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I don’t really think Chicago is like either Philly or NYC. Philly and NYC seem more similar to me, more so than either is to Chicago. Chicago is sort of its own species, not in a way that makes it grander or better than NYC, just different. Totally different vibes.
In terms of scale and size not in terms of vibe and culture.
I always thought of the Loop + the north(east)side(Near Northside to Rogers Park/West Ridge along the river) as Manhattan-lite. Both are even the same physical size(23 sq. miles), the most densely populated area of their respective cities, and have some body of water that separates it from the rest of city(for Chicago, that pertains to everything west). In Chicago, the skyline extends farthest to the north, stretching the full extent of N Lake Shore Drive and beyond. The urban enthusiast in me wish that someday they will extend it even more inland.
The thing is we don't refer to only that section as "the city", but it is where tourists and those looking to bolster what the city has to offer typically confine themselves, in addition to a handful of neighborhoods just a little northwest/west and south like West Town, Logan Square, Near West side, and Chinatown.
Last edited by Chicagoland60426; 01-02-2021 at 02:29 PM..
I totally agree with this. NYC's skyline dwarfs Chicago and it is not even close. Both in the number of super-tall skyscrapers and the length. NYC's skyline is so large that it is hard to really get a great angle that captures everything in one nice view. You are forced to break it up into sections.
The reason why Chicago has a more picturesque skyline IMO is because you can capture it in 1 or 2 views (the Loop skyline with the Sears tower and the River North/Gold Coast skyline with the Hancock and Trump towers sometimes need to be split). Chicago also has very few "tall" buildings relative to NYC, which makes it easy to capture photos, because you can focus on the few tall skyscrapers and the other buildings are more backdrop.
I personally love NYC's skyline because it is so massive and intense, but because of that, it is harder to visualize all at once. You have to break it up into sections.
I Agree ...Hey if you Youtube "Gantry Plaza State Park" (in Queens) you can get a pretty good view of New York's Scale and Scope and can see nearly it's entire skyline
I Agree ...Hey if you Youtube "Gantry Plaza State Park" (in Queens) you can get a pretty good view of New York's Scale and Scope and can see nearly it's entire skyline
Then, after that, Youtube Adler Planetarium Lake Michigan Chicago skyline views and see what you come up with. No comparison IMO on which is the more beautiful skyline view imo. But thanks for the interesting view of NYC from Queens.
Last edited by Justabystander; 01-03-2021 at 02:13 PM..
While one can never take anything away from the sheer vastness/scale of NYC, people really don’t understand how large Chicagos skyline is (even relative to Manhattan) unless they’ve seen it in person
Chicago’s skyline while numerically smaller than Midtown is still almost 2x the size of Lower Manhattan, DT Brooklyn, Long Island City & Jersey city... combined.
While one can never take anything away from the sheer vastness/scale of NYC, people really don’t understand how large Chicagos skyline is (even relative to Manhattan) unless they’ve seen it in person
Chicago’s skyline while numerically smaller than Midtown is still almost 2x the size of Lower Manhattan, DT Brooklyn, Long Island City & Jersey city... combined.
Skyline wise Chicago is an easy number 2 based on size..but another way to put your point is Chicago is already smaller than midtown and nyc still has lower Manhattan,brooklyn and queens..
Skyline wise Chicago is an easy number 2 based on size..but another way to put your point is Chicago is already smaller than midtown and nyc still has lower Manhattan,brooklyn and queens..
Chicago is ~70% the size of Midtown numerically, But visually looks bigger because Midtown has a substantially smaller footprint. Chicago has breathing room and each building gets its own “space,” that same luxury isn’t afforded in Manhattan so a lot of buildings get “lost in the sauce” to say the least.
The ESB is ~1.25 miles S of the pencil supertalls on 53rd st (billion dollar row) and less then a mile away from Hudson Yards complex to its W. The Willis Tower in comparison is over 1.5 miles SE of the John Hancock Building
But yes, NYC (as a whole) is unrivaled when it comes to urbanity
This is not to claim Chicago trumps the stature of scale of NYC. Just a video of some of its views.
This video posted early 2019 is a bit outdated by some tall structures. Views from 2018 or before. Still from before this Pandemic and empty offices where the lights might be off.
I also chose this one for night and day scenes and FROM RESIDENCES WITH SUCH VIEWS and from from the ground. A couple may be drone.... still centers on downtown and only views from the Hancock observatory for the lakefront north of the core. Nice to see you when you could touch the Bean and crowds were present and Lake full of yachts in summer but gone in colder months.
Still does show that Chicago can satisfy for super views from residential buildings that is has still plenty of outside of NYC. its downtown and north of the core parks and open lakefront not with business piers and open to the public.... make it having a lot of vistas to use for some vantage points. That was basically the point made that got twisted to denying NYC has any... of course it has. Just kinda different.
View from Hancock building which is half residential. I did some pricing for studios
in the 1969 supertall. They can be gotten with views even in theunder $300,000 range
as some are currently for sale or recently bought I've seen listed.
Also opening scene from the lakefront missing new tall buildings .... still highly photographed.
Some Chicagoan's gripe how Chicago lost many supertalls planned
and not built or the Crash killed etc. They wish it could do much more....
I think it did pretty well despite losses of even a mega-tall.
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This is not to claim Chicago trumps the stature of scale of NYC. Just a video of some of its views.
