Bryan functioned as A&M's downtown and city for decades when A&M was a small military school. There were a few housing additions (according to my uncle who went there in the '50s) and a couple of strip centers.

The statue of the man reading with children is Andrew Carnegie, who donated the funds for the Carnegie library, which he did for many towns across the country

Lived in Bryan all my life (grew up out in Mumford to be specific) and have worked for both City of Bryan and City of College Station. They are some of the fastest growing municipalities in the country. With CS expanding south twords Navasota and the development of Wellborn after it's anexation as well as Bryan's expanding suburbs in Green Briar and Sandy Point in the north. Not to mention A&Ms Riverside campus off of Hwy 47 along with the Health Science Center and Bio corridor the cities are expanding faster than people realize. Downtown Bryan has been under going a modernization effort for about a decade now and has come leaps and bounds. We don't have the resources CS benefits from with A&M but have the Industrial Park and many manufacturing businesses continue to open up bringing higher skill jobs and raising the tax base. It's a great place to raise a family not to big and not to small and very resilient to economic downturns. We just need that Buc-ee's and then we'll be unstoppable.

Lord Spoda, you are a habit forming pastime for me and many others, thank you so much for all the hard work you put into doing these entertaining and informative videos.

If you're ever back in Bryan, you must go to a little place out by Lake Bryan called Top of the Hill Greasy Burger. Our son goes to A&M, and we try to eat there whenever we are in town.

Thanks for coming to my home town to explore the unknown that I lived through all my life with the memories that I made living here. I'm glad you had a good time. Gig Em

Thank you so much for showing what Bryan's Downtown has to offer. It has come along way and I'm very happy and proud of how amazing and beautiful downtown Bryan is.

You provide a very appreciated service to all those unable to travel, thank you both!

bummer I wish I had known you were coming. i work at A&M and my family has been here for over 100 years. i could have given you a tour with history. Love the videos.

Thanks for visiting the town in which I live. Have been hers since 1985 an d went to work at Texas A& M University and retired from there on 2007. Glad you an your wife enjoyed our town. Come back and see us sometime.

Another great tour ! A toll road was recently build in Magnolia, TX., which goes straight into Texas A&M. Also the speed train was approved, going from Houston to Dallas, in 1/12 hrs. It will be build on that side of town. Since the Texas Medical Center has no more land left to build on, starting from 1960/249 onto Waco, Texas, will be the new areas for the Bio Medical Research Industries. Very lucrative for the State. If you ever visit Navasota, stop by at Chuck Norris's Water Bottling Plant ! Have a safe trip and stay safe !!!

Born and raised here. Plus both towns are economically stable through everything, but it slows down when the kids go away for break. When it kicks up it does like crazy!!

13:20. The UPS truck is delivering a package to my Uncle Charlie's house. He's lived there since 1988.

I wish I would have known that you were in town I would have shown you around. I live in Bryan.

Thanks for the great tour and commentary on my home town. I love living here. Although I moved away, came back, moved away and now back. BCS will always be home for me.

Grew up in Dayton Ohio and ended up in Bryan after i got out of the military. Awesome place and some of the best memories of my life.

I have a lot of memories being there and partying and having fun in my twenties. Take care and be safe sir. I'll see you in the next video.

I just watched the movie 'Fried Green Tomatoes', and I still love that movie (situated in Alabama around 1925-1935). It's a great story, but if you look a little closer, it's also about the decline of small town America. I love your channel, Spoda! You do a great effort showing us how it looks around these small communities. It's the same all over the world. Keep it up. Cheers from Denmark.

As you stated College Station begin life as a school campus outside Bryan. This created the oddity of a city without a downtown. If you were to call anything downtown it could only be the college because that is where the city started. I work in downtown Bryan as a cook for the Queen Theater, Palace, and Billy's grill. You need to come back on a First Friday. First Friday of every month there is a big gathering.

Loved learning about College Station, the university and Bryan. Thank you!

