Chicago. It's more well-rounded and symmetrical than NYC's skyline. NYC has some impressive supertalls, but the placement of them makes the rest of the skyline look uneven
In 20-30 years Atlanta is gonna be a monster when it fully connects midtown to downtown. Look up how Chicago was in the late 70s and you'll see the possibility
Yes. Places like New York Chicago LA are some of the biggest cities in the world. It’s very hard to compare the majority of United States big cities to those. With that said, yes. Minneapolis has a very nice looking skyline.
I’m from Chicago, born and raised and I love it here. Definitely don’t Plan to leave. It’s a beautiful city and I love how high our skyline ranks. I love to visit other cities, I love New York and I Love Philadelphia!! These cities are so amazing.
The Bank of America building in Atlanta is 1023 feet. If you subtracted the spire, then you should do the same for the new tower in LA, because you said that is was "1,100 ft. thanks to it's spire"
Yep, totally agree. I simply made a mistake on the Bank of America building rather than making a decision to not include that spire. I think I mention that correction in the video description.
It was cool to see my hometown of Philly rank number 3 on the list. I believe it was slow to the skyscraper club because City Hall was our tallest building for a VERY long time. Locals were reluctant for taller buildings to be built.
You're totally correct. Philly was late to building tall skyscrapers because of the gentlemans agreement to not build taller than Williams Penn's hat on the City Hall.
Recently moved to Dallas TX from the midwest and what nobody ever talks about that skyline is how the buidings design and material do such an amazing job of reflecting the incredible Texas sunsets from the west if looking at the skyline form the north. Its almost like they purposefully angled all of the buildings and used reflective materials to really amplify the natural beauty of a Texas sunset. Even outside of the downtown area other highrise buildings appear to do the same
I live about 25 miles southeast of Charlotte. I'm 50 now but when I was a kid Charlotte only had 2-3 decent sized buildings and they weren't huge. Now Charlotte looks like a totally different city and is growing like hell. If you've never been it's really amazing at night when they light the buildings up to support the sports teams.
I Agree 💯 percent Blue Devil ... I'm just a little further Southeast of Charlotte NC in Union, S.C. and I remember Charlotte back in the early 70's when My Dad ran a Department Store in Downtown Charlotte... and Boy Ohh Boy has it Changed...‼️
As a longtime resident of Chicagoland I've always been proud of the city's skyline. I've been ranking tallest skylines myself for years, and would also have ranked Chicago as number one not many years ago.....but not anymore ! I'm amazed at the building boom in New York. The new St. Regis Tower in Chicago is impressive, and I hadn't even noticed it until just recently !
Great video and I like how you get straight to the point and don't spend a ton of minutes on each city's skyline. This can make a interesting video drag and the viewer would then become uninterested and speed the video up or just quit watching. Thank you
I love all the cities on this list and have visited all of them except for H-Town and Minneapolis. For me, living in ATL I think Chicago has the prettiest skyline. If anybody has visited NYC, it's amazing but the buildings are just all over the place like they are just building to build, it seems like Chicago's skyline is more thought out in terms of their built environment. Then it sets off a beautiful lakefront and a sparkling riverfront. Plus it's the birthplace of the skyscraper so it's nothing like the real thing baby! LOL Chicago vs NYC is like comparing Shanghai to Beijing, you want quality you go with Chicago and Shanghai, if you like quantity then you go with Beijing and NYC.
I COMPLETELY agree! I think I mention that Chicago is my favorite skyline in a different video, but I like the way you put it when comparing it to NYC. Chicago just simply looks better, although NYC is the more “impressive” skyline. Thanks for that great comment 👊
I have to disagree. Chicago has a beautiful skyline but New York is on another level. Have you drove down 5th Ave or park ave? Have you been through Central Park? Also to see the beauty of NY’s skyline you have to see it from Jersey. It’s breathtaking.
Yet nyc has the more famous skyline with the empire state building Chrysler building and way more buildings that are more famous. Your comment is highly ignorant and fumes with jealously and Atlanta is a joke!
Jersey City is always overlooked because of Manhattan. So much great food, a light rail and subway to get around the city and to get into both Midtown and FiDi in one stop. And protected sidewalks and bike lanes throughout almost the entire city and a dedicated waterfront walkway running from JC to Edgewater. Oh and ferries too. And Razza.
