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From the purely architectural standpoint- Toronto wins. It has the larger skyline and more modern buildings. There are 30 buildings above 500 feet in Toronto and only 20 buildings above 500 feet in San Francisco. However, San Francisco's skyline is denser, and the scenery it sits on puts Toronto's to shame. San Francisco's skyline on the San Francisco Bay, 2 massive bridges and rolling hills in the back round are mesmerizing. Toronto doesn't have that appeal- but it does have a larger, taller and more modern skyline. However, when San Francisco finishes the Transbay Terminal project, San Francisco will take the lead over Toronto in terms of height and size
There are currently seventeen 500+ footers under construction in Toronto (the tallest among them with a roof height just shy of 900 feet), with many more proposed and set to begin construction in the near future. Even with Transbay, San Fran has a long way to go before it can ever hope to take the lead over Toronto. Unless Toronto suddenly stops building altogether, I just don't see that happening. First Canadian Place may be the current tallest Office building at just shy of 1000 feet, but the 1815 foot CN tower still counts for something!
San Francisco is beautiful and would win for geographic beauty. The bridges, mountains, and topography gives SF the edge. However in terms of sheer impressiveness, and impact... TO takes it hands down. The first 3 pics I attached are Toronto between 2008 and 2011. Currently there are 350 high rise projects in the GTA under construction or planned. The final picture is an artist's rendition of Toronto when these projects are completed sometime between 2016 and 2020.
San Francisco is beautiful and would win for geographic beauty. The bridges, mountains, and topography gives SF the edge. However in terms of sheer impressiveness, and impact... TO takes it hands down. The first 3 pics I attached are Toronto between 2008 and 2011. Currently there are 350 high rise projects in the GTA under construction or planned. The final picture is an artist's rendition of Toronto when these projects are completed sometime between 2016 and 2020.
+1 Great pics of Toronto. Toronto has a great skyline
I've been to Toronto 3 times, and of course I'm from San Francisco. From the purely architectural standpoint, Toronto wins. Toronto has the taller and larger skyline. San Francisco's skyline is smaller but denser. HOWEVER, not being bias, but driving into San Francisco from either the Golden Gate Bridge or the Bay Bridge, you get a "Whow" factor that puts Toronto's skyline to shame. San Francisco has the 2nd densest skyline in America, you have the SF Bay, Angel Island, Alcatraz, the rolling hills in the backround, an amazing waterfront- its truly amazing, especially for people who have never been to SF.
However, yes, I will admit that if SF and Toronto both had the same geographical settings for their skylines, Toronto would win. I actually voted for Toronto for this reason.
I'm from neither Toronto or San Francisco but been to both and it's san francisco by a long shot....
Toronto is definitely a big, important and very international city as it's the NYC of canada but skyline wise, it's anemic and only feels big when you're in the middle of it. From most angles a distance from, it might as well be Detroit with that visual attention grabber: the CN tower. In many respects it reminds me of Seattle (though larger and without the beautiful natural backdrop).
San Francisco besides density, has the mesmerizing natural beauty and backdrop that the city feels effortlessly built into. In fact, I'll place San Francisco along the ranks of Hong Kong and Rio de Janeiro for cities exploiting beautiful natural settings (and maybe when Seattle matures and adds some buildings in the right places it can join that list). So if by 'better skyline' you mean easier on the eyes then San Francisco by far and no contest. If your own criteria is how many tall buildings then well ok.
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