Tallest building in the smallest city

pjm1970 said:

There was a discussion on another thread about how Mobile Al has the new Battlefield House tower that is 745 ft and the city has only a population of 197,000 and that could be a record.

Does anybody know what the tallest building in the midwest in the smallest city is?

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That is a tough one to define, you'd have to develop some kind of 'weighting' formula to come up with a coherent list.

OTOH, I am always kind of impressed with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I'm not sure how tall it is, but Rochester is a very smallish city (2000 USCensus population - 92,507) with pretty much all of its metro area inside of the city limits.

That Northern Illinois University building in Freeport, IL (2000 USCensus population - 25,867) is quite disproportionate, too.

Mike

mgk920 said:

That is a tough one to define, you'd have to develop some kind of 'weighting' formula to come up with a coherent list.

OTOH, I am always kind of impressed with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I'm not sure how tall it is, but Rochester is a very smallish city (2000 USCensus population - 92,507) with pretty much all of its metro area inside of the city limits.

That Northern Illinois University building in Freeport, IL (2000 USCensus population - 25,867) is quite disproportionate, too.

Mike

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The tallest building in Rochester, MN is the Oakwood Broadway Plaza, which has extended stay apartments aimed mostly at families of patients being treated at the nearby Mayo Clinic. The building is 29 stories and 342 feet, according to Emporis.com. According to the U.S. Census, the 2006 estimate for the Rochester metro area is 179,573. The 2005 Census estimate for the city proper is 94,950.

Regarding, the Battlefield House Tower under construction in Mobile, AL. It is worth noting that the building has only 33 stories--including one service floor--(Emporis says 35, but then contradicts itself in the details section), which is one less story than the 34 story Wachovia Tower in the much larger city of Birmingham, AL. What gives the Battlefield House its height is the large decorative crown and the tall spire on top of it, not its number of usable or service floors. (The U.S. Census 2005 estimate for the city proper of Mobile is 191,544 and the 2006 Census metropolitan area estimate is 404,157)

Bartlesville, OK population 34,743 has the 292ft Phillips Petroleum building.

Haha I didn't know the Bartlesville building name other than Frank Lloyd Wright did it. I thought it was Price Tower???

^It's got more than that.

801 Grand Ave in Des Moines is pretty big for the size of the city.

When completed in 1991:

Des Moines city 195,000
Des Moines metro 392,000


630 Feet

pjm1970 said:

There was a discussion on another thread about how Mobile Al has the new Battlefield House tower that is 745 ft and the city has only a population of 197,000 and that could be a record.

Does anybody know what the tallest building in the midwest in the smallest city is?

Click to expand...

Battlefield House - 0.115 cm/person
801 Grande Ave - 0.098 cm/person (when built)
Philips Petroleum Building - 0.256 cm/person

Evanston, IL (pop. ~75,000) might become a contender in this category if the new Fountain Square Tower proposal goes forward. plans are being reviewed by the city for the 49 story/ 523 ft. condo tower that would almost double the height of the city's current tallest, the 269' Chase Bank Tower.

here's a rendering:

If we were to restrict this to urban areas, I wonder what the smallest urban area with a high-rise building (12 floors plus) would be?

One contender in the Midwest would be Madison, SD (2000 Urban Cluster population of 6097), with a 12-story Lakeview Towers.

I know of at least one smaller urban area with a 12-story building...Hanceville, AL (2701 in the Urban Cluster at Census 2000).

This ignores cases where there are buildings in rural areas, like the Belterra Casino between Vevay & Florence, Indiana, and the Grand Traverse Resort Tower near Traverse City, MI.

And, of course, there is Begich Towers in Whittier, AK. 14 floors housing virtually every person in town.

Steely Dan said:

Evanston, IL (pop. ~75,000) might become a contender in this category if the new Fountain Square Tower proposal goes forward. plans are being reviewed by the city for the 49 story/ 523 ft. condo tower that would almost double the height of the city's current tallest, the 269' Chase Bank Tower.

here's a rendering:

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0.213 cm per capita

altfelix said:

If we were to restrict this to urban areas, I wonder what the smallest urban area with a high-rise building (12 floors plus) would be?

One contender in the Midwest would be Madison, SD (2000 Urban Cluster population of 6097), with a 12-story Lakeview Towers.

I know of at least one smaller urban area with a 12-story building...Hanceville, AL (2701 in the Urban Cluster at Census 2000).


And, of course, there is Begich Towers in Whittier, AK. 14 floors housing virtually every person in town.

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Those take the cake, imo. Clayton and Evanston don't count because of their proximity to larger population centers.

altfelix said:

And, of course, there is Begich Towers in Whittier, AK. 14 floors housing virtually every person in town.

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I thought this was an exaggeration at first. But according to emporis, 90% of the town does live in this one building. And there is only one other residence in the town. This one wins the title for sure, no matter how you define the question.

pjm1970 said:

I'm going to have to say that the Plaza in Clayton, Mo takes the cake. 409 feet in a city of 16,000. The tallest residential building in Missouri.


http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=streetplazainclayton,residentialtower-clayton-mo-usa

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0.779 cm per person!

I have large reservations counting suburbs of large urban areas. Sure Clayton, Mo has a 409 story building in a city of 16,000 - but there are a few million people living directly outside your borders.

I think using urban area populations is a lot more accurate. Aren't there some pretty small cities clustered around the miami coast that have highrises?

araman0 said:

I thought this was an exaggeration at first. But according to emporis, 90% of the town does live in this one building. And there is only one other residence in the town. This one wins the title for sure, no matter how you define the question.

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I would agree. I've seen images of that 'town' (Whittier, AK), too. OTOH, it doesn't fit this thread, though, as Whittier, AK isn't in the USA's midwest.



Unfortunately, my hometown of 73K only has one '12', one '11', one '10' and three '7's (plus a '6' and a bunch of '5's and smaller) in its central city area.

It is a nice place, but kind of normal in that regard.

hno:

Mike

mgk920 said:

I would agree. I've seen images of that 'town' (Whittier, AK), too. OTOH, it doesn't fit this thread, though, as Whittier, AK isn't in the USA's midwest.



Unfortunately, my hometown of 73K only has one '12', one '11', one '10' and three '7's (plus a '6' and a bunch of '5's and smaller) in its central city area.

It is a nice place, but kind of normal in that regard.

hno:

Mike

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I know, I currently live in your home town

The Citrus Tower in Clermont, Florida (pop. 22,097)
The tower stands 226 feet or 22 stories. I only know this because my sister lives there.