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No, you aren't "free to express your opinions" on any topic that you like. On this forum you are supposed to be limited to the thread topic. Your rant was not on topic.
The topic = Tall buildings in small cities
Not editorial commentary or assessment of other peoples posts
Wilkes-Barre, hands down! There's a skyline downtown, in south side, in East End, in college town, in Heights, & even the outskirts of town has the 15 story VA Medical Center. Dozens of skyscrapers scattered throughout town & lots of beautiful 19th & early 20th century skyscaPers.
When'd driving I10, I always found the sight on Lake Charles' (Louisiana) single tall building a bit odd:
All sizes | Calcaseiu River and Lake Charles, LA | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/16767123@N08/6109324854/sizes/z/in/photostream/ - broken link)
The most impressive in this thread is Mobile, by far; a building that's almost a supertall, in a central city with a metro population of less than half a million.
As someone else has pointed out, many of the examples in this thread are just edge cities or bustling suburbs that are part of a major metro area. Tall buildings in these types of towns aren't at all surprising.
The rest of the examples just aren't that odd. A 200-footer in a town of about 100K isn't a big deal.
I counted & Wilkes-Barre's skyline boasts 24 skyscrapers (27, if you count the demolished 15-story Hotel Sterling, 10-story Hollenback Coal Exchange, & 10-story North Street Squat). Pretty impressive for a town under 50,000 (although in the 1800's & early 1900's, the population was around 1,000,000). Sadly, none of our buildings break 20 stories because they were mostly built between the 1870's & 1920's when "tall" was a lot shorter. In fact, the tallest building that has ever stood in Northeast PA was the 15-story Hotel Sterling (Mallow-Sterling, Plaza Hotel). Although it's gone, our 14 story Luzerne National Bank still holds the title.
I counted & Wilkes-Barre's skyline boasts 24 skyscrapers (27, if you count the demolished 15-story Hotel Sterling, 10-story Hollenback Coal Exchange, & 10-story North Street Squat). Pretty impressive for a town under 50,000 (although in the 1800's & early 1900's, the population was around 1,000,000). Sadly, none of our buildings break 20 stories because they were mostly built between the 1870's & 1920's when "tall" was a lot shorter. In fact, the tallest building that has ever stood in Northeast PA was the 15-story Hotel Sterling (Mallow-Sterling, Plaza Hotel). Although it's gone, our 14 story Luzerne National Bank still holds the title.
According to Emporis, there are no skyscrapers in Wilkes-Barre.
According to Emporis, there are no skyscrapers in Wilkes-Barre.
As I said, the definition of "tall" has changed. In 1870, the tallest, building in the world probably only had about 12 floors, by 1930 the world's tallest was around 60 stories, by 1990 the WTC towers were over 120 stories & now the world's tallest has around 300 floors. It's not that they aren't here, it's that most people don't know or don't care.
PS
Almost all of Wilkes-Barre's skyscrapers are on Emporis. They just need to be searched for by name & are categorized as high rises. Try using some tags like "Wilkes-Barre" coupled with "Citizen's Bank" or "Verizon Building". Those are two breathtaking Ivory buildings!
Revel Casino in AC, 710 ft in a city of only 35,000 people
But Casinos seem to have an unfair advantage; however based on what I just read it is taller than any Casino in Vegas (though it sounds like the Fountainbleau would surpass it at 735 ft; not sure where that is at in construction) but is shorter than the observation tower at the Stratosphere
I honestly looked because I wasnt sure how tall it was and was curious after reading the thread. Maybe there is hope for a second skyline in the Philly CSA afterall
It is topped off btw, the second tower yet to go up
I wouldn't say the only city in the Philly CSA area, but it is certainly going to be the second largest skyline. Wilmington, Delaware has a decent highrise/midrise skyline. With a population of about 70,000
Hopefully one day Camden will get a decent skyline and clean up it's act. Come on New Jersey! Show your cities some love.
Last edited by JMT; 02-21-2012 at 07:17 AM..
Reason: Removed images
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