Favorite city skylines

[english si]

Halifax, NS......with a Queen Mary 2 sail-past.

I'd forgotten how huge that boat is - when it's in Southampton it's in a place where you don't really see it, especially in comparison to something else.

Also good to see a small town and a low skyline here - some people are obsessed with having lots of tall buildings.

[kphoger]

Dubai, UAE, has some great skyline shots.

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travel_by_westendfoto/32905314864/in/faves-54480415@N08/
I know this post is old and rather than recreate another post for this one here photo.  I would like to say the photographer here did and excellent job of making Vancouver's city skyline look awesome.

[SSOWorld]

Try SF from Twin Peaks.  Also from Treasure Island or



the Marin Headlands.

all from 2009

[Max Rockatansky]

Chicago has a great mix of older skyscraper designed mixed in with new construction, I love the diverse range of colors:

0 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

San Francisco has by far the best skyline on the West Coast.  Seattle is a far drop to second, I couldn't ever find a good vantage point to get the whole thing though unobstructed:

IMG_4331 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[Takumi]

(Nissan) Skyline with (Chicago) skyline.

[Bruce]

There's few skylines in North America that are as ever-changing as Seattle's nowadays. Photos from months ago are already outdated.


Checkmate for Seventh & Eighth? by TIA INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY, on Flickr

Plus it looks good from quite a few angles.


2017_09_28 seattle aerials-15 by jplphoto2, on Flickr


2017_09_28 seattle aerials-3 by jplphoto2, on Flickr

[jakeroot]

There's few skylines in North America that are as ever-changing as Seattle's nowadays. Photos from months ago are already outdated.

Plus it looks good from quite a few angles.

Any idea if there's a site that covers the downtown construction? I'm downtown all the time, doing Uber, but I can't keep track of all the new buildings.

I can't wait to see the skyline in twenty years. Assuming things don't fall apart, there's more than a few skyline changing buildings coming soon. The current boom will eventually end. Let's just hope the NIMBY Seattleites don't block taller, denser structures from continuing to be built for decades to come.

San Francisco has by far the best skyline on the West Coast.  Seattle is a far drop to second, I couldn't ever find a good vantage point to get the whole thing though unobstructed:

If you can find a way to cram the Golden Gate Bridge in, I also love San Fran. Probably my third favorite west coast skyline (behind my hometown, Seattle, and my second home Vancouver). But without the Golden Gate, it's kind of bland, in my opinion. Probably doesn't help that the Transamerica Pyramid is one of my least favorite skyscrapers.

[MNHighwayMan]

Not nearly enough love for Minneapolis' skyline here. It's amazing whether you're coming from I-35W southbound or northbound–both are impressive.

[Max Rockatansky]

There's few skylines in North America that are as ever-changing as Seattle's nowadays. Photos from months ago are already outdated.

Plus it looks good from quite a few angles.

Any idea if there's a site that covers the downtown construction? I'm downtown all the time, doing Uber, but I can't keep track of all the new buildings.

I can't wait to see the skyline in twenty years. Assuming things don't fall apart, there's more than a few skyline changing buildings coming soon. The current boom will eventually end. Let's just hope the NIMBY Seattleites don't block taller, denser structures from continuing to be built for decades to come.

San Francisco has by far the best skyline on the West Coast.  Seattle is a far drop to second, I couldn't ever find a good vantage point to get the whole thing though unobstructed:

If you can find a way to cram the Golden Gate Bridge in, I also love San Fran. Probably my third favorite west coast skyline (behind my hometown, Seattle, and my second home Vancouver). But without the Golden Gate, it's kind of bland, in my opinion. Probably doesn't help that the Transamerica Pyramid is one of my least favorite skyscrapers.

As opposed to something like this?

IMG_4208 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

It does look odd without the Golden Gate Bridge in the picture, but I would think most city skylines would without their signature structure.  What I'm noticing about Seattle is all you guys up there know all the good vantage points, the best I've been able to find (granted I usually avoid the city) on Washington trips was this from I-5:

IMG_5180 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I was wondering how good the ferry routes are for skyline pictures of the city?  If the person I was with wasn't dragging ass back in May I was planning on taking a ferry back from Kitsap.

