Worst skyline

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by vid

Manitoba's GDP is less than Jacksonville's GDP.

So what? Still not getting it, huh? That is basically just saying that Winnipeg's GDP is less than Jacksonville's, considering Winnipeg is Canada's most extreme "hub" city (not my description, but rather a Canadian classification).

Hate to quote myself from the above post, but I will:

Well, if those are the numbers, they are actually surprising considering Jacksonville's metro size being almost two times larger... there should actually be a greater difference in Jax favor if proportional levels of commerce were the same... but they are not.
GDP figures just go to show that Winnipeg's standing nationally is higher, at over 2% of Canada's total GDP. Jacksonville accounts for just over .3%. That's point 3 %. Also, Winnipeg accounts for nearly 70% of Manitoba's GDP!!... not even close for Jacksonville in Florida, much less for its standing the SE region of the US (Atlanta - $270B, Tampa - $112B, Orlando - $105B).

Winnipeg is simply a greater center of commerce for Canada than Jacksonville is for the US... that's gonna bestow a bigger skyline.

But don't take my word for it, get yourself on a business/market research database and look into how McKinsey or another firm classifies this stuff. You'll find that cities of comparable population sizes are treated far differently between the US and Canada.

[Evergrey]

Allentown is just one city in a tri-nodal metropolitan area... so it's really not surprising that it lacks a dominant skyline.

[Trantor]

I find it funny that in the thread about the biggest skylines, most americans, wanting to defend their cities, were complaining about aerial shots of São Paulo and SHanghai "these are not skyline shots, these cities dont have skylines, etc"

but in this thread, I see no complaint about shots that do not show an "skyline".

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by crooked rain

^ it's like one of those downtowns in a farmers field you see in China.

Nope. Not big enough.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=...10943&t=k&z=17
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=...,0.033817&z=15

[village person]

Originally Posted by Trantor

I find it funny that in the thread about the biggest skylines, most americans, wanting to defend their cities, were complaining about aerial shots of São Paulo and SHanghai "these are not skyline shots, these cities dont have skylines, etc"

but in this thread, I see no complaint about shots that do not show an "skyline".

Trantor, I was one such complainer, but it had nothing to do with me being American or defending my city (which I know is popular on this forum but is NOT something I do here.) I'm simply not complaining about it anymore because it's impossible to get the point across. But if it makes you feel better, yes it still bugs me, even for American cities.

And I even posted some aerial shots here, but only together with ground shots.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Allentown is just one city in a tri-nodal metropolitan area... so it's really not surprising that it lacks a dominant skyline.

Absolutely true.

Originally Posted by Trantor

I find it funny that in the thread about the biggest skylines, most americans, wanting to defend their cities, were complaining about aerial shots of São Paulo and SHanghai "these are not skyline shots, these cities dont have skylines, etc"

but in this thread, I see no complaint about shots that do not show an "skyline".

Well... this thread is entitled "Worst Skyline"

[wrab]

Originally Posted by Trantor

I find it funny that in the thread about the biggest skylines, most americans, wanting to defend their cities, were complaining about aerial shots of São Paulo and SHanghai "these are not skyline shots, these cities dont have skylines, etc"

but in this thread, I see no complaint about shots that do not show an "skyline".

Trantor, you don't see me commenting here about the use of aerials in a skyline thread because I've already tried and all it got me was flack, most of it from Americans. Why would I want to go through that again?

[initiald]

Jacksonville's skyline isn't really THAT bad - most photos only show about half the skyline. Plus, you have to keep in mind that the official population is very overinflated because the city & county merged.

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by Scottolini

San Antonio's skyline might be somewhat small for 2+ million person metro, but I don't think it is near the worst. Looks can also be deceiving, because while it may not impress you from afar, downtown San Antonio is a fantastic place. It's filled with historic buildings, and is great at street-level.

Photo courtesy of Reubenin Stt on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reubeninstt/3482207524/

i love the little waterway in the downtown area, if i'm thinking correctly. too, they have great food in san antonio. the skyline looks fine to me.

[PartyLine]

Originally Posted by kingchef

i love the little waterway in the downtown area, if i'm thinking correctly. too, they have great food in san antonio. the skyline looks fine to me.

Yeah it's the San Antonio Riverwalk

http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by village person

Jacksonville has a "second" skyline across the river, with 2 buildings over 400 ft (4 over 300 ft), as well as a small "third" little bulk in the foreground here:


Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sfpitma...7614326146117/

The main skyline is over to the left, seen here:

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sfpitma...7614326146117/

Put it all together and this is the result:


Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/5701647...n/photostream/


Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonworth/154598605/

It aint no Allentown.


