Per World's Best Skylines, the following is a ranking of all U.S. City skylines based on the following criteria:

Total number of meters above 90 for all buildings, including those currently under construction. IMO, this is a good measure of skylines as it balances height and sheer number of buildings.

Link: http://www.library.tudelft.nl/~egram/skylines.htm

1. New York, NY (incl. Jersey City, NJ)
2. Chicago, IL
3. Houston, TX
4. Los Angeles, CA
5. San Francisco, CA
6. Atlanta, GA
7. Miami, FL (incl. Miami Beach, FL)
8. Dallas, TX
9. Boston, MA
10. Philadelphia, PA (incl. Camden, NJ)
11. Seattle, WA
12. Honolulu, HI
13. Minneapolis, MN
14. Las Vegas, NV
15. Denver, CO
16. Pittsburgh, PA
17. Detroit, MI
18. New Orleans, LA
19. Cleveland, OH
20. San Diego, CA
21. Charlotte, NC
22. Columbus, OH
23. Kansas City, MO
24. Baltimore, MD
25. Sunny Isles Beach, FL
26. Tulsa, OK
27. St. Louis, MO
28. Tampa, FL
29. Cincinnati, OH (incl. Covington, KY)
30. Indianapolis, IN
31. Fort Worth, TX
32. Hartford, CT
33. Nashville, TN
34. Louisville, KY
35. Milwaukee, WI
36. Jacksonville, FL
37. Portland, OR
38. Phoenix, AZ
39. Fort Lauderdale, FL
40. Atlantic City, NJ
41. Oklahoma City, OK
42. San Antonio, TX
43. St. Paul, MN
44. Des Moines, IA
45. Sandy Springs/Dunwoody, GA
46. Austin, TX
47. Little Rock, AR
48. Mobile, AL
49. Newark, NJ
50. Omaha, NE
51. Memphis, TN
52. Birmingham, AL
53. Salt Lake City, UT
54. Oakland, CA
55. Sacramento, CA
56. Buffalo, NY
57. Richmond, VA
58. Southfield, MI
59. Albany, NY
60. Rochester, NY
61. Orlando, FL
62. Arlington, VA
63. Guttenburg, NJ
64. Winston-Salem, NC
65. Toledo, OH
66. Dayton, OH
67. Bellevue, WA
68. Providence, RI
69. Hollywood, FL
70. Corpus Christi, TX
71. Raleigh, NC
72. Cape Canaveral, FL
73. Fort Wayne, IN
74. Reno, NV
75. Uncasville, CT
76. Baton Rouge, LA
77. Long Beach, CA
78. Springfield, MA
79. Burbank, CA
80. St. Petersburg, FL
81. Lexington, KY
82. Syracuse, NY
83. Tacoma, WA
84. Clayton, MO
85. The Woodlands, TX
86. Springfield, IL
87. Oakbrook, IL
88. New Haven, CT
89. Troy, MI
90. Metairie, LA
91. Grand Rapids, MI
92. Lincoln, NE
93. West Palm Beach, FL
94. Itasca, IL
95. Biloxi, MS
96. Charleston, WV
97. Bristol, CT
98. Akron, OH
99. Columbia, SC
100. Amarillo, TX
101. Montgomery, AL
102. El Segundo, CA
103. Foster City, CA
104. Rochester, MN
105. Fairfax, VA
106. Roanoke, VA
107. Santa Monica, CA
108. Lansing, MI
109. Shreveport, LA
110. Albuquerque, NM
111. Galveston, TX
112. Irving, TX
113. Norfolk, VA
114. Tallahassee, FL
115. Midland, TX
116. Frankfort, KY
117. Emeryville, CA
118. Harrisburg, PA
119. Bloomington, MN
120. Bethlehem, PA
121. Tucson, AZ
122. Knoxville, TN
123. Sparks, NV
124. Daytona Beach, FL
125. South Padre Island, TX
126. Wichita, KS
127. Tunica, MS
128. Allentown, PA
129. Laughlin, NV
130. Yonkers, NY
131. Berkeley, CA
132. South Bend, IN
133. Peoria, IL
134. Greenville, SC
135. Jackson, MS
136. Topeka, KS
137. Boca Raton, FL
138. Boise, ID
139. Chattanooga, TN
140. Lake Charles, LA
141. Normal, IL
142. Anchorage, AK
143. El Paso, TX
144. Kansas City, KS

Wow - this is odd:
45. Sandy Springs/Dunwoody, GA
46. Austin, TX

But an interesting list certainly. Nonetheless, this list will create controversy anyways... ;)

I definitely agree with St. Louis to Milwaukee (being grouped together) and actually think that is pretty spot-on, but I have never thought that Columbus had that great of a skyline...at least not better than St. Louis or Cincy!

