Visitors - ever get "Skyline Envy" when in Chicago or NYC?

[Taverner]

I used to think San Francisco was a real city. It had a nice skyline, a downtown, and subways and buses and other things that make up a city. El Lay was never really a city to me, but a collection of never ending suburbs that went on forever - I mean look at it's skyline and compare it to SF's which is twice as big with half the people.

Seattle and Portland had nice equal-sized skylines too...and qualified as cities in my mind...

But now all of that is out the window. You see, I've never been to NYC or Chicago. And the other day, I took the drive down the I-90 (yes I'm well aware you Chicagoans don't refer to highways affectionately as "the" such and such, but old habits die hard.) Coming into the city was something else. Look right, skyline, to the left, skyline. Big tall fucking buildings that go on forever.

Sorry if I seem like a yokel with my skyline envy, but we just don't see those kinds of things out west. We (until recently) have had plenty of land to spread OUT so most places in SF and LA don't go higher than 3 stories. But it appears Chicago had the mind to build UP and not OUT.

Just a random observation. Pretty fucking cool.

[LSK]

1. you mean the view from the Kennedy

Yes, Chicago's skyline kicks ass! :hi:

[Taverner]

3. Yep. And what your pic DOESN'T show

Is that to the right and left is EVEN MORE SKYLINE....

It blew my fragile little Californian mind...

[terrya]

4. That's a great view of the skyline

We do have a fantastic skyline.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

2. As a native Illinoisian and a current New Yorker

I have to say that NYC's skyline dwarfs Chicago's. Chicago's is probably a little prettier -- but New York's is gigantic and is sort of split into two sections. The view from the other side of the East River is truly a testament to engineering.

[SteppingRazor]

6. I agree. The NYC skyline is the best in the US...

even looking from the inside out, it's awesome -- just skyscrapers as far as you can see in every direction. But try not to look around gape-mouthed too much. That's how you get jacked. :evilgrin:

[grace0418]

14. Yes, Chicago's is pretty but NYC's is awe-inspiring.

I love both cities myself. I love Seattle, SF and Portland too. I really like cities.

[Dora]

5. Eh. Makes me feel claustrophobic, like I'm driving into a hive.

I live in Austin, and the city council is discussing zoning changes in order to approve a new 47(?) story building. My skin crawls just imagining the change to our fine small-city skyline.

[JVS]

7. As a Pittsburgh native, I feel comfortable with my native skyline

[Dora]

9. Been there once.

Loved it.

[Ravenseye]

23. Yeah. Quality, not size

Chicago and NYC are nice and all, but they remind me more of steel and cement mountain ranges which really seem unnatural. I prefer smaller skylines.

[I Have A Dream]

36. Yeah, there's nothing like coming out of the Ft. Pitt Tunnel at night!

Sigh! :)

[Mutley]

8. Baltimore's is alright, but not as cool as NYC or Chicago.

And it's rather small, too.

Here's a couple different angles of it:

[grace0418]

10. This Chicagoan would give that up gladly to live in Northern Cali.

Not that I don't think the skyline is awesome. I really love when we're coming south on Lake Shore Drive on a sunny day. The view is fantastic.

I always like skyline shots that have Lake Michigan in the frame.



But back to my original point, the think I hate about living in Chicago is that there is very little to do and see outside the city. I think most city dwellers, no matter how much they love living in the city (and I do), want to get away now and then. The choices in California are so varied and so gorgeous. Mountains, redwoods, desert, the ocean, wine country... sigh. Outside Chicago there is corn, and outlet malls, and other cities (which are also great but they're still cities).

[terrya]

12. That's true about outside of Chicago

You are right. Once you get out of the city there's...well...suburbs. And big malls. And..well, there's O'Hare...

Which is why I don't get out of the city all that often.

[grace0418]

13. Yeah, if I didn't have family in the burbs I wouldn't leave very often.

Well, I take that back. I actually work in Lincolnwood so I guess I'm in the suburbs 5 days a week. But I race back into the protective border of the city as soon as I leave work! ;) Unless I go to a movie in Evanston. But Evanston is practically like the city anyway.

[terrya]

15. Ok...yes, sometimes I'll head up to Evanston.

I do like Evanston. There's a cool movie theater I like (well, it's a multi-plex. I think we're both talking about the same one). And Evanston has some pretty decent restaurants. It's pretty accessible if you don't own a car...like me. I just take the Red Line to Howard, then catch the Purple Line. It is almost like the city.

[grace0418]

19. Yes, we're talking about the same place! I love seeing movies there.

My husband works at NU so I know Evanston pretty well. I always tell him that if we have to move to the suburbs, it must be somewhere that the el goes. That way I'll still be connected to the city.

[realisticphish]

11. nope

I like Columbus' skyline. Nice downtown with tall skyscrapers, and then quickly changing into residential neighborhoods.

