In 25 years, which city's skyline do you think your's will resemble?

[watnow1425]

In 25 years, Memphis will resemble a shorter/smaller version of Chicago. Mainly beacause all of the new development seems to be lengthening the skyline along the river. Its not growing in at all. Here is a picture that I took that might help explain it.

One Beale will be near the right edge of this picture. By the short white tower.

[Brent]

Richmond will look like Montreal. OK, I'll awaken from my dream now...

It will look the same. Richmond always looks the same. Richmond isn't a flashy town. The skyline will have the same proportions , will lack a signature tower (thank God) and will occupy the same street grid. There will be considerable infill in the 3-5 floor range but nothing really that shows up in a skyline photo. It will continue to be a no frills, working city adding maybe 7 or so 20-35 floor buildings, but it wont change the overall feel or look of the skyline. Look for more boxes and a couple of swooped roofs, nothing more.

1954

1968

2006

Gets bigger, looks the same.....

[cocateho]

I would say

Savannah - D.C. ( historical downtown, highrises across the river and in the burbs)

Charleston - ( a mini scale new york because its on a peninsula and already has the ground level density, though i dont see it going much taller)

Macon - Columbia

Augusta - Chattanooga

Atlanta - just an endless sea of skysrapers across north GA lol

[cashville]

Some of these responses are really funny to read, I mean Murfreesboro looking like present day Nashville? c'mon we are talking 25 years not 125. I also think that Nashville looking like present day Atlanta is a pretty big stretch as well. This may ruffle some feathers but I could see Nashville in 25 years looking something like Charlotte when all of its current construction and approved towers are complete. I think present day Nashville has one roof at 500 feet and the Batman spires rise to 617 adding 3-5 over 500' towers is reasonable for that time frame. It would be nice if one those was Signature Tower but we will see.

Memphis I dont see changing a whole lot, I liked the Portland comparison from earlier. Memphis hasnt changed a whole lot over the past 25 years and while it will probably change more over the next 25 it wont be a huge difference.

Louisville will be unique, especially since Museum Plaza is about to start construction. Detroit would be a good comparison, especially if they dont fill in the gap.

Other skylines in KY and TN will probably stay about the same except for the Covington skyline. Hopefully Knoxville, Lexington, and/or Chattanooga will get a nice new tower to add to the skyline but it seems like tower construction is few and far between in those cities. Maybe some 15-20 story residential towers will start popping up in the cities.

In Alabama I liked the Mobile to Charlotte after the Bank of America Tower was complete, would be really nice to see some 300-400 foot towers pop up there. If it isnt already Mobile will soon be the premier skyline in the state of Alabama.

The way Charlotte is growing now it will look something like present day Atlanta or Houston. Raleigh is getting proposals left and right. Hopefully a lot of height will be added and it will resemble present day Charlotte.

Edited November 5, 2007 by cashville

[CapeFearRiver10]

Some of these responses are really funny to read, I mean Murfreesboro looking like present day Nashville? c'mon we are talking 25 years not 125. I also think that Nashville looking like present day Atlanta is a pretty big stretch as well. This may ruffle some feathers but I could see Nashville in 25 years looking something like Charlotte when all of its current construction and approved towers are complete. I think present day Nashville has one roof at 500 feet and the Batman spires rise to 617 adding 3-5 over 500' towers is reasonable for that time frame. It would be nice if one those was Signature Tower but we will see.

Memphis I dont see changing a whole lot, I liked the Portland comparison from earlier. Memphis hasnt changed a whole lot over the past 25 years and while it will probably change more over the next 25 it wont be a huge difference.

Louisville will be unique, especially since Museum Plaza is about to start construction. Detroit would be a good comparison, especially if they dont fill in the gap.

Other skylines in KY and TN will probably stay about the same except for the Covington skyline. Hopefully Knoxville, Lexington, and/or Chattanooga will get a nice new tower to add to the skyline but it seems like tower construction is few and far between in those cities. Maybe some 15-20 story residential towers will start popping up in the cities.

In Alabama I liked the Mobile to Charlotte after the Bank of America Tower was complete, would be really nice to see some 300-400 foot towers pop up there. If it isnt already Mobile will soon be the premier skyline in the state of Alabama.

The way Charlotte is growing now it will look something like present day Atlanta or Houston. Raleigh is getting proposals left and right. Hopefully a lot of height will be added and it will resemble present day Charlotte.

Yeah I believe some of the early predictions were jokes..... but this all for the sake of having fun!

NC by 2030!

Raleigh will look similiar to Cincinnati's skyline by 2030.

Charlotte..... maybe Minneapolis or ?