......but seriously, why live in a highrise on the river when there's an ocean a few miles away (Jacksonville Beach):

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rizkphotography/282513182/

^Man in the warm water says, "Hi, Winnipeg!"

Jax could be a city of beautiful bridges if only it had a few more, you know, beautiful bridges.

[Don B.]

Originally Posted by TAZ4ate0

Don, pics 3 and 4 (and even #1 after reviewing), are waaaayyy outdated. Missing are several of the new towers and projects, done or underway in the past 3 years. In the last pic (#4), the biggest glaring flaw as to what Phoenix looks like today, doesn't show the light rail line running down Central Ave. I know you have better and newer pics. Why not show those?

Because I don't really have many newer photos, particularly daytime shots. I had to sell my telephoto lens to make it through law school and I haven't had much time in the last couple of years to take photos like I used to.

--don

[Phil McAvity]

I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned this place:



This is the CBD for a city with a metro of nearly 2 million people. Pretty sad. How can Las Vegas have virtually no office buildings? Don't those 2 million people need doctors, bankers, lawyers and accountants like the rest of us? A lot of people think Phoenix has the worst skyline but at least Phoenix has lots of mid-sized office towers. Las Vegas doesn't even have that.

[pj3000]

^ Yeah, not impressive, but downtown is the old part of Vegas, right?... and doesn't include the strip.

Really though, major office towers are the result of the presence of corporate industry/finance. Las Vegas hasn't developed into that type of city yet, and may never. The major employers in Vegas are all casinos.

[cabasse]

this is a pretty decent aerial of jacksonville. again - not amazing, but at least average, for a metro of 1.3M or so. (this pic is 7 years old, there have been at least one or two rather large condo towers that have been built since)


click for big - flickr nosduhmj

winnipeg does have an above average skyline by US standards - what american city under 1M has 12M square feet of office space downtown?

[LMich]

Originally Posted by cabasse

this is a pretty decent aerial of jacksonville. again - not amazing, but at least average, for a metro of 1.3M or so. (this pic is 7 years old, there have been at least one or two rather large condo towers that have been built since)


click for big - flickr nosduhmj

winnipeg does have an above average skyline by US standards - what american city under 1M has 12M square feet of office space downtown?

Really, that is probably an even more unflattering view of it than most. Too see it from the air does it no favors. It looks like a suburban office park with perhaps a bit more detail scattered amongst what used to be a fairly impressive and dense downtown, architecturally.

That's what really what makes Jacksonville's downtown so underwhelming, the sheer amont of low and mid-rises they demolished, so now the modern skyscapers look like they are sticking out of a mouthful of missing teeth. There just isn't any girth, there, to support the modern skyline.

[cabasse]

they did lose quite a bit sadly, it was once the biggest city in florida. it also doesn't help that a notable number of tall buildings were developed on the south bank instead of downtown... still, there are worse off metros of ~1.3, skyline-wise. salt lake city, san antonio, orlando, raleigh are a few that come to mind

[Scottolini]

Originally Posted by cabasse

they did lose quite a bit sadly, it was once the biggest city in florida. it also doesn't help that a notable number of tall buildings were developed on the south bank instead of downtown... still, there are worse off metros of ~1.3, skyline-wise. salt lake city, san antonio, orlando, raleigh are a few that come to mind

San Antonio certainly has a more impressive skyline than Jacksonville, although that should be expected as San Antonio is substantially larger.


http://urban-photos.com/view_image/1...an_Antonio,_TX


http://urban-photos.com/view_image/1...an_Antonio,_TX

[trueviking]

pj, i really dont get your argument....winnipeg competes with calgary and toronto for commerce the same way jacksonville does with atlanta and orlando....its just that there are hundreds of miles of nothing in between....being a hub for thousands of kilometers of tundra doesnt create wealth....i would think that having 1.3m people living right next door would do more for a city than being a hub for that same amount of people spread across a thousand kilometers.

i wont argue that winnipeg is more important to canada than jacksonville is to the US and that it has a greater proportion of its commerce, but that is a percentage of a much smaller total...skylines are caused by total commerce, not percentage of commerce.

i was including florida state college in my numbers...maybe thats not a university...i dont get the american system.

i wont say any more on the subject....thanks for the debate.

[LMich]

I don't really agree, cabassee, except for maybe Orlando and Raleigh. At least for my taste, a skyline has to have a fair number of supporting low and mid-rise buildings. But, then again, I place a very high importance on density and massing in a skyline, and probably much less on actual architecture and height. I'm not down with the skyline with talls sticking up like sore-thumbs from mediocre or poor surroundings (i.e. skylines that look like glorified office parks in layout). Jacksonville easily ranks on my list of least impressive skylines.

Different strokes, I guess.