The Next Famous US Skyline

[ironchapman]

The reason I put St. Louis on there is mostly because of the arch and how famous it is.

The city's skyline gets a lot of attention from that.

If the city ever goes through a "Rennaissance", it could have a lot more potential.

[cheeriokid61]

^Any city that goes through a renaissance could have a lot more potential.

[PeninsulaKiddo]

Now picture that with a 25 story tower just left of the Bank of American building (new Hilton) and a 31+ story, Chrysler-esque condo tower (Granby Tower) a few blocks directly behind that. It's an elegant skyline with potential for much more. Yay, I love spreading the "Hampton Roads is pretty" gospel lol!

[Unifour]

Peninsulakiddo, what skyline is that? Virginia Beach? Do you have any of the other cities in Hampton Roads? Norfolk has some tall buildings and so does Newport News, right? Most don't realize that Hampton Roads is a complex of several good sized cities.

[fla29]

no miami??

[ironchapman]

See the first post on the first page.

Miami is already famous

[Unifour]

And I don't get why St. Louis is on the list... other than the Gateway Arch it doesn't have much noticeable architecture.  But I suppose the arch is enough of an enduring symbol of the city to make it worthy of the list...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not trying to be rude to ya kiddo, but I think St. Louis has some pretty great 'scrapers, plus the old courthouse building with the tall flagpole framed by the massive Arch makes it quite unique. St. Louis is laid out similar to Washington DC, in that there is like a long central mall type park in the middle with a domed structure at the end and buildings clustered around the side. Here is a link to a site that shows lots of pics of cities, check out St. Louis'. The circular one with the windows is nice, although not very tall. The giant glass one is like a mirror.

http://www.consultwebs.com/ncphotos/index.html Just click on the city.

[ironchapman]

Those are the reasons I listed it, Unifour.

Thanks for clarifying them.

An update on the polls, as of now:

The Top 3:

1. Atlanta (8 votes)

---Charlotte (tie)

2. Nashville (7 votes)

3. Seattle (4 votes)

---Other (tie)

[JivecitySTL]

Not to open a can of worms, but I honestly think that St. Louis already has a more recognizable skyline than every other city on this list (with the exception perhaps of Seattle?). As unimpressive as you think the buildings are, you cannot discount the uniqueness of the Gateway Arch. It makes STL one of the most distinctive skylines in the world.

[ironchapman]

No offense taken, JiveCity. STL is a great city.

STL's arch is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world. However, you take that away and no one would be able to recognise the skyline.

The same goes for several cities with landmarks like that.

Great skylines are dependent on more than ,one marker. Seattle, for instance, has the Needle and BofA Building. Charlotte has the BofA HQ and Hearst Tower. ATL has the Westin Peachtree, BofA Building, and SunTrust.

To recorgise something means not necessarily to know its name ( I can identify several of Chicago's towers as being in the city, but I don't know their names.), but to be able to identify where it is from.

When St. Louis gets a generally reciognisable skyscraper, it will go higher up on the list.

I hope I didn't offend you too much. I love St. Louis, as I have said before.

[Unifour]

I never said St. Louis' skyscrapers were unimpressive. I said I thought it had some pretty good ones, just as good as anyone else's. I particularly like that cylinder (sp?) one. And the SBC one is very tall and has asymetry to it which is unique.

[JivecitySTL]

STL's arch is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world. However, you take that away and no one would be able to recognise the skyline.

I understand what you're saying, but I have a serious problem with this rationale. Why would anyone ever take the Arch away? It is there to stay. It is part of the skyline. These "what-ifs" are really silly IMO. What if a lot of things? The Arch is not going anywhere, and unless it does, STL's skyline is one of the most recognizable in the world. It doesn't matter that the other buildings aren't as distinctive. As long as the Arch is there, the average Joe knows it's St. Louis. That's more than can be said for places like Boston, Philadelphia, and scores of other cities. If we're talking about great skylines, it's a whole different animal. But since we're talking about recognizable skylines, let's not ignore the obvious.

btw, I'm not offended by differing opinions here, I just can't understand why "If that wasn't there..." is a reasonable argument.

[wolfdawg54]

I voted for Atlanta because of its size and the distinquishable characteristics of some of the skyscrapers.

[monsoon]

Honestly, I think you could take a photo a skyscraper from most of those cities from that list and show if to the average citizen. Assuming they didn't live in the city they probably would not recognize it. However show the person the STL Arch and they immediately know where it is and what it is. The STL skyline is already famous because of the very unique arch.