Thanks man for bringing us these down to earth simple vlogs. Really love ur vids😊

I love aggieland and Texas. Y'all keep cranking them out and we will keep watching.

Just the moment I sat down for dinner, this video appeared! Yaaay! Thanks for a fantastic appetizer, guys!

"Sodalax", on highway 21 west has the best chicken fried steak in town.

Try Navasota, TX next, lived there my whole life before moving out, the town was absolutely trashed and there wasn't much for quite some time. Now, there's a hotel, beautiful restaurants, nice homey shops, and it's the perfectly small booming town. It's a cool place to settle down with a family if you're looking for a small town feel.

Every day I download one of your video and watch before go to sleep, it is really helpful to know more about rural America,

Awesome video of the twin city's. Love seeing content on my home town. I live in Bryan and work on the campus of Texas A&M. Bryan is more family oriented and College Station is more for the students but we kinda see it as a whole.

Great job LS! Uncanny how I saw once again another town without one soul walking anywhere

I am a native from Bryan, lived here most of my life. There is so much more to see in town than you posted. Cute video though.

Hi Lord Spoda Wow! That was a sudden swing from naturality and want in the last video to modernity and prosperity in this video! Tour of twin cities was wonderful. Thank you for the nice video. Waiting for the next. Have a nice time.

Great to see you back with a very interesting couple of places. This is lovely a start to the New Year, thank you, enjoyed it much. HAPPY NEW YEAR, I love Texas, from New Zealand.

Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed watching and appreciated it too!

Another great video mate. Bryan looks like a great place to live. Looking forward to the next smaller towns vid. They're my favourites. Once again, G'day from Australia.

AS ALWAYS AN AWESOME VIDEO. SO INFORMATIVE. THANK YOU FOR POSTING THE VIDEOS.

I was watching your videos when you were about a mile from me! Fantastic work!

You need to go to Ivanhoe Texas, it has a gas station/post office on one side and a restaurant on the other. That's it. No lights.

Found this very interesting! Bryan is beautiful. Loved the homes and statues. I could live in a suite like ya'll had. Really liked the hotel a lot. You two are both looking happy and healthy and relaxed.

Enjoyed the journey !

Happy New Year to you from France ! Thank's for your videos...

I litterly live in bryan , TX as we speak. Also the street u turn to that looks like in woods, I used to always love going through that street when I was a child. Looking at all the big houses, it is always very calming to go through that street in my opinion !

I always wait for your videos

Read about the song "This Old Porch" by Robert Earl Keene. He and Lyle Lovett were students at TAMU in the late '70s. The song is Bryan, Texas history. Love it! 🥰 🎶

I thoroughly enjoyed this video as I've been to Bryan/College Station...it's a pretty cool town and although I didn't go Downtown I'm def planning that when I make a return trip to Bryan & I will def have me a bite at billy's Bar & Grill...when I went to B/CS I had a bite at an old fashioned Diner right off the main drag thru town that I really enjoyed as I'm a huge fan of the show Diners,Drive-ins & Dives on the food network and I love supporting those old family run eateries whenever possible...

Addicted to your videos binged them all day really fascinated with West Virginia reminds me so much of Scotland keep up the great work 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇸

Very solid video. The hotel looked really nice and the area is very, very nice. The really nice neighborhood reminds me a bit of Great Falls, VA. Large multimillion dollar homes with land.

I live in Bryan / College Station Thanks for the tour & sharing our city

Really funny videos fun to see the small towns in USA best regards from Sweden 🥰

I want to make these same videos in the future, I’ve always wanted to explore the small towns of each state and see how people live day by day! Texas has always intrigued me for some reason, mainly the ghost towns in the western part and the panhandle. I’m from Connecticut so going to the desert would be a huge culture shock!

