Quote:
Originally Posted by Chitown
It's funny; I drove through Indy after Christmas, and I checked the "skyscrapers" there after I got back on skyscraperpage, and it's amusing how many of these projects would be the defining building in that city. Despite it's pathetic skyline, Indy actually has a pretty large population. It goes to remind you just to what degree Chicago kicks ass.
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Tell me about it. Naptown has only 3 towers over 500' and 2 of them are just barely. There is nothing substantial on the horizon and the last major highrise was built 16 years ago. Major projects are publicly funded or are related to public projects (hotels for new stadium). The population is misleading though ... although there are nearly 800,000 in the city proper, making it one of the larger cities in the country (12th,13th something like that), the metro only has roughly 2 million, placing it much farther down the list. Chicago is a rare breed indeed with a skyline that belies its population (see any number of larger cities in the world). For an architecture fan or just a fan of big cities, Chicago is special.
An aside ... I do have to give Indy credit, the downtown is small but it is a nice place. Much more street life going on down there than many larger cities ... see Dallas where I lived for 8 years before moving to Indy. My wife who grew up in NYC has worked in both downtown Dallas and Indy and prefers downtown Indy by wide margin. Even the decrepit areas immediately outside of downtown are experiencing gentrification and infilling much like a lot of older cities. Hang outside of St. Elmos Steakhouse downtown Sunday night if the Colts beat the Pats and wait for Payton and company to make their customary appearance ... there will be some street life.