You're correct that it has a larger skyline, but in this video I was comparing the average height of the tallest five buildings. When you do that Philly and LA are taller skylines. Thanks for the comment!
I was surprised that my city of Pittsburgh was even on the list, even if it was misspelled. With the top 5 buildings being the same for 35 years and no prospects for that changing anytime soon, I assume it won't be on a list like this much longer.
Well, then one can say NYC has 4 skylines, with 5, if you include what's across the Hudson; Jersey City. Midtown, downtown, Long Island City, downtown Brooklyn. Brooklyn just completed its first super tall skyscraper, and has a skyline that would eclipse other cities in the US.
Why did you mention LA’s largest tower is 1100 feet thanks to it’s spire but you fail to say that the freedom tower is so tall thanks to its spire. We all know New York would be number one but this sounds like a case of East Coast bias.
Good point, I probably should have mentioned the Freedom Towers spire. The reason I mentioned it at all with LAs skyline is because anyone looking at that skyline would assume that the US Bank tower is the tallest, but it technically isn’t due to the Wilshire Grands spire.
I always thought the cities with more people and more bigger were the ones with the taller buildings. Never thought Minneapolis would have a taller skyline then Boston
Yeah Minneapolis has a great skyline! I used to live there and it’s one of my favorite skylines. And yeah population doesn’t always correlate with a large/tall skyline. Phoenix has an underwhelming skyline yet it’s one of the largest cities by population in the country.
I think you also have to understand that Minneapolis having a population of 424K borders Saint Paul which has a population of 305K. Together they would be nearly 730K, which would larger than Boston. Also, you really have take look at the Metro area population of an area, Twin Cities is 3.6 million people according to 2020 census, and has 18 fortune 500 companies, which is 5 less than Houston, Texas, but you have to remember Houston metro as twice the population of the Twin Cities.
Great video! I think the fact that Comcast Technology Center's spire begins at ground level makes it more "credible" as opposed to the Wilshire Grand's spire. Nevertheless, great job. Love your videos.
I grew up in Miami. It probably has the most transformed city skyline of all US cities from the late 90's and many more buildings underway. Added the residential towers lining the beaches of Miami Beach, it's very impressive, especially at night.
Yeah I couldn't believe how many skyscrapers they've added in just the past 20 years! And I believe they'll be adding a supertall skyscraper soon, which looks amazing. Thanks for the comment!
I go to Miami regularly. Was there this weekend. It’s the 3rd biggest I’ve seen in the US and I’ve been to most of the major cities and all of the biggest. If you change the metric to something like buildings over 300ft it ranks 3rd so I thought that system was a good method. Skyline King does great videos using various metrics including that one. Atlanta and Miami continue to build like crazy but Miami def wins on height due to the endless demand for condos. Condo towers require more sqft than commercial because you can obviously put more people in less sqft in a commercial building. So what else I find interesting is for all its skyline height the population, city and msa, are about the same as Atlanta. My guess is that’s because a lot of those condos are second homes or investment properties whereas Atlanta’s residential buildings are mostly full of permanent residents. I did hear Miami really can’t build taller because of the airport. So I think what you see today is what you get as far as height.
@@george_cantstandya wow thanks for that great and detailed comment! You’re correct that Miami has the third largest skyline by number of skyscrapers. It’s building just aren’t as tall which is why it’s lower on this list. That’s interesting about condos being taller because they need more space, which totally makes sense. Thanks again for the comment!
@Moon Shine yeah I agree. Atlanta has some buildings taller than Miami’s tallest but Miami has way more. Because the airport is just behind the skyline I’ve heard Miami can’t build much taller than they have. Otherwise I’m sure they’d already have at least one 1,000 footer.
@@george_cantstandya Miami broke ground on the 1,049 foot tall Waldorf-Astoria Tower recently which will be the city's first Supertall upon completion.