Thanks for doing what you do

My family is from Bryan and Hearne Texas I love ur videos today. It's been a while since I've been in that part of Texas

That is a rather large campus and very different to Oxford and Cambridge. Another rather smart city and I do like a few sculptures around the city centre. The houses up the quiet country lane look as if they should be next to a top of the range golf course. Did they have helipads? Hotel looks very nice and the food top notch, same goes for Billy's Bar. All in all, what a pleasant place to be. Thank you for the trip around and I have booked my seat in the back of the Bronco for the trip East! Stay safe.

Bryan, Tx is my hometown, glad y'all had fun here

I work for the university & will retire this year. It has been a good place to work & live.

I enjoy this very rural series

Thanks for visiting our towns, I thought your visit and video were very professional and respectful. Come back anytime!

Awesome Place. Thanks Again!

Thank you for going to College Station I never knew it didn’t have a downtown. Lived in Texas all my life and never knew that.

I love your videos! Recent subscriber! I just saw your video of Carlsbad (where I was born and raised) and now your Bryan video (where I currently live)! Love B/CS and your channel!

watched from Bryan,tx. I was Bowhuntin for deer in historic Millican,Tx at the same time you videoed this...

I went to Blinn College in Bryan during the early 90's. Head down Highway 6 to Calvert and Bremond if you want to see some of your usual content. Hearne used to be pretty bad, but it's grown quite a bit. Calvert is still rough.

A word of warning to people considering a move into Bryan or College Station. Rent is becoming impossible to keep up with when compared with what employment is offering. There are still many businesses offering wages between the 10 to 13 dollar per hour rate. This is virtually impractical to consider living in these cities without the absolute necessity of having one or more room mates to help cut the rent cost down and expect to maintain the wages you are earning. You will lose anywhere from 13-15k+ in rent alone just for one bedroom apartments and your federal taxation combined with FICA will eat up to another 8k in wages lost. You will see rents listed at 900 dollars or so per month but once you move in you will find that utility and maintenance fees are going to add nearly another 200 to that listed rate. I have loved living here for the last six years but I simply cannot justify this cost in rental increase. I cannot keep half of my employees due to this. Something has to change with the mindset that corporate owned businesses consider as a 'livable wage'.

The statue with the two children was Dale Carnegie which is why it's out in front of his library The Masonic Lodge was also built in 1903 it will be under going renovations as the owner of the velvet leaf cigar lounge will be it's new owner along with several investors ( I am one of the investors) DTB ( downtown Bryan ) as we locals call it is a beautiful and thriving area and next time you come by stop in the cigar lounge and ask for Norman and if I am there I'll buy you a cigar and tell you more about the history of the twin cities .. I really enjoyed your video. Gigem Mr Norman

Def looked like one of the best hotels so far! That breakfast shot is making me hungry! 😋 😩 😆

I am 70 years old and I was raised in Bryan Texas and i still live here.. I was told that the man on the bench was mr. Cargill

The house with all that stuff! There were a lot of houses in South Dakota that look like that, insane!

I live in Bryan TX. I'm glad you like it, I do.

College Station got its start as a train depot that was where they dropped off A & M students. The city was actually. incorporated in 1939 and does not have a downtown. They claim their downtown is Texas Ave. from University to Holloman. I lived in College Station and now live in Bryan. Best thing about Bryan downtown are all the great restaurants, shopping, and entertainment.

Muy buen video amigo. Excelente información. Muchas Bendiciones!!

Subscribed I am from Asia And love to see another perspective views of America Instead of all those large glamorous cities in the movies Thank you

Indoor pool not heated, automatic deal breaker for me. Great video.

Gorgeous Suite/ Building,,,,Wow

Just found your channel! I love these videos but I wish I had the time to watch them all 😭

It's a really nice town. I love the old war memorials. I was thinking about making a video reading every name on our local war memorials. I don't think it would get the views but it would be a cool tribute to the lost soldiers.

Where I live currently, Waco is my hometown!

I love the queen theater even before they remodeled it im from there shoutout to my hometown

Funny thing about the mansions, looked like normal homes on the other side. I would hate to pay those property taxes due to the mansions. Cool town, thanks for going there and sharing.