LOL.. the suburbs of Oakbrook, IL(of Chicago) have more than Peoria or other suburbs in chicagi metro. WOw.. Oakbrook is third in IL(after chicago and springfield)!!How come NYC can have Jersy city included, their not even in the same state(across the Hudson River).

LOL.. the suburbs of Oakbrook, IL(of Chicago) have more than Peoria or other suburbs in chicagi metro. WOw.. Oakbrook is third in IL(after chicago and springfield)!!How come NYC can have Jersy city included, their not even in the same state(across the Hudson River).

I assume JC is included with NYC because from many angles they appear to be one continuous skyline.

20. San Diego, CA

Damn Height Limit!!! I hate the FAA!!!

weird ranking

Columbus is pretty nice actually. I don't have a lot of problems with this list. I'm glad that Honolulu is high, I like that city.
And don't be pissed 'cuz Chi isn't number 1, Jersey City is right across the river, it's pretty much NY, it's the same as Queens or Brooklyn, just on paper it's a different state. State has nothing to do with it, NYC just happens to be on its state's border where it's influence very much exists, Cincy and Philly benefit the same way, just not as much. And yeah, I think it's b/c the NYC skyline actually continues into JC.
Even w/o Jersey City, NYC would be at the top of this ranking.

i'm not mad that chicago is 2nd. All of chicago's skyscrapers is on the lakefront in downtown, while NYC 's skyscraper is all over their city. I was just asking why.

i'm not mad that chicago is 2nd. All of chicago's skyscrapers is on the lakefront in downtown, while NYC 's skyscraper is all over their city. I was just asking why.

Not really, NYC's skyscrapers are for the most part located in Manhattan.

:rock: ATLANTA IS #6!!! :rock:
:dance:

Texas:

3. Houston, TX
8. Dallas, TX
31. Fort Worth, TX
42. San Antonio, TX
46. Austin, TX
70. Corpus Christi, TX
85. The Woodlands, TX
100. Amarillo, TX
111. Galveston, TX
112. Irving, TX
115. Midland, TX
125. South Padre Island, TX
143. El Paso, TX

Its a bit weird that most suburbs are not included in cities, like Fort Worth and Dallas, or Galveston, The Woodlands, and Houston.

Also, Doesn't Midlands have alot more skyscrapers then The Woodlands? and Irving?? - Ah, 90m and above... I gotcha.

And there just basing it on the # of highrises + height...

World Ranking:

Current # / city / # last time / Change

2 NYC (2) +/- 0
5 Chicago (4) -1
16 Houston (13) -3
19 Los Angeles (17) -2
23 San Francisco (19) -4
25 Atlanta (25) +/- 0
27 Miami (28) +1
29 Dallas (23) -6
33 Boston (27) -6
34 Philadelphia (29) -5
39 Seattle (36) -3
44 Honolulu (40) -4
46 Minneapolis (43) -3
55 Las Vegas (59) +4
56 Denver (49) -7
60 Pittsburgh (50) -10
63 Detroit (57) -6
70 New Orleans (64) -6
73 Cleveland (66) -7
75 San Diego (73) -2
79 Charlotte (68) -11
82 Columbus (71) -11
85 Kansas City (74) -11
90 Baltimore (81) -9
95 Sunny Isles Beach (Miami Metro) (92) -3
97 Tulsa (85) -12
99 St. Louis (86) -13

^^ nice list. makes sense because we can tell who are the the two boom cities.

ATL also holds its own on that list. With the way the rest of the planet is building skyscrapers, any US city that can come close to keeping up is booming by our standards.

