Seattle vs Philadelphia (skyscrapers, tallest, state, comparison)
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Let's face it! Seattle has way more construction going on downtown than Dt. Philly. There are alot more going on in Seattle's downtown by far and way livier than Dt. Philly. Seattle is a like San Francisco of the Pacific Northwest. They're both bustling and fast paced.
Let's not mistake growth with the end state. Yes Seattle the metro area and the city have been growing faster than Philadelphia for quite a while but at both scales we're still much smaller. Going by city proper population Seattle is only ~40% the size. Liveliness is a product of what's already been built and how its functioning.
I find the growth on the ground fascinating. We've got whole clumps of cranes around particular blocks in multiple places with several projects occurring at once. For development and infrastructure construction watching I'm pretty sure this is a more interesting place to be. That said this is nothing on the scale of the build out of Manhattan or closer by San Francisco in the late 19th century. I'm also somewhat ambivalent about the quality of what's being constructed. If the current trends persist Seattle is definitely heading down a Vancouver-like development pattern. Vancouver is admired for all its glass towers but at the same time they're often criticized for being overly homogeneous and somewhat sterile at ground level. That's a definite risk here too.
You call University City part of dt even though a highway and river seperate the two? I don't see it as anymore connected as First Hill and Capitol Hill to dt Seattle. Glad to see all the projects in Philly. As far as density I can't argue there but honestly I love how Seattle is dense but not too dense. I also like the fact that its density drops off as you leave dt and Capitol Hill especially heading east. For example, take Madison St heading east. You will ride thru peaks and valleys with awesome views. You'll go thru cool hoods like Madison Valley with its quaint shops, the Arboretum, Washington Park with its beautiful grand old homes. Then you will come to an end in beautiful Madison Park which sits on beautiful Lake Washington with more cool shops and restaurants. And the views of the Cascades and Mt Rainier are unbelieveable.
There is only a river separating them. If you have ever been to Philadelphia, you would know that the Schuylkill Expressway runs UNDER the street grid from Arch to Walnut on the University City side. I never said it was a part of Downtown but said some people might consider it a part of the downtown area. Remember, Philadelphia doesn't have a "downtown"...we have a "center city".. Center City and University City sit side by side only separated by a river and are strengthening their connections. Together they form the core of the city with the highest concentration of jobs and people in the metro and it won't be long until you can walk from Center City to University City with highrises lining both sides of the street and urbanity only broken by a single 200ft wide river.
There are several plans and ideas being put forth by both Drexel and UPenn to fill in some of the surrounding area around 30th Street Station to better connect Center City and University City and make it feel more uniform for the pedestrian walking between the two.
For example... Penn has several plans for the Walnut Street Stretch...
Plans are already underway. The area bounded by JFK, Market and the CSX Train Tracks now houses the USPS who are moving to Market East. The building will be leveled a replaced with 3 highrises over 300 feet.
Seattle clearly has a bigger and taller skyline. It's majestic and with the water and Mount Rainier, it's absolutely no comparison. Seattle's downtown is more built up and filled with new highrises. Philly is clealy behind.
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A few I took around Seattle
