I'd like to apologise for my inclusion of Detroit. My research sources were outdated and from what I've recently learned, there will be a new second tallest building in Detroit located at the Hudson's Site Development which will indeed break the stagnancy.
Hudson site is still under construction so genuinely it can't be counted at present, both Renaissance Center and Ally Center even the 1928 Fisher Building once had addition plans that would dramatically change the skyline but eventually didn't come close to reality. We hope the Hudson site will open soon since this place have been waiting for more than 2 decades
The Huntington Tower and the Exchange broke the stagnancy a couple years ago. Neither is as dramatic as the Hudson's Tower or even Residences at Water Square, but unlike those two, Huntington and Exchange have completed construction. It is true that Detroit went from 1993 to 2021 with little change to the skyline, though, and much of the effort in that era was finding uses for the numerous buildings in the skyline that had been completely abandoned.
Detroit's population seems to have stabilized...may even be growing a bit. Remember: as climate changes and droughts expand, Michigan sits among an ENORMOUS supply of fresh water.
@@dintadoba4808 Its already approaching the height of the GM Tower so you can probably count it now or if not in around 2 months where it will top out.
DC has a height limit, so by law the skyline can't change, but if you look across the river at Roslyn, it has changed quite a bit. Also, Miami has several "super tall" skyscrapers under construction as does Austin
@@odestryjam2231 Actually, DC has a downtown that is spread out over a large area. What it doesn't have are tall buildings. Most of the buildings downtown are 11-12 stories tall. The downtown streets are lined with buildings of roughly the same height.
Dc may not have a prominent skyline but tysons/ rosslyn right across the river stands pretty tall, also Bethesda and "pike and rose" right outside DC have a decent skyline (at least in comparison)
Great video! One minor correction, land in Fresno is actually quite expensive since it is sitting on top of some of the most productive agricultural land in the country. I believe the lack of skyscrapers more likely has to do with a lack of need. The economy has historically always been dominated by labor intensive agriculture to pick fruits and vegetables, and lacked any major financial sector.
The Albuquerque skyline hasn’t changed much at all since the late 1980s. Nothing of note has been built downtown since the Federal Courthouse in the early 2000s, I believe.
13:50 Fun fact. about 70 years ago, Birmingham and Atlanta were of essentially equal size and importance in the south. Then, after WWII, Atlanta decided that having a major airport, being where major interstate highways crossed, and reducing the negative economic impacts of racism in the Jim Crow south, were the three priorities for Atlanta's future. The rest is history.
It's true. The Crump machine and separatists politics of Memphis have held it back. Atlanta is more integrated, and there is less infighting. Also, they have a few HBCU's and are able to retain some of the top talent. Memphis has had serious brain drain.
From Memphis, skyline has remained stagnant simply because no one took a chance on Memphis. But Downtown Memphis is currently going through a little Renaissance
A case for Jacksonville: its downtown expands to the other side of the river.. that common shot of DTJax is the north bank.. tall skyscrapers have gone up on the south bank in the late 2000’s
I'm from Rochester, there have definitely been buildings built since 1995, but none have been tall enough to make a change in the skyline. The tallest building in the city, the Xerox Tower, has been almost completely empty since Xerox fully moved out in 2018. It is now called Innovation Square, and they are working on reviving it. It seems like most of the building is being turned into student housing.
Detroit currently has a 209m tower under construction which should be completed in 2024. There is also a 20-storey apartment tower under construction on the river front which will alter the skyline somewhat as well.
Residences at Water square. It stands where Joe Louis Arena used to stand and was finished at the time this video was put out. On the same property two more buildings are expected, a hotel that's had its ground breaking and a yet unreleased third building that's expected to come after the hotel is finished.
New Orleans should have been replaced with Columbus, OH--which hasn't constructed a notable highrise since 1991. New Orleans has built three 20+ story buildings since 2006. The Odeon (a skyscraper) is actually only about 40 feet (3-4 floors) shorter than Benson Tower, and is highly visible from far distances. The only New Orleans skyline that has been stagnant is its suburb of Metairie, which hasn't constructed a tower since 1987.
The interesting thing about Detroit -- "stagnant since 1993" -- (aside from the construction of the new Hudson tower) is that SEVERAL existing skyscrapers in Detroit have been renovated & repurposed in the past thirty years. The Book-Cadillac Hotel (revitalized in 2008), the Broderick Tower (renovated in 2012), and the Book Tower (newly renovated) come to mind immediately. There are others as well. MANY Detroit buildings that were desolate and abandoned in 1993 have subsequently been given new life. They could almost be considered "new builds".
