# Over/Underrated Skylines



## megadrinker (Oct 9, 2005)

Underrated: 
Montreal--» the skyline isn't tall, but its dense and very very building shape is unique in the city!!!

Overrated:
Vancouver and Toronto--» A lot of building but no diversity


----------



## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

Overrated: 
Mexico city
Detroit
Hong Kong
Singapore
London
Toronto
Frankfurt

Underrated:
Seoul
Bangkok
Urumqi
Miami

Always great:
New York
Chicago
Shanghai


----------



## TalB (Jun 8, 2005)

Overrated
Dubai
Shanghai
Las Vegas

Underrated
Tel Aviv
Jerusalem
Haifa


----------



## Travis007 (Jul 19, 2004)

Overrated:
-New York City
-Hong Kong
-Tokyo
-Los Angeles
-Houston
-Toronto
-Vancouver
-Dubai
-London
-Paris
-Frankfurt 

Underrated:
-Shanghai
-Bangkok
-Metro Manila
-Buenos Aires
-Seattle
-Tel Aviv
-Melbourne
-Chongqing
-Seoul


----------



## mongozx (Sep 30, 2005)

Shanghai's skyline is very underrated in SSC. How can anyone not admire the Jin Mao tower surrounded by dozens and dozens of 700 footers by the Yangtze River?

Other underrated skylines: Buenos Aires, Seoul, and Vancouver. But it's nice to know that they're finally being discovered by a few TRUE skyscraper enthusiasts that don't let their hometown bias get the best of them. I found Vancouver's gorgeous cluster very unappreciated by many forummers because of its lack of a supertall but it sure does blow away many overrated skylines ie: Dubai and Toronto.


----------



## petey (Nov 10, 2004)

overrated: Dubai, Seoul, Tokyo
underrated: Shanghai and other Chinese cities


----------



## Kingsken (Mar 5, 2004)

Overrated:
Warsaw
Dubai

Underrated:
Brussels


----------



## SkyLerm (Nov 26, 2005)

Overrated: Rotterdam, London
Underrated:Riyadh, Taipei


----------



## premier (Dec 28, 2005)

overrated:
London.


----------



## gronier (Mar 2, 2005)

Overrated

Toronto
Los Angeles
Buenos Aires
Hong Kong
Manila

Underrated:

Des Moines
Dubai
Chicago
Frankfurt
Santiago
Guangzhou


----------



## dubaiflo (Jan 3, 2005)

i know i am from dubai and all, but dubai's current skyline is definetly not overrated, the current skyline does not get a lot attention here in the forums, and i am not only talking about Sheikh Zayed Road but also about the Creek/Old Town skyline.


not to mention the skyline UC of course.


----------



## 2zanzibar (Dec 13, 2005)

*Underrated*

SanFrancisco
Sydney
Warsaw

*Overrated*

London 
Paris
Frankfurt
LA

*Can NEVER be overrated*

New York
Chicago
Rio de Janeiro
Hong Kong

*Wished that someone would rate them but they're just too dull*

Birmingham
Atlanta

*Should be in the Underrated list*

Bogota
Toronto

*So vulgar it hurts*

Shanghai
Miami
Riyadh

*So hideous that it defies belief and all previous classification*

Dubai


----------



## ayelt (Oct 25, 2003)

Overrated:

London


----------



## dubaiflo (Jan 3, 2005)

2zanzibar said:


> *So hideous that it defies belief and all previous classification*
> 
> Dubai


:rofl:


----------



## LSyd (Aug 31, 2003)

overrated:

Hong Kong - too repetitve, and not enough of a line, plus the mountains are distracting; the best and tallest towers are also too close to each other.

any place in the Netherlands - needs more denisty and beauty

Houston - too many clunky, bland, cheapass, modern corporate towers that block out the older beauties at many angles

underrated: 

London - too much focus is just on The City and Canary Wharf; you've also got a nice but short skyline looking west; not to mention there's a lot of great angles where stuff lines up well 

Atlanta and Frankfut - great "sky-LINES;" awe-inspiring buildings

Jacksonville - nice buildings and nice river setting with bridges

New York City - still great, even without its two tallest buildings

Dubai - it's a baby as far as skylines go, but one hell of a baby

Philly - great variety and density

Nashville, Birmingham, Jackson, and lots of other smaller cities - nice mix of style and considering the smaller size, they look bigger than the city is



2zanzibar said:


> *Wished that someone would rate them but they're just too dull*
> 
> Birmingham
> Atlanta


i love Birmingham's skyline (you mean USA, right? England's not too shabby either.) it's what i see out of my window.

-


----------



## Beholder (Dec 3, 2005)

underrated: Wellington - small and tall at the same time...


----------



## Jules (Jun 27, 2004)

Overrated: Shang Hai, Toronto, San Francisco, Vancouver, Dubai for now, we'll see later as it grows

Underrated: Detroit, Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, Philadelphia


----------



## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Actually the mountains and natural scenery add the beauty of HK's skyline. 