[johnnie]

16. I was amazed the first time I flew into Chicago

It was huge. But I have to say that I am not one for the big city so I don't get envious of the skyline. I like mountains, trees and pastures.

[Autonomy]

17. I agree NYC has the best skyline

deleted my post, decided to start a topic on it instead

[Ptah]

18. Nope.

[B3Nut]

20. Yup...I go to Chicago regularly

though Madison has its own charms, what with the capitol on the hill. Lovely city, but it's small. Chicago kicks ass. :)

I don't know if I could hack living in Chicago...well...I probably could, but my wife would go bananas. I love the public transit Chicago has, but I'd still keep my car.

Todd in Beerbratistan

[greatauntoftriplets]

21. The skyline is best seen from a boat out in Lake Michigan.

Too bad the weather is so shitty. The temperature should be in the upper 60s about now.

[anarch]

22. nah...only in Cincinnati

[Bridget Burke]

24. This Houstonian doesn't envy NYC's skyline.

Of course it's much bigger than ours. But the "roots" of our skyline are generally deserted, evenings & weekends. Even at lunchtime, many downtown workers use the tunnel system; not that I blame them for wanting to get out of the heat. People are working to bring downtown Houston back, but it's slow going.

I envy NYC for its busy streets. With multitudes of shops, restaurants, bars--& people--many of whom actually LIVE in town. Most of the businesses are not in skyscrapers, but in smaller, oldish buildings. Houston has pulled down most of our equivalent buidings. Not just to build new skyscrapers--usually they are replaced by parking lots! Which makes for some bleak areas downtown.

I haven't spent much time in Chicago, but I'll bet their downtown is more lively, too.

At least Houston has the Art Car Parade--there WILL be people downtown tomorrow.

[Arugula Latte]

25. I thought NY's was amazing until I saw Tokyo ...

:wow:

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Well, you get the idea ...

[NewJeffCT]

26. No, Shanghai makes NYC look old & small

http://www.maxgarber.com/gallery/China/shanghai_skyline

[Arugula Latte]

31. That looks like "the city of the future" people were waiting for in

the 50s and 60s. All that is missing are the flying cars ...

[WritingIsMyReligion]

27. Uh, not really.

They look very nice, but we Mainers generally are loyal to our long stretches of (un-built-up) coast line.

:P

[Brigid]

28. Indianapolis has a pretty good skyline,

for a city its size. I've been to NYC once, and Chicago a couple of times; I like Chicago's skyline the best. I sometimes think of moving there, but the cost of living -- there or any other large city -- is horrendous. Even Indy is getting that way.

[MadHound]

29. I've never been a big fan of city skylines

They're nice and all, but they're artificial, a construct. All they really say to me is that here resides a mass of people all living in a behvioral sink, slowly going crazy amongst the crime, pollution, noise, stench, and squalor.

Give me a clear view of nature anytime, with only the sounds of nature, the smell of clean air, and the relaxation of being away from the crowded ratrace.

I moved away from an urban area just for those reasons, and I find city skylines so unattractive I'm never going back if I can help it. They're nice to visit and all, but no way am I going to live in one again.

[hfojvt]

30. I never really cared about skyline

but I experienced a strange affect. I went to school at the University of Minnesota. Trimesters were ten weeks, at which point I would return to my hometown in SD. When I got home the town looked so small. Tiny little houses and buildings. Things like my church, post office, federal building and junior high school looked so tiny, like I could pick them up or jump right over them, like they were matchbox buildings. It was funny.

[Cos]

32. I like the unbalanced look

Growing up first in Haifa Israel (with its mountain forming the "skyline") and then Boston, with frequent trips to New York, I got used to unbalanced skylines where you have a big cluster of tall buildings and then off to the side a few taller ones, separate from the main cluster. Boston is still like that, but New York lost its unbalanced skyline on 9/11. It still looks weird to me - it looks like a big city skyline. It doesn't look like New York. It bothers me. I prefer Boston's look.

[ScreamingMeemie]

33. Give me that acreage free of buildings, and I'd agree with you.

Skyline's are a blight in my small town, country girl mind. :hi:

[Nikia]

34. I think that the view is cool in Chicago

I have never been to NY. It is much bigger than Toledo or Cleveland, which I thought were cool growing up. If we want to maintain large populations and keep our green areas, cities really have to build up not out. I think that a building several stories high is more attractive than a one story big box store anyway.

[mwooldri]

35. Not really. Besides Londoners like their skyline:

it formed as the local weekday independent TV channels' logo during the 1970's and 1980's (before they lost their licence to someone else).

How much prouder of a skyline can you get when your media uses it?



heck even that got parodied by Kenny Everett....



Now THAT's a skyline!!!!

[Pithlet]

37. I love Chicago's skyline.

Driving into the city with the buildings stretching out forever is thrilling. I love nature, too, especially mountains. Both are awe inspiring in their own way.