The new development at the old Joe Louis site added a building and you also have the exchange building, the one they built from the top down. Looking forward to seeing hudson top out. Detroit being dead is over
You need to apologize BIG TIME!!! Detroit is going through and unheard of revival, many historic high rise buildings are being revamped to their former glory. Two new 25 stories building are going up on the riverfront downtown and many other mid-rise buildings a going up everywhere. Midtown, Mexican town, Michigan Central Station's $740-million renovation aims to transform the transportation hub into the center of a futuristic mobility innovation. I could go on and on!!! The Detroit region is home to more than 120,000 businesses, 17 Fortune 1,000 companies, 5.4 million people and some of the top educational institutions in the world. It’s the birthplace of manufacturing, a beacon of music and culture and is an architectural treasure. The new Hudson's site downtown... a new 685 feet tall building and will be the second tallest in Michigan The Gordie Howe International Bridge, the New International Trade Crossing, is a cable-stayed international bridge across the Detroit River, currently under construction, cost $5.7-billion. Take your comments about Detroit and put them were the sun don't shine!!! New $300 million-plus renovation project on Washington Blvd. built in 1916 the 38-story Book Tower and adjoining 13-story Book Building just finished. Just one of many, many projects in Detroit... who spends $300 million-plus on a dying city. Getting real sick and tired of content providers making money on RU-vid touting lies about Detroit Michigan!!! AGAIN!!! Put your comments were the sun don't shine!!! You have insulted the 600,000+ citizens of Detroit or maybe you just don't like people of color!!!
@@scotbeaton4451Until Detroit stops building car centric infrastructure all its investments will be like throwing pennies in the ocean. I want Detroit to succeed and thrive but they need to focus on modern urban WALKABILITY and communities. Detroit is too car dependent and has too many surface level parking lots to ever be taken seriously as a world class city not to mention lack of any real mass transit. Detroit is coming back btw of vanity projects at the moment.
While it is true that only a couple of high rises have been built in downtown St. Louis in the last 20 years, it is worth noting that metro STL actually has two downtown areas. The other is downtown Clayton, a suburb that lies directly along STL city’s western edge and has become a major center of business for the metro. That is where much of the area’s skyscraper/high rise development has been in the last 10-20 years.
Tucsons immediate downtown skyline hasn’t changed a great deal, however the university area has seen quite a bit of student residence housing that has gone up, and there has been a lot of hotels and apartments going up in downtown. It’s mostly low-mid rise construction, but Tucson has changed since the 80’s.
You haven’t been to Detroit lol. Its new construction Downtown EVERYWHERE. Detroit is going through a complete renaissance and renovation. Detroit’s perception is changing and will be completely different soon.
Uh, the Birmingham skyline hasn't changed much, but it's easily recognizable that the picture you have for 2023 isn't from 2023. It's from sometime around 2013-2016. Edit: Also, that older picture is from before 1990. The main Alabama power building is from 1925. It's an annex that's taller.
I lived in Birmingham for 40+ years. In 1971 Birmingham was given the title " The Magic City." Today, some call it "The Tragic Town." or "The Town Too Afraid to Grow." Birmingham Downtown is mostly a living neighborhood today, in that most buildings have been converted to apartment/loft homes. Birmingham Downtown is also a prisoner to the Birmingham Airport KBHM. In fact, Final Approach to the main runway at KBHM. Because Downtown is in this Final Approach, no Downtown building will ever be more than 33 stories tall. Both the Shipt Tower - which started life as SouthTrust Bank Tower - and the Regions Center Tower - originally the AmSouth/Harbert Plaza are the same height. Regions Center looks a little taller because there is a very small rise of a hill. Something else that has taken away from Downtown Birmingham is the US Hwy 280 Corridor that runs from I-459 Southeastward for about 4 miles. There are several Midrise buildings. There is one Midrise building that should NOT be included in vacant space available in Downtown/Midtown Birmingham is the former Liberty National Life Insurance Company building. This is actually three buildings that are all connected. The tallest section is the Number 3 Building at 17 stories. The entire building is literally riddled with asbestos, which must all be removed before anything else can happen there. It would cost less to build a new building than it would cost to get rid of the asbestos. The building cannot even be torn down, again as a result of the asbestos. I grew up going in that building. My mother worked for Liberty National for 34 years (1954 - 1988). I also worked for LNL for almost 6 years. It breaks my heart that the building is vacant today. It is one of the best buildings in the entire city, The family that started and operated the company for over 100 years - the Samford Family - wanted a building that was unique. Until 1989, there was a 1/5 exact replica of the Statue of Liberty that stood on a pedestal between the Number 1 and 2 Buildings - the front two 10 story buildings. The biggest differences between the original statue in New York Harbor and the replica in Birmingham is the replica has an actual flame torch, powered by Natural Gas. The original in New York Harbor is copper, the Birmingham replica is bronze. Today, this replica can be seen on I-459 at the Liberty Pkwy Exit. Mr Frank P Samford, Sr. Commissioned the same sculptor, as the original statue. My mother was one of the few people that was able to say she was there when Miss Liberty was lifted into place in 1958, and she was there in 1989 when they removed her to be moved to Liberty Park. The statue in Birmingham was hallow, with an iron/steel framework and a spiral staircase inside it. I have made the climb to the top of Miss Liberty more times than I can count. Way back in the day, there were daily tours of the statue My mother worked many Saturdays to prevent falling further behind. I had to go with her. I spent a lot of time in a little nook at the bottom of Miss Liberty's torch arm either reading a book or fast asleep from reading the book. As far as I know, I am still the only person ever top actually go to sleep inside the statue and get away with it. Yes, the President of the Company, Mr. Frank P Samford, Jr. was very much aware I would go there to read. His take on it was "he's reading and not much in the way that he can hurt anything or get hurt, do leave him be." I always had a deep respect for the Samford Family. Without them, there literally would not been an us. You can get more info from www.bhamwiki.com/w/Liberty_National_statue There are many buildings at University of Alabama at Birmingham, but none over 17 stories. That 17 story building at UAB is University Hospital Jefferson Tower. My uncle, William Corning was a Jefferson County Commissioner when the tower was built in 1945. There is a bronze plaque on the 1st Floor that has my uncle's name and names all commissioners at that time. Today, Birmingham is led by a mayor and City Council that care more about what is right for the city and those living there than their own egos. For almost 30 years, the leaders were ego maniacs. Growth has been slow, but, when you grow slower, usually that growth is sustainable.