Here’s an unsolicited deluge of information on the Gateway City for ya… lol One of our many monikers is the 4th city because at some points in the 1800’s we were the 4th largest city in the country. (Only beat out by N.Y., Philly, and Brooklyn. Before that we were a French colony. (Hence why NoLa and us are called sister cities and have similar vibes sometimes) That head start is what allowed us to remain in the top 10 largest cities for over a century. In the 1870s the Great Divorce happened though. This split the city and county entirely and locked StL city into its roughly 66sq.mi. territory it has today. This makes it one of the smallest major U.S. cities geographically. This is why suburbanization and deindustrialization hit StL especially hard. Yet also why there is luckily so much historic fabric left.
Mound City, one of our other nicknames because of the historic native american mounds that were built in the region, (sadly most of them besides the ones at Cahokia across the river in Illinois are gone now) Had been in the top 10 largest U.S. cities for many decades. During the 1860’s it was actually the 3rd largest metro in the U.S.! (technically 4th largest city because Brooklyn and NYC had not yet combined) Speaking of annexation, in 1876 the city and county of StL voted to become entirely separate entities. The only other major city in America that Ik of that’s like this is Baltimore. This meant the city became landlocked at 66 sq. miles. Despite this small size there were nearly 1 million people in the city around 1950. We all know what happened in the U.S. then... Yet, while most cities responded to suburbanization by growing geographically, StL could not. This has been a blessing and a curse as most of the city still feels so dense while having only 1/3 of its peak population, there is still so much historic charm left.
Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with our most recognizable symbol now, the Arch. On the one hand, it is iconic for sure; but if we didn’t have about 91 acres of riverfront property illegally razed and left as a literal parking lot for about 3 decades we probably would still be in the top 10 biggest cities… That being said, going up it while visitors are in town is very fun! Just north of the Arch National Park is also Lacledes Landing. A very beautiful yet small neighborhood that gives you a sense of what the city would be like if we didn’t build a big ol' sculpture in place of our most historic district. The Eads bridge which was the first steel truss ones ever, crosses the river here and carries the Metrolink trains to IL. I also want to mention the Chain of Rocks bridge. It is a bike/ped only bridge on the far north side. From it, you can see 2 historic water intake towers in the Mississippi. Very nice bike trails to it. On the far south side of the city if Jefferson Barracks, which is in the National Parks system and very good nature to explore.
The first neighborhood I will mention is Soulard , this neighborhood is a must visit to get that quintessential StL feel. It’s one of the oldest parts of the city remaining, and home the Budweiser, and traditionally many other famous, breweries. Also Soulard Market is one of the oldest and best farmers markets in the country! This is also where we host Mardi Gras; you should come during it sometime, we have the 2nd largest in the country! Additionally, we put on the largest and oldest St. Patrick’s Day festivities Wast of the Mississippi. (5th biggest in the country with over 250,000 people at the main parade day) The main parade is on Market St., but most of the festivities are in Dogtown. This another cool historic neighborhood on the southwest side. I also wanted to bring up The Hill; our traditionally Italian neighborhood that still has TONS of family owned eateries and home of the toasted ravioli. The Tower Grove neighborhoods are areas currently undergoing a lot of revitalization and investment. Tower Grove Park is pretty large and the Missouri Botanical Gardens are near there. They charge non-residents to get in but it’s worth it. Also down south you have Lafayette Square. This neighborhood also gives off quintessential StL vibes. I highly recommend a trip to the park and a stroll to the lake in the center or around the fence to admire the ‘painted ladies’ lining the streets, this is the nickname for the restored and repainted mansions that surround the park. There is also Cherokee St. even further south that has a lot of antique shops and other cool small businesses with a quaint aesthetic. This runs near the Dutchtown neighborhood which is actually the most dense currently but you wouldn't know it with it being primarily missing middle development and almost no high-rises. One last point of interest on the south side is the Bevo Mill, a quirky massive windmill buildimng in the neighborhood of the same name.