Anyway, 

overrated - HK, New York, Shanghai, Dubai

underrated - Manila, Urumqi, Gold Coast, Caracas


----------



## LSyd (Aug 31, 2003)

WANCH said:


> Actually the mountains and natural scenery add the beauty of HK's skyline.
> 
> Anyway,
> 
> ...


i disagree; HK's water's nice, but the mountains just don't mix in well, IMO. there are cities where the mountains really add to the city (Salt Lake City, Busan,) but they just look distracting in HK.

-


----------



## Shanghai City (Jan 22, 2006)

Overrated:
Toronto
Dubai
Miami
London
a little bit New York
Tokyo

Underrated:
Los Angeles
Shanghai 
Urumqi
Bangkok


----------



## GregPz (Oct 30, 2004)

Overated

*London* Nice city but definitely not for skyscrapers. Skyline just looks grey (but maybe that's just the weather)
*Rotterdam* I just don't get why people on these forums think it has a good skyline. No decent height, no density and no good looking buildings.
*Atlanta* Too spread out and simply not as great as it's made out to be.
*Sao Paulo* Just a sprawling mass with no distiguishing buildings or height.

Underated

*Naples* A good skyline where you least expect it.
*Durban* Good density and some nice looking buildings in a beautiful setting.
*Boston* Lovely downtown cluster that doesn't get enough attention


----------



## sharpie20 (Nov 5, 2005)

Overrated:
Tokyo
Los Angeles
Vancouver
Canary wharf
La defense

Underated:
Honolulu
Sao Paulo
Manila
Urumqi


----------



## The Mad Hatter!! (Oct 27, 2004)

overrated:
london---claimed to be one of the best skylines yet i only see like 4 buildings and none of them are that tall.
san francisco:ugly IMO
DUBAI:not that great


underrated:
toronto: beautiful tall and getting better
miami:hey im biased,and of course its going to be on of the top5 skylines in the US soon.
los angeles: i personally dont like la to much but alot of ppl dont know how nice this skyline really is.


----------



## dougmatic (Oct 16, 2005)

toronto and especially miami are the overrated ones, in my opinion. san francisco is beautiful.


----------



## ToRoNto g-town (Nov 26, 2005)

i notices how many people r cutting up Toronto, its not THAT over rated and its skyline still isnt horible, you have to see it in person to appriciate it...and london aswell its on the overrated list quite a few times, when London is an amazing city and rarely gets complimented on its skyline (because it isnt all that great) just sayin i dunt think it should b cut up that much but im sure u all have ur reasons.


----------



## jiggawhat? (Nov 12, 2004)

Overrated:
-Vancouver 
-Hong Kong
-dubai

Underrated:
-Los Angeles
-Seattle
-San Diego


----------



## Avatar (Sep 11, 2002)

Overrated...
Toronto


----------



## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

GregPz said:


> *Rotterdam*...and no good looking buildings.


I disagree. IMO the Montevideo, the Port Authority building, the Westin Hotel and some smaller ones (especially the Ernst&Young building) are all nice highrises. They just have one problem: They are hidden between all the bland and ugly highrises (except of Montevideo and the Porth Authority Building, which are exposed)


----------



## Ar3Man (Oct 11, 2005)

Super - Overrated:

-Shanghai


Underrated:

-Seattle
-Melbourne
-Seoul


----------



## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Hong Kong's skyline is very overrated. I see more photos of HK's skyline compared to other skylines around Asia!


----------



## nomarandlee (Sep 24, 2005)

Overrated - Toronto takes the cake. A good skyline but some T-Dot's are genuinely shocked when it is not considered to be a top five skyline by some. Its good but it needs a some stand out tall's and some great talls away from the cluster. It looks like they will get these in the near future though.

London - Other then Swiss Re Londons tall commercial buildings are some of the most lamest and unimagantive I think in the world. It should be much improved in 5-10 years but right now the skyline is pretty bad.

Singapore - its good no doubt but I often see it mentioned in the top 4 because it has a nice cluster. Still they don't have enough talls to really wow me to any degree. Its very good but far from the very best.


Underrated 
- Manila. Not very tall but nice and dense and pretty intreasting.
- Pittsburgh. The best "little" skyline in the world I would claim. Some people know of it but others still don't know of it.
- Paris - It sure doesn't wow me but the quality seems very sleek and high. Also La Defense buildings have a certain charecther look which I tend to like. It could use a little mixing of style though.


----------



## zulu69 (Sep 5, 2003)

Underrated:

Seattle
Philly
Chicago (i think can be equalled but not surpassed)
Melbourne
Gold Coast 
Sao Paulo
Buenos Aires

Overrated:

Canary wharf
La defense
-the above two can only be faulted for their skylines (as the city is concerned), but for me it is a great thing that they resist the urge to destroy their priceless past which is much much nicer anyway.

Shanghai - way too polluted in pics i have seen. Great designs otherwise, but what is the point if only a handful of buildings can be seen thro the haze.

