Give your opinion of the top 10 skylines in the U.S. & top 10 in the world
 

These are just opinions, but should be based on objective quantitative facts . Consider the number of supertalls, and overall skyscrapers (perhaps over 400 or 500 feet, or maybe 150 meters).

Also give your opinion of the most beautiful, aesthetic and balanced skylines. Here, the beauty and balance of the skyscraper arrangement, mix of old and new buildings, architectural significance of buildings, and geographic setting can count more than the number of skyscrapers. Here you can be more subjective, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder. On this beauty list, smaller skylines can shine. But in some cases, the top skyline in numbers can also be on you "beauty" list, or not. For example, NYC is in the top 10 in numbers, but how about beauty? Some might say no. Some might put Hong Kong on both numbers and beauty lists. I would. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, San Francisco, Montreal and Cincinnati won't make the top 10 in numbers, but might rank high in beauty. Etc. Don't just pump your home city unless you truly believe it belongs on the list(s).

Skylines can change dramatically depending on the direction from which you view them.

Seattle's skyline as seen from Elliot Bay (or West Seattle) doesn't do much for me. But the views from I-5, both from the South and the North, are very impressive.

I really do not like the cliché view of the western wall of Downtown Houston, or the view from due South. But all four 45-degree angled views are also very impressive.

San Francisco's skyline is coming along nicely. LA's deserves mention.

Toronto's is becoming huge.

Singapore's has been impressive for decades.

Kuala Lumpur's is newly impressive. It was almost nothing when my parents lived there in the late 70s.

Hong Kong's is amazing.

New York's has, in my opinion, been damaged by the new supertalls and a few others.

I will always love Chicago's. Unless they eff it up. I love the view from Fullerton Beach.

There are also so many in Central and South America, as well as China, that I've never encountered personally but are still amazingly impressive.

ETA: Philadelphia's has become very nice. Only seen it in photos, though.

I agree about NYC. At or near the top worldwide, but almost too many buildings and separate clusters, plus the extremely narrow and tall new residentials damage the beauty and balance in my opinion.

As for coming up with top 10 lists, too much work ( or thought) for me to do right now.

Nonsense.

But besides that. As for top ten, idk. It's hard to do that definitely in the US past like the top 2 (New York by far and then Chicago). But I'd probably put Philadelphia, San Francisco, Miami, LA, etc in there. Maybe Austin once a lot of the big ones are completed.

As for the world, NYC, HK and Shenzhen definitely. Then it gets muddied. Chongqing, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, are also in there somewhere.

Top 10 US skylines grouped into tiers:

NYC

Chicago

LA, SF, Philly

Houston, Dallas, Atlanta

Miami, Seattle

LOL! Which part of “in my opinion” do you not understand?

this is mine but flip tiers 4 and 5. the setting of both, the massing of seattle's, the sheer size of miami's win out easily

Chicago (massing is just perfect)
New York (not a fan of the skinny towers)
Hong Kong
Shanghai
Houston (best viewed from the south)
Singapore
Toronto
SF
Seattle
Philly

Nobody has mentioned Dubai yet. Interesting. Maybe just too many new. Helps to have some older buildings to provide beauty and variety and history.

Cincinnati, Kansas City and St. Louis are smaller skylines with a nice mix of old and new. Philly a medium skyline with old and new, as is Pittsburgh and of course Detroit. And of course NYC and Chicago have the historical mix. L.A. does too, but the older ones are mostly 150' or less because of the pre 1960s height limit. City Hall (built in the 1920s) was exempted, and rises to 454' and is iconic to the skyline although it is hidden by all the new taller buildings except from the north. San Francisco also has a pleasing mix of old and new, and of course a spectacular location which gives it a high beauty rank.

I would place Hong Kong near the top of world rank, both for number of skyscrapers, and the beauty of the setting. It loses some beauty rank for the lack of older skyscrapers, but that is a minor quibble. No Chinese cities have taller older buildings that stand out. Entering Hong Kong harbor for the first time is a stunning experience.

In the US, two groups, in no particular order inside them:

- New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit;

- Cleveland, St. Louis, San Francisco, Atlanta


In the World:

- Hong Kong, Sydney, Johannesburg, London, Frankfurt, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Mexico City, Tokyo


I understand we're talking about skyline meaning skyscrapers and highrises. If it's to include any skyline, than I'd have several European cities.

US:

NY
Chicago
Miami
Houston
LA
Philly
SF
Seattle
Boston
Dallas (maybe Atlanta?)

World:

Shenzhen
Hong Kong
NYC
Shanghai
Dubai
Guangzhou
Kuala Lumpur
Chicago
Tokyo
Singapore (maybe Jakarta or Chongqing?)


Chicago is still the only Western city aside from NYC I'd still throw into the top 10 globally, both statistically and aesthetically, seems to be hanging on the edge though with so many Asian cities booming. Hopefully Chicago's next boom comes soon.

NY is safe in the top 5 because it's NY.

I feel like Chicago would be great with another standout tower, like Tribune East which hopefully will actually get built. Then, as almost all cities in the US do, it needs a ton of apartment towers. It'd be great to a lot more 500 - 800 ft infill, even more than it's getting now.

regarding the near future, Toronto's skyline is getting more expansive every year with 5 suppertall about to grace the skyline soon.

https://flic.kr/p/2nSTDTc

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d6af80f6_k.jpg
https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/attach...69-jpg.416705/

I'm judging these on beauty and form. NYC is enormous but looks like a hot mess. As do its super huge peers around the world like Tokyo or Sao Paulo so I'm excluding them. In America, the best skylines are:

1. Chicago
2. San Francisco
3. Los Angeles
4. Seattle
5. Denver
6. Minneapolis
7. Philadelphia
8. Pittsburgh
9. Cleveland
10. Phoenix

World

1. Toronto
2. Sydney
3. Melbourne
4. Hong Kong
5. Moscow
6. Frankfurt
7. Montreal
8. Rio
9. Shanghai
10. Monterrey, Mexico

Honorable mention to the most unique skyline in the world, Vladivostok, Russia. The San Francisco of Russia!

Dubai's skyline is one huge row (Sheikh Zayed Rd) of buildings and doesn't look as organic as other skylines.

I beg to differ

Dubai

https://alertify.eu/wp-content/uploa...ai-skyline.jpg https://gulfbusiness.com/wp-content/...2/04/DMCC.jpeg

https://theblockchainland.com/wp-con...smartcity.jpeg

https://minglecity.com/wp-content/up...featured-1.jpg

This list has to be an elaborate joke...

Top 10 North America:

1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. Toronto
4. Philadelphia
5. San Francisco
6. Vancouver
7. Miami
8. Minneapolis
9. Pittsburgh
10. Charlotte

Globally, I'm not familiar with the more obscure Chinese cities with massive skylines, but Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen should all probably be in the top 10. It would be hard for me to imagine any city in Europe making the top 10 since towers aren't really in the culture over there. Anyway, here's my list:

1. Hong Kong
2. Shenzhen
3. NYC
4. Shanghai
5. Seoul
6. Tokyo
7. Chicago
8. São Paulo
9. Toronto
10. Rio de Janeiro