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These are the only two cities that I can think of that ever had, in effect, height restrictions. DC has always had them, and they were legal. Philadelphia once did, although while it was informal and not law, it was once obeyed. You just weren't supposed to build anything in Philly that was taller than Wm Penn's statue atop city hall.
Are there other cities that set real height restrictions beside these two?
The only other place that had somewhat a restriction (but not the degree that DC and Philly had) was San Francisco where the lay of the land and its hills dictated that the topography was not to be affected by building height (then, of course, the famous "manhattanization", a term I believed coined in SF, destroyed the contours of the hills).
Are there other cities that belong on my list.....in other words: didn't build high because it wasn't allowed (DC) or at least was discouraged (Philly)???
Philly's downtown is quite sky-scraper-y. IDK, but I never knew there was a height restriction there based on my last visit. Lots of super tall buildings and I saw a few more being built. Looks like any other large downtown city now. IDK what it looked like in the past tho.
Philly's downtown is quite sky-scraper-y. IDK, but I never knew there was a height restriction there based on my last visit. Lots of super tall buildings and I saw a few more being built. Looks like any other large downtown city now. IDK what it looked like in the past tho.
Historically no building could be built taller than William Penn's hat on top of city hall. That was rescinded in 1987 after which the Liberty Place towers were constructed.
Historically no building could be built taller than William Penn's hat on top of city hall. That was rescinded in 1987 after which the Liberty Place towers were constructed.
Yep, and City Hall is 548' tall so the older buildings are still relatively tall.
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Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69
Philly's downtown is quite sky-scraper-y. IDK, but I never knew there was a height restriction there based on my last visit. Lots of super tall buildings and I saw a few more being built. Looks like any other large downtown city now. IDK what it looked like in the past tho.
The original Rocky movies provide good glimpses, actually. Philadelphia was still taller than D.C. is now, and was about on par with Baltimore's height today.
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