I was gonna say that you forgot to include Newark, New Jersey, but then I did some research and found out there are plans underway to construct a 3-tower complex. One of which is currently under construction while two more have been approved, and those two approved buildings will surpass the height of the Newark National Building, which had been the tallest in the city since the early 1930’s (was also NJ’s tallest until the late 80’s).
st louis is a beautiful city. i've been there twice and impressed. what struck me how far out from the core the commercial areas go. it has a great history and i'm happy it 's coming back a bit.
Memphis has been hurt by suburban flight and relocation of major businesses to the eastern part of the city. Clark Tower (actually you show it in 0:55) and a smaller replica of 100 N. Main St. (next to the Clark Tower) helped to drive the financial center away from downtown. While foot traffic is up again downtown since the late 90s, it hasn't manifested itself in tall buildings. Auto Zone and Terminix built hq's, but they are modest, smaller buildings. Also, half of the skyscrapers in Memphis were occupied by banks that have been merged into larger conglomerates.
Memphis has a building under construction in downtown currently. On the southeast corner of South Front Street and Peabody Pl. I have no idea what they are building but I remember seeing it last time I was in downtown Memphis. On Google maps there are 3 cranes on the project but I cannot find any news articles about it. There’s been other small developments in Memphis around the FedEx Forum since 1992 but not enough to impact the skyline. Most of Memphis’ growth has been in its metro, east and south of the city.
St. Jude is building two buildings. One is 15 stories the other is 12. That site has 3 cranes. That will definitely change the skyline. Also The new Brooks Museum on front Street has 1 crane and then a new 7 story apartment building on front street has 1 crane. Those buildings won’t change the skyline much but they’ll definitely refresh the area a bit. Edit: I think what you were talking about was the new transit center. It’s just a parking garage but they just recently finished it.
The 1984 movie The Outsiders was filmed around Tulsa, it's one of the few movies where you can still visit all the sites, nothing's changed except the drive-in, even the Curtis house looks exactly the same but names have changed, the Dairy Queen is an applliance store and the drive-in restaurant Pony Boy talked to the Soc is a Burger King. You can rent the Curtis house while filming your Outsiders filming locations video, which is about the only reason for anyone to want to visit Tulsa in the first place.
The bar scene that was shot inside a house near the Rose Dew neighborhood on E. Admiral, near 161st was eventually torn down sometime in the 90s, and a Burger King was built in its place. I'm not sure what's there now
@@edwardbroadaway1249 There wasn't a bar scene in The Outsiders, there was a scene where Pony and Johnny go to a party and get a gun and some money from Dallas to run away to the church, his place is like the Delta fraternity in Animal House.
@ll7868 With all the beer signs it sure does look like a bar but i see what you mean, i used to walk through that old house when i was kid before it was torn down
@@edwardbroadaway1249 I lived in a place just like it in college, had two roomies, Earl was another student while the other, Rick was an out of work rich kid who sold steroids to bodybuilders, he was always throwing parties, 3, 4 nights a week. On a couple occasions we had to leave and crash somewhere else the night before a test because the house was full of drunks who treated it like a neighbourhood pub till the sun came up.
Most of the downtowns that have grown a lot are in cities with a lot of residential and hotel towers like Austin, Miami, San Diego, Seattle and New York City. Office towers require a lot of businesses located downtown and the ones that haven't grown have their businesses in the suburbs and haven't had as desirable downtowns for living and tourists. With the move to work from home more downtown business towers probably aren't going to be built for a while.
Unfortunately for Memphis, it’ll probably stay that way for a while. Even the buildings we have that are “tall” are vacant, and if we didn’t feel like we wanted to preserve everything the only changes in our skyline would probably be making it less tall. (100 N Main is currently vacant but “might” be redone in a couple years). There have been a couple planned for a decade or so but recently they were essentially scrapped. Most of the development is in the geographic center and eastern parts of the metro and there is so much space out there it is just easier and cheaper to sprawl on a large campus vs building a tall building.
I remember the owners of the building tried to sell 100 North Main for only 10 million because nobody was buying it (I think), this is off memory so I might be wrong
@@Random-mq2cu I can’t remember offhand either for sure but that sounds right. I know right now the building is owned by the City until the property is redeveloped.
Memphis has recently allowed the 100 North Main Building to be purchased and cleanup has been started for full renovations. The Sterick Building had a complicated ownership but a deal has been worked out with the group that owned it and renovation plans are being drawn. There is another developer that has come in to dramatically change the skyline but it has been delayed due to COVID-19.
