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People always get so worked up over who's skyline and/or city is better its almost insane. I travel quite a bit and I have lived in both Miami and Atlanta. Though i've never lived in Houston, i have visited twice in the past three years.
First, the Miami skyline is superior to both Atlanta and Houston in terms of density and appearing "Chicago" ish. This is very apparent when observing the skyline a few miles off the coast. However, most of the skyline is made up of condos and hotels and it reminds me of a taller version of Rio de Janerio (with way less buildings of course.) The architecture imo is not particularly attractive but it does work, since Miami is a costal city and a major resort. Also working in Miami's favor is the fact that the air is very crisp and clean, which is something that Atlanta and Houston both need work on. You would be amazed at what a nice clean atomosphere can do for your skyline. If i were to include places like Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale with Miami, then it wouldn't be a comparison. Miami would have a larger skyline by far, hands down.
Atlanta's skyline has the best architecture out of any skyline in the United States. Period. No it is not the tallest or the most dense or even the most breathtaking but the architecture is second to none. It is an absolutely beautiful city. This is the positive. The negative is that Atlanta is very linear (somewhat dense) with too many skylines for a city its size (five to be exact) and the skylines are miles apart from each other. Downtown and Midtown Atlanta are what most people usually see but it is the rapidly developing Buckhead skyline that both Houston and Miami should be worried about. Outside of these three there are two more skylines (Perimeter Center and Cumberland) both of which are about 10 minutes from downtown and 10 minutes from each other. If you think Atlanta's skyline is smaller than either Miami or Houston, you rode through Atlanta with you eyes closed.
Houston is by far the best mix of great architecture, height and density. Let me just say that Houston does have a BIG skyline BUT it is not bigger than Miami's skyline (when observed from off the coast) or Atlanta's skyline (when observed from the air.) It does do a good job of appearing bigger than both these cities just from land view. Houston is taller than both Atlanta and Miami--although the Bank of America Plaza in Midtown Atlanta is taller than anything in Houston or Miami. The negative about Houston is that just like Atlanta, Houston has Downtown, Uptown and TMC but then a lot of other random stuff going.
oh and btw, i just thought about Dallas and i almost cried from laughing so hard. for DFW to be the 4th largest MSA, Houston, Atlanta and Miami could donate a third of their buildings to Dallas and still be superior.
I dont think buckhead, will give Miami and Houston much to worry about. I think it's the other way around with Houston to ATL and Miami. People often forget about midtown Miami and the Beaches with there skyline(as you pointed out).
Midtown Miami skyline(and still building).
It's too bad we can't count all of these skylines as part of the Miami's tally, but the Miami skyline is doing quite well by itself as you can see. It reminds me of when I first saw the Manhattan skyline. I thought it was a mountain range as in this second pic here.
I realize that and have been to ATL many times. My point was other than the buildings with spires, there's nothing too impressive about the skyline.
Most of the prominent buildings in the skyline have spires. So it's almost like you're saying without Atlanta's tallest and most prominent buildings, its skyline wouldn't really be impressive. Ya think?
It's too bad we can't count all of these skylines as part of the Miami's tally, but the Miami skyline is doing quite well by itself as you can see. It reminds me of when I first saw the Manhattan skyline. I thought it was a mountain range as in this second pic here.
My thing with Miamis skyline is that it looks impresive in the day because of its density.However when I look at those pick,there is nothing that tells the untrained eye what makes it Miami.Why does it look different.Pittsburgh's skyline is MUCH smaller ,but youknow immediatlly that it is Pittsburgh because of PPG Place and the convergenge of the rivers.That said Even without PPG Place,it still could be mistaken for one of Ohio's cities or elsewhere.
What building in Miami makes it MIAMI?Most people could not tell you.I can't even decribe it and I have been there many times.They are nice enough individually but nothing unique.Miami could be Tampa.
My thing with Miamis skyline is that it looks impresive in the day because of its density.However when I look at those pick,there is nothing that tells the untrained eye what makes it Miami.Why does it look different.Pittsburgh's skyline is MUCH smaller ,but youknow immediatlly that it is Pittsburgh because of PPG Place and the convergenge of the rivers.That said Even without PPG Place,it still could be mistaken for one of Ohio's cities or elsewhere.
What building in Miami makes it MIAMI?Most people could not tell you.I can't even decribe it and I have been there many times.They are nice enough individually but nothing unique.Miami could be Tampa.
My thing with Miamis skyline is that it looks impresive in the day because of its density.However when I look at those pick,there is nothing that tells the untrained eye what makes it Miami.Why does it look different.Pittsburgh's skyline is MUCH smaller ,but youknow immediatlly that it is Pittsburgh because of PPG Place and the convergenge of the rivers.That said Even without PPG Place,it still could be mistaken for one of Ohio's cities or elsewhere.
What building in Miami makes it MIAMI?Most people could not tell you.I can't even decribe it and I have been there many times.They are nice enough individually but nothing unique.Miami could be Tampa.
I don't think Miami could be tampa. That's a little bit of an over statement. Miami has the bank of America building. I'm trying to post pics of it, but for some reason C-D won't let me.
Let me clarify.I'm not saying Miami LOOKS like Tampa.Obviously Tampa is much smaller.However,the buildings there do not look any different than those in each city.The styles are very similar.Even within the city of each,the architecture is very modern but hardly groundbreaking or unique.
The Bank of America building stands out a little because:
a.)its the tallest or close to it.
b.)its has great lighting that makes it viewable more so at night
Miami has no famous bridges that make it stand out like the Golden Gate,it has no Space Needle like Seattle.I has many big condo buildings on the beach and downtown.Not that distiguishable.Thats the same with L.A.The difference is that L.A. has mountains in the mix.
I should have said Miami could be Honolulu(without mountains)
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The 3 Major Skylines of Miami-Dade County
