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.
Ive been over this a hundred times in different threads. Highly subjective. Skyline vs density/urban fabric. This is why the Houston people drive me nuts, because they see a bunch of midrise buildings along a freeway and they think they've added yet another skyline....hilarious.
As far as skylines go; the top two are not debatable and #3 is distant, after that its highly subjective. The following is my top 5 for downtown skyline only
1NYC
2Chicago
3Miami
4LA
5Houston
As far as dense vibrant urban areas; it changes for me. Ive been in all these cities and its very clear to me the top 3 are:
1NYC
2SF
3Chicago
then you have; Miami, LA, Boston, Philly, Seattle
You missed my point entirely. Yes it is subjective in terms of what you prefer. And also by DEFINITION of a skyline the Houston people you mention are right in including the rest of the buildings outside of the downtown center.... yes, the medical center, and uptown make up part of the skyline despite them being spread out. I doubt they are referring to the buildings and banks found somewhere along the freeway like in the greenspoint area for instance.
And sure that list you have is your prerogative and I have no quarrel with what you list as your top five. It is your top five. I personally wouldn't even place Houston or LA in the top five, but Houston's downtown skyline certainly is taller and bigger than LA's (not including the skyscrapers outside of the downtown center. If that were so then yes, LA's would win. But you've made it clear that you do not consider buildings outside of the downtown center as part of the skyline.)
I listed what skyscraperpage and Wikipedia lists as the largest skylines with buildings 500' or more. According to those cites, Houston ranks just fourth next to NYC, Chicago and Miami and LA follows behind them.
You're right though about the cities with most density and perhaps you didn't specify clearly or I missed it entirely. SF, NYC, Miami, Boston, Chicago and Seattle are definitely more urbanized cities which creates for more dense skylines. I wouldn't put LA in that list though.... if anything Houston should go ahead of LA because Houston has more buildings in the downtown area, both taller and in number of skyscrapers.
I am not saying Houston's skyline is better, I'm simply saying Houston's downtown skyline is a little larger than Los Angeles, when not including the buildings outside of the downtown skyline.
You missed my point entirely. Yes it is subjective in terms of what you prefer. And also by DEFINITION of a skyline the Houston people you mention are right in including the rest of the buildings outside of the downtown center.... yes, the medical center, and uptown make up part of the skyline despite them being spread out. I doubt they are referring to the buildings and banks found somewhere along the freeway like in the greenspoint area for instance.
No, I understand what you are saying and appreciate that. I dont think so about Houston though. I hear it non stop about multiple skylines. The truth is most major cities have multiple skylines. Should Houston get extra credit because its pancake flat and on a clear day you can see them in the distance? Dallas has it, Atlanta has it, LA certainly does, Miami....SF. Most of those other skylines are just urban nodes with suburban type office park development.
Quote:
Originally Posted by migol84
And sure that list you have is your prerogative and I have no quarrel with what you list as your top five. It is your top five. I personally wouldn't even place Houston or LA in the top five, but Houston's downtown skyline certainly is taller and bigger than LA's (not including the skyscrapers outside of the downtown center. If that were so then yes, LA's would win. But you've made it clear that you do not consider buildings outside of the downtown center as part of the skyline.)
DT LA is larger and more dense than Houston. Not as tall on average, but much more in terms of older stock, which creates density.
Quote:
Originally Posted by migol84
I listed what skyscraperpage and Wikipedia lists as the largest skylines with buildings 500' or more. According to those cites, Houston ranks just fourth next to NYC, Chicago and Miami and LA follows behind them.
I wouldnt quarrel with the rankings to much, I understand how they are derived. Houston is tall for sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by migol84
You're right though about the cities with most density and perhaps you didn't specify clearly or I missed it entirely. SF, NYC, Miami, Boston, Chicago and Seattle are definitely more urbanized cities which creates for more dense skylines. I wouldn't put LA in that list though.... if anything Houston should go ahead of LA because Houston has more buildings in the downtown area, both taller and in number of skyscrapers.
I am not saying Houston's skyline is better, I'm simply saying Houston's downtown skyline is a little larger than Los Angeles, when not including the buildings outside of the downtown skyline.
Yes, that was my point. I think the best urbanized cities are NYC, SF, then Chicago based on the criteria I mentioned.
I agree about LA probably not fitting that criteria yet. I still dont buy Houstons DT being larger than LA though. Houston has more and taller modern building, but not overall. LA has a huge stock of older buildings, that Houston does not. And having spent significant time in both downtowns I'd say they are comparable overall.
What I dont accept in any way is one of the Houston boosters saying "there's no comparison" between the two.........
So after NYC and Chicago is there really a definative #3 or a collection of a dozen or more that are all pretty good but can be argued in different ways to be better or worse; some objective and some subjective criteria...
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,049,308 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidphilly
So after NYC and Chicago is there really a definative #3 or a collection of a dozen or more that are all pretty good but can be argued in different ways to be better or worse; some objective and some subjective criteria...
Maybe for the skyline one can prefer overall. But the OP of this thread made this thread in terms of height.
I saw in another thread today you were emphasizing others to follow the criteria (which should be done in all threads regardless), its not that you're wrong. One can prefer skylines over another. Frankly only Northeastern skyline that I like is New York City, I like Los Angeles's more than San Francisco's, Miami's more than Seattle's but none of that is wrong since its my personal preference. People can sit here all day and talk about what they prefer, but that doesn't get the facts stated.
But there is no way you can call height subjective, you can either be tall or not. And thats what this thread was meant for.
