DISCUSS: Best North American Skyline

[yankeesfan1000]

This is getting really close to a city v city...

But, just in your last post ilcr I think you're forgetting about LA which has the third largest GDP in the world, and the second largest in the US. Chicago has the third largest in the US and fourth largest in the world. And those US GDP rankings are very cemented with huge percentage gaps between each of them. In fear of starting a rabid city v city I'll just post the link and not the actual statistics. Just wanted to make sure you didn't forget about LA!


But skyline's are not always indicative of economic might, which I think is the point you were making though, please correct me if I'm wrong though. It's definitely an interesting correlation, but I think it's more a combination of economic output, history, and geography all thrown in together.

Edit: I should probably explain that Space Shuttles don't usually fly into NY on the back of a NASA 747, it's being flown in to be shown temporarily at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum until this is built across the street where it'll be housed permanently:


Source

How about some photos?

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All photos courtesy of NASA

[iloveclassicrock7]

Originally Posted by yankeesfan1000

This is getting really close to a city v city...

But, just in your last post ilcr I think you're forgetting about LA which has the third largest GDP in the world, and the second largest in the US. Chicago has the third largest in the US and fourth largest in the world. And those US GDP rankings are very cemented with huge percentage gaps between each of them. In fear of starting a rabid city v city I'll just post the link and not the actual statistics. Just wanted to make sure you didn't forget about LA!


But skyline's are not always indicative of economic might, which I think is the point you were making though, please correct me if I'm wrong though. It's definitely an interesting correlation, but I think it's more a combination of economic output, history, and geography all thrown in together.


All photos courtesy of NASA

First off, those pictures are amazing, I can't wait to see that view once 1 WTC is finished. It will be absolutely astonishing.

Also whenever i said GDP, i mentioned the wrong figure, I was trying to say economic output, which Chicago has the 3rd highest. On this list, its the 4th most powerful city in the world, but has the 3rd highest economic output http://www.theatlanticcities.com/job...ld/109/#slide3

[yankeesfan1000]

No that's my fault I assumed you meant GDP, but you didn't say that, you said what you meant.

[iloveclassicrock7]

Originally Posted by yankeesfan1000

No that's my fault I assumed you meant GDP, but you didn't say that, you said what you meant.

I actually did say GDP a few posts back, so its my bad. It was simply a mix-up on my part.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by iloveclassicrock7

Actually Chicago is higher up on the Global City List - It is considered an alpha+ city,

I know that, but Chicago isn't the #1 city in the US. People in cities that are #1 in their country look to other cities that are #1 in their country. When we look around the world, we check out London, Sydney, Sao Paulo, etc. Chicago rarely gets a look. If you want to continue the discussion, pm is a better place for that.

We should limit this thread to skyline photos and related topics.

[iloveclassicrock7]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I know that, but Chicago isn't the #1 city in the US. People in cities that are #1 in their country look to other cities that are #1 in their country. When we look around the world, we check out London, Sydney, Sao Paulo, etc. Chicago rarely gets a look. If you want to continue the discussion, pm is a better place for that.

We should limit this thread to skyline photos and related topics.

Agreed, we should definitely get back to skylines. So does anyone feel like Miami could step up to the plate and be USA's 3rd skyline city ? Miami is coming along, and its got a nice harbor. Of course it's nowhere near NYC or Chicago, but it could still beat out San Fran/seattle, and be America's 3rd skyline city, what do you guys think ? They have a 300 meter building approved in Miami, but the only problem is that Miami's maximum height is 308 meters, so it will never have any really tall buildings.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by iloveclassicrock7

Agreed, we should definitely get back to skylines. So does anyone feel like Miami could step up to the plate and be USA's 3rd skyline city ?

I'd rank Los Angeles or Seattle as the 3rd best skyline in the US. Miami's skyline is large, but there are quite a few other skylines in the US that I prefer: LA, Seattle, SF, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Houston, Detroit, Cleveland, even Boston.

(Check your private messages. I sent you one.)

[iloveclassicrock7]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I'd rank Los Angeles or Seattle as the 3rd best skyline in the US. Miami's skyline is large, but there are quite a few other skylines in the US that I prefer: LA, Seattle, SF, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Houston, Detroit, Cleveland, even Boston.

(Check your private messages. I sent you one.)

Answered it. Also, LA is iconic on some level, but the skyline is small. Miami needs a iconic super-tall building before its considered. I don't like SF in its current state, Philly has some great architecture, Seattle is pretty good, I forgot about Houston for a second, kind of funny considering my future brother in-law lives there, but it has a great skyline, a bit small, but if it gets a iconic super-tall, it would stand out. Minneapolis looks good, can't think of Pittsburgh and Cleveland right now, and Boston is alright

[yankeesfan1000]

I'd put Philly as #3 in the US, followed by Houston and Seattle. They're all so close though, one even medium sized building in any of them could force me to reshuffle them.

It pains me to say this as a born and raised NYer, but I still have Chicago ahead of NY until some of NYs 1000+ footers start to break the monotonous plateau of 600-700 footers. But with the amount of 1000 footers NYs got in the works, once they all start to have an impact, say in 2015, NY will be my #1 for a long time unless Chicago goes on a 5-7 year tear. Side note, 1 WTC is due to pass the ESB as the tallest building in the city today.

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PeetThePhotographer

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Lens Shooter

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Wunderworld

[isaidso]

I have some difficulty ranking US skylines after the first 2 as well. There's not much separating 3-12. I don't find NY skyline shots of the downtown all that representative as it's midtown where the big 'cluster' is.