Ive also felt that Tulsa skyline was much larger than it ever should've been. I never understood how they ever had demand for the towers they have, they even have a large hospital complex that is like 40 stories tall in another part of the city.
Tulsa is an interesting city that became very wealthy during the oil boom starting in the 20s. Oil companies built their headquarters in the downtown core where all their functions were centralized. The oil industry has since moved to others cities in Texas for ex. But this has left a fantastic architectural legacy in Tulsa.
@cliffm6566 I know BOK tower was built by Williams and I'm not sure about First Place Tower but judging by the OneGas sign on the roof I assume it was also built by a petroleum company
You got Detroit worng as far as no changes. The Hudson Site is under construction and once completed next year will be th 2nd tallest building in the city
One project under construction doesn't really count. You're missing the forest for the trees, which is the fact that Dem run cities are all either stagnant or losing both wealth and population.
@@danielwerner5882 that's more a byproduct of it being the capital of a red state. The legislature all lives there so makes sure they have funding and jobs which have actually been relocated from blue states.
@@ChatGPT1111, the Detroit population actually grew in 2023 the first time since 1958, the downtown is now extremely vibrant and not only with new tower construction but major renovations in the old high rises now. I was just walking around downtown today as I live there, and was extremely busy on all streets, and active with all kinds of people. Tons of restaurants, retail of all things, ( even a new Gucci store ), entertainment venues, Pro Sports.. the only city in the United States to now have all four professional sports teams located downtown all within walking distance of each other , new Hotels, relaxation and walking areas and very interesting art alleys . Major change for Detroit. It really looks great.
Cities like New York and Miami now have multiple skylines. New York now has Newark and parts of Brooklyn in addition to Midtown and Downtown. Miami now has skylines in Downtown, Miami Beach, and really also Ft. Lauderdale. Jacksonville really has not changed much like you said, but has had a lot of infrastructure improvements like the Interstate and beltway widening and flyovers. Generally in Florida though, the secondary cities (Palm Beach, Orlando, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Melbourne/Palm Bay, Panama City, and SW FL) and major suburbs here have all grown exponentially in the past 20 years. Almost forgot, Miami cannot have supertalls downtown due to the airport approach goes right over that location.
Miami lifted the height restrictions in 2019 to accommodate super talls there are 9 super talls that have been approved since 2019, 2 of which have broken ground. However for the time being all of the super talls are actually the same height being that the height restriction limits the tallest building to 1098 ft
@@truthfacts5438 Yes Miami can have Supertalls but only in a very small area in downtown and just south into Brickell. As for Jacksonville it's amazing how every major Florida city boomed since 2000 but they haven't.
Not now, OKCs downtown is looking more modern. Hey continue to build as 4 new sky scrapers and a new 900 million dollar new arena bill has recently been passed. OKCs downtown is on the rise.
Oklahoma City is too low density and car centric to continue to develop the downtown. All those grandiose high rise proposals for OKC are most likely not going to happen. There is no economic need for skyscrapers in OKC.
Thank you for the honorable mention of DC. Not only does DC have a height limit by law for like you said protect the characteristic of the city, but the rest of the metro area also has one set by the FAA because of the airports and probably the 9/11 attacks. 400 ft is as tall that can be built inside the beltway and even outside you won’t find too many over that height. Although there is a 600+ footer supposedly in the works.
I thought you did a good job narrating and a lot of the pictures looked great on my big tv. Your one big miss was with Detroit. Be sure to look into the Hudson Tower, which is over 200 meters and should top off within a couple months.
Thanks for the positive feedback and my bad with Detroit. I used skyscraperpage and google earth for my research so they may have been a little bit outdated
@@Random-mq2cuYeah try to find images or videos of Downtown Detroit in 2023 and you will see a slight difference like the Hudson Tower,The Residences at Water Square(JLA site),and Huntington Bank Tower, Exchange site all under construction. Not too much but noticeable.
OKC is too low density for any additional high rise development. The city is spread out and is very car centric and many offices are in low rise office parks.
detroit metro has 4.5 million , 5 if you count windsor/canada . and the skyline is changing more this year with the new hudsons building and the gordie howe bridge than it has in 40 years
Sterile skyline? Excuse me? I don’t know if you live in SA or not, but I’ve seen changes to its skyline, albeit gradually. From an architectural standpoint, your comment is……..rather pithy. Yes there are a lot of older buildings in downtown but those buildings have some very fine detail to their facades, which makes for a very interesting looking downtown if you actually bother to slow down and notice that kind of thing. 😒
OKC's Devon Tower hypothetically moved to NYC would just be another lost "needle" within a giant skyscraper haystack. I don't get your take about it "should be in NYC". So it can be forgotten?
I think it would still be quite visible, for instance One Chase Manhattan Plaza is quite prominent in the lower Manhattan skyline and is only 9 metres shorter than the Devon tower so if you were to hypothetically move the Devon tower to NYC you'd still be able to easily see it
Birmingham’s skyline is height restricted due to downtown’s proximity to the airport. Downtown and surrounding communities are remarkably safe, with multiple mid-rise residential buildings being constructed in recent years on the south side of downtown and one of the city’s tallest buildings (the former AT&T building) being converted to residential use currently.
