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Agreed, when it comes to skyline, Chicago's is known around the world. No it's not as iconic as NYC's, but it's known for it's skyline. The Sears Tower for decades was the tallest building in the world and iconic during that time period, so people know what the Sears Tower looks like, specifically those born before 1995, which is a lot of people around the world lol.
I was born in 1992 in Los Angeles and it will still always be the Sears Tower to me. Sears Tower:Chicago as Empire State Building:NYC as Golden Gate Bridge:SF. It never should have changed its name.
I was born in 1992 in Los Angeles and it will still always be the Sears Tower to me. Sears Tower:Chicago as Empire State Building:NYC as Golden Gate Bridge:SF. It never should have changed its name.
I find it fascinating how people exclude the fact that the Sears Tower for over three decades was the world's tallest building, and iconic, and somehow people now have amensia and have forgotten about it now making Chicago's skyline unidentifiable. What a load.
Who cares about skylines, though? How does that prove one city is better than another? I'm not arguing for one side or another.
I posted that to shut down that argument that Chicago's skyline is unimportant globally. It really doesn't matter.
TL;DR The entire conclusion of this thread:
If you prefer year-round sun and warm weather and more outdoor activities, you like SD.
If you prefer the more engaging, vibrant, diverse, urban city life, and you can handle/enjoy 4 distinct seasons, you like Chicago.
Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
2,535 posts, read 3,288,416 times
Reputation: 1483
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julianpieohmy
Thank you for the euro-centric/american centric view. The NYC, Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Rio De Janeiro easily outrank Chicago. Please remember that the population of North America represents only 4.7% of the world's population and most people can't distinguish American skylines (admittedly, they are similar...). I guarantee you that the world's asian population (60% of the total) would more easily identify SF w/ the golden gate in the background than some city on a lake. The reality is that Chicago does not have monumental architecture that stands out, nor the mass of NYC/HK to be recognizable. Sears Tower and the Hancock building are just average skyscrapers in modern architecture. If it wasn't for CN Tower in Toronto, people would really get these cities' skylines mixed up. It's not about size, it's about monumental, distinct, and memorable.
I'm not sure why you are bashing Dubai and Beijing when they are merely building the same glass towers that Chicago has been building for the past 30 years.
The world has moved on from the Chicago skyline. It stopped being significant with the rise of Asian and Middle Eastern cities. You are blinded by your Chicago/American centric viewpoint.
OMG.... again. I in NO WAY MENT TO BASH DUBAI OR ANY ASIAN CITY.... ACTURALLY MANY DUBAI SKYSCRAPERS HAD CHICAGO ARCHITECTS.... LIKE THAT TALLEST ONE IN THE WORLD ONE.... I merely DENIED YOUR CLAIMS CHICAGO'S SKYLINE IS AS A HAS-BEEN ONE NOT STILL PLACED HIGH TODAY....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julianpieohmy
I never claimed Houston's skyline was significant. However, Houston growth and prospects surpass that of Chicago (city and metro).
At least we don't treat our water like it's a dump. Something that much of the rust belt cannot claim.
OMG What a AWEFUL accusation.... Yes over a century ago especially before its Great Fire....the city did treat the Chicago river as a place for industrial runoff and sewer.... THAT WAS ANOTHER ERA. THE CITY SAW THE LAKE WAS BEING POLUTED and Cholera epidemics from polluted river water pouring into the Lake to where Drinking water was taken in. HAD THEM take action... ENGINEERS REVERSED THR FLOW OF THE RIVER AWAY FROM THE LAKE.... It still today ends up in the Mississippi river instead.
THIS IS NOT A POLLUTED LAKE MICHIGAN but is a DOWNTOWN CHICAGO BEACH... city no longer puts Palm trees there.. only did it a year or two....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julianpieohmy
It's relevant to my post because my response was to a previous comment that brought up a sports team. I explicitly called out sports teams as irrelevant. That was the whole point of the paragraph.
You CLEARLY TOOK IT TO MOCKING CHICAGO BY ITS SPORTS TEAMS ANYWAY.... it was what it clearly was... said with a intent and a mock....... IRREVELENT YES....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julianpieohmy
You shouldn't have bothered. Your argument is awful.
My argument was CLEARLY IN DEFENSE OF CHICAGO'S SHYLINE YOU LESSENED AND BASICALLY SAID CHICAGO'S SKYLINE WAS ..... ALREADY LEFT IN THE DUST AND A NO LONGER APPRECIATED RENOWN ONE..... THT WAS WHAT I .... BOTHERED TO NOTE YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT....
This post was clearly inaccurate... Yes Asian cities are building a lot and some are on Chicago's tails or even some claim ahead....⤵
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julianpieohmy
The world has moved on from the Chicago skyline. It stopped being significant with the rise of Asian and Middle Eastern cities. You are blinded by your Chicago/American centric viewpoint.