The Midtown/Downtown West area is exploding in development right now. There is the new MLS stadium by Union Station. Which itself was recently redone. There is even a nice Aquarium and large Ferris wheel, etc. there now. Not to be confused with the pretty dinky Amtrak "Gateway" station also called that sometimes.. My one gripe with Union Station itself is that there is a hotel lobby in the front. That’s where the real old historic station hall is, but they try to hide it from the public unfortunately. Other points of interest on Market St (near Union Station) include the Soldiers Memorial, Kiel Auditorium, and the only post office in the U.S. that is still open 24/7 that is really cool to go into,with its Art Deco style, plus more. There was once a plan to have a giant linear park with monumental structures lining it from the riverfront to forest park, between Market St and Chestnut St, but unfortunately some buildings are now in the way; but that’s why this is the main parade route today. A few blocks north of union station is Washington Av. This is the main nightlife/entertainment area Downtown. (Besides Ball Park Village near Busch Stadium) It has the City Museum and National Blues Museum. The City Museum and Bob Cassilly, the artist behind many amazing projects in the Lou, are worth looking into as they are fascinating. Honestly though, the heart of nightlife is nowadays is probably Soulard or The Grove.
It was simply a mistake. I have made a note of that in the description. Fortunately it doesn't change where the skyline ranks which is the focus of the video. Thanks for the comment!
If you added up all the buildings over 10 stories in every city in the U.S. within their respective metro areas and added up their height (perhaps one list with spires and one without), I think Miami, Houston and Los Angeles would be 3, 4 and 5...then there's a bit of a drop until you get to Philadelphia, San Francisco, Atlanta and Dallas.
Thats really interesting! I hadn’t considered comparing cities that way. I’d be really curious to see what the next cities would be on that list. Thanks for sharing that!
Philadelphia is not above San Francisco.. it comes actually at #11 after Atlanta. San Francisco is ranked #6 in America for most number of completed skyscrapers
This is how it goes.. the actual top 10 largest skylines in America by the number of completed skyscrapers which classifies as a tower being over 150 meters (492 feet) and taller. Below I will list the largest to smallest, with then number of completed skyscrapers. 1. New York City, NY 323 2. Chicago, IL 137 3. Miami, FL 72 4. Houston, TX 38 5. Los Angeles, CA 33 6. San Francisco, CA 28 7. Boston, MA 26 8. Seattle, WA 23 9. Dallas, TX 21 10. Atlanta, GA 20 Philadelphia is 11th with 18 completed skyscraper.
@@Thebrothaisback Hahaha, yeah Chicago and NYC are in a different league of their own, and I would say Chicago is twice the size of Philadelphia, and I don't live in or near none of these big cities.
Hi there! You Definitely need to hold off on an Austin, Texas video more than ever before. News this week reporting not 1, but 2 super talls in the works! Along with the 875 foot “6th & Guadalupe” building currently under construction, plans now include a 1,022 foot (Waterline Tower) and a just announced 1,035 foot Wilson Tower. These would make Austin’s top 5 tallest building’s average height taller than either Dallas or Houston’s skylines! This is just crazy, but it really might happen soon! Website Source: New Atlas architecture webpage. From, your fellow city geek friend in Houston. 🎉😊
Hey David! Yeah that is crazy! I actually had started doing a "Meet Austin" video but when I saw how much the skyline was going to change I decided to hold off on that for the time being. It'll be one of the most impressive skylines in the country in a few years!
No because those buildings aren't tall enough. The empire state building isn't even tall enough for the cut at 1250 feet. Queens' tallest is upper 700s and even Brooklyn's tallest at 1000 feet doesn't make the cut either
The WTC skews everything with it's 1776 height from the spire. There's only one building in NYC truly taller than the sears tower as of now and that's the central park tower. Also Philly could not have had a better cut off. LA thrived off it as well. Really nice and interesting metric. It would be cool to see the leaderboards side by side with different cut offs and by roof height
Yeah I tend to agree that roof height is the better measurement, but I try to go with what the official height is listed as. I’ll be doing a video soon about my favorite skylines and Chicago will be at the top. Thanks for the comment!
It's nice to see Jersey City on the list. Their skyline would be really impressive if it wasn't directly across from lower Manhattan. I've watched it be completely transformed in 22 years here. Jersey City is one of the most diverse communities in the country and has an amazing food scene. One one hand, we really benefit from being one subway stop from Manhattan. On the other hand it's gotten very expensive to live here. I'm so thankful I bought a home all those years ago. While I can't say we have the best skyline, it's very impressive that it's all been built within the last 25 years. A lot of the new high rise construction is residential. I think we passed Dallas last year in housing units built, which is really impressive for a city thar occupies less than 15 square miles and has a population of 240 thousand.