There’s also the fact that the skyline is hard to piece together as it expands south to Red Mountain where other buildings aren’t captured like some of the newer ones in 5 Points and Highlands.
@@nachoskyful O'Hare is nowhere close to downtown Chicago? I've been too it. It's Several miles away. And LGA isn't that close either. Have you looked at a map? Comparatively Birmingham's airport is basically like 1 mile away and it's runway faces downtown if I remember right.
@@nachoskyful Uhm……actually ORD is 17 miles away from downtown Chicago, roughly. LGA is 8 miles to manhattan. Birmingham Intl airport is 5 miles from downtown.
Some of these cities e.g. Tulsa, OKC, and Washington, are horribly misrepresented. I've lived in all three places. Tulsa had a new arena built and a major downtown rennovation a few years ago. Add to that a huge new park along the Arkansas river. It's totally different now than when I lived there in 1994. OKC built the Devon Energy tower, a new Bricktown entertainment district, realigned the interstate, rehabilitated the fair grounds, built a streetcar system, etc. And DC has had tremendous growth. Even though the skyline has remained the same, they added Nats Park, a ton of financial offices along K street, and a bunch of other commercial and mixed-use buildings. Essentially, skyline stagnation from a google streetview perspective does not necessarily mean the city itself is stagnant or depressed.
As far as Detroit goes, the Greektown casino hotel is fairly new, and the 209 tower going up at Hudson's old site. Also in the works are suppose to be 2 new large first class hotels going up in downtown as well. So the skyline has changed recently and will be even more different in the near future.
Jacksonville has two skylines (downtown) on either side of the St John's River, Northbank (what everyone sees) and the Southbank. Jax's Southbank has its latest towers (condos); several built in 2006. There are several condo towers currently under construction on the Southbank
@@nickwaters9869exactly…. I hate the downtown doesn’t get the true notoriety that it deserves because it’s so spread out (like the city) and everyone always focuses on that ugly Independent Life aka Wells Fargo building. Panoramic views are best to capture the north-bank, south-bank, and Riverside.
@cecilanderson2930 Jax has been behind the curb when it comes to having a bustling downtown, no doubt. Things are changing though; alot of development downtown and the surrounding area is being built. A Four Seasons hotel downtown among several other infrastructure projects
I lived in Birmingham from 2005-2007 and the city nearly got a new skyline-changing building in the RSA Battle House Tower. Unfortunately for the city, developers decided to build the 35-story building in Mobile. It is the tallest building in Alabama. I still have family in Birmingham and hope the city one day gets another skyscraper. Even though the skyline hasn’t changed, there has been some exciting development in the downtown area including a new ballpark.
Next time I'll use imperial and metric, thanks for the feedback and also I know I sound weird, I had trouble reading my script because the line spacing and font was too small which I'll also fix next time I make another video
I am subscribing. After watching your last 2 videos…. I am hooked. But, may I suggest, perhaps you turn don the music a bit. It is perfect music. Relaxing. Just too loud. LOVE YOUR CONTENT!
I don’t think OKC deserves the dishonorable mention, as many locals (including myself) love the Devon tower and see it as a symbol of our city reaching new heights. The second tallest tower has recently undergone a total facade upgrade that brings it into a similar design as the Devon. And there has been another building completed that also matches the aesthetic (with plans for even more to come)
@@Random-mq2cu Right but I’m also saying your information that you were going off of wasn’t even up to date. The photo you used was definitely not from 2023
Detroit has a new skyscraper that is almost complete. The 2nd tallest building in detroit. One of many projects is being built in the downtown Detroit area. Your data is old
I can't believe you left out Nashville when it comes to cities looking completely different since the 90's or 2000's. And it's also weird how booming cities like LA, Dallas and Houston skylines haven't significantly changed in the last 30 years. NYC, Chicago, Austin, Miami, Philly, Nashville and maybe Charlotte have the most changing s-line.
@@deepvoicedude4749 no the Houston skyline has added a lot of buildings since 2000. They just aren’t allowed to build any super talls in downtown due to Hobby Airport. That’s why the skyline of uptown on the west loop has been booming
9:54 in my city there also a buding called "Renaissance" but its a half of the size... And there is an asset based in it in cities skylines 1 workshop.
The Wichita, KS skyline hasn't changed a lot since like 1986 or 1987. The last major building was the Epic Center built between 1985 and 1987 and is the tallest building in the state of Kansas at 385 feet(117 m). I am trying to get an icon there that would compliment the skyline.
Detroits downtown is actually very busy and active. The Hudson’s site high rise will add to the skyline, a new riverfront apartment has opened and there is another new hotel and an office tower that will add to the skyline’s by 2027. Ironically, I think it’s likely that the GM Renaissance Center may be torn down by the 2030s as GM considers its real estate portfolio.