The OP's original post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MilesBloodAxe
Per World's Best Skylines, the following is a ranking of all U.S. City skylines based on the following criteria:
Total number of meters above 90 for all buildings, including those currently under construction. IMO, this is a good measure of skylines as it balances height.
A skyline as pertaining to this thread is either tall or its not.
Maybe for the skyline one can prefer overall. But the OP of this thread made this thread in terms of height.
I saw in another thread today you were emphasizing others to follow the criteria (which should be done in all threads regardless), its not that you're wrong. One can prefer skylines over another. Frankly only Northeastern skyline that I like is New York City, I like Los Angeles's more than San Francisco's, Miami's more than Seattle's but none of that is wrong since its my personal preference. People can sit here all day and talk about what they prefer, but that doesn't get the facts stated.
But there is no way you can call height subjective, you can either be tall or not. And thats what this thread was meant for.
The OP's original post:
A skyline as pertaining to this thread is either tall or its not.
I wish the counts were there, hard to tell how to compare, And are these downtown only or the whole city. I did see for Philly they said it included Camden. Why Camden it hardly has any skyline only has one building over 90 meters, there are other places within a few miles of Center City that have more tall buildings but are outside the city limit.
With that being said this thread is probably kind of useless for any discussion as it is concrete in its criteria. I actually never read the criteria and jumped in later in the thread
I hear you on preferances, the only Sunbelt skyline I like is Atlanta, the others are boxy and too modern and way too spread out for my personal liking but there are some buildings I like
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,049,308 times
Reputation: 4047
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidphilly
I wish the counts were there, hard to tell how to compare, And are these downtown only or the whole city. I did see for Philly they said it included Camden. Why Camden it hardly has any skyline only has one building over 90 meters, there are other places within a few miles of Center City that have more tall buildings but are outside the city limit.
They did the same thing with Jersey City and New York City also. For the most part every other city they included the city only, but for others I guess they used key areas near the CBD also.
I posted stats from a world study source in terms of height a few pages back actually, they update it every year. I like height, and size more, but buildings with glass are my favorite kinds, mostly you can see sunlight reflect off of them, it looks nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidphilly
With that being said this thread is probably kind of useless for any discussion as it is concrete in its criteria. I actually never read the criteria and jumped in later in the thread
For discussion it truly is, but this thread is old too. Many can always post new developments and new rankings for the criteria at hand also. Its a long term thread rather than a short term one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidphilly
I hear you on preferances, the only Sunbelt skyline I like is Atlanta, the others are boxy and too modern and way too spread out for my personal liking but there are some buildings I like
Honestly, the buildings in Houston aren't my favorite either, neither are the ones in Los Angeles. They have some very generic looking buildings to be honest. And I also have liked individual buildings in Atlanta more too, but the overall skylines of Los Angeles & Houston I do like more, due to my preference in height, size, and spacing (not close together but not very spread out).
I like the newer buildings in Austin a lot, but yeahhh that's just me though.
I like the night time drive ins to Houston, and Los Angeles I have done that there too, its simply fantastic. But yeah the buildings in most cities aren't really stellar. Chicago & New York City is where the best of the best are at.
No, I understand what you are saying and appreciate that. I dont think so about Houston though. I hear it non stop about multiple skylines. The truth is most major cities have multiple skylines. Should Houston get extra credit because its pancake flat and on a clear day you can see them in the distance? Dallas has it, Atlanta has it, LA certainly does, Miami....SF. Most of those other skylines are just urban nodes with suburban type office park development.
DT LA is larger and more dense than Houston. Not as tall on average, but much more in terms of older stock, which creates density.
I wouldnt quarrel with the rankings to much, I understand how they are derived. Houston is tall for sure.
Yes, that was my point. I think the best urbanized cities are NYC, SF, then Chicago based on the criteria I mentioned.
I agree about LA probably not fitting that criteria yet. I still dont buy Houstons DT being larger than LA though. Houston has more and taller modern building, but not overall. LA has a huge stock of older buildings, that Houston does not. And having spent significant time in both downtowns I'd say they are comparable overall.
What I dont accept in any way is one of the Houston boosters saying "there's no comparison" between the two.........
Houston has more multiple skylines than all of those others cities you listed & having a pancake flat geography has absolutely nothing to do with it. Chicago & Miami are just as flat.
Take Greenway Plaza for example, I'd put it up against Downtown Fort Worth's skyline in terms of height any day of the week & its not even one of Houston's "main" skylines per se.
They did the same thing with Jersey City and New York City also. For the most part every other city they included the city only, but for others I guess they used key areas near the CBD also.
I posted stats from a world study source in terms of height a few pages back actually, they update it every year. I like height, and size more, but buildings with glass are my favorite kinds, mostly you can see sunlight reflect off of them, it looks nice.
For discussion it truly is, but this thread is old too. Many can always post new developments and new rankings for the criteria at hand also. Its a long term thread rather than a short term one.
Honestly, the buildings in Houston aren't my favorite either, neither are the ones in Los Angeles. They have some very generic looking buildings to be honest. And I also have liked individual buildings in Atlanta more too, but the overall skylines of Los Angeles & Houston I do like more, due to my preference in height, size, and spacing (not close together but not very spread out).
I like the newer buildings in Austin a lot, but yeahhh that's just me though.
Austin seems pretty cool - the images from the water are kind of interesting
and Especially Chicago - I like the buildings in Chicago the best and my "preferred" skyline to all others as well
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.
