City with the best skyline vantage point(s) (condos, university)

[Joakim3]

This is not a comparison of skyline size.

What city has the best geographic vantage point(s) for it's skyline(s)

[Chicago_Person]

I like Pittsburgh where the rivers meet, you can see it from a peak.

Then most with water in the foreground like SF, Seattle, Chicago.

Geographically probably SF though, with water and peaks and hills everywhere from any point.

[NorthAtlanta]

Pittsburgh
Chicago
Seattle

[Losfrisco]

Pittsburgh has Mt. Washington, West End Overlook, Spring Hill city view, view from PNC park.


Can't think of anything even close. San Francisco does not have the topography to provide views as stunning as this-as the OP seems to be asking for specific vantage points.

[Joakim3]

I'd personally throw up the Griffith Observatory in LA as a top contender as well

[pwright1]

Los Angeles
San Francisco
Seattle

[TropicalFreezing]

Originally Posted by Losfrisco

Pittsburgh has Mt. Washington, West End Overlook, Spring Hill city view, view from PNC park.


Can't think of anything even close. San Francisco does not have the topography to provide views as stunning as this-as the OP seems to be asking for specific vantage points.

Pittsburgh is great but I beg to differ on your comment on SF. The view of downtown SF with the bay and East Bay mountains in the background from the top of twin peaks is pretty awesome. You can easily drive up twin peaks and then hike to the summit for a 360 degree view from the center of the city. Check out google images. I don’t have time to search for a non copyrighted photo otherwise I’d include it.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by TropicalFreezing

Pittsburgh is great but I beg to differ on your comment on SF. The view of downtown SF with the bay and East Bay mountains in the background from the top of twin peaks is pretty awesome. You can easily drive up twin peaks and then hike to the summit for a 360 degree view from the center of the city. Check out google images. I don’t have time to search for a non copyrighted photo otherwise I’d include it.

Of course you are right. One of the most iconic shots of the skyline is from the tip of the Marin headlines, slightly west of the GGB. How about waterside in either Sausalito or Tiburon? The view from the Cal campus or further up the Berkeley Hills? 101 going north around Potrero Hill where the skyline suddenly opens up. The famed shot of Victorians on Alamo Square with the skyline above??

[edsg25]

It would be hard to pick the best view of the Chicago skyline, but three two are absolute classics:

1. going north on S LSD in Hyde Park at the point. Here the skyline suddenly comes into view like an island floating in the sea of Lake Michigan, The view from the south is special because it highlights the iconic skyline of the Loop.

2. going south on N LSD. At Belmont Harbor, the full width of the skyline comes into view. What is special here is how all encompassing this view is: lake, beaches, Lincoln Park, the condos on Lakeview, LPW, Clark and straight ahead, the gorgeous view of downtown (although the view here is of downtown north of the river, with the Loop and other parts of downtown south of the river way in the background)

3. Nowhere can you get the view of the whole sweep of the Chicago skyline as you can driving south on the Kennedy Expy (like when you come in at O'Hare). The bulk and mass that is the Loop is to your right (west), adjoined by the more linear portion of the downtown skyline in River North and Streeterville.

[RaleighSentinel]

I was going to say Chicago from Lake Shore Drive as well. I’ve driven it many times from both directions and it never ceases to amaze me.

Someone said Griffith Observatory in LA and I definitely agree with that one.

I grew up in Atlanta, and always thought the view from atop Stone Mountain was fantastic. On a clear day you can see the planes and tower at Hartsfield, the core in Downtown, the highest point at North Avenue, Midtown, Buckhead, and the Perimeter Edge Cities in Sandy Springs/Dunwoody and the Galleria.

In little old Raleigh (Bless our Hearts...), the best view of our comparatively small but growing downtown skyline is usually going North on McDowell Street heading into Downtown. Folks here like to call that the money shot, though you can get a great shot from the top floors of the buildings at N.C. State University, and over near Cameron Village, and on the other (East) side of Downtown near Chavis Park. We’ve got a lot of trees and hills here which can block the skyline views, even near Downtown.