Houston has the most recognized skyline, survey says (Dallas, El Paso: apartment, how much)

[kemahkami]

Originally Posted by DavePa

I mean, one sees a skyline with the;
- Empire State building .... that's NYC
- Sears (Willis) Tower .......that's Chicago
- Golden Gate bridge ........that's SF

I feel Houston deserves its due recognition and every city for its due too. Do Houstonians really feel that their downtown skyline really stands out for visual recognized.

Originally Posted by fnh

Right, I immediately thought this had to be a bogus survey. Houston has been home to me since 1975 and I still might not be able to pick out the Houston skyline from a photo lineup, lol.

I couldn't pick out Los Angeles either, or Philadelphia. At least Dallas has the Phallus.

Now this is a recognizable skyline:

Except that recognition depends as much on media exposure as it does on any intrinsic architectural qualities.

Originally Posted by 3shipguy

Really? Better than these?

Originally Posted by westhou

There are several cities with better skylines. San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Miami.

If that's how he feels, then so be it.

[DavePa]

Originally Posted by ScrappyJoe

Except that recognition depends as much on media exposure as it does on any intrinsic architectural qualities.
If that's how he feels, then so be it.

Do you really think Houston has some World renown Architecture quality?
No newer buildings in Houston gain recognition, or ever will ... as the ones I listed. Media exposure is only a portion of the whole. But it certainly helps.

Especially for un-travelled people. But this helps Houston how? Even Chicago has some TV shows filmed there. It is part of it all. Then YOU NEED stand-out architecture too.

[CityPlanning]

Originally Posted by 3shipguy

Really? Better than these?

Those are three "real" urban cities with recognizable skyline. When people think of Houston they think of sprawl, strip malls, even the buildings are spread-out. Houston is a very generic/tacky city, but these Houston boosters on CD suffer from an inferiority complex.

[kemahkami]

Originally Posted by DavePa

Do you really think Houston has some World renown Architecture quality?
No newer buildings in Houston gain recognition, or ever will ... as the ones I listed.

The Bank of America Center is actually quite distinctive. Any vantage of Downtown Houston with that building in focus can easily be recognizable - as long as there's exposure, of course.

Media exposure is only a portion of the whole. But it certainly helps.

Especially for un-travelled people. But this helps Houston how? Even Chicago has some TV shows filmed there. It is part of it all. Then YOU NEED stand-out architecture too.

You're just repeating what I already said in the last post.

[kemahkami]

Originally Posted by CityPlanning

Those are three "real" urban cities with recognizable skyline. When people think of Houston they think of sprawl, strip malls, even the buildings are spread-out. Houston is a very generic/tacky city, but these Houston boosters on CD suffer from an inferiority complex.

You're the only one here with the complex, Napoleon.

[DejaBlue]

For me, I know the NYC skyline anywhere. Next to it, Seattle. Show me a skyline and the Space Needle and I know it.


Maybe Downtown LA....and that's a big maybe. I might get it confused with Denver.



Houston? Nah

[hendersj31]

Oh boy..another planner ready to write a novel on all the things Houston lacks.. been there done that. zzz boring.

Originally Posted by CityPlanning

Those are three "real" urban cities with recognizable skyline. When people think of Houston they think of sprawl, strip malls, even the buildings are spread-out. Houston is a very generic/tacky city, but these Houston boosters on CD suffer from an inferiority complex.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by DavePa

That's because the irony is -- blander skylines lack the stand-outs to be more easily recognizable.

The irony is that if it is blander and then they can't tell easily ..... Houston is the default skyline.

Correction .... its multiple skylines.

But honestly folks? What Houston skyscrapers .... are stand-outs in recognition and they instantly say .... Oh that's Houston of course?

I mean, one sees a skyline with the;
- Empire State building .... that's NYC
- Sears (Willis) Tower .......that's Chicago
- Golden Gate bridge ........that's SF

I feel Houston deserves its due recognition and every city for its due too. Do Houstonians really feel that their downtown skyline really stands out for visual recognized.

Many Americans can't even tell you states many cities are in or their region of the country. So we expect a poll of this link to have knowledge to boast Houston's arrival by some skyline recognition factor? I think it is more by -- a default skyline of more box ordinary but shiny too.

It's not about hatred. Atlantan's would take this link if it suggested them the same way ...... see we have arrived.

https://www.bigrentz.com/blog/american-skylines-survey

Some telling points of the link.
from the link:
- a combined 41% of Americans thought the skyline belonged to either Detroit or Los Angeles.
- 41% mistook the Dallas skyline for Houston. Because the city is especially known for its night skyline, this suggests that Americans are less able to recognize skylines without lights.

The survey only did skylines of 4-cities to recognize too.....
- we surveyed 4,000 Americans to see if they could identify the skylines of four cities including Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

Does anyone remember the link that floated in 2014 That Dallas had the BEST skyline ......

https://www.10best.com/awards/travel...ional-skyline/

Then you read in the link ---- So how did we win? I suspect it might have something to do with the fact that the two of the three experts USA Today used for commentary, and who chose the 20 nominated cities, hail from Dallas.

The Houston winning link Did give a nice complement to the evolving Philly skyline. It did get some nice newer skyscrapers.

Perhaps I am just more sensitive to shapes (and possible the height/prominence of those shapes) than most people.

I see the Chase Tower, and I instantly know the skyline is Houston (the JP Morgan Chase Tower is the tallest 5 sided building in the world).

I see the Transamerica Building (the Pyramid), and I immediately know the skyline is that of SF (some shots don't show either bridge).

I see the Library Tower (now known as the U.S. Bank Tower), and I immediately know the skyline is that of LA.

I recognize the skyline of Philadelphia instantly because of 'The Curse of Billy Penn'.

I think people should be able to recognize NYC by the Freedom Tower as well as the Empire State Building.

I agree that the Willis Tower instantly identifies Chicago.

I've been to all of the 40 largest cities in the U.S., but I'd be interested to see how many I could correctly identify from a picture of the skyline.

I should be more familiar with the Dallas skyline, but if I had those four names from that survey separate from the pictures, I'd be able to match all four because I know the other three.

(FWIW, my house is in The Woodlands, I'm an SF Bay Area native, I've also lived in LA/OC, and I haven't been back to either LA or SF since the completion of both the Wilshire Grand Center, and the Salesforce Tower...both in 2017)

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by DejaBlue

For me, I know the NYC skyline anywhere. Next to it, Seattle. Show me a skyline and the Space Needle and I know it.


Maybe Downtown LA....and that's a big maybe. I might get it confused with Denver.



Houston? Nah

Yep.


On the Space Needle alone, I imagine quite a few people even outside the U.S. could identify Seattle.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by ScrappyJoe

You're the only one here with the complex, Napoleon.

CityPlanner deemed unimportant by Houston's success in spite of having no zoning.

Philly and Chicago people seem to have a complex too.

One Shell, El Paso (or whatever the Tenneco building is called now), Pennzoil (forget what it is called now), Williams Tower, JP Morgan Chase (formerly Gulf Oil Building). Plenty of iconic buildings in Houston.