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country. Jersey city in sq miles is about the size of Manhattan. They are building all over Jersey city. I wish they will do this with Newark.
Atlanta's tallest is 1023 feet. There are also only seven cities in the US with thousand footers, unless you count Stratosphere in Vegas which doesn't count. Next closest is Cleveland with the Key Tower at 950 feet.
You’re correct - it’s 1023 feet to the point end I have the height of the roof on there. I did happen to use the height of 1023 for the average of 841 feet. Thanks for the feedback!
@@CityGeek some buildings you include use antenna/spire measurements some do not. LA's "tallest" Wilshire Grand (it's actually 84ft shorter than the US Bank tower without the bogus antenna/spire) Of you use that bogus sipre you have to use the bogus antenna spire on the Westin Peachtree Plaza. (883ft) and all the other bogus antenna tower measures in other cities.. also Atlanta 2nd tallest is 902ft Suntrust plaza (there is a huge cylinder structure on the crown that is often overlooked..
@@TheSkylineKing Thanks for the comment! I really enjoy your videos! I definitely made the mistake of not including the spire with the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta, but correcting it doesn't change the ranking of the skyline height which is what I'm really trying to compare.
That building is absolutely amazing! I was in awe, when I seen it in person, after seeing it on tv for the longest time, there may be taller buildings but to me, the Sears tower, now (Willis Tower) will always be in a class by itself.
Jersey city is finally getting recognized. If it wasn’t for NYC being right across the river, Jersey city would gain more attention. Jersey cities skyline is getting bigger by the day. So many projects going on.
not exactly the same, but kind of reminds me of the Twin Cities situation: Minneapolis skyline is much more robust than St. Paul, but St. Paul actually has a nice (older) skyline that reminds me of St. Louis (both cities on the Mississippi river).
Atlanta is gonna be a beast in about 20 years. The skyline from midtown/Buckhead has almost fully connected to Downtown and Midtown. When that happens and Buckhead’s skyline is completely connected… just wow. It’s going to be unbelievable. Already is when you drive north on 85
@@madmikemackas most agree that Atlanta skyline looks terrible you're delusional. Only a couple of small buildings it looks sparse and empty asf. Atlanta not even a big tourist city its not even in the top 10 plus it only has 480,000 people. Atlanta looks terrible compared to other city's. Atlanta not even a real city dude lol marta sucks public transportation sucks period! And the buildings aren't famous they're ugly as hell. Only people from Atlanta think Atlanta skyline looks good its desolate and boring! Deal with it.
@@madmikemackas you're hoping for 20 years skyline lmao y'all in Atlanta are a joke! And it won't be a beast its bland and only has a couple of buildings how in the hell is it going to be a beast? Delusional person from Atlanta. Especially in the daytime the skyline if you can even call it that looks so empty bruh!! Y'all be cappin hard. Atlanta sucks! Not a real city in the slightest homie. Cry more though I know the truth hurts.
Yet the Census reported Chicago's population grew by 50k and Illinois has its largest population ever. Chicago is not building tall buildings because the Aldermen and residents keep voting them down or making projects downsize.
NYC still has a lot of development going on, despite demand for office space being down. I personally think that whole Hudson Yards complex was ill conceived. Aside from the same reflective glass, the buildings don't really look related. The Vessel is usually closed, and is a pretty uninspired focal point. If the goal was to create a new destination in Manhattan, they really missed the mark.
@@malachaicarter4338 Wow! You've really bought into the marketing of Hudson Yards. It's not a new destination in the city. No one is making a special effort to ho to that far west unless they live o er there. There is just nothing special about what they built. It's just more of the same. WTC Midtown.
@@malachaicarter4338 No one I know goes over that way. We all went to have a look and the reactions were all similar, a big "meh". It's a less interesting version of WTC. The Vessel is sort of ......fugly. you would have thought the river view somehow been a focal point of "Hudson" yards. As for observation decks, the one at One Vanderbilt is by far better than the concept at Hudson Yards, not that the city needed more observation decks. And you don't agree with me but my opinion is perfectly valid. Not weird. Most New Yorkers agree with me. If you have an actual thought out opinion, please express it. Your response had zero content. But I guess lackluster architecture is hard to defend.
