Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
3. Seattle, Washington: Here's where debates may begin. But Seattle's skyline and density are quite significant.
4. Denver, Colorado: Bigger and dense than many think. Also has about 3 major additions going on right now.
Photographer: Matt Wright
5. Miami, Florida: More condo's than office, and a bit spread out, but vast nonetheless.
@Miami New Times
Noteables:
San Fran (not enough height)
Houston (too spread out, not dense enough)
Dallas
Philly (some huge new buildings really have helped, still not top 5 yet)
I'll mix it up a little and post the 5 I believe are the biggest / greatest / most dense skylines in the U.S
1. New York City, New York:
2. Chicago, Illinois: As expected
3. Seattle, Washington:
4. Denver, Colorado: Bigger and dense than many think. Also has about 3 major additions going on right now.
5. Miami, Florida: More condo's than office, and a bit spread out, but vast nonetheless.
Denver? Are you serious? Hell the Wells Fargo tower alone beats anything in Denver. MPLS. is probably at the bottom of the top ten while Denver makes the top 15.
NYC
Chicago
San Francisco
Seattle
Philadelphia
the remaining top 10
Houston
Boston
Atlanta
Minneapolis
Pittsburgh
1. San Francisco (from the bay with Russian Hill and Marina Park in the foreground, mountains in the background)
2. San Diego (from Point Loma with Shelter Island and marina in the foreground, mountains background)
3. Honolulu (from the waterfront, mountains background)
4. Chicago (from Lake Michigan, with Grant Park in the foreground)
5. Tie between Denver (from City Park with City Park Lake in foreground, mountains in the background) and LA (aerial from the Pacific Ocean, Palos Verdes hills and ocean in the foreground, mountains in the background- pic in post #48 by El Mundo)
I haven't seen one of Seattle with the Space Needle in the foreground and Mt. Ranier in the background AND a portion of Elliot Bay ALSO in the foreground. All the pics I see from that vantage point always have excluded any of the bay. Otherwise it would compete to be on my list.
I also have to add that the Pittsburgh skyline from the ariel vantage point at the convergence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers with Point State Park in the foreground and the hills in the composition (background) at the bottom of page 1 was an unexpected delight. I had never seen that vantage point of Pittsburgh before. That is REALLY nice!
Wha'ts the big deal about San Fran. The pyramid is cool but the rest is blah.
Since SF is my #1, I'll take a crack at this.
The big deal for me is that:
1- SF's skyline has 3 dimensional interest and natural inclusion. That's code for undulating hills rolling towards the bay reminescent of mediterranean hills rolling towards the sea, and greenery interspersed into the composition. From the vantage point I spoke of, Russian Hill is in the foreground, and you can see the smaller height buildings in white forming the hillside that fronts the skyscrapers and sits atop the bay and marina park. Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower can be seen left of the Transamerica Pyramid and its hilly contour and greenery (trees) can be seen. Put another way, it's not just flat concrete land with concrete and steel buildings sticking straight up out of it.
2- The bay (water) itself adds tremendously to the composition.
3- The mountain backdrop (from Oakland) adds tremendously to the composition.
4- Having the Bay Bridge in there too, just left of Coit Tower, adds some interest.
5- Backing up far enough to add the Golden Gate Bridge, in all of its red brilliance, adds SIGNIFICANT interest.
Basically for me, concrete and steel is just not that interesting on its own. A bunch of really tall gray and brown buildings crammed together on flat land is just blah. The best skylines incorporate natural elements, specifically water blues and/or blue-greens, tree greenery, the curvature of hills or mountains or both, and a blue sky backdrop- and ADD a nice architectural skyscraper element/interest on top of that. Even better if the buildings vary in color or are at least a different color from drab gray or drab brown. The best of the best have all those elements. That's why the best of the best on earth is Hong Kong, and the best of the best in the US is San Francisco. Rolling hills of green and white (Russian and Telegraph) with their buildings that seem like they start halfway up the skyscrapers and swoop down towards the bay, the deep blue of the San Francisco bay water, a mountainous backdrop against blue skies, the unique architectural interest of the Transamerica Pyramid, the brilliant red of the Golden Gate Bridge to frame it up. That's what's the big deal about San Francisco.
The vantage point I'm speaking of can be seen here. Except this was taken on a hazy day and the clear view of the mountains and of the blue sky backdrop is missing as a result. Similar angle here, but much closer in, doesn't give the overall composition, but gives a good idea of the hilly interest and "building white/tree green" interest aspects fronting Transamerica.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
