Here's a cool view of Evanston, Illinois. It's a little old, but still cool.
Chump Tower is missing from Chicago's distant skyline, so it's before 2008.

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p...ge/2998304.jpg
http://static.panoramio.com/photos

https://shalomrav.files.wordpress.co...ston.jpg?w=590

I love this photo. I know it's one of Steely's favorites. There's been a bunch of decent-sized infill in Evanston since it was taken as well, both downtown and along Chicago Avenue.

No respect for LA?

http://images.metroscenes.com/images...nes.com_37.jpg

link

one of my favorites of one of my favorite cities, Milwaukee.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eedowntown.jpg

:cheers:

apologies if it's been posted before... i hadn't seen it in the thread.

source: wikimedia

^^^^

So much potential given its urban form. I see that river as the stretch of skyscrapers in the future. A mini-chicago in the sense.

Tom Servo, great job in finding these photos! Those views of SF are my favorites.

Yeah, that second aerial of SF is fucking sick.

You know... I've been to SF; it's a great city, and it just doesn't feel as harshly urban as it looks from above. The lack of trees really makes it appear pretty stark. In my experience though, its urban feel is no different than Chicago or Montreal or even certain parts of Manhattan. IMO, Philadelphia is a far more 'intense' urban experience. IMO, South Philly is by far the most bleak urban area that I've been to in NA. And I've been to every major city except for Atlanta. San Francisco is actually rather beautiful and has nowhere near the harsh urban feel as it appears to have in these aerial photos. Maybe everything being the same height has a lot to do with its harsh appearance too. In any event, thought I'd through my 2 cents in as these aerial photos don't do very well to illustrate the true feel of a city.

Another great (and very hilly too) West Coast city with an awesome vibe, Seattle!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...r_2011_-_2.jpg
wikipedia, 2011

...oh, and why not Portland too? Hipster Capital of the world.

http://purpleroofs.com/newsletters20.../Aerial-13.jpg
http://purpleroofs.com
http://thefabweb.com/wp-content/uplo...db94ae48_h.jpg
http://thefabweb.com

Vancouver to round out the Pacific NW...
https://grist.files.wordpress.com/20...ver-aerial.jpg
https://grist.files.wordpress.com 2010
http://assets.vancitybuzz.com/wp-con...8_o.jpg?c71332
http://assets.vancitybuzz.com 2013
http://d3exkutavo4sli.cloudfront.net...-present-4.jpg
www.mededconference.ca 2011

Portland is very deceiving when it comes to its density, but its pretty packed. That lost shot really illustrates it.

Found this browsing the web. Older, but it really shows off Kansas City in a way that makes me want to visit it.

• Video Link

No sound unfortunately, but if theres a good song you like, play it while watching it. Makes it the epic.

Here's a Miami one:
(courtesy of QuantumX @ ssc)
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2895/...74257e55_b.jpg

another QuantumX production:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5564/...f6fa3179_b.jpgDSC_1346 by Quantum2010, on Flickr

The core definitely is. I wonder why there aren't more highrises, though.

Here are a few of Houston:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8586/...325cd2f0_c.jpg
https://dilemmaxdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/houston-aerial-1.jpg

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/b...ton-texans.jpg
http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/279/files/2014/12/nfl-indianapolis-colts-houston-texans.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7427/...11d0203b_b.jpg
http://www.streamrealty.com/houston/

These last two are a little closer up.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7408/...e644872e_b.jpg
http://s3.amazonaws.com/citybuzz/2014/07/houston-photos/photos-of-houston-20.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8666/...e2dd973a_c.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/HoustonTX.jpg

Some great, and pretty recent, pictures of SF by Scriptunas Images

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7285/...7e3ecc8f_b.jpg
San Francisco Aerials by Scriptunas Images, on Flickr
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8651/...1fea3ca6_b.jpg
San Francisco Aerials by Scriptunas Images, on Flickr

If you've ever been to Portland, you'd realize that it's just not a 'high-rise' kind of place. Within that 'core' area between the river and the west hills is the most cosmopolitan you'll get, and even then it's very fine grain and intimate with street cars on every other street. The condos you see there are all of the low-rise sort, if even that. In Portland, you get a very strong sense that the city as a whole is decidedly non-highrise/non-cosmopolitan. And really, once you get past the warehouses on the east side of the river, most of the city is quaint, single family home neighborhoods with garden yards and chicken coops, very earth-first.

http://williamsanddame.com/wp-conten...l-district.jpg
williamsanddame.com

Here's a good aerial of the entire city, not just the central core.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...dOR-aerial.jpg
upload.wikimedia

Fifty years ago, Portland was indistinguishable from cities like Indianapolis in terms of the built environment. River city, light industry, all about freeways and urban redevelopment, a sprawling low-density suburb in search of a center. Today, it has one of the most extensive and highest performing light rail networks in the nation, a growth boundary that continues to concentrate development in the center, a vital and healthy downtown shopping district with nearby high-rise office and mid-rise residential districts. PDX has the 'cool' factor without requiring a Manhattan income, and vies with Minneapolis for the title of America's bicycle capital as every big city grows its bike share. The notable thing about Portland isn't what it used to be, or what it is right now necessarily, so much as the kind of city the ongoing momentum is making it into.

Agreed PDX is low-density by West Coast and global standards. It doesn't have census tracts exceeding 100k per square mile, or an especially notable collection of skyscrapers. But Portland is most certainly "cosmopolitan." A huge percentage of today's Portlanders are former New Yorkers, San Franciscans, Seattleites and Angelenos.

^ I think there are some who would dispute whether a large number of former residents of other American cities is evidence that a place is "cosmopolitan".

One of my German sisters lived there for a bit in the '90s, and my father lives there now. While it's certainly a progressive and interesting place (and provides more interesting things to do and eat than many places where one could visit a parent), it certainly feels like a small city.

I wasn't insulting the city; cosmopolitan wasn't the right word. (what's a better word for shiny, tall skyscrapers and wanna-be Sex In The City posers?) I was trying to say that it is very dense and urban in feel and has the same vibe as Seattle and, in a lot ways, San Francisco too. But is a city that lacks that pretentious Manhattan, big-city vibe that so many medium sized cities seem to strive for lately. Whatever its census tract numbers may be, it is a very tight and urban city, more so than many cities than have far greater populations than it. (Houston, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit...)

Thought this was a cool shot
http://media.chicagomag.com//images/....4761904761905
Iwan Baan, 2014