World Ranking:

Current # / city / # last time / Change

2 NYC (2) +/- 0
5 Chicago (4) -1
16 Houston (13) -3
19 Los Angeles (17) -2
23 San Francisco (19) -4
25 Atlanta (25) +/- 0
27 Miami (28) +1
.
.
.
.

95 Sunny Isles Beach (Miami Metro) (92) -3


Well i think sunny isles should be included with miami,and i got a message for atlantians miami is coming for you!!!!!hahaha

Here is this table by state( I am only doing the top 7 states, where the top 10 cities come from)

New York

1. New York, NY (incl. Jersey City, NJ)
56. Buffalo, NY
82. Syracuse, NY
129. Laughlin, NV
130. Yonkers, NY

Illinois


2. Chicago, IL
86. Springfield, IL
87. Oakbrook, IL
94. Itasca, IL
133. Peoria, IL
141. Normal, IL

Texas


3. Houston, TX
8. Dallas, TX
31. Fort Worth, TX
42. San Antonio, TX
46. Austin, TX
70. Corpus Christi, TX
85. The Woodlands, TX
100. Amarillo, TX
111. Galveston, TX
112. Irving, TX
115. Midland, TX
125. South Padre Island, TX
143. El Paso, TX




California:

4. Los Angeles, CA
5. San Francisco, CA
20. San Diego, CA
54. Oakland, CA
55. Sacramento, CA
77. Long Beach, CA
79. Burbank, CA
107. Santa Monica, CA
131. Berkeley, CA

Georgia

6.Atlanta, GA
45. Sandy Springs/Dunwoody, GA

Florida

7. Miami, FL (incl. Miami Beach, FL)
25. Sunny Isles Beach, FL
28. Tampa, FL
36. Jacksonville, FL
39. Fort Lauderdale, FL
69. Hollywood, FL
72. Cape Canaveral, FL
80. St. Petersburg, FL
93. West Palm Beach, FL
114. Tallahassee, FL
124. Daytona Beach, FL
137. Boca Raton, FL



Massachusets

9. Boston, MA
78. Springfield, MA

Pennsylvaiana

10. Philadelphia, PA (incl. Camden, NJ)
16. Pittsburgh, PA
118. Harrisburg, PA
120. Bethlehem, PA
128. Allentown, PA

If you see any mistakes, please tell me!

^^ nice list. makes sense because we can tell who are the the two boom cities.
Or atleast keeping up with chinese cities ;)

Wow Texas is the #1 state with 13!

Florida - 11.

Florida & Texas dominate this thread ;)

Interesting, they have Burbank but no Glendale?

Its a bit weird that most suburbs are not included in cities, like Fort Worth and Dallas, or Galveston, The Woodlands, and Houston.



Yeah but Ft. Worth is not a suburb of Dallas and Galveston is not a suburb of Houston either. They are just different cities in one metro.

Worst skyline ranking method EVER!!!

Indeed.

Atlanta is way too high, and Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Detroit are too low.

What I found most interesting about this list after looking at the source is that nearly 1/3 of these cities have their new tallest under construction right now......but in the US only NYC (they are counting Freedom tower as u/c), Las Vegas, and Sunny Isles have new tallest currently U/C. They list the 4seasons in MIA as well, but it's already completed.

Apparantly the US is waaaayyyyy behind in the world of skyscrapers.......of course what do you expect from the country that invented sprawl.

How come Miami Beach is included with Miami but Sunny Isles Beach (#25 on the list by itself) isn't? Add Sunny Isles to Miami (which there is absolutely no reason why you wouldn't) and Miami passes Atlanta and San Fran and almost catches up with LA. Even with these two cities added on, Miami is still geographically way smaller than all the rest.

Its also interesting that Sunny Isles Beach by itself is #25 on the list when it is less then 1 SQUARE MILE!!!

How come Miami Beach is included with Miami but Sunny Isles Beach (#25 on the list by itself) isn't? Add Sunny Isles to Miami (which there is absolutely no reason why you wouldn't) and Miami passes Atlanta and San Fran and almost catches up with LA. Even with these two cities added on, Miami is still geographically way smaller than all the rest.

My guess is that in the case of Miami and Miami Beach, NYC and Jersey City, Philly and Camden, & Cincy and Covington that these skylines appear as one from certain angles and are therefore included together whereas Sunny Isles Beach is miles to the north with no real connection to the Miami skyline.