The revitalization of downtown Bryan started in the early 90s (if memory serves me well). At the time I worked for a really small electronics parts house off of Texas Avenue really close to downtown and lots of days and lunch dollars were spent there. I've been here since birth and live here now, with a few short years away in between due to a career. A nice city to live, but miss the old smaller town it use to be. A huge amount of people live just outside the city limits (literally a few feet to 1,2,3+ miles) and is why the population isn't a lot higher. Interesting to know why they aren't counted as part of the population, since they have a Bryan address. Thanks for the video!

Looking forward to GA & the Carolina's... States are on the retirement/new beginning list. :)

Lived in Bryan some years ago. Built the new probation office and parking structure. We're the probation office was built was the drug store around the turn of the century. It's was as if they just pushed the old building in a whole.

You should’ve stopped by Laredo Texas, we have downtown buildings that date back to the 1700s. A real interesting border town. Anyways good video 👍

So, I'm guessing you won't hear Petula Clark's hit played in College Station? 🙂The other examples of "downtownless" towns I can think of are tourist traps and places that are basically a series of strip malls strung out along a main drag. At least the tourist traps have interesting things to look at. That Embassy Suites looks nice--I really liked the one I stayed at in Amarillo last year. Happy trails!

Thanks to you guys for coming to the b/cs area next you guys should checkout Texas A&M hotel and conference center across from the stadium it has a outdoor pool on top of the roof

If you come back, the whole Brazos valley has a lot of cool towns to explore. Definitely go south to Navasota. I’d love to see you check it out. Also you should check out Montgomery county and Conroe

be sure to check out Chapel Hill, when in NC.

Some of those towns would be good retirement towns

We have some neat little towns in SC that you may enjoy. Embassy Suites tend to be top class rooms.

Can't wait I hope you cover some of the towns west of Abilene. Uh I don't think that is actually Kalamari, but you most likely already know that. Real Kalamari isn't ringed afaik. They can even fake the shape of the real stuff but I don't think they do very often.

Love the video! I’ve lived in Bryan all my life and can tell you that the twin cities pretty much function as one considering there is no separation between the two when driving. College Station has “Northgate” which has many bars that the student aged population frequent, Bryan’s Downtown is more family friendly and bars are aimed more toward the older crowd.

Moved here in 2020 from Dover Pennsylvania.....I dig it.

I love Texas thank u

Bryan/College station is a very interesting place. There are a TON of wealthy people that live there (lot of retired big oil execs) but there are also quite a few low income families as well. and then you have the university right in the middle of it all.

I’m in Caldwell TX right down the road just west of Bryan. A really small town about 4,000 people,, if we want something to do we gotta drive 30 minutes to Bryan college station lol

Good looking area, A&M sure is massive. Happy New Years to the both of you, I hope 2023 is a very productive and prosperous year for you guys. Thank you for a the wonderful travel videos last year, they were amazing. I hope you’re going to write a book about all the adventures.

I love it here

I moved to the Brazos Valley September 2018. Way too big & too everything for this country girl 🧒. 🚜 🧑‍🌾 🤔🥴😵‍💫 But I'm so blessed! ❤✝️ 🙏🇺🇸🗽❤️🤍💙🇺🇸🗽🙏

Bro you are living my dream life! What do you do to make it work? Do you travel in a mobile home? Work remotely? Own a business? I love your videos and hope to travel a little like you someday!

Bryan is the town College Station was the train stop for Texas A&M University. The train conductor would call out next stop college station. It was a large military school and agriculture school. That's why no town there in College Station.

next time you stop by bryan college station go to cavalier cigar and smoke a stogie. They have the best selection for miles

The food looked awesomely delicious. Glad to see you include the wifey some in this video. Appreciate all your travels and videos you post.

Bryan & College Station Texas my hometown my kids still living there now I move to Oklahoma