Skylines From Far Far Away Thread

[JManc]

As an aside...but outside of ANC, LAX is probably the best airport for plane spotting.

[IluvATX]

Originally Posted by JManc

As an aside...but outside of ANC, LAX is probably the best airport for plane spotting.

ANC is pretty impressive with how close you can get to view (primarily cargo) aircraft, especially transpacific 747s and a380s.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Here's another helicopter shot of Chicago from about 7 miles out, but from the opposite direction of the one I posted the other day. That's U.Chicago in the foregeound.


Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/...gated-for-dei/

fun fact: you can see my office window in that shot

[chris08876]

Was in the area today. From the Walt Whitman bridge. Philly.

Skyline really comes alive when viewed from the Walt Whitman.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Nice shot of Manhattan from The Rockaways on the MTA Flickr page:


___

That looks far...

[IluvATX]

Maybe this has been addressed, but what’s the reason behind the gap of skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan?

[Riverranchdrone]

Originally Posted by IluvATX

Maybe this has been addressed, but what’s the reason behind the gap of skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan?

From my past understanding it is the depth of the bedrock in that area.

[ChiSoxRox]

Originally Posted by IluvATX

Maybe this has been addressed, but what’s the reason behind the gap of skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan?

A key factor is transport links. The ferries and then subway converging on Lower Manhattan give you the downtown cluster, but Midtown is up in the 30s and 40s for streets in large part because that's where Penn Station and Grand Central discharge hundreds of thousands of workers. In turn, they were the edge of the city when the railroads were first developed in the 1840s, so space for station and rail infrastructure.

If the railroads had been invented 30 years earlier and the stations built along Houston Street, that might have been the eventual sevond cluster.

Bedrock depth is largely an urban legend, as this post explains. Indeed the deepest bedrock in Manhattan is far under the skyscrapers of the Financial District.

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by JManc

As an aside...but outside of ANC, LAX is probably the best airport for plane spotting.

You should have seen the old, dearly departed Terminal 1 at YYZ. It was plopped down right in the middle of the runways. The parking garage was 10 storeys and one could, until later years, drive right up to the roof, park basically anywhere (there were never many spectators, oddly), and enjoy the 360 view of airport movements. My dad took me there once in a while in the '80s. I always loved the smell of jet fuel. I scratched my name and the date in the railing in '89. It was neat to see rusty scrawlings going back to the '60s.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by Gresto

You should have seen the old, dearly departed Terminal 1 at YYZ. It was plopped down right in the middle of the runways. The parking garage was 10 storeys and one could, until later years, drive right up to the roof, park basically anywhere (there were never many spectators, oddly), and enjoy the 360 view of airport movements. My dad took me there once in a while in the '80s. I always loved the smell of jet fuel. I scratched my name and the date in the railing in '89. It was neat to see rusty scrawlings going back to the '60s.

Good old Malton. I remember a glass wall between arriving international passengers and people waiting for arriving passengers. There were always throngs of people anxiously awaiting friends and relatives with their noses practically pressed against the glass to the point it felt almost like being a zoo animal watched by spectators.

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Good old Malton. I remember a glass wall between arriving international passengers and people waiting for arriving passengers. There were always throngs of people anxiously awaiting friends and relatives with their noses practically pressed against the glass to the point it felt almost like being a zoo animal watched by spectators.

Yes, I remember. Apparently it was considered a rather shabby, not to mention small, facility by modern standards, but I have good memories of it. I also liked how one drove in and under through this huge tunnel, then ramps went up in different directions to arrivals, departures, and the garage. It was made as if to impress little boys.

[Epicapabilities]

St. Paul, MN, as seen from New Trier, 24 miles to the southeast. From left to right, the buildings are Wells Fargo Place, First National Bank Building, and Jackson Tower (Cray Plaza). To my knowledge, this is the farthest ground-level picture ever taken of St. Paul's skyline.



https://www.reddit.com/r/FromAfar/co...miles_away_oc/

[xzmattzx]

Stateline, Nevada, from US Route 50 between Echo Summit and Lower Echo Lake, about 12 miles away

[Spotila]

Here’s one from the archives. The Chicago skyline seen from the St. Joseph / Benton Harbor area in Michigan, roughly 98 km (61 miles) across Lake Michigan. This is the furthest I've found for Chicago.


https://theviewshed.com/?view=10684

The lower parts of the skyline are hidden behind the horizon, but you can still see the tallest towers (Sears Trump, Hancock) peeking above the water, distorted by atmospheric refraction.

I’ve been collecting long-distance skyline views like this, both photographic and theoretical, and ended up building a site to organise them: https://theviewshed.com

There are now around 2,100 records, all searchable by city, country, mountain, distance, and whether they’ve been photographed or not. There's a submission form on the site too if anyone wants add to the collection.

[MolsonExport]

great shots. I love your website.

[DZH22]

Boston from Prospect Hill, Waltham. As the crow flies the Cambridge portion is about 8.75 miles, Back Bay 9+ miles, and furthest skyscrapers in the financial district up to 10.5 miles away.

IMG_0545 by David Z, on Flickr

IMG_0615 by David Z, on Flickr

IMG_0562 by David Z, on Flickr

[dave8721]

Miami from Biscayne National Park:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/199789...51275/sizes/o/

[kittyhawk28]

Downtown LA from Palos Verde, Winter 2023:

[plinko]

^Nice!

[MayDay]

Downtown Cleveland from Avon Lake, 15 miles west; the buildings to the right are the Gold Coast condo buildings in the inner-ring suburb of Lakewood (11 miles from this vantage point). Further right is downtown Lakewood.