Also, it appears that separate skylines within the same city proper (i.e. Atlanta, Houston, L.A.) are considered one.

141. Normal, IL

Haha, sweet. I didn't even know Normal had a skyline. My hometown baby. :cheers:

Its also interesting that Sunny Isles Beach by itself is #25 on the list when it is less then 1 SQUARE MILE!!!


i thought it was 2miles

What I found most interesting about this list after looking at the source is that nearly 1/3 of these cities have their new tallest under construction right now......but in the US only NYC (they are counting Freedom tower as u/c), Las Vegas, and Sunny Isles have new tallest currently U/C. They list the 4seasons in MIA as well, but it's already completed.

Apparantly the US is waaaayyyyy behind in the world of skyscrapers.......of course what do you expect from the country that invented sprawl.

You should also consider that the US was waaaayyyyy ahead of the rest of the world for a long time. I doubt too many cities are building towers that would be the tallest in major American cities.

Edit: For example, the new tallests in Tokyo, Chongquing, Moscow, Melbourne, Beijing, and Nanjing would be at or about the same level as the tallest in a major American metro. Only Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai and Dalian are building "wow"-height tallests.

How come Miami Beach is included with Miami but Sunny Isles Beach (#25 on the list by itself) isn't? Add Sunny Isles to Miami (which there is absolutely no reason why you wouldn't) and Miami passes Atlanta and San Fran and almost catches up with LA. Even with these two cities added on, Miami is still geographically way smaller than all the rest.
Well, if you want to do that then we should add the Sandy Springs/Dunwoody to the Atlanta skyline...

They should include The Woodlands in Houston, because its not an "actual" city (source, Jmancuso, don't argue with him). Its just a suburb of Houston.

Well, if you want to do that then we should add the Sandy Springs/Dunwoody to the Atlanta skyline...

I doubt that would make any difference to Atlanta's ranking. Sunny Isles has 2 current 500-footers and 4 more currently under construction and a bunch of 400-footers as well. Pretty good for a "suburb".

Dupage county(IL) have 2 towns on that list and chicago isnt even in that county!
Making it, I think, Dupage have the most towns/city from the list in one county, not counting those county that have the major city in them(like LA is in LA county).

BTW, chicago is in cook county, if you think Chicago is in Dupage county.

Go Souf Bend!

I doubt that would make any difference to Atlanta's ranking. Sunny Isles has 2 current 500-footers and 4 more currently under construction and a bunch of 400-footers as well. Pretty good for a "suburb".
Sandy Springs/Dunwoody have two skyscrapers that are already over 500 feet. I am assuming that the highrise construction in Sunny Isles is residential, which isn't as impressive in my opinion because it's on an ocean, and just about any somewhat populated area on the ocean in Florida is going to have residential highrises. Sandy Springs has a nice skyline considering it's location isn't on an ocean.

I doubt that would make any difference to Atlanta's ranking. Sunny Isles has 2 current 500-footers and 4 more currently under construction and a bunch of 400-footers as well. Pretty good for a "suburb".
Sure, but does Sunny Isles have this:

http://www.unitedforming.com/projects/King__Queen.jpg

Killadelphia and lammius are right. This skyline ranking method is flawed.

How is it flawed.....it's just one method, and it gives the parameters, so how could it possibly be flawed? What makes a skyline appealing to a person is very subjective.....

You should also consider that the US was waaaayyyyy ahead of the rest of the world for a long time. I doubt too many cities are building towers that would be the tallest in major American cities.

Edit: For example, the new tallests in Tokyo, Chongquing, Moscow, Melbourne, Beijing, and Nanjing would be at or about the same level as the tallest in a major American metro. Only Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai and Dalian are building "wow"-height tallests.

Well, 10 of the 28 non-US cities building new tallest will be over 300 meters......that's wow to me........The US is building 1. I'm not saying that we need to be building supertalls to remain a world leader, but I do think it is an indication of the rest of the world's willingness to take an Amercian innovation and use it effectively to increase density (middle east not-withstanding) while we have grown weary of skyscrapers and find working in office parks and cookie-cutter homes and more enjoyable quality of life.