Detroit’s 21st century skyline Now that Detroit will have its first new supertall 912 feet plus skyscraper glass tower; wouldn’t that be a good time to have a discussion about our Detroit’s future skyline? I remember reading a study about Detroit urban planning back in the seventies done by Cranbrook School of Architecture and the City of Detroit. The quote that I remember most was “Detroit is built on a very flat plane but the skyline takes on the shape of a human-made mountain” and they had a pretty cool black and white pre-Renaissance Center photograph of skyline to illustrate their point. With the Penobscot Building being the cities tallest. Now that our city will have a new glass tower in the center of it’s downtown business district complementing that thought from Cranbrook years ago I think it would be a good time to actually have a discussion about where Detroit could go next with some very big bold ideas. No pun intended… but Detroit is on a big role as of late; and would we not want to consider YES to this big idea. The demolition of The Renaissance Center which actually has never fit into the Detroit skyline. When it was built there was a lot of negative press which still has great historic merit. Quotes like ‘a suburban fortress built in an urban setting on the river, on the wrong side of Jefferson.’ Suburban was code back then and still today for of European Descent and urban was code back then and still today for of African Descent. No matter how hard General Motors Corporation has tried integrate this dinosaur into the new: walkable, livable, lifestyle, fabric of Detroit it continues to still be a failure. We do thank GM for your Winter Garden and River Walk, and also removing the concrete barriers on Jefferson. You could look at these buildings and consider it a baby boomer form of historical racism that could be erase from our city skyline. You could also compare the buildings to one of those antiquated multipurpose sports stadiums, many cities as of late have torn down to reclaim their waterfront. Or you could compare it to a multi level freeway that also cities as of late have also torn down to reclaim their waterfront. San Francisco great example… Seattle is tearing down its waterfront freeway to reclaim their waterfront. So what would Detroit look like if the one percent, and our elected officials that are in control of Detroit’s future development sat down at the table and discussed razing the Detroit Renaissance Center. Turning the land into a magnificent new waterfront park… save the Winter Garden; create a park similar to Millennium park in Chicago… move all that square footage of office and commercial back into the center of our downtown business district. A new General Motors tower could be the tallest tower in North America, take the tittle away from New York City… what a dramatic affect such a bold idea would have on Detroit and the world. We would not have just a single 912 feet plus tall glass tower but three or four more multipurpose slender tall skyscrapers that could even exceed a thousand feet the height. The One World Trade Center NY is Floors: 104, Height: 1,776′, 1,792′ to the tip. Would it not be wonderful just to see an illustration done by Bedrock Detroit, or others involved in the future development of our city what our town would look like with three or four more supertalls built in the central business district and the Renaissance Center leveled. The land turned into a beautiful new gorgeous green front yard with underground parking. Yes… I think it’s wonderful that Detroit is getting a new supertall tower, I love the new look… and I think it’s wonderful that it is being put exactly where they’re putting it, in the center of downtown! That is were it belongs, and within a few blocks of that same neighborhood would it be not just totally awesome to have three or four more slender towers. The Detroit Renaissance Center is a mixed history, the buildings have been considered by many a bad idea from the beginning, the center never did revitalize a single Detroit neighborhood… The Renaissance Center is a barrier that separates our downtown from its river… would it not be better to get rid of it once and for all.
The RenCen is not getting demolished and the whole idea of tearing it down is stupid as well as very costly. The ground levels need to be redesigned and opened up to make the complex more inviting. Jefferson Avenue needs to be narrowed down and made more pedestrian friendly. That is why the RenCen was never successful in revitalizing downtown Detroit.
Raleigh's main skyline has changed a lot in just the past few years with The Dillon, FNB, 301H, 400H, and to some extent the Smokey Hollow buildings (which eventually will be joined by a much taller high rise). Plus Capital Square, Hilton Garden Inn, and The Weld currently under construction. Raleigh Municipal Campus is in the early stages of demo and site prep (will be ~17 story building), and a ton of other towers planned.
Springfield is a dump. Couldn’t even find a coffee shop that was open in downtown on a Sunday. Only thing that was interesting was the Dr Seuss museum.
Not sure why you have OKC as a dishonorable mention. It is a 1.5 million metro area that is rapidly growing and it's downtown skyline is corresponding. Devon Tower DID look out of place when it was built in 2012 (your pic), but Charlotte's Bank of America tower did too. Other towers have been built, in Charlotte who now has an amazing skyline and in OKC which you'd have to agree if your pic was from 2023. BOK Park Plaza at nearly 450 feet has been built nearby Devon Tower. Citizen tower (12 floors, appx 180 feet) is the current highrise being topped off downtown, immediately next to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Numerous mid rises are popping up throughout downtown and the nearby Oklahoma Health Center's Innovation District and the new OKANA highrise development built at the First Americans Museum site, with several more planned to start construction at key downtown spots. But the biggest development likely to boom for downtown OKC is the Boardwalk at Bricktown development, featuring 3 35 floor towers with podium that will fill an existing parking lot; 2 residential highrises and a Dream Hotel. The developer has a 4th tower that many on here have already spoke of, Tower 3, which is visioned to be 1,750 feet tall (no spire, unlike Cheating NYC [1330 feet + 446 feet "spire" antenna] that you think OKC's Devon Tower belongs). It would actually be the tallest building in the US, no spire, if built. Doubtful that the supertall will be built at that height, but it is awesome that OKC can even get a project visioned like that from a serious developer. You could have selected a HOST of other cities for dishonorable mention rather than chosing OKC because of p*** envy. Please research your cities or seek out those in the know if you want to subjectively rank cities/development, OKC is NOT stagnant by any means.