Your remark is what is off the mark. Hudson Yards is a work in progress. They have yet to begin the second phase, which includes five more towers. Hudson Yards has proven to beva catalyst for additional development on the western side of Manhattan, since adjoining projects have been built and others proposed are on the way. It has transformed the area, and even companies have relocated to that location. I can remember when that area was nothing but motor pools, empty lots, and warehouses. The transformation has been incredible.
I might also add, that" most New Yorkers," can't agree with your observation because most haven't bothered to take the time, care or interest to venture out there to see it for themselves. Even while the towers were being erected, so many New Yorkers I spoke with, about the largest private development in US history, were blithely unaware of what was going on in their own backyards. Many have yet to come out and see it for themselves. They are that parochial.
@@LUIS-ox1bv I think most people in Manhattan have been over to see it. It just feels like more of the same. They have some good dining options of you venture to Hudson Yards, but for my money. Restaurant Rowe on 9th Avenue is tops. Of you can't find something to ear on 9th Avenue you aren't hungry. It's pretty hard to complete with and easy to get to. If I'm being perfectly honest, I'm not a fan of the dining sheds that were erected during the worst of covid. They slow pedestrian traffic. I'd like to see them come down, after the Restaurants have had a chance to recoup their losses. New York ain't Paris. Dining outside has limited appeal here. As for Hudson Yards. It's a missed opportunity. They could have done something really spectacular, but gave us something "meh".
Miami is the 3rd "biggest" in usa behind nyc and chicago and 2nd biggest if you count Miami beach and sunny isles. If you look up the biggest it's true. Mimai ranks 3rd and sunny isles is in the top 10 biggest in the USA and it's a suburb of Miami.
The funny thing is the numbers are not exactly accurate. Because if you were standing on the roof of the Sears Tower you would be looking down at the roof and the top floor of the freedom Tower in New York City. It's the spire that's on top that makes it taller but the building itself is not. Look it up
I kind of wish Minneapolis had a 120 tall building. But Minneapolis has only a 60 story building its the IDD building. It should have been taller but it's not.
As someone who has seen the Philly skyline multiple times, I had driven past the New York skyline once. It isn’t even close. It’s kinda ridiculous the difference between #1 and #3
NYC never had a gentleman's agreement stating no building should be taller than (fill in the blank.) Therefore Philadelphia came to the skyscraper game relatively late. This does not change the fact that Philadelphia is the 2nd largest city on the east coast after NYC.
Yeah unfortunately I didn’t notice that mistake until a week or so after upload. I did spell it correctly in my top foodie cities video though 😊 I appreciate the comment!
I know, looking back I wish I would have done that. I may make a video showing that in the future. The only differences would be that Toronto (w/o counting the CN tower) would fall in 4th behind Philly. If you counted the CN tower as a building it would be 3rd. And Calgary would be ahead of Minneapolis. Thanks for the comment!
You're right - I made the mistake of using the height of the roof for that building. I thought I had mentioned that error in the description but it looks like I didn't get around to that. I'll make that correction now so thanks for the reminder 😀
So is Chicago and the new Tribune east tower will be 1422 feet. There is also the 78 site and many other 800 ft towers. Philly or any other us city that's not new york will ever be in the same caliber as Chicago
Plz Chicago has dozens of new scrapers being built philly isn't even in the same league and never will be.. and eventually we will overtake NYC again. We are the birthplace of the skyscraper it's only fitting we be number 1
@@str8truckn412 The tallest buildings outside of NYC and Chicago are in Philly. No one is denying that Chicago is in a league of its own but one can't deny that its possible that other cities such as Philadelphia could eventually be in the same league. Philadelphia isn't that far behind
@@elijahsplaytime2540 Philly is extremely far behind us. I could name 10 other cities that have bigger skylines then Philly. Don't compare Philly to Chicago that's just stupid. Compare Philly to Dallas or Charlotte or Houston or even LA. Chicago doesn't even recognize u. We have a half dozen buildings taller then Philly tallest and more to come. Few years that will turn to a full dozen
Skylines are usually made up of more than 5 "skyline" buildings. I would say either Top 10 or Top 25 would be more indicative of a skyline's total height impact than narrowing it down to such a small sample size.
