What they cover
City Beautiful (Dave Amos) covers urban planning, design, and history. Videos explain how cities work, why they look the way they do, and how they can be improved. Content includes green infrastructure, public transit, housing policy, parks and public space, and the history of urban planning decisions that shaped modern cities.
Why they matter
City Beautiful provides historical context that other urban planning channels miss. Understanding why North American cities are car-dependent requires understanding the policy decisions (highway acts, zoning codes, mortgage subsidies) that created that dependency. Amos connects past decisions to present challenges, showing that car-dependent design was not inevitable but was actively chosen, and can therefore be actively unchosen.
How to engage
Subscribe to YouTube. The channel's historical approach provides excellent context for understanding current urban planning debates. Videos are useful for community members engaging in local planning processes.
Start here
Watch the video on how highways destroyed American cities, which explains the specific policy decisions that prioritized car infrastructure over walkable neighborhoods and public transit.