[iloveclassicrock7]

Originally Posted by yankeesfan1000

I'd put Philly as #3 in the US, followed by Houston and Seattle. They're all so close though, one even medium sized building in any of them could force me to reshuffle them.

It pains me to say this as a born and raised NYer, but I still have Chicago ahead of NY until some of NYs 1000+ footers start to break the monotonous plateau of 600-700 footers. But with the amount of 1000 footers NYs got in the works, once they all start to have an impact, say in 2015, NY will be my #1 for a long time unless Chicago goes on a 5-7 year tear. Side note, 1 WTC is due to pass the ESB as the tallest building in the city today.


Lens Shooter

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Wunderworld

I know what you mean man, New York is extremely impressive, but Chicago is more beautiful aesthetically, and I love the Sears, and the Trump is an amazing addition to the skyline, as well as, one of my favorite skyscrapers now. Chicago is a more modern counterpart to NYC in a way, so I don't compare them usually and just put them both in the top 3 world skylines, because they are also possibly the most unique skylines in the world, nothing looks like Chicago, and nothing looks like NYC.

Also Philadelphia as 3# makes sense, it has a great skyline

[iloveclassicrock7]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I have some difficulty ranking US skylines after the first 2 as well. There's not much separating 3-12. I don't find NY skyline shots of the downtown all that representative as it's midtown where the big 'cluster' is.

Yeah I agree, its hard to rank after the first 2. Deciding between Houston, Philly, SF and more is hard, btw did you get the last pm ?

[Dralcoffin]

Number #3 in the US is such a tough decision. For me personally, based on the shape of the skyline, the setting, and the architecture, I lean towards Seattle.

(Size-wise, it'd be Miami, followed closely by Houston, but I'm not really a fan of either skyline.)

[yankeesfan1000]

Originally Posted by iloveclassicrock7

I know what you mean man, New York is extremely impressive, but Chicago is more beautiful aesthetically...

I think that's the main difference. Chicago's is more postcard friendly, more beautiful aesthetically, but the sheer size of NY is much more impressive and imposing. And I didn't want to spark outrage in the Chicago thread, but the nickname 'Gotham' was given to NY by Washington Irving in 1807, in his book 'A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty' and he published the book under the name of Dietrich Knickerbocker, and that's also where the name Knickerbocker comes from as a reference to NYers, all before Chicago was officially founded as a city in 1833. Just an interesting tidbit of history.

Originally Posted by Dralcoffin

Number #3 in the US is such a tough decision. For me personally, based on the shape of the skyline, the setting, and the architecture, I lean towards Seattle.

Seattle has the natural setting the others don't have. It just needs one more building of a decent size and then it'll be #3 in my book.

[iloveclassicrock7]

Originally Posted by yankeesfan1000

I think that's the main difference. Chicago's is more postcard friendly, more beautiful aesthetically, but the sheer size of NY is much more impressive and imposing. And I didn't want to spark outrage in the Chicago thread, but the nickname 'Gotham' was given to NY by Washington Irving in 1807, in his book 'A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty' and he published the book under the name of Dietrich Knickerbocker, and that's also where the name Knickerbocker comes from as a reference to NYers, all before Chicago was officially founded as a city in 1833. Just an interesting tidbit of history.



Seattle has the natural setting the others don't have. It just needs one more building of a decent size and then it'll be #3 in my book.

Its all good man, I was calling it Gotham based off of looks, and because of Chicago being Gotham city in the Batman movies. After how insanely good Dark Knight was, I always think Chicago when I think of Gotham, partly because the two needles on the Black Sears tower and Hancock which make it look like I expect Gotham to look. Another thing about Chicago I mentioned in another thread, Is how insane it is when you are out a few miles on Lake Michigan, and can see the entire 8 mile stretch of Skyline, its pretty magnificent. Another thing I love about both cities is the history, and all the historic buildings that both cities have.

But anyways, lets talk about 3#. Seattle has a great skyline, but I am going to go with Houston, since it has 2 supertalls, and an great downtown and uptown skyline. Pics to prove it



Downtown

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Uptown
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[Dralcoffin]

Houston's size is definitely a point in its favor, but my least favorite time in architecture was the late 70s and 1980s -- right when almost all of Houston's skyline was built. Denver suffers from the same effect. As well, I'm not a fan of Houston's urban form. It's getting better, but I still dislike its car-oriented form.

[iloveclassicrock7]

Originally Posted by Dralcoffin

Houston's size is definitely a point in its favor, but my least favorite time in architecture was the late 70s and 1980s -- right when almost all of Houston's skyline was built. Denver suffers from the same effect. As well, I'm not a fan of Houston's urban form. It's getting better, but I still dislike its car-oriented form.

The skyline in Houston looks good, but I agree on the part about architecture. The tallest buildings in Houston are rather uninspiring, and are just ok, they look good in the skyline together, and the skyline is impressive from certain angles, but alone it's only average.

The city with the tallest building outside of Chicago and New York is Atlanta which has a 312m building, but Atlanta doesn't have a good enough skyline. So it's between Philly, Seattle, and Houston. I am still going to go with Houston, since it has 14 buildings over 200m, compared to Philly which has 5 buildings over 200m, and Seattle which has 4 over 200m.

[desertpunk]

NYC

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One World Trade Center (1,271 feet) becomes New York's tallest Skyscraper on April 30, 2012 (vs. 1,250 feet for the Empire State Building) by jag9889, on Flickr

[waldenbg]

Toronto!!

Blue:
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Sunrise:
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So much construction!!
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The Ripley's Aquarium is being built at the base of the CN Tower:
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The million dollar view!!:
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Financial district:
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An cool rare view of "Old Toronto":

[HK999]

You need to post the source.

A very flattering angle...



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AndreayAngel