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Old 09-21-2011, 04:55 PM
 
Location: Bentonville, AR
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Back to the original subject...while not great, I think Wichita's skyline is about right for it's size. Those comparing it to OKC and Tulsa aren't really giving it a fair comparrison. Those cities are quite a bit bigger. Until the recent addition of the Devon tower, I think OKC's skyline was kind of undersized. Tulsa's is the best of the 3. Des Moines is more comparable to Wichita and I'll admit, Des Moines has a great skyline for it's size. Colorado Springs is a city with a metro sized about the same as Wichita and I don't think their skyline is very impressive(not counting pikes peak). I think Wichita's downtown has some nice looking buildings and potential to be really cool. It's just not a tall skyline. I think the main reason is that Wichita is an aircraft town and you can't build aircraft in skyscrapers. Whereas if it had more of an economy based on oil or something that needed more office space, it would be better.
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Old 05-18-2013, 02:45 AM
 
Location: TULSA
18 posts, read 41,465 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by knrstz View Post
Back to the original subject...while not great, I think Wichita's skyline is about right for it's size. Those comparing it to OKC and Tulsa aren't really giving it a fair comparrison. Those cities are quite a bit bigger. Until the recent addition of the Devon tower, I think OKC's skyline was kind of undersized. Tulsa's is the best of the 3. Des Moines is more comparable to Wichita and I'll admit, Des Moines has a great skyline for it's size. Colorado Springs is a city with a metro sized about the same as Wichita and I don't think their skyline is very impressive(not counting pikes peak). I think Wichita's downtown has some nice looking buildings and potential to be really cool. It's just not a tall skyline. I think the main reason is that Wichita is an aircraft town and you can't build aircraft in skyscrapers. Whereas if it had more of an economy based on oil or something that needed more office space, it would be better.

I agree, Tulsa's metro population in now over one million people. Shouldn't compare Wichita to Tulsa or Oklahoma City. I have enjoyed my trips to Wichita, traffic isn't nearly as screwed up as it is here in Tulsa and I think its just about the right size city for a family to settle down in. I like Tulsa but Bigger isn't always better.
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:45 PM
 
Location: Plano, TX
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Originally Posted by Defiant6 View Post
I have actually noticed that and that is quite concerning to me. I know Johnson County is a very rapidly growing suburban area of Kansas City, but why lure companies away from the main city of the metro area instead of working as a whole unit for the entire metro region? I remember reading a few months ago some large office complex being built in some part of that county and also I think they were trying to lure AMC headquarters over to the Kansas side and they were successful at luring another company that was headquartered in KC over to JO. I mean it would've been better if they lured them to Wichita instead so they could build larger towers in its downtown. I'm just kidding on that last part .

Anyways, back to the main topic. I remember reading and finding some stuff online about some of the current buildings in downtown Wichita. Wichita's tallest building, the Epic Center, was originally supposed to have a twin tower but with the real estate bust that happened in the late 80s, the second tower was scrapped. There's another building in downtown also that currently houses the banking operations for Bank of America of Wichita that was originally supposed to be a 30 story tower and I think 400 to 500 feet tall. I think the developer of that building decided he wanted to save money and reduced it by half making it a 15 story building. I just imagine what Wichita's skyline would be like had the Epic Center's twin been built and that other building had stuck to its orginial design.
I agree. I think that Wichita would be a more logical area for most businesses to relocate to. I have family in Johnson County and despite the success of places like Olathe and Overland Park, I really think that the Wichita area would be more business friendly, given the lower overall property tax and other taxes.

With Wichita being almost twice the size of Des Moines, it is hard to believe that Des Moines has the large skyline that it does. Of course, I do hold the belief that Wichita will have a pretty impressive skyline of its own in the future. It's just a matter of time.
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Old 06-02-2013, 08:52 AM
 
Location: Kansas City, MO
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^Des Moines skyline isn't really "large" so much as having a few nicer and better positioned buildings. City population counts, but metro size is probably a more important factor overall, and Des Moines and Wichita are about the same size in that regard. Other similar sized cities like Little Rock and Shreveport have better skylines, but then cities like Colorado Springs and Springfield, MO are also lacking. I almost think Topeka's skyline is better than Wichita's, and if a new, larger, and well-positioned signature building were built, it definitely would be. And something you might be missing is Des Moines is a white-collar city, whereas Wichita is blue collar. Considering those facts, the differences in the skylines shouldn't be so hard to believe.
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Old 06-02-2013, 09:35 PM
 