I understand your video is primarily about skylines but when you talked about St Louis you referred to it as a dying city and referenced our crime reputation. I'd like to pushback on that and say that St Louis as a whole is not a dying city. The city proper is ~11% of the metro population (2.8 million) and consists of the most inner urban core and cannot annex new land. Due to that St Louis City presents data that is more skewed than when looking at the area in a metropolitan scale because American city boundaries are very arbitrary. Acknowledging that St Louis City's population has declined as American living patterns continue to favor sprawl the metro population has remained stable or grown slightly over the decades with the City itself adding more amenities over time to attract new people. Economically St Louis has 8 Fortune 500 companies and multiple fortune 1000 companies. Also your representation of the skyline is very limited. New highrises have been added to the city but are conveniently just out of view of the photo you used since 2000. St Louis' urban core is not hyper focused on the Mississippi River but extends west along I-64 from the river to around Forest Park with multiple nodes. To name a few towers built since 2000 are the Lumiere Place Casino Four Seasons Hotel, the Roberts Tower, the One Hundred, as well as the One Cardinal Way Tower you mentioned in your video. Right now it seems alot of the new developments here have been focusing on infill and rehabilitation before the market can start building more new vertical construction.
Good feedback. But I would like to provide additional perspective. The city of St. Louis had a peak population of 856,796 in 1950 according to the official US Bureau of the Census. By 2020, the last official census the population had plummeted to 301,578, a loss of over 555,000 residents. It is also worth noting that the metro area population has had a slight decrease from 2.81 million in 2022, to the current 2.8 million estimate for 2023. Hopefully this will reverse itself as this a beautiful and historic city/region with much to offer.
Thank you RJ Robertson for your additional perspective. Yes on paper you are correct the city of St Louis, which is 62 sq miles, lost 550,000 people from 1950 to 2020. This takes me back to the point about the change in American living patterns. St Louis City was built up primarily before automobiles and at one point was one of the densest cities in the country with a notably expansive urban streetcar network. Most of that initial population loss was due to white flight as many white Americans who lived in St Louis City pre-suburbanization moved to St. Louis County (a separate county) that built a lot of post WW-2 suburbs thanks to things like the GI-Bill and the proliferation of cars over public transit. Following that disinvestment in predominantly Black neighborhoods in North St Louis City led to Black-flight that has continued to this day but slowed down more recently. Unlike cities like Dallas, Houston, Kansas City or Jacksonville, St Louis City could not annex the new suburbs to mask the urban core losses so on paper it looks like the city declined heavily when what really happened is that the population spread out like in most other large American urban areas compounded by losses in manufacturing jobs due to offshoring. Not going to say everyone who left the city stayed in the region but most moved to St Louis County. St Louis City is a separate political entity from St. Louis County. St. Louis City and County combined have around 1.3 million people and were originally one county (pre-1876) but split following a vote after political tensions. I urge you to look at a map and see them. In 1950 St Louis County did not have more than a couple thousand people while St Louis City had almost 900,000. Now St Louis County has around 1,000,000 with the city around 300,000. As for the slight 10,000 decrease in population over the past year I interpret that as a reflection of current trends. Virtually every major metro in the US has posted population losses since 2020 due to the pandemic, subsequent recession, and the new ability of many to work remotely. Most metro areas in the country that have grown quicker have done so through high immigration numbers vs. domestic in-migration or childbirths. St Louis has historically done poorly in the 20th century at attracting high enough numbers of immigrants unlike many coastal or larger metros but lately that seems to be changing a little. In general though the overall metro has remained stable or grown very slowly. Finally I do agree with you. St. Louis has a lot to offer but is very much a misunderstood area. I disagree with your use of the words 'dying city' as a quick look at just the St Louis City data does not provide you with a full picture about the state of things. I find it to be a bit more nuanced respectfully.
Thank you cams for the thoughtful analysis and clarification. However, I did not refer to St. Louis as a "dying city". I feel that it is very much alive and poised for much greatness, a belief I hold as a former resident of the city. Yes it is a misunderstood area as many cities of the "rust belt" region are, especially to those flocking to the booming metro areas of the South and West. I have found that I am unique in this belief being a native of CA, still living here (and happily so I might add). But I am excited for the continued revitalization and resurgence happening despite most people being unaware of it.😊
@@cams6950thank you for one of the most thoughtful and well-worded explanations of the situation in St. Louis that I have seen. It is frustrating to hear people say that STL is a “dying city” in RU-vid videos like this one. Whenever the topic of St. Louis comes up, they always go on about population loss, but never give any perspective or additional information that tells the full story. Slapping the city across the face with easy comments about population loss and crime has led to a wide-reaching misunderstanding of the region by people who don’t live there. I am not from the area. I relocated here several years ago. I held many of those biases and misconceptions until seeing the actual story for myself. The majority of people who left St. Louis City didn’t move to Seattle, San Jose, or Schenectady. They moved a few miles west to St. Louis County. Because the former leaders of the city made a boneheaded decision in the 1880’s, the city has been frozen in the same city limits since then. It can’t annex surrounding suburbs to claw back population like other cities have. So in effect, very few people who live in St. Louis actually live in St. Louis City. They live in St. Louis County. It is a rather unique and unusual circumstance for a major metropolitan area. I think Baltimore is the only other large city like this. This unusual situation also gives a skewed perception when it comes to crime rates. The bottom line is that 1,300,000 people live between STL County and STL City, and around 2.8 million live in the greater metro area. There are many thriving, successful, quite nice areas and communities in “St. Louis” despite the ongoing perception that is is an empty, dying, crime-ridden hellscape.
