City Highrise Living: CHICAGO vs Philly & Boston (best, comparison, places)

[urbanologist]

Since Chicago has loads more residential highrises I thought it would be fair to combine both Philly and Boston together. Other than row houses many people in the city also prefer living in a highrise. It's just another urban characteristic of city living. Only NYC has a larger urban residential highrise community than Chicago. I'm curious what kind of residential highrises both Boston and Philly have in comparison to Chicago. What are the tallest in each city? Which do you think offers more options? Chicago or Philly & Boston (combined)?

[kidphilly]

The tallest is Liberty Place - the uper floors are condos at about 900 ft.

Neither Boston nor Philly has the volume of Highrises but with less quantity offer comparable buildings in many regards (Chicago is just tller in general and far more the skyscraper city than either Philly or Boston)

While not at the rate of Chicago both Boston and Philly have added a fair amount of residential high-rises to many already exisitng 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 year old structures


There are currently about 4-5K residential high rise units under construction in Philly and plans for an additional 3-4K to start in the next year or so; probably not anywhere the level of Chicago and not sure on the stats for Boston

The two tallest under constrcution are 2100 Chestnut at about 500ft and about to start Fergies Tower on the 1200 block of Walnut at about 470/80 feet. There are quite a few in the 200-300 range

[munchitup]

Boston's not really the place for highrise living though there are some options downtown by the waterfront. I can't remember the name but there are twin residential towers near the aquarium.

[urbanologist]

Does Boston have any height restrictions? I know Philly no longer has theirs (refering to the nothing higher than the William Penn statue)

[HenryAlan]

Originally Posted by munchitup

Boston's not really the place for highrise living though there are some options downtown by the waterfront. I can't remember the name but there are twin residential towers near the aquarium.

You're thinking of the Harbor Towers, which are two incredibly ugly buildings that try as hard as they can to be completely disconnected from the surrounding city. They are akin to a tower in a park suburban type structure plopped down on the waterfront.

Originally Posted by urbanologist

Does Boston have any height restrictions? I know Philly no longer has theirs (refering to the nothing higher than the William Penn statue)

Yes, in some areas, due to airport proximity. The airport is so close to downtown that much of the area is restricted by FAA concerns over flight paths. This is particularly an issue in the South Boston Seaport area, where quite a bit of new construction is going on, but entirely mid-rise. That said, there are places appropriate for taller construction. The tallest at the moment is the Hancock (790 feet) but there is no legal or zoning reason to not have something in excess of 1,000 feet in some downtown areas not directly in line with the planes.

As for the OP's question, there are a few high rise condos in Boston, but not many. It is really not the Boston style, but I could see this changing, especially if gas prices continue to rise.

[BLAXTOR]

Chicago is one of the best cities in the world for high rise living. Philly and Boston are nice to but if you want the big waterfront package then look no further than Chicago

[RightonWalnut]

KidPhilly, Liberty One is all offices. Only Liberty two has residential units in it. Floors 37 and 40-57 have condo space in them and Liberty two is 848 feet tall.

Two Liberty Place



The tallest ALL residential building is the Residences at the Ritz Carlton at 518 feet.


As far as I know there are still plans to construct the hotel on the parking lot behind it that will rise higher then this tower.

The Murano is another at 475 feet. The Murano has some pretty pricey condos. Hunter Pence of the Philadelphia Phillies lives here in a Pent House


There are plenty of high rise residential buildings through out the city. There are plenty in Rittenhouse Square. The most expensive one's in Rittenhouse Square are

Ten Rittenhouse (still under construction in this photo)


and 1706 Rittenhouse (the one in the front) also Cliff Lee and Jason Papelbon live here



Here are some of the Rittenhouse residential highrises



There is also the St. James. Which is my personal favorite (not architecture wise, but location wise). I will be living here after school.



The Symphony House


Waterfront Square (2 more towers planned)


Millennium Hall (Drexel University Dorm)


There are plenty more I am not naming as well. There are also hundreds of older residential skyscrapers and highrises like

The Metropolitan


and the Aria (which just got a new facade)


Residential Skyscrapers under construction are

2116 Chestnut Street (being built by Chicago developer John Buck Co.)
http://www.phillybroadcaster.com/wp-content/uploads/hillman5.jpg (broken link)

Gateway South Residence (Temple U)


Proposed Residential Skyscrapers

Mandeville Place (On Hold currently)


Cira Center South (Shorter tower residential, taller tower offices)


Chinatown Eastern Tower Community Center


Waterfront Square (other two towers)


Trump Tower Philadelphia (currently on hold)


As a bonus picture, here was a mock up of all the towers proposed for the Waterfront before the recession hit. Most of these proposals are starting to make their way back onto the development scene


This is the hotel/residences proposed for the lot behind Residences at the Ritz


1601 Vine is another one on hold


Parkway 22 is also on hold


Castleway Tower is another one proposed for Rittenhouse Square. Residential/Hotel


There are plenty more too that I am forgetting or do not have renders currently like the third Museum Tower which was just proposed this year near the Ben Franklin Parkway in Franklintown

[lrfox]

Chicago by a mile.

Boston has a mere handful of highrise residences. A few more in recent years (45 Province, Clarendon, etc), but not many at all. I think Philly edges out Boston although it's not exactly stacked either. In both cities, the ultimate urban experience is in the historic housing stock which are mostly lower buildings.

Chicago is the ultimate in high rise living and it "wins" a competition between these three cities easily. I was REALLY impressed with what Chicago offered in terms of high rise residences. I remember sitting on the left field side of Wrigley and looking out at all the high rises along the lake shore. And as much as I'm an ocean guy, Lake Michigan is absolutely beautiful.

Not the best shot in the world (I snapped this from the Hancock last summer), but a good idea of what residents in high rises get for a view:

[*Sweetkisses*]

Chicago wins this category

[kidphilly]

Love the new Aqua in Chicago - really cool building

Chicago has such tremendous skyscrapers; just love checking them out