[NorthStar]

Hometown bias obvioulsy has something to do with the poll results. For example, Charlotte has 11 votes while St. Louis has 1 and Seattle has 5. There are many people in the U.S. that still have a hard time finding Charlotte on the map whereas everyone knows about Seattle and where it's located. One would think in order for a city to have the next famous U.S. skyline, people would already have to know where it's located. Once people start to realize that Charlotte is in NC and not SC, then maybe you can start thinking about having the next famous skyline.

BTW, St. Louis already has a famous skyline as does Seattle and Los Angeles.

[RestedTraveler]

Atlanta, Charlotte, St. Louis, Seattle, and Detroit are already pretty well known, aren't they? Heck - I guess I'm just an oddball...I can already pick all of those out of a lineup of "the usual suspects."

I'm surprised that Orlando, Tampa, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, etc. aren't on that list though...

From the ones listed, I'd have to vote for Charlotte simply because it's likely the least known of the major skylines and there is just so much development going on over there which will distinguish it even more.

[NorthStar]

From the ones listed, I'd have to vote for Charlotte simply because it's likely the least known of the major skylines and there is just so much development going on over there which will distinguish it even more.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is also a lot of development underway in cities like Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, etc. Charlotte still has a long way to go before it it catches these cities in terms of number of buildings and overall density.

[Twin Cities]

Well, being Los Angeles, St. Louis and Seattle are already famous throughout the U.S. and most of the world, the selection dwindles down to Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Boston and Atlanta. The other cities might eventually have a chance.

[Unifour]

Actually, I don't think Charlotte is yet ready for this, YET. It's skyline is no match for Atlanta or Miami as of yet, but it actually has more skyscrapers than Portland, and just as many as Denver at last count. There have been 3 new skyscrapers built just since I've lived in North Carolina (5 years). A lot of high rise residential is going up along the trolley line and the future rail station nodes in South End, as I hear, but that's several miles from downtown. Charlotte is developing like the usual sprawling sunbelt city, most office space in suburban office parks, not downtown.

[A2]

If this does not scream Beautiful, I don't know what does. This is only the beginning. Add about 7-10 high rises in the upcoming months. Looking good.

http://www.equitability.com/customers/1040...tte_skyline.jpe

[ironchapman]

I don't think Unifour meant Charlotte's skyline wasn't beautiful.

I think he meant is wasn't as matured as some of the other cities on the list.

[A2]

I don't think Unifour meant Charlotte's skyline wasn't beautiful.

I think he meant is wasn't as matured as some of the other cities on the list.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

this is true. I will submit to that. Here's another great shot though. I love all kinds of skylines. I think CLT definately harnesses the potential to be quite awsome.

[cheeriokid61]

I agree, Charlotte has an awesome skyline, but because there are two skyscrapers much taller than the rest, it tends to look empty. However, the new highrises should fill it out quite nicely.

[A2]

I agree, Charlotte has an awesome skyline, but because there are two skyscrapers much taller than the rest, it tends to look empty. However, the new highrises should fill it out quite nicely.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here are some nice skrapers w/out BofA and Hearst. I think the two towers get too much attention. For example check out the Interstate Tower and the Omni (connected to the Nations Bank bldg) great buildings that are very tall, but not the two that often get the attention.

Here is the IJL

The Omni connected to the Nations Bank tower (it used to be the tallest between ATL and DC

sorry not a great shot let's try again. (this time with all of Nations Bank tower)

One Wachovia (you got love this one)

THE CORNERTONE (Yeah Baby !!! B)

[Twin Cities]

Actually, I don't think Charlotte is yet ready for this, YET. It's skyline is no match for Atlanta or Miami as of yet, but it actually has more skyscrapers than Portland, and just as many as Denver at last count. There have been 3 new skyscrapers built just since I've lived in North Carolina (5 years). A lot of high rise residential is going up along the trolley line and the future rail station nodes in South End, as I hear, but that's several miles from downtown. Charlotte is developing like the usual sprawling sunbelt city, most office space in suburban office parks, not downtown.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You obviously have never been to Denver or Portland. Both have more high-rises than Charlotte and both have denser skylines. And yes, both are experiencing a lot of development like Charlotte. Do they have as many proposed towers as Charlotte? Maybe not, but who cares about proposals.