Forbes 30 most visited US cities (Kansas City, St. Louis: neighborhoods, living in, manufacturing)

[Brickmama]

Not impressed with the KC skyline. There are much better photos of our skyline.

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by skrazzle

LOL









Im sorry. the arch is cool and all, but it cant save your piddly lil skyline






I should photoshop out the arch, which is the ONLY thing that stands out about STL skyline.. then you would get a better idea of how weak it is. You really think the arch makes up for the rest of the skyline being so weak?

I agree. St. Louis has nothing on Kansas City. Well, except for more crime. St. Louis is consistently listed as one of most dangerous cities in the US. I REALLY don't like St. Louis. I've seen the arch, I've been to the top of the arch, I've been to Anheuser Busch for their tour and free sample, I've been to the zoo, I've been to Science City. Not impressed.

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

First of all, I think all of this bickering between KC and St. Louis is rather pointless and childish. They are both fine cities that have their own distinct highlights that all Missourians can be proud of.

I don't see why someone would come and start talking trash on a thread where STL wasn't mentioned. There's nothing wrong with a good natured rivalry, but I don't see why the two cities need to be constantly competing.

On the skyline issue, which seems to keep coming up, I was curious on how the two cities would compare statistically. I know the beauty of a skyline is based on a personal aesthetic that can't be measured, but here are the numbers. Really, the two cities are pretty similar when it comes to heights of buildings, with a slight edge to KC. (this info is from wikipedia, so no guarantee on the accuracy.)

Here's how they match up in categories based on height:

Tallest building:
STL: 593
KC: 632

Buildings over 500 ft:
STL: 3
KC: 4

Buildings over 400 ft:
STL: 5
KC: 10

Buildings over 300 ft:
STL: 12
KC: 14

So there's not a huge difference in the number of tall buildings, but height doesn't necessarily make a nice skyline. The next things I looked at was the age of the buildings, as I'm personally a fan of older buildings.

Here are the stats for buildings before 1940:

Over 400 ft:
STL: 0
KC: 3

Over 300 ft:
STL: 3
KC: 5

The arch definitely gives STL a huge bonus for having one of the most recognizable monuments in the nation. However, KC has a slight edge in the height of buildings and an advantage in Art Deco skyscrapers.

[skrazzle]

Originally Posted by Brickmama

Not impressed with the KC skyline. There are much better photos of our skyline.

Not sure if this link will work.... its crappy I did it real quick with the tools available to me at work.. but its STL skyline minus arch.. please tell me whats so great about it? have another pic you want me to use feel free to link it and ill do the same thing.... the arch is nice, but a skyline is defined by more then one thing...




Link incase it doesn't work:

Snapfish: Share Photo:Registration

Just to add... I do still think STL as a whole on the skyline needs to be viewed with the arch, it is apart of it... but i think some people (mostly its own residents) are a bit blinded by it, which is why you really need to take a good look without it being there and realize.. wow.. this is kinda lame.

[Brickmama]

Plus I love how you always pick a not so great photo of STL and always choose the best photo of KC you can find. Keep in mind STL has one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.

[skrazzle]

Originally Posted by Brickmama

Plus I love how you always pick a not so great photo of STL and always choose the best photo of KC you can find. Keep in mind STL has one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.

I told you pick another picture.. please. post whatever pic of STL you like... it doesn't change the facts...

and the ONLY thing that makes it recognizable is the arch.. of course people recognize it.. it has a big arch LOL. The buildings themselves are not pronounced they don't stick out, and if I took any STL photo and shopped out the arch proper then asked people hey what city is this.. they'd be like.. uh.. i dunno... wichita??? LOL

[Brickmama]

St. Louis skyline at Sunset

[Brickmama]

[skrazzle]

I'll have to post my results when i get it done sometime this weekend or next week... but here is my current plan.

I'm gonna photoshop out the arch of STL and post pics saying its another downtown and see what people say in general... and photoshop in the arch for another city, maybe des moines or something...

pic like this one

http://www.thecrockedpot.com/blogger...nes-744406.gif

I could easily see someone buying that its STL if you just throw the arch in there... LOL.

Still tho.. Brickmama look at those pics.. and tell me what you think is so impressive about STL skyline? What pops out at ya?

I can easily tell you what does about KC. First of all it's size. Its no chicago or anything, but its a pretty big size downtown compared to many other larger cities... not just heighth (of which our tallest building is taller then the arch and we have the majority of the tallest buildings in the state) but also in width... it's position on the bluffs overlooking the river is beautiful. We have IMO better art deco buildings and more of them. 909 Walnut and the Power and Light building both look better then any building seen in STL skyline. Our more modern buildings also look better (One kansas city place and town pavilion). I find the full picture (and it takes a widescreen shot to see it) of KC with Liberty Memorial in the foreground and capturing the whole landscape including the pylons to be a superior and far more beautiful picture then STL with the arch, because while its not ugly.. its still just a plain looking city with plain looking buildings (from the skyline shot at least) and an arch... thats it and a city is more then just that.

[Brickmama]

We arent comparing cities we are comparing skylines. Trust me you dont want to go to the point of comparing cities. You will lose miserably. The STL skyline is much more dense than KC and that is what makes a big difference on the ground. Plus is has a nice mix of old and new.

Des Moines has like 3 bldgs. No comparison. You could easily mistake KC's skyline for Des Moines since it doesnt have a unique symbol.

Keep in mind those pics are without Lumiere. I couldnt seem to find one with it in it. In addition the skyline is much bigger from east to west which I could also not find a photo of. Sorry I dont have all day to mess with it.