ANOTHER POSTER DOCUMENTED IT FOR YOU.... by Jessemh ⤵
Quote:
Originally Posted by jessemh431
With all this talk of Chicago's skyline being insignificant/over/done/unrecognizable/etc., I'll just go ahead and leave this here. Telegraph. European source. Chicago is #22. But clearly they're wrong because you guys said so. The world's best city skylines - Telegraph
Notice the lack of American publications in my post? Yeah. Chicago is still relevant. I promise. Can we move on from that now? I definitely just proved you wrong.
YES YOU DID.
YOU SURE DID SAY CHICAGO'S SKYLINE WAS .......⤵⤵⤵
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julianpieohmy
The world has moved on from the Chicago skyline. It stopped being significant with the rise of Asian and Middle Eastern cities. You are blinded by your Chicago/American centric viewpoint.
With all this talk of Chicago's skyline being insignificant/over/done/unrecognizable/etc., I'll just go ahead and leave this here. Telegraph. European source. Chicago is #22. But clearly they're wrong because you guys said so. The world's best city skylines - Telegraph
Notice the lack of American publications in my post? Yeah. Chicago is still relevant. I promise. Can we move on from that now? I definitely just proved you wrong.
No one said Chicago's skyline is irrelevant.
Maybe you wouldn't have wasted your time if you had read the other comments. A few people are clinging to Chicago's indispensable importance to history and the world. The topic of skyscrapers/skylines came up and its clear that a few people still live in the 1980s when the Chicago and NYC skylines reigned supreme in all their height and glory.
It was a simple reality check to remind people that there are plenty of skylines that now have equal or more recognizable status than Chicago's and to not have such an American-centric opinion. Chicago is definitely a top 5 American skyline, but there are many cities surpassing and catching up on the global and domestic stage.
I am not sure how you "proved me wrong" Please detail how any of the following statements are not valid:
1. NYC, Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Rio De Janeiro outrank Chicago.
2. SF w/ the golden gate in the background is more easily recognizable by Asia (60% of world population)
3. Chicago does not have the iconic/monumental architecture that stands out, nor the mass of NYC/HK. Post-modernist Sears/Willis and the Hancock Building are merely boxy steal skyscrapers. Asia and the middle east have built hundreds of box skycrapers and have proposals for hundreds more (some actually look identical to Chicago). They only currently stand out because they are black.
4. If it wasn't for CN Tower in Toronto, people would really get these cities' skylines mixed up. True for plenty of non-midwesterners
5. Not sure why you are bashing Dubai and Beijing when they are merely building the same glass towers that Chicago has been building for the past 30 years.
6. The world has moved on from the Chicago skyline. It stopped being significant with the rise of Asian and Middle Eastern cities. Sorry, no one gets excited about the Chicago skyline. It's outdated and has little appeal. How many blockbuster movies incorporate the Chicago skyline vs. SF, Dubai, NYC, Shanghai, and Hong Kong? Answer: Very few. Paris, London, Tokyo, and LA have more movie cameos than Chicago. Chicago is no longer the face of the modern skyline that it once was. It's not as sexy and not as recognizable as the aforementioned.
I never said the population loss in Paris was the same as in Chicago in terms of reasons. The poster ignorantly claimed population loss is due to no one wanting to live there in general.
None of this is true. You falsely claimed that Paris had population loss, falsely claimed that there were decades where Paris had massive population loss, falsely claimed that Chicago had certain population gains, and falsely claimed that the population and real estate situations were similar in Chicago and Paris.
So basically you were completely wrong, about everything. Current population losses in Chicago ghettos has absolutely zero to do with the postwar population loss in core Paris. Beverly Hills isn't the same thing as Gary just because both have had population loss at some point in time
Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanCheetah
And let's be honest here, Chicago is not cheap so we can't act like market value is weak here. It easily falls in to top ten most expensive major cities in the US, so it's not like the market value here sucks like in places like St. Louis, Detroit or Indianapolis. It's nowhere near SF or NYC (which I think is a good thing) but in line with other desirable cities like Seattle and Miami and some other growing cities.
None of this is true either. Chicago is among the cheapest of the major U.S. cities and is cheaper than both Miami and Seattle (actually significantly cheaper than Seattle).
Chicago home prices are much closer to that of St. Louis, Detroit or Indianapolis than to that of SF or NYC.
Here are the actual numbers for median home price-
Can we PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MOVE PAST THE SKYLINE DISCUSSION??? It's irrelevant to this thread. In this thread, Chicago's skyline is infinitely better than San Diego's. Chicago's IS STILL a world-class skyline whether you like it or not. And as for this thread still, skylines don't matter!! I literally posted that to shut you up about talking bad about Chicago's skyline like it's been totally forgotten around the world...which is hasn't. So move on already!
