The Efficiency of Business in the Top Cities
Over the past year, I have visited a range of U.S. cities including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I traveled to some of these multiple times. Some of these cities have airports that are in great locations, and others are designed to allow you to get to meetings efficiently while visiting.
If you are traveling for business or investing, understanding these differences can help you plan your time and meetings. It is worth knowing how easy it is to get from the airport into the city. It is also helpful to see how efficient it is to move between meetings. Being aware of the overall work and commute lifestyle in each location will give you the knowledge to make informed decisions.
Getting from the Airport to Downtown
One of the first things you notice when traveling is how quickly you can get from the airport to where you need to be. In some cities, you can land and get to a meeting within minutes. In others, that first leg of the journey can take up a significant part of your day.
Here is a breakdown of typical travel times:
Tier 1: Ultra Short Travel Times (About 10 to 15 Minutes)
City - Typical Drive Time - Why It Stands Out
Boston: 10 to 15 minutes - Airport is essentially in the city
Phoenix: 10 to 15 minutes - Direct freeway access
Las Vegas: 10 to 15 minutes - Airport next to the Strip
Washington DC: 10 to 15 minutes - One of the closest airports to downtown
These cities are incredibly efficient and allow you to arrive downtown almost immediately. For business travel, this is a major advantage.
Tier 2: Short Travel Times (About 15 to 20 Minutes)
City - Typical Drive Time
Charlotte: 14 to 20 minutes
Philadelphia: 15 to 20 minutes
San Francisco: 18 to 25 minutes
These cities still offer strong accessibility, though traffic can start to play a role, particularly in San Francisco.
Tier 3: Moderate Travel Times (About 25 to 30 Minutes)
City - Typical Drive Time
Atlanta: 20 to 30 minutes
Dallas: 23 to 30 minutes
Here, the scale of the city begins to show. Airports are still well connected, although the distances are greater and travel time becomes more noticeable.
This is something I experienced firsthand in Atlanta. While the airport access is strong, meetings can often extend beyond Midtown into surrounding submarkets like Alpharetta. For example, a property like Milton Park illustrates how activity in growing suburban hubs can require a 30- to 45-minute drive depending on traffic. These types of locations offer strong opportunities, but they require more thoughtful scheduling when planning meetings across the metro area.
Tier 4: Longer and Less Predictable (30+ Minutes)
City - Typical Drive Time - Key Challenge
Los Angeles: 25 to 45+ minutes - Traffic and congestion
New York City: 30 to 60+ minutes - Heavy congestion despite proximity
These cities require planning. Travel time can vary widely depending on traffic, time of day, and even the specific route you take.
(Sources: travelmath.com, transportc...onicle.com, rome2rio.com, unchartedlens.com, blade.com, nyceliteca...ervice.com)
Travel Time to Meetings
Once you are in a city, you will want to be aware of how easy it is to move to meetings you have during the day. Some cities allow you to walk from one meeting to the next. Others require you to build in significant travel time between each stop.
Most Walkable Cities for Meetings
1. New York City (Manhattan)
Gold standard for walkability
- Midtown, FiDi, and Flatiron are dense, vertical, and contiguous
- You can realistically do 4–6 meetings in a day entirely on foot
- Subway fills gaps, but often unnecessary
Best neighborhoods: Midtown, Midtown South, Financial District
2. Boston
Small footprint, extremely efficient
- Back Bay, Financial District, and Seaport are 10–20 minute walks apart
- Streets are compact; meetings cluster tightly
- Many executives walk by default
Best neighborhoods: Back Bay, Seaport, Downtown
3. Washington, DC
Walkable + structured
- K Street, West End, Dupont, Foggy Bottom are very walk-friendly
- Grid system makes navigation easy
- Metro covers anything beyond ~1 mile
Best neighborhoods: West End, Dupont Circle, Downtown
4. San Francisco
Highly walkable if meetings stay central
- FiDi, SOMA, Union Square cluster well
- Density supports walking between offices
Best neighborhoods: Financial District, SOMA
Very Walkable (But Slightly More Spread Out)
5. Philadelphia
- Center City is genuinely walkable
- Office, healthcare, and institutional meetings cluster well
Best neighborhoods: Center City, Rittenhouse
6. Chicago
- Loop and West Loop are very walkable
- Grid is intuitive; sidewalks are wide
Best neighborhoods: Loop, West Loop
Conditionally Walkable (Hotel Placement Matters a Lot)
7. Charlotte
- Uptown is walkable within itself
- Step outside Uptown and walkability drops fast
8. Washington Submarkets (Rosslyn, Tysons)
- Walkable internally, but not between districts
- Often requires a short car/Metro hop
Least Walkable for Meetings
Los Angeles
- Meetings are geographically fragmented
- Walking rarely connects more than one meeting
- Car mandatory
Dallas / Phoenix
- Even downtown cores are spread out
- Walking works for lunch, not full schedules
- Car or rideshare expected
This becomes especially clear in markets like Dallas, where the footprint of the metro area continues to expand outward. For instance, developments such as Revelry highlight how growth is pushing further from the urban core. While highways make these locations accessible, you are often covering significant distances to reach them, which impacts how many meetings you can schedule in a day.
The Reality of Daily Commutes
Beyond business travel, there is another important layer to consider. You will want to have an understanding of what it is like to live and work in these cities on a daily basis.
Average Commute Times by City
New York, NY: 40 [geotab.com], [newser.com]
Boston, MA: 40 [geotab.com], [newser.com]
Philadelphia, PA: 32 [geotab.com], [newser.com]
Washington, DC: 41 [geotab.com]
Charlotte, NC: 25 [bestplaces.net]
Atlanta, GA: 35 [geotab.com]
Dallas, TX: 30 [geotab.com]
Phoenix, AZ: 27 [geotab.com]
Las Vegas, NV: 26 [stacker.com], [indexyard.com]
Los Angeles, CA: 33 [geotab.com], [newser.com]
San Francisco, CA: 36 [geotab.com], [newser.com]
These numbers help tell a broader story. Even in cities that are highly efficient for meetings, the daily commute can still be significant.
New York City Efficiency
One thing that becomes clear when traveling is how unique New York City is when it comes to efficiency. From an office in Midtown Manhattan, it is entirely realistic to have most meetings within a 15-block radius. You can walk, take a ride, or move between locations easily. That level of efficiency is difficult to replicate anywhere else.
At the same time, there is a tradeoff. If you live outside the city you will have to account for commute time. For me, traveling from Greenwich into the city takes over an hour each way. While much of that time may be spent on a train, it still needs to be factored into schedules.
This contrast highlights an important point. A city can be incredibly efficient once you are there, but the broader lifestyle and commute patterns still play a major role in your overall experience.
What This Means for Investors and Professionals
If you are traveling frequently, investing in different markets, or evaluating where to spend your time, you will want to think about what is important to you. A city that is easy to access, simple to navigate, and efficient for meetings can significantly increase your productivity. On the other hand, markets that require long drives between meetings or unpredictable travel times can limit how much you can accomplish in a single day.
By thinking about accessibility, mobility, and daily commute patterns, you can make more informed decisions about how to spend your time. Whether you are visiting for a day or building a long-term presence, understanding how a city functions will help you work more efficiently and get the most out of every opportunity.