Saint Louis is difficult to judge because the city runs east to west.... consisting of 3 skylines Clayton, CWE and Downtown. Tons of development all around though, and "most dangerous city" is because the literal city (which is where the stats come from) and country are separated, so the whole metro is actually quite large and safe (Including much of the city)!
In Memphis a lot of major corporations have their headquarters in Memphis but they reside in the eastern part of Memphis. The development of the suburbs in Memphis really put a strain on the growth of the city. Memphis has also had a hard time getting things approved due to most of the people always thinking something is a bad idea. The grizzlies weren’t really wanted here at first & people wanted them to continue to play in the pyramid. Memphis is also a black city which doesn’t appeal like Nashville appeals when it comes to that. Also a lot of these buildings are empty and have been empty for 30 years unfortunately. We also have a major problem with crime with drives away companies which ppl drives away jobs. Memphis has had a lot of issues due to the lack of economic growth.
I’m a Memphian and I think the comments are on point. Also the city limits have a very large footprint especially eastward on the Fayette county line. The project you mentioned is One Peabody Place and has been greatly modified since the original plans. I don’t see any significant changes in the near future because the focus will be on renovation of the One Hundred North Main building and the Sterick Building (which was the tallest building in the south when it opened). Crime also plays a large and detrimental role in the skyline remaining stagnant.
Interesting video. The whole topic of stagnant skylines is an ever-changing situation and online websites can sometimes be way behind in their updating. You have done a good job, here. I will now answer the question you asked another commenter below >>> "That's the golden cityplex towers right?" Yes indeed. Tulsa's CityPlex Towers, opened in 1981, consist of three golden towers: (1) the main tower is 60 stories, the west tower is 30 stories, and the east tower is 20 stories. The entire complex was originally called the "City of Faith Medical and Research Center", and created by Oral Roberts. But the complex lost money and Roberts sold it around 1990. The complex is now used mostly for office space and may help to explain why no new tall buildings have been added in downtown Tulsa. Based on your criteria for this video, you are correct to leave these towers out of your discussion; they are some 8 to 9 miles south of downtown Tulsa. My own, very unofficial, research shows that skylines are affected less by population change than by per capita income. Cities that have a large per capita income tend to have more tall buildings than cities with smaller per capita income >>> here in Texas, Dallas has a much more impressive skyline than San Antonio or El Paso. And both San Antonio and El Paso have a lower per capita income than that of Dallas.
San Antonio's lack of skyscrapers is more due to the existence of the Alamo. State Law prevents any building from ever casting a shadow on it, so no buildings of significant height can really be built in down San Antonio.
you should add a conversion to imperial units and tone down the music but yeah you found for youtube formula i think so its best that you improve your editing and mic and yeah
idk about oklahoma city they recently got 2 new highrise that changed the skyline along with the renovation of the bancfirst tower and there is going to be 3 more high rises that will drastically change the skyline but i dont think that 1750 ft tall skyscraper thats proposed is happening thats ridiculous. Little Rock shouldve been mentioned
If you think that Oklahoma City's Devon Energy Tower is a monstrosity, wait to see if they actually build the Legends Tower: 134 stories and 1,907 feet tall (i.e. tallest building in the U.S.)!
IN OKC, in addition to the completion of the Devon tower in 2012, You do not acknowledge The 27 story BOK park plaza next to it built in a similar style that was completed in 2017. As the Devon tower seems to upset you so much, I suppose if the developers follow through on a proposed 134 story residential tower along with 3 smaller towers ( for which financing has already been secured) that will really get your panties in a wad.
They should definitely build the legends tower, it would bring so much growth to the city and would bring business to fill out the skyline, And most importantly piss this dude off. The Devon looks the best it can, especially being next to scissor tail park. If it was in NYC it would be a nothing building OKC is the best possible place for it.
I take it you don't know Detroit. I work in downtown Detroit and there are several buildings (mid and some high rise being built). As for skylines, Hudson Site changes that
Crazy how some of these skylines are literally frozen in the 80s. But I'm sure to people who grew up there the lack of change is normal and comforting. Especially to the cities that have bigger problems than expanding upwards.
Is the term Stagnant necessary? This obsession with high rise in cities everywhere is not an attractive thing always. Static might be a better term to describe non -change. The ugliness of modern cities since the change of the city in in last half century is chronic due to the repetitive motif of building style , lack of decoration , and the complete take over of our modern cities by freeways .