Greensboro.... maybe (Charlotte of 2000)

Winston-Salem..... Louisville, KY or Oklahoma City

Durham..... Greenville, SC or Little Rock, AR

Asheville..... Smaller Albany, NY

Fayetteville..... Chattanooga, Knoxville, or Harrisburg, PA

Wilmington..... Charleston, SC

Salisbury, NC..... Asheville, NC (this when The Triad & Charlotte development meets)

Sanford, NC.... Lynchburg, VA

[Alabadrock]

I'm gonna be as realistic as possible here. I'm really going to focus on just the Alabama cities and out of state cities that I know pretty well. Cause, after all, I'm trying to be realistic right?

Huntsville - definitely a city that puzzles people. I still don't understand what the cities problem is about the heigh allowance with buildings. I'm thinking that in 30-40 years, it could mirror a slightly taller Birmingham. Frighteningly, that's a stretch.

Mobile - I think everyone expects to see this downtown bloom at some point in time. Something's gotta give right? I'm thinking Nashville in about 25-30 years.

Montgomery - Very hard to say. But, with all the downtown revitalization that they're doing, which, btw, seems to be more than any other Bama city I've seen, they should stand to gain some infill in a good bit. In about 25 years, I'd say a taller Chattanooga. I say this mainly because of Chattanooga's density, true, it's not super dense, but, Montgomery isn't exactly either at the moment.

I'm gonna end the list with Birmingham, but, for now I'm gonna go over the smaller major cities all of us may not be familiar with.

Tuscaloosa - this is a hard one to look at. All the condo developments that are sprouting up, and you should see how much bare clay there is in downtown now in preparation for construction. Eventually, downtown will be more desirable. It's already a beautiful place, even at night, I think we'll see some more infill in time. I'm thinking in about 40 years it's gonna be a smaller Huntsville.

Dothan - very hard to say. I don't know really. The city is growing quite fast, but, at the moment, there isn't enough corporate support to make any major height additions to the downtown area. I say, maybe a taller Decatur.

Decatur - too confusing to even analyze. So, I'm not even gonna try.

BIRMINGHAM!! - wew, wow, probably one of the trickiest ever attempted What happens here, really depends on what the city plans to do as far as establishing a good base in the economy. Yes, the city has made great strides in trying to get a foot in the door. Well, we all know that foot has been slipping out as the city continues to fall behind in the race to keep ahead of the curve. I'm really gonna have to think as if the city is going to be on the right track for at least 5 straight years. If they can do that, the city stands a great chance at gaining some height. The city has already established itself at the forfront of density in the Southeast, so, eventually the city is going to have to build up because of the lack of space. If and when that does happen. The city could look a lot like New Orleans (minus the river) in about 30-40 years. I'm sure even the height is possible. This might be the most radical of my predictions. but, hey, it's possible.

[depechecureguyorl]

In 25 years, Orlando will finally get a 600 footer to offset the sea of 400 feet buildings. The ORL skyline already looks denser than Tampa or Jax's, but no where close to Miami's...what we lack in height we compensate for in density. Oh, and in 25 years...Orlando will look like...ORLANDO.

[The Tot Pack]

Yeah, I would rather cities to HAVE THEIR OWN IDENTITY, no need for this "what will your city look like in blah blah blah years".

Every city is different, no matter how small the difference is...they ALL are; including skyline.

but i love that last photo of Orlando..thats awesome lookin'

[krazeeboi]

Yeah, I would rather cities to HAVE THEIR OWN IDENTITY, no need for this "what will your city look like in blah blah blah years".

Every city is different, no matter how small the difference is...they ALL are; including skyline.

The key word is "RESEMBLE." How exactly does two cities having similar-looking skylines erode the individual identities of those cities? It doesn't. The topic really isn't that deep, y'all.

[mikeas]

In 25 years, Memphis will resemble a shorter/smaller version of Chicago. Mainly beacause all of the new development seems to be lengthening the skyline along the river. Its not growing in at all. Here is a picture that I took that might help explain it.

One Beale will be near the right edge of this picture. By the short white tower.

Hampton Roads doesn't have land like that near any of our urban areas... It must be worth a fortune.

[Alabadrock]

Hampton Roads doesn't have land like that near any of our urban areas... It must be worth a fortune.

Well, if I'm not mistaken. That land that is in the picture is in Arkansas, across the Mississippi from Memphis. So, I'm sure the land is valuble, but, unfortunately, downtown can't expand onto it.

[mikeas]

Well, if I'm not mistaken. That land that is in the picture is in Arkansas, across the Mississippi from Memphis. So, I'm sure the land is valuble, but, unfortunately, downtown can't expand onto it.

I see. Most of the downtown areas around here dwindle to neighborhoods or suburban sprawl. The view across the river is usually another cities downtown or a shipyard.

[Nashville_maestro]

I'm printing this thread out and saving it. In 25 years I'll re-post it so we can all laugh at how wrong we all were.