[empirestate]

I just noticed yesterday, as I drove back to NYC after a road trip, that in its skyline, the Empire State Building is now completely upstaged by a random building you've never heard of up near the park. It doesn't even have a name, it's just 432 Park Avenue.

[Pete from Boston]

I just noticed yesterday, as I drove back to NYC after a road trip, that in its skyline, the Empire State Building is now completely upstaged by a random building you've never heard of up near the park. It doesn't even have a name, it's just 432 Park Avenue.

It's luxury condos for billionaires that don't live in them, and if you don't count the non-structural parts of One World Trade et al., it's the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

I think it looks like a middle finger aimed at regular people.

[Bruce]

There's few skylines in North America that are as ever-changing as Seattle's nowadays. Photos from months ago are already outdated.

Plus it looks good from quite a few angles.

Any idea if there's a site that covers the downtown construction? I'm downtown all the time, doing Uber, but I can't keep track of all the new buildings.

I can't wait to see the skyline in twenty years. Assuming things don't fall apart, there's more than a few skyline changing buildings coming soon. The current boom will eventually end. Let's just hope the NIMBY Seattleites don't block taller, denser structures from continuing to be built for decades to come.

The Seattle community on SkyscraperCity is very active and has threads for each project. There's also an index thread where you can see renderings of each major project.

There's also the SkyscraperPage project map or permit trackers like Seattle in Progress (which link directly to the design packages).

By 2020 or so, the Denny Triangle area should look a bit like this (all the boxes are brand new):



(For comparison, this is what the area looks like today):


Western Denny Triangle skyline from Stewart Street by SounderBruce, on Flickr

[Bruce]

San Francisco has by far the best skyline on the West Coast.  Seattle is a far drop to second, I couldn't ever find a good vantage point to get the whole thing though unobstructed:

It does look odd without the Golden Gate Bridge in the picture, but I would think most city skylines would without their signature structure.  What I'm noticing about Seattle is all you guys up there know all the good vantage points, the best I've been able to find (granted I usually avoid the city) on Washington trips was this from I-5:

I was wondering how good the ferry routes are for skyline pictures of the city?  If the person I was with wasn't dragging ass back in May I was planning on taking a ferry back from Kitsap.

The ferries are an excellent way to see the skyline. The cheaper (and less time-consuming) option is to walk onto the county-run water taxi from the same general terminal area, which is faster and gets you close to Alki Beach.


Seattle skyline from Bremerton Ferry, July 2017 by SounderBruce, on Flickr

There's a handful of famous view points of the skyline that form a circle around the city. The great thing about Seattle's mix of street grids and hills is that the skyline can dramatically change form when visited from one neighborhood compared to another.

Rizal Bridge, which goes over I-90 and has a great view of the I-5 interchange (to the southeast):


Seattle, I-90 and I-5 from the Rizal Bridge by SounderBruce, on Flickr

Kerry Park, everyone's favorite (to the north):


Seattle skyline from Kerry Park, July 2017 by SounderBruce, on Flickr

The Columbia Center, 967 feet above street level:


Downtown Seattle from the Columbia Center by SounderBruce, on Flickr

The Volunteer Park Water Tower on Capitol Hill (to the northeast):


Downtown Seattle skyline from Volunteer Park by SounderBruce, on Flickr

From Magnolia (to the northwest):


Seattle skyline from Ursula Judkins Viewpoint by SounderBruce, on Flickr

And further away along Interstate 5, there's pocket views from overpasses and small parks:


Seattle skyline above I-5 by SounderBruce, on Flickr


Seattle skyline from I-5 and NE 45th Street by SounderBruce, on Flickr


I-5 northbound from Holgate Street by SounderBruce, on Flickr

And from the south end on SR 99:


Seattle skyline from Atlantic Street by SounderBruce, on Flickr

[Bruce]

For a suburban city of only 150,000, Bellevue punches above its weight in terms of a skyline. The height limit of 450 feet has been raised, so hopefully some taller towers will appear soon.