Chicago is a top global city. SD is a top American city. Chicago is an American ubranite's dream just after NYC. SD is for outdoorsy, laid back nature lovers who want a city still.
TL;DR The entire conclusion of this thread:
If you prefer year-round sun and warm weather and more outdoor activities, you like SD.
If you prefer the more engaging, vibrant, diverse, urban city life, and you can handle/enjoy 4 distinct seasons, you like Chicago.
Basically, yes. This is a good summary of the thread.
OMG.... again. I in NO WAY MENT TO BASH DUBAI OR ANY ASIAN CITY.... ACTURALLY MANY DUBAI SKYSCRAPERS HAD CHICAGO ARCHITECTS.... LIKE THAT TALLEST ONE IN THE WORLD ONE.... I merely DENIED YOUR CLAIMS CHICAGO'S SKYLINE IS AS A HAS-BEEN ONE NOT STILL PLACED HIGH TODAY....
It actually is a has-been skyline. Significant, but basking int he glory of an older era. It doesn't have the sex appeal of other cities- Shanghai, NYC, SF, Paris.
Of course it is still top 10-15, maybe even higher. Regardless, it is losing out to other places each year. Tokyo, Seoul, Istanbul, Taipei, Miami, Singapore, LA, etc. are moving in.
Quote:
OMG What a AWEFUL accusation.... Yes over a century ago especially before its Great Fire....the city did treat the Chicago river as a place for industrial runoff and sewer.... THAT WAS ANOTHER ERA. THE CITY SAW THE LAKE WAS BEING POLUTED and Cholera epidemics from polluted river water pouring into the Lake to where Drinking water was taken in. HAD THEM take action... ENGINEERS REVERSED THR FLOW OF THE RIVER AWAY FROM THE LAKE.... It still today ends up in the Mississippi river instead.
Uhhh, the Great Lakes and local waterways ARE polluted. This is not an opinion.
Quote:
You CLEARLY TOOK IT TO MOCKING CHICAGO BY ITS SPORTS TEAMS ANYWAY.... it was what it clearly was... said with a intent and a mock....... IRREVELENT YES....
I was mocking the concept of caring about a sports team. Chargers are bad? No one cares. Bears are lousy? Life goes on. These things don't matter, hence why would I want to watch a bad sports team?
Quote:
My argument was CLEARLY IN DEFENSE OF CHICAGO'S SHYLINE YOU LESSENED AND BASICALLY SAID CHICAGO'S SKYLINE WAS ..... ALREADY LEFT IN THE DUST AND A NO LONGER APPRECIATED RENOWN ONE..... THT WAS WHAT I .... BOTHERED TO NOTE YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT....
I don't need to "lessen" Chicago's skyline. The pivot of the world economy is shifting to the eastern hemisphere/ pacific. New global players are spending tons of money on tall buildings to show that they mean business. Chicago has been in population decline or stagnation for decades. I don't care if there are a ton of $5+million dollar condos for rich people along the North Shore. Chicago is losing it's global importance. The Chicago skyline has seen minimal change, while Shanghai literally built a new skyline in 25 years.
This post was clearly inaccurate... Yes Asian cities are building a lot and some are on Chicago's tails or even some claim ahead....⤵
Hong Kong and Shanghai are DEFINITELY ahead of Chicago when it comes to worldwide recognition. 1.3 billion Chinese will immediately know those cities' skylines before Chicago. Most of Asia will know them better too. The architecture is more iconic and the backdrop is more dramatic. Taipei, Seoul, and Beijing are catching up. Tokyo is about even.
As for the Middle East, Istanbul and Dubai are already at or have surpassed Chicago. Please remember that Istanbul is extremely iconic for the world's muslim population.
I realize Americans couldn't care less about Taipei, Istanbul, or Rio, however the world views these skylines as bold and different. American skylines are fairly standard with boxy floorplates for finance corporations or expensive condos. Nothing too inspiring outside NYC.
Quote:
ANOTHER POSTER DOCUMENTED IT FOR YOU.... by Jessemh ⤵
[/quote]
Refer to my rebuttal and prove my points wrong. Chicago is not irrelevant, it's just not the icon that it once was.
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Yes over a century ago especially before its Great Fire....the city did treat the Chicago river as a place for industrial runoff and sewer.... THAT WAS ANOTHER ERA. THE CITY SAW THE LAKE WAS BEING POLUTED and Cholera epidemics from polluted river water pouring into the Lake to where Drinking water was taken in. HAD THEM take action... ENGINEERS REVERSED THR FLOW OF THE RIVER AWAY FROM THE LAKE.... It still today ends up in the Mississippi river instead. 
IRREVELENT YES.... 
YES YOU DID.
