna live in new york city that's for sure
i cannot live in new york city not even for a day okay europe's public transportation systems
are usually thought of as superior to the united states with a few exceptions like
new york city because of the suburbs u.s cities are too spread out and buses and trains can't
stop at every block to pick everyone up if they did it would run extremely slow
when it comes to roads both the united states and europe have extensive major road networks
but in the united states large roads often run right through its cities instead of up to it
while this may make sense and trying to quickly travel from state to state or city to city it is
often criticized for splitting neighborhoods and disrupting local communities another thing that
separates european and u.s cities are the amount of skyscrapers united states cities generally have
more skyscrapers out of 50 cities in the world with the most skyscrapers only two are in europe
moscow russia with 57 skyscrapers and frankfurt germany tied for 50th with 17. the united states
has 11 cities in the top 50 with the most going to new york city with 287 skyscrapers when european
cities do have skyscrapers they tend to have a section designated for them away from their
historic city center like lota fonts a business district which is actually a few miles outside of
paris itself the skyscraper was first born in the united states in the late 19th century the first
in chicago and later in new york city the united states took pride in their large structures seeing
them as a symbol of their prosperity and power europe on the other hand already had established
historic buildings and public spaces that left little room for large new structures exactly they
were also resistant to what could be considered american after the destruction of european
cities in the second world war europe had the chance to build whatever they wanted they could
redesign their cities around the car as american cities were starting to and now had room to build
skyscrapers but europe chose not to europe had an overwhelming desire to build their cities
back to the way they were before the war and to preserve their unique cultures and way of life
the city of brussels also played a role in the rest of europe protecting its urban landscape
the city of brussels had a laissez-faire approach to urban planning in the 1960s to the 1980s
structures that were often generic and didn't fit in with brussels historic city landscape were put
all over the city the rest of europe took notice and became concerned a similar
randomness of structures could be placed all over their respective cities zoning laws
that protected europe's historic districts and structures were then passed across the continent
if you enjoyed this video please subscribe for up it's very interesting but it's just straight facts
europe doesn't want to get tangled up in that type of stuff because of their history which i
totally understand and i would agree with as well because how would you try to tangle up america
doesn't have the type of history that europe has just stay focused on that america will never have
that type of history unless you know something major happens which is really hard for something
majors happen to america because of where it's located you know what i'm trying to say so it
is what it is but um yeah europe keep doing what you're doing and america keep doing what you're
doing that's like oh man be unique but uh that's gonna be a customizer here until next time peace