[mhays]

The biggest difference between the NY/Chi model's lack of suburban skylines and the Vancouver/Toronto model is that NY/Chi don't control outward growth, while Vancouver's and Toronto's are controlled by both policy and topography. Vancouver can't have low-density office sprawl or housing sprawl, and second-generation development is hard, so when it does develop it does so densely, allowed by policy.

Plus, both NY and Chi have central business districts with huge percentages of their local office space. So they have that going for them.