Location: Marquette, MI
351 posts, read 793,789 times
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Originally Posted by geekychick View Post
I never quite understood why build up when we can build outward on the land? We have plenty of land to go around! Why does a taller building represent a better business culture?
Besides better land use and environmental issues, building up creates higher density which means a more vibrant walkable downtown as opposed to auto dependent sprawl where walking and living in the "thick of it" is impossible. Urban vs suburban...
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Old 06-03-2013, 01:34 AM
 
Location: Plano, TX
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Originally Posted by MOKAN View Post
^Des Moines skyline isn't really "large" so much as having a few nicer and better positioned buildings. City population counts, but metro size is probably a more important factor overall, and Des Moines and Wichita are about the same size in that regard. Other similar sized cities like Little Rock and Shreveport have better skylines, but then cities like Colorado Springs and Springfield, MO are also lacking. I almost think Topeka's skyline is better than Wichita's, and if a new, larger, and well-positioned signature building were built, it definitely would be. And something you might be missing is Des Moines is a white-collar city, whereas Wichita is blue collar. Considering those facts, the differences in the skylines shouldn't be so hard to believe.
Really?? I didn't know Des Moines was so "White Collar." IMHO, after spending time in both cities, I saw Wichita as being the more "White Collar" of the two cities. Anyway, I see Wichita as having a very impressive skyline in the next 20 years.
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Old 06-03-2013, 08:06 AM
 
Location: Jonesboro
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Des Moines is a very white collar city by comparison primarily because of it's importance as a banking & insurance center & as the seat of state government in Iowa.
Actually Des Moines is well-known now as one of the largest insurance centers in the U.S. & is gaining ground on Hartford in terms of the number of jobs in that field.
The Principal is based in Des Moines & is about to start a $240 million renovation of their downtown Des Moines campus.
Wells Fargo employs several thousand people already & announced a new round of job expansions earlier this year in greater Des Moines.
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Old 06-03-2013, 08:55 AM
 
Location: Kansas City, MO
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Originally Posted by Newbe10 View Post
Really?? I didn't know Des Moines was so "White Collar." IMHO, after spending time in both cities, I saw Wichita as being the more "White Collar" of the two cities. Anyway, I see Wichita as having a very impressive skyline in the next 20 years.
And what is your basis? Des Moines has already been explained, and Wichita is obviously largely blue-collar since its economy is based on manufacturing.

For Wichita to gain an impressive skyline that means new buildings would have to be built. How do you see that playing out?
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Old 06-04-2013, 08:34 AM
 
Location: Jonesboro
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What companies beside Koch Bros. are based in Wichita & large enough to spark a demand for a new headquarters or some such tower in the downtown area? I heard mention of Pizza Hut but are they all built out to suit their needs already?
Are there any large financial services companies with operations in the downtown area that are crunched for space?
Downtown Des Moines came up in conversation here the other day by way of comparison & I erred regarding what I wrote about The Principal & their planned new reinvestment in their downtown Des Moines campus. They are not intending to spend $240 million as I wrote but rather $397 million.
Is there anything in Wichita that could invest to that degree?
Perhaps high rise hotels or residential towers could eventually make a mark on the Wichita skyline. From photos it appears that there is a decent-sized river there that could be a nice setting for either type of structure.
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Old 06-04-2013, 02:46 PM
Sco
 
4,259 posts, read 4,897,421 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atler8 View Post
What companies beside Koch Bros. are based in Wichita & large enough to spark a demand for a new headquarters or some such tower in the downtown area? I heard mention of Pizza Hut but are they all built out to suit their needs already?
Are there any large financial services companies with operations in the downtown area that are crunched for space?
Downtown Des Moines came up in conversation here the other day by way of comparison & I erred regarding what I wrote about The Principal & their planned new reinvestment in their downtown Des Moines campus. They are not intending to spend $240 million as I wrote but rather $397 million.
Is there anything in Wichita that could invest to that degree?
Perhaps high rise hotels or residential towers could eventually make a mark on the Wichita skyline. From photos it appears that there is a decent-sized river there that could be a nice setting for either type of structure.
The Pizza Hut headquarters left Wichita a long time ago. Koch Industries is the only company with a significant corporate headquarters footprint in Wichita and they will never move to downtown Wichita. The reality is that there are no companies that have any need for an office tower in the downtown area. Wichita is a blue collar town, the dominant industries are manufacturing and health care, neither of which demands a lot of office space and certainly not the type of businesses that will spend money on a flashy new tower building.

The buildings that are already located downtown are largely empty. Many of the tenants that leased that office space like law firms or accounting firms have moved out of the downtown area to more suburban style office parks.
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