Well, 10 of the 28 non-US cities building new tallest will be over 300 meters......that's wow to me........The US is building 1. I'm not saying that we need to be building supertalls to remain a world leader, but I do think it is an indication of the rest of the world's willingness to take an Amercian innovation and use it effectively to increase density (middle east not-withstanding) while we have grown weary of skyscrapers and find working in office parks and cookie-cutter homes and more enjoyable quality of life.

I just don't see it that way. Most of the cities we're referring to are major world cities... there aren't that many major world cities in the US to be able to build huge scrapers. And of the major world cities that are in the US, most have scrapers that are at least 300m. You're basically comparing the entire world to one country; compare any other single country and the lack of major construction here seems a lot less extreme.

And by no means is the suburban nature of American cities new. If anything, cities are urbanizing at a rate that hasn't been seen in quite some time. Sunbelt and West Coast cities are seeing a huge condo boom that reflects a new interest in urban living. In most cities urban density is on an upturn. If anything, the situation you describe seems very 30-years-ago.

Obviously the USA isn't pushing the envelope in scraper development, but accusing it of falling way behind is off-base. If anything it's running just behind the leaders of the pack (Hong Kong, etc.) right now, with a few world-class projects going on at any given time.

Sure, but does Sunny Isles have this

http://www.unitedforming.com/projects/King__Queen.jpg

No but it has this. Some of the worlds tallest oceanfront builings, and no, no other Florida Cities (other than Miami Beach) have 550ft buildings on the Ocean...

http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=348150

and this...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y19/dave8721/sunnyisles1.jpg

The 550ft La Perla going up on the left.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y19/dave8721/sunnyisles2.jpg
*Thanks to miamitom for the pics

50 really nice buildings beats 2 very nice buildings in my book.

^To be honest, I was only making a point about quality as opposed to condoty. And yes, the pictures of Panama City above are nice, and they do make me wanna pull out my suntan lotion! :)

^Ok, Ok, before you get offended about the Panama City thing, I'll have you know I was joking. :) I know Sunny Isles is huge and has a great skyline, but PC is much more than those two buildings, I just can't find any dog gone pictures on the web and don't own a camera! :)

Illinois


2. Chicago, IL
86. Springfield, IL
87. Oakbrook, IL
94. Itasca, IL
133. Peoria, IL
141. Normal, IL



That is so bogus. Schaumburg, IL has a better skyline than Itasca, Peoria, and Normal.

That is so bogus. Schaumburg, IL has a better skyline than Itasca, Peoria, and Normal.

Yes, but does Schaumburg have any buildings 90m or above?

The answer is no. The tallest building in Schaumburg is 82m. (see link)

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/?id=101663

That is so bogus. Schaumburg, IL has a better skyline than Itasca, Peoria, and Normal.

I'll go out on a limb on this one, but I think in 5 or 10 years, the second best skyline in Illinois will be Evanston. The current condo high rise boom has buildings in the 25-storey range. I can't imagine this trend won't continue.

Because Evanston's skyline is urban in nature, it offers a concentration that the more suburban settings (the Woodfield area in Schaumburg, the Oakbrook area in Oak Brook, Hamilton Lakes in Itascha, Greater O'Hare) cannot duplicate.

I think in 5-15 years, many cities in IL will beat or even rivial chicago in skylines..

The rank on this thread is ranked by how many tall buildings, not by personal opinions.

Besides a few mistakes, I like the style of this list.

if miami and miami beach are together why isnt minneapolis and st. paul together

Per World's Best Skylines, the following is a ranking of all U.S. City skylines based on the following criteria:

Total number of meters above 90 for all buildings, including those currently under construction. IMO, this is a good measure of skylines as it balances height and sheer number of buildings.

Link: http://www.library.tudelft.nl/~egram/skylines.htm
130. Yonkers, NY


this is off, yonkers doesn't have a skyline....while there are alot of very old historic buildings esp around the getty square area..there is no skyline, the only skyline I can see is manhattan standing on different parts of north and south broadway. and other parts around the city...

there are some high rises..but not enough to make a skyline

I saw new haven on that list...and a couple of other cities which really don't have a skyline...just a few buildings..the list is flawed