Downtown Bellevue skyline from I-90 bridge by SounderBruce, on Flickr

[ET21]

Chicago has 54 cranes up for some sort of highrise construction, Seattle with 58 and has the most for 2nd year in a row within the US.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/seattle-has-most-cranes-in-the-country-for-2nd-year-in-a-row-and-lead-is-growing/

One thing is for sure, within the next two years these pictures will need updates with all the new towers going up

[jakeroot]

Chicago has 54 cranes up for some sort of highrise construction, Seattle with 58 and has the most for 2nd year in a row within the US.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/seattle-has-most-cranes-in-the-country-for-2nd-year-in-a-row-and-lead-is-growing/

The article seems to indicate that Chicago has 34.

One thing is for sure, within the next two years these pictures will need updates with all the new towers going up

It's pretty insane how fast so many cities are growing (at least vertically). I personally would contribute the growth of Seattle's skyline to the high land cost, which makes it much cheaper to go up instead of over (at least in the city...probably not true in the 'burbs).

[Bruce]

It's pretty insane how fast so many cities are growing (at least vertically). I personally would contribute the growth of Seattle's skyline to the high land cost, which makes it much cheaper to go up instead of over (at least in the city...probably not true in the 'burbs).

It's not really about cost, since these buildings can be insanely expensive (hundreds of millions per tower), but rather there's no where else to build. Zoning and height limits mean that if you want to build something profitable in Seattle, you're looking at a 40-story residential highrise in the neighborhoods zoned for that height.

At least there will be new highrises in the U District and hopefully Northgate once light rail is extended in 2021. There's already been movement in the U District for one 24-story tower, and national developers will be pouring in soon enough.

[jakeroot]

It's pretty insane how fast so many cities are growing (at least vertically). I personally would contribute the growth of Seattle's skyline to the high land cost, which makes it much cheaper to go up instead of over (at least in the city...probably not true in the 'burbs).

It's not really about cost, since these buildings can be insanely expensive (hundreds of millions per tower), but rather there's no where else to build. Zoning and height limits mean that if you want to build something profitable in Seattle, you're looking at a 40-story residential highrise in the neighborhoods zoned for that height.

That's kind of what I was trying to get at. My point was, in a roundabout way, that it makes more financial sense to build up.

[ET21]

Chicago has 54 cranes up for some sort of highrise construction, Seattle with 58 and has the most for 2nd year in a row within the US.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/seattle-has-most-cranes-in-the-country-for-2nd-year-in-a-row-and-lead-is-growing/

The article seems to indicate that Chicago has 34.

One thing is for sure, within the next two years these pictures will need updates with all the new towers going up

It's pretty insane how fast so many cities are growing (at least vertically). I personally would contribute the growth of Seattle's skyline to the high land cost, which makes it much cheaper to go up instead of over (at least in the city...probably not true in the 'burbs).

Article was from early July, since then Chicago added on another 20 projects. Was one of the few articles that gave a good synopsis of crane activity across the country.

It seems in Chicago's case, our construction is concentrating along the major stem routes west and northwest of the city with renewed development in downtown. The West and South Loop, Streeterville, New East Side, I-290 corridor, and the Milwaukee Ave corridor are actively buzzing with cranes. 2 years ago our crane count was half of what is happening now. I remarked that this is the most I've seen since 2007

[AlexandriaVA]

The view of DC approaching on 395 can be pretty dramatic, because the highway makes a sharp east turn near the Pentagon and you get a good view of the federal core of the city, of course with Big George being the prominent feature. Doesn't come across too well on GSV.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8669101,-77.0635059,3a,75y,52.32h,79.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqADgXkqaB0MSOZcOMzFOuA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Also, this view of the west end of the National Mall, from Ft. Myer/Arlington Cemetery, has been used in more films and television shows than I can recall at this point:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8878962,-77.0684134,3a,15y,83.62h,89.68t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sQ86kjGOMAJOpHfdoFtRSiw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656


As with almost any other view of DC's skyline, they're best seen at night.

[roadman65]

Vegas as you first see it on US 93 & 95 (now I-11) after passing through Railroad Pass. 

[Flint1979]

I like Chicago's and Detroit's.

[epzik8]

Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, St. Louis, Charlotte.

[busman_49]

Chicago, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh, in no particular order.  But I think I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Akron, Ohio, and particularly this view of it.  I had a puzzle once that the Akron Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau put out that had a photo of the city from roughly this vantage point.