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The thing that makes Philly's skyline unique is it's center piece. For a few years in the early 20th century it was the tallest building in the world, and is still the worlds tallest load-bearing piece of masonic architecture. It's truley a hidden gem, not overhyped like other landmarks around the nation(SOL,GGB,the Arch etc.), but every-bit as impressive. It's masonic complexity, and architectural detail is unmatched by any other building in the US.
I'm not saying Philly has the nations best skyline, but its City Hall alone, makes it, at the very least, top 5.
http://i.factmonster.com/images/philadelphia-city-hall.jpg[/IMG][/url]
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Skylines aren't a science. Some people prefer Chicago than New York, plain and simple. Chicago's skyline is modest? Ask the people of America if it is modest, not just the "experts" on this forum.
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That's true. Its just a matter of preference. I prefer Chicago's waterfront.
You can also ask the "people of America" (not just people on this forum or random websites) which skyline is better, Chicago's or New York's?
Back to modest skylines --
Modest compared to NYC's skyline, yes. And I will say it again. In my opinion, Chicago's skyline is not all that impressive compared to NYC's. Which was the point of my post.
You may prefer Chicagos's because you like its harbor (So you do have your own personal scientific criteria for preference. Preferences do not just magically come out of a vaccuum) but a waterfront doesn't make a skyline any bigger, its canyons more daunting, the towers more looming, magically improve the architecture, or make it less modest. I personally value the former criteria more in a skyline than how the waterfront looks. But that's just me. To each their own.
I agree that Chicago is not modest compared to all the other skylines in the US but, compared to NYC's, yes it is modest. It is all a matter of scale.
That said, NYC's is just on another level over Chicago's. Just like Chicago's is on a different level compared to #3.
The difference between NYC and Chicago (and everyone else in the US) will be off the charts once the new WTC is complete.
And then it would be reason to redo this poll to see what I mean. Then you can ask the "people of America" that same question again.
I agree Philly has some great architecture; it is not the largest but is still very large. I think it is in the running for even the #3 skyline but among a handful that could be in the running. A lot is subjective so there is no true answer but Philly does have a very good combination of density, height and size; there are few pictures that give you a true sense of its size and it extends pretty far away from the newest more modern and taler skyscrapers. Philly really didnt build over over 400 ft until 30 years and there are a lot of 200-400 tall buildings that really fill in the space; this is probably best felr on the actual streets.
[William Penn is Watching | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiascapes/5331295476/ - broken link)
SD.Calif, why are you a big defender of Philadelphia since you're from San Diego? Don't you like your own skyline. I think it's pretty and is on the waterfront. I like yours more than Philly since it has more highrises than Philly's.
SD.Calif, why are you a big defender of Philadelphia since you're from San Diego? Don't you like your own skyline. I think it's pretty and is on the waterfront. I like yours more than Philly since it has more highrises than Philly's.
He probably likes both skylines, nothing wrong with that!
In fact, the last few pages on this thread should show how nice looking our skylines in the United States and Canada really are. There are some really impressive street level shots of downtown LA, and both Minneapolis and Philadelphia look beautiful in their long distance shots.
I vote Nashville. Mostly because I'm scared that if I don't, the all-seeing eye might catch me and throw me into the volcano. Nashville is getting hella serious with cracking down on crime.
I like both skylines. I'm also simply stating that the Philadelphia skyline is by no means small when compared to Tuscon, Boise, etc.
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San Diego & Philadelphia
