Best skyline in the Carolinas

[krazeeboi]

I agree with you on First Citizens. It is a classic looking tower though. Too bad street-level retail isn't on the ground floor; I'm surprised the city let them get away with that.

That's probably the best angle I've seen of Greenville's skyline. I'd love to see one of you stellar Greenville photographers snag a shot from this angle.

[davidals]

http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=396428

It has a great skyline from I-40. If you look at it from cardinal east or west though, it looks obviously spread out and poorly organized. Luckily RBC's headquarters will substantially improve that.

I think the general message from this thread is that Charlotte's skyline is far ahead of the rest of the Carolina cities. Charlotte's skyline is generally compared to cities much larger than itself, because everything came together in the right place for it. It will carry this lead for the next few decades probably. I can picture Raleigh and Winston-Salem narrowing the gap during that time though.

Charlotte's geographical advantage - which (when considering future potential) is also a factor for Columbia, Greenville & Winston - downtowns that are in relatively hilly areas, which do accentuate the view. Columbia - like Richmond and Baltimore - is right on the fall line, and good design in the future could make for a spectacular-looking downtown, if that geographical feature is given consideration.

I don't have pics - but I recall an NC feature in National Geographic from about 20 years ago that featured a telephoto shot from a fairly low angle looking at downtown Winston from the southeast, with a big summer sunset over the Blue Ridge at the far back of the frame - a GREAT shot.

Similarly - it's from a distance, but - looking in the opposite direction - there's a quick, fantastic view of W-S skyline from I-77, as you ascend the ridge below Fancy Gap, VA. Look to the right (you will be looking back into NC) and you just see a canopy of trees with the skyline popping up, with Pilot Mountain small in the foreground...

Asheville's skyline and downtown are beautiful.

[krazeeboi]

I like Winston-Salem's skyline in that it tends to look good at all angles. This is true of Charlotte's as well. The skylines of river cities, such as Columbia, tend to have a nice "front" side, but it isn't as picturesque on the "back" side, although that side tends to hide some great density.