City Beautiful: Urban Planning Made Watchable
City Beautiful is a YouTube channel run by Dave Amos, an assistant professor of planning at California Polytechnic State University, with a mission to teach people about the places in which they live by answering common urban planning questions and exploring why cities are designed the way they are.
The channel fills a genuine gap—most people never learn why their neighborhoods look the way they do, or why housing sits in one area while businesses cluster in another.
The channel has attracted nearly 680,000 subscribers and 80 million views, with 60 to 65% of the audience being international.
What makes City Beautiful distinct is its refusal to dumb down planning concepts while keeping them genuinely accessible.
Videos run 5 to 15 minutes and cover topics such as transportation, land use and urban design in a digestible format that anyone can appreciate.
The bite-sized run time in the 8 to 12 minute range makes City Beautiful videos approachable.
Amos doesn't treat viewers like they need a degree in urban design—he treats them like curious people who just haven't had the concepts explained clearly before.
Since launching his YouTube series in 2017, Amos has been making urban design accessible, fun, and popular.
The channel's strength lies in answering the questions people actually have.
The most popular City Beautiful video to date has over 5.7 million views and is a deep dive into the problems of Gary, Indiana.
Other videos tackle zoning, suburban sprawl, NIMBY opposition, and why some cities have gridded streets while others don't.
Amos covers topics such as transportation, land use planning, and urban design, posting new videos monthly and sometimes more frequently.
The production quality is clean without being flashy—the focus stays on the ideas, not the presentation.
City Beautiful is for anyone curious about how cities work. That includes students, professionals in planning and architecture, people considering where to live, and viewers who've simply noticed that some neighborhoods feel more livable than others but didn't know why.
Nearly half of Amos's viewers are from the United States, but the channel has also attracted a substantial international audience in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, even though most videos relate to city planning in the United States.
The channel proves that urban planning can be genuinely compelling when someone who understands it takes time to explain it well.
FAQ
What topics does City Beautiful actually cover?
The channel covers topics such as transportation, land use planning, and urban design.
Videos explore why cities are designed the way they are, from zoning decisions to street design to how public spaces shape behavior.
How often does Amos upload new videos?
He posts new videos monthly and sometimes more frequently.
The schedule is regular enough to follow without overwhelming your watch list.
Who is Dave Amos and why does he know this stuff?
Amos is a planning professor by day at Cal Poly, where he has taught Introduction to City Planning and comprehensive planning studios since Fall 2021.
When he was a planner, he would often explain planning concepts to advisory committee members and city councils, and he wished there were videos he could show them.
#YouTube #recommendations #urbanplanning #architecture #education
The channel fills a genuine gap—most people never learn why their neighborhoods look the way they do, or why housing sits in one area while businesses cluster in another.
The channel has attracted nearly 680,000 subscribers and 80 million views, with 60 to 65% of the audience being international.
What makes City Beautiful distinct is its refusal to dumb down planning concepts while keeping them genuinely accessible.
Videos run 5 to 15 minutes and cover topics such as transportation, land use and urban design in a digestible format that anyone can appreciate.
The bite-sized run time in the 8 to 12 minute range makes City Beautiful videos approachable.
Amos doesn't treat viewers like they need a degree in urban design—he treats them like curious people who just haven't had the concepts explained clearly before.
Since launching his YouTube series in 2017, Amos has been making urban design accessible, fun, and popular.
The channel's strength lies in answering the questions people actually have.
The most popular City Beautiful video to date has over 5.7 million views and is a deep dive into the problems of Gary, Indiana.
Other videos tackle zoning, suburban sprawl, NIMBY opposition, and why some cities have gridded streets while others don't.
Amos covers topics such as transportation, land use planning, and urban design, posting new videos monthly and sometimes more frequently.
The production quality is clean without being flashy—the focus stays on the ideas, not the presentation.
City Beautiful is for anyone curious about how cities work. That includes students, professionals in planning and architecture, people considering where to live, and viewers who've simply noticed that some neighborhoods feel more livable than others but didn't know why.
Nearly half of Amos's viewers are from the United States, but the channel has also attracted a substantial international audience in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, even though most videos relate to city planning in the United States.
The channel proves that urban planning can be genuinely compelling when someone who understands it takes time to explain it well.
FAQ
What topics does City Beautiful actually cover?
The channel covers topics such as transportation, land use planning, and urban design.
Videos explore why cities are designed the way they are, from zoning decisions to street design to how public spaces shape behavior.
How often does Amos upload new videos?
He posts new videos monthly and sometimes more frequently.
The schedule is regular enough to follow without overwhelming your watch list.
Who is Dave Amos and why does he know this stuff?
Amos is a planning professor by day at Cal Poly, where he has taught Introduction to City Planning and comprehensive planning studios since Fall 2021.
When he was a planner, he would often explain planning concepts to advisory committee members and city councils, and he wished there were videos he could show them.
#YouTube #recommendations #urbanplanning #architecture #education
🎥 Their most-watched video
City Beautiful
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