[aboutmetro]

mmm, Columbus, GA skyline of 2030 will look like, well the Columbus, GA skyline of 1993....

[ATLman1]

mmm, Columbus, GA skyline of 2030 will look like, well the Columbus, GA skyline of 1993....

I think it will look something like a present day Columbia or Winston-Salem. Columbus has a lot of potential. I would imagine there will be several large hotel and condo buildings as well as a few 15-20 story office buildings. Too bad Aflac's HQ building isn't downtown. Also, TSYS should have built up instead of that massive 5-story complex along the Chattahoochee. Phenix City across the river already has two condo buildings in the development stage, one being 11 stories and the other 10 stories.

[Hankster]

Nashville - Current Atlanta

Murfreesboro - Current Nashville

That would be amazing, and almost scary.

[rusthebuss]

The problem with Hampton Roads is that we have 7 cities here and all of them are fighting to be the premier DT. Vabeach just started their DT with a 14 story apt building, 38 story Westin and 23 story office building. Portsmouth, across the river from Norfolk, has another building planned at 25 stories. Newport News has a city center or TC and a DT on the James River. If we put all those buildings in DT Norfolk it would have been huge. Norfolk lost alot of its density during the 50s and 60s. They tore down so many historic buildings its insane. Our density would be awesome if they weren't torn down.

[Shakman]

I just went through the entire thread. I don't know if some the responses are bold or too hilarious. I guess it is good to see people support their respective cities. Everyone is entitled to there opinions. Besides, a city can suddenly have a major spurt like Charlotte is having at the moment.

Anyways... Being a Richmonder, I do agree with the comparison of Richmond being a current Balitmore in 25-years (minus Inner Harbor East). Currently, I have always thought of Richmond being a Charlotte during the mid 80's. Do you Charlotte people that is a fair comparison?

Edited July 15, 2008 by Shakman

[rockhilljames]

A little late in my reply, but.... not really.

Most people I know in Charlotte that pay attention to urbanity would point out that Charlotte lacks Richmond's older building stock, downtown university, and signature neighborhood like the Fan.

Richmond is an old, dense, developed city. It's nicely positioned just south of DC and relatively close to Norfolk and Raleigh. I've always viewed it as the end of the Northeastern metropolis and an easing into the South.

Richmond has a LOT going for it. If the economy there can take off as it has in other cities, Richmond could easily leave a lot of cities in the dust with it's downtown since it has so much to already start from.

Trust me, there are people in Charlotte that would KILL for Richmond's building/housing stock.

[Shakman]

Correct me if I am wrong, but Charlotte did have a number of older buildings that where razed in order to have a "fresh start"?

When I made the Charlotte - Richmond comparison, I was thinking more with their respective vertical skylines. Now you have mentioned it, it seems that Charlotte does not have the architecture mix between "new" and "old". Though as a Richmonder, I would get on knees to have many of the Charlotte towers in Richmond.

Edited August 13, 2008 by Shakman

[krazeeboi]

Most of the historic buildings that were razed in Charlotte were lowrise and midrise buildings. Very, very few of them contributed to the skyline.

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

I think RVA competes with Charlotte too much for a much more dominating skyline.... remember 3-4 years ago both were fighting for a NASCAR HoF.... now, it stands tall in Charlotte, a pretty addition to the skyline. Honestly, I'd like to see a signature tower in Richmond.... almost every city I can think of has one... Charlotte has the BoA Center, Atlanta the BoA Plaza, and so on....

But if I really think closely to what the River City looks like in 25 years, I would say Charlotte....

[carolinagarnet]

It seems like construction of skyscrapers has come to a halt for at least the next 5-10 years, if not longer. The biggest chance of winning new skyscrapers downtown are Fortune 500s located in the city that do not have a signature building (i.e. Duke Energy in Charlotte before they took over the Duke Energy Building) or federal courthouses, which are now almost uniformly 10-20 story buildings. I think we can all agree that big condo projects are probably 10+ years off in most cities due to oversaturation of the market, so office and apartment buildings seem to be the most likely candidates.

To answer the prompt though, I think Charlotte will start to build skyscrapers on North Tryon, Trade, College, and Church Streets in Uptown and develop will creep over I-277 into South End. The skyline will continue to develop in a very dense way a la Chicago and New York, albeit much smaller obiously. I also think we will see a proliferation of 15-25 story buildings in South Park and Ballantyne, both of which will start to resemble an early Buckhead (heavy development on one street, surrounded by suburbia).

[rjp212]

It's pretty amusing going back and reading the old comments in here.  My how things have changed since the boom of the Mid 00's.

[krazeeboi]

^Yes, but we're now on another upswing in terms of construction, although it's not as drastic as the middle of the previous decade.