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Rate the skyline

  • 10

    Votes: 27 11.3%
  • 9.5

    Votes: 7 2.9%
  • 9

    Votes: 19 7.9%
  • 8.5

    Votes: 21 8.8%
  • 8

    Votes: 39 16.3%
  • 7.5

    Votes: 23 9.6%
  • 7

    Votes: 34 14.2%
  • 6.5

    Votes: 12 5.0%
  • 6

    Votes: 13 5.4%
  • 5.5

    Votes: 12 5.0%
  • 5

    Votes: 3 1.3%
  • 4.5

    Votes: 5 2.1%
  • 4

    Votes: 4 1.7%
  • 3.5

    Votes: 5 2.1%
  • Below 3.5

    Votes: 16 6.7%

Austin - USA

57K views 240 replies 155 participants last post by  Rekarte 
#1 · (Edited)
Austin

Population: 743,074 (Metro: 1,652,602)

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas and the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States of America. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006. According to the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, Austin had a population of 743,074. The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock Metropolitan Area, with a population of 1,652,602 as of the July 2008 U.S. Census estimate—making it the 36th-largest- and 2nd-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation.









 
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#142 ·
False: At the time these pictures were taken, about 5 or 6 buildings were taller than the State Capitol. The buildings are small because native Austinites don't want the big city look, so they fight developers all the way. Since then, about 3 more "sky scrapers" have been added that are taller than the capitol, including one that's easily the tallest in Austin. There are also projects underway, or in the works for downtown, and south of the river, to add at least 6 more sky scrapers, rivaling the tallest current scraper in Austin, (was still under developement in those old photos.)
 
#9 ·
well if thats the case they have all done well wtih heigh restictions
each of the building is diff and has many feaures
What are the four similar ones on the water front ?
While most are boxes each has featuers steps and layers that give the building real charter
 
G
#12 · (Edited)
3/10. Just lame. Like almost everything else about Austin, completely overrated. And I did live there for seven years, so it's not like I have no right to bash. No height (there is no such rule/law/constraint saying no building can be taller than the Capitol -- 6 completed buildings are taller), no density, banal designs, no sleekness, yet little classic richness either.

Seriously, if you give this anything higher than a 7, then skylines like NYC, Chicago, HK deserve about a 50. Hell, giving Austin an 8 leaves no room for substantially superior Texas skylines such as Dallas, and of course the Texas-best Houston -- whose Galleria/Uptown skyline alone is arguably better than this.

Don't get me completely wrong, Austin is great for a small, minor city. You can give it 7+ scores, but only if you rate Austin relative to other cities in a separate group for third-tier Sun Belt cities.

One thing is for sure, giving such undeserved high scores to Austin will fuel even more conceit and arrogance from Austinites, who can never shut up about how fantastic and perfect Austin is, and how other cities -- world class or not -- just suck, if only everyone weren't so ignorant in their eyes.
 
#143 ·
I'm surprised you lasted 7 years in Austin. Usually, people with your negative attitude/outlook don't last too long there. Austinites are as proud of their city, as they, and the rest of Texas, are of their state. Maybe it's something in the water. Native Americans all use to go to Austin, and would not fight, including the Cherokee, because they viewed Austin (namely the Barton Creek {springs} area) as a sacred place.

I don't know, maybe there's something to that.... or, maybe there's something to the atmosphere of all the live music venues that make the city so fun, all the eatery's, (most restaurants per capita in the U.S.,) all the parks (most parks per capita in the U.S.,) the singles scene (always in the top five of Forbes list for best cities for young singles,) or largest, and best community college in the country, and one of the best state colleges (and one of the largest colleges) in the country...... The city has it going on. The only thing it's lacking, although I doubt most Austinites would agree, is the sun blocking, concrete jungle feel of big cities like Chicago, and New York.

Btw..... just because Houston has big buildings, does not make it an awesome city. When you drive 2 hours, and are still on the same side of town, there's nothing awesome about that.
 
G
#19 ·
trussedtube said:
3/10. Just lame. Like almost everything else about Austin, completely overrated. And I did live there for seven years, so it's not like I have no right to bash. No height (there is no such rule/law/constraint saying no building can be taller than the Capitol -- 6 completed buildings are taller), no density, banal designs, no sleekness, yet little classic richness either.

Seriously, if you give this anything higher than a 7, then skylines like NYC, Chicago, HK deserve about a 50. Hell, giving Austin an 8 leaves no room for substantially superior Texas skylines such as Dallas, and of course the Texas-best Houston -- whose Galleria/Uptown skyline alone is arguably better than this.

Don't get me completely wrong, Austin is great for a small, minor city. You can give it 7+ scores, but only if you rate Austin relative to other cities in a separate group for third-tier Sun Belt cities.

One thing is for sure, giving such undeserved high scores to Austin will fuel even more conceit and arrogance from Austinites, who can never shut up about how fantastic and perfect Austin is, and how other cities -- world class or not -- just suck, if only everyone weren't so ignorant in their eyes.
As someone who's also lived there, I completely related to and agreed with your post!

Lord knows where Austinites derive their "high-horse" mentality from, but it is totally laughable as the city is TERRIBLY overrated!

Skyline wise, 4/10 at best...
 
#21 ·
trussedtube said:
3/10. Just lame. Like almost everything else about Austin, completely overrated. And I did live there for seven years, so it's not like I have no right to bash. No height (there is no such rule/law/constraint saying no building can be taller than the Capitol -- 6 completed buildings are taller), no density, banal designs, no sleekness, yet little classic richness either.

Seriously, if you give this anything higher than a 7, then skylines like NYC, Chicago, HK deserve about a 50. Hell, giving Austin an 8 leaves no room for substantially superior Texas skylines such as Dallas, and of course the Texas-best Houston -- whose Galleria/Uptown skyline alone is arguably better than this.

Don't get me completely wrong, Austin is great for a small, minor city. You can give it 7+ scores, but only if you rate Austin relative to other cities in a separate group for third-tier Sun Belt cities.

One thing is for sure, giving such undeserved high scores to Austin will fuel even more conceit and arrogance from Austinites, who can never shut up about how fantastic and perfect Austin is, and how other cities -- world class or not -- just suck, if only everyone weren't so ignorant in their eyes.
I completely agree with you trussedtube. I'd have to give Chicago a 100 based on some of these rankings. I lived in Austin one summer, nice people, but downtown was kind of drab. 6.5/10
 
#22 ·
9.5/10. Good thing Frost Bank was built, or else I would have rated it lower than that for its size of the city. I gave it a high rating because Frost Bank definitely improved the skyline.
shibbie said:
I lived in Austin one summer, nice people, but downtown was kind of drab.
Maybe so, but there are improvements to it. Shibbie, I don't know if you've been to Sixth Street at night for the nightlife, but you probably should.

More pics of Downtown Austin.

 
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