Toronto - not a bad skyline but it is the way their forumers go on about it makes you think it is 100x better and frankly it doesn't meet their opinions.


----------



## Jaye101 (Feb 16, 2005)

Nouvellecosse said:


> *Overrated:*
> *- Toronto.* Too corporate and severe. Also, there really aren't that many supertalls for a NA city of its size and wealth. Many people quote the impressive total number of buildings, but many of those buildings are low and midrise, and aren't even visible in the skyline. This is still a great skyline mind you, and its abundance of low and midrise buildings is wonderful at street level, but people have an unfortunate habit of overrating it.


Sorry, I have to reply to this. I know Toronto skyline is overrated though.

Name one North American city with the same or around the same Metro population, that has a better skyline, (Cities in that range would be: Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, or Philadelphia). The number of highrises is ~1,600, metro area is around 2,000. Those are highrises, not midrises, or lowrises.



Overrated:
-Toronto
-Vancouver
-Frankfurt

Underrated: 
Waaaaaay too many to list.


----------



## Shion Uzuki (Nov 10, 2004)

Overrated: Toronto

I live in Toronto, and I am surprised that its being taked so mcuh here. Waterfront could be developed better IMO.

Underrated: Macau, Toyko

Tokyo deserves more... everything is very spread out.

Never overrated: NYC, HK

It was nothing when I lived in HK, but coming back after 10 yrs in Toronto I was totally amazed. Have to be there in person. The geography there is unique, and so is the HK skyline. NY. Soo sooo much skyscrapers...

Does not fit into the skyline category: London, Paris

They're historical. I don't think its right to compare them with modern skyline (because we interpret the term as being modern)


----------



## nomarandlee (Sep 24, 2005)

Jaye101 said:


> Sorry, I have to reply to this. I know Toronto skyline is overrated though.
> 
> Name one North American city with the same or around the same Metro population, that has a better skyline, (Cities in that range would be: Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, or Philadelphia). The number of highrises is ~1,600, metro area is around 2,000. Those are highrises, not midrises, or lowrises.
> 
> .



The VAST VAST majority of those 1,600 buildings are under 200 feet and many are away from the downtown. One can in no way appreciate or frankly care about all those 150 foot high rises miles away from Torontos CBD. I would describe anything that is 200-400ft as likely a mid-rise. And other then a few hundreds of those they are all around or under 200ft.

That would be like saying people should take into account Chicago's MANY high rises along its lakefront 4 miles to the north or the talls in Brooklyn or Jersey City when taking into account NYC skyline. Yes, the number of 100-150ft apartment and condo buildings are impressive in Toronto but if you are going to go by that measure then Sao Paulo would be the undisputed champ in the world. People are mostly take into account the CBD and its immediate surroundings when factoring in skyline and Toronto is at the same level or at least in the same neighborhood (not significantly by any measure) then those other NA city's of similar size.


----------



## XCRunner (Nov 19, 2005)

Most underrated skyline ever: Minneapolis.


----------



## i_am_hydrogen (Dec 9, 2004)

Underrated:
Los Angeles
Kansas City

Overrated:
Atlanta


----------



## Gravitas (Sep 24, 2005)

I don't know how any of you can really make any judgement about such places like Dubai and Shanghai. Any country where's there a mass transformation occuring, there can't be any real conclusions except of course for those here that have nationalistic motivations.

Some of you are arguing for Los Angeles! Maybe some day if there's a real commitment for renewal there. It reminds me of Las Vegas though. Any where near the strip or tourists areas looks great, but when you travel literally just one block over, it's like rundown city.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

nomarandlee said:


> The VAST VAST majority of those 1,600 buildings are under 200 feet and many are away from the downtown. One can in no way appreciate or frankly care about all those 150 foot high rises miles away from Torontos CBD. I would describe anything that is 200-400ft as likely a mid-rise. And other then a few hundreds of those they are all around or under 200ft.
> 
> That would be like saying people should take into account Chicago's MANY high rises along its lakefront 4 miles to the north or the talls in Brooklyn or Jersey City when taking into account NYC skyline. Yes, the number of 100-150ft apartment and condo buildings are impressive in Toronto but if you are going to go by that measure then Sao Paulo would be the undisputed champ in the world. People are mostly take into account the CBD and its immediate surroundings when factoring in skyline and Toronto is at the same level or at least in the same neighborhood (not significantly by any measure) then those other NA city's of similar size.


Ahh, I expected to see you getting your claws into Toronto. Don't you 
have anything else to do in life than whine about TO?


----------



## LANative (Aug 28, 2005)

Gravitas said:


> Some of you are arguing for Los Angeles! Maybe some day if there's a real commitment for renewal there. It reminds me of Las Vegas though. Any where near the strip or tourists areas looks great, but when you travel literally just one block over, it's like rundown city.


There is a lot renewal going down in L.A. Give L.A. another 5-10 years (im hoping 5 years) you'll see a lot will have changed.


----------

