# Fame versus Fiction-America's big city skylines



## elliot (Dec 19, 2003)

NYC building like crazy of course and Chicago stepping up. No contest with NYC.

Phillie and San Fran growing taller small downtown clusters.

1. L.A. - featured and lovingly worshipped in a gazillion TV series and movies. But still a cluster of a dozen or so earth-quake proof downtown towers. How many repeat camera angles can carry the show.

2. Denver - boom town and early TV fame but the skyline looks basically the same to me, 15-20 years later.

3. Houston -less fame but a boomtown that also looks the same to me 15-20 years later. Perhaps fewer parking lots but more freeways?


^I know these cities are building but not seeing any significant skyline impact/change. 


4.Atlanta-no real fame except "Housewives" but becoming very busy in the TV/movie sweepstakes. Skyline is growing but spread well beyond most camera captures. Maybe too many NYC style knock offs.

5. Seattle - lots of fame but I don't see the change (many proposals).


NYC continues to out-perform (and obviously has the fame game locked).


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

When films/tv impose a US skyline shot near the beginning or insert a state license plate it's a dead give away that it's not shot/made there. They're trying to trick the viewer into thinking it's City X when it's obviously not. US Postal Service boxes, a US flag, or service vehicle with a US city name written across it are other big red flags. 

After 25+ years of it, Vancouver looks more like Seattle than Seattle does. At least with Toronto they now edit out the CN Tower but you can still usually tell in about 20-30 seconds. You'll see a standard Toronto street vista, a Canadian retailer, or way more Canadian actors than one normally sees. I suppose someone in Mali won't clue in.

Maybe they should just make Vancouver play Vancouver as half of us know its Vancouver already.


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## Kadzman (Aug 10, 2015)

isaidso said:


> When films/tv impose a US skyline shot near the beginning or insert a state license plate it's a dead give away that it's not shot/made there. They're trying to trick the viewer into thinking it's City X when it's obviously not. US Postal Service boxes, a US flag, or service vehicle with a US city name written across it are other big red flags.
> 
> After 25+ years of it, Vancouver looks more like Seattle than Seattle does. At least with Toronto they now edit out the CN Tower but you can still usually tell in about 20-30 seconds. You'll see a standard Toronto street vista, a Canadian retailer, or way more Canadian actors than one normally sees. I suppose someone in Mali won't clue in.
> 
> Maybe they should just make Vancouver play Vancouver as half of us know its Vancouver already.


I've always been confused about Gotham City and Metropolis..:lol:


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

Gotham not so much but the original 'Metropolis' in Superman was Toronto. The Daily Planet was modelled on the Toronto Daily Star where Joe Shuster worked as a paperboy. In a way it's come full circle. 


*The Daily Planet took inspiration from the old the Toronto Daily Star (now Toronto Star)*








Courtesy of Smithsonian magazine


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## Hudson11 (Jun 23, 2011)

If Los Angeles full builds out what it has in the pipeline, it will probably be the undisputed skyline No. 3 in the USA. But you could say the same about Miami. Both of them are huge centers of culture, but LA has the Hollywood advantage.


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## elliot (Dec 19, 2003)

Not really on topic lol, but Transbay has sort of usurped the classic SF skyline, and not in a good way.. good in a skyscraper way but..

Always thought that SF would benefit from some great design infill towers, and I know change is inevitable in large cities, but I wish they had taken the Paris approach and banished this mega project farther away (not so simple of course lol). Miss the pyramid as the downtown exclamation point. Corny, but just dreaming.

Still don't see much of a Houston, Dallas, Seattle change after many years.. maybe I'll update my glasses prescription.


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## Hudson11 (Jun 23, 2011)

Seattle has height limits that are forcing the skyline to plateau.


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## A Chicagoan (Aug 9, 2016)

elliot said:


> Not really on topic lol, but Transbay has sort of usurped the classic SF skyline, and not in a good way.. good in a skyscraper way but..
> 
> Always thought that SF would benefit from some great design infill towers, and I know change is inevitable in large cities, but I wish they had taken the Paris approach and banished this mega project farther away (not so simple of course lol). Miss the pyramid as the downtown exclamation point. Corny, but just dreaming.


The Transamerica Pyramid looks so small now that the Salesforce Tower is the tallest. I really wish they had done it so that the Pyramid would remain the centerpiece of the skyline.


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

A Chicagoan said:


> The Transamerica Pyramid looks so small now that the Salesforce Tower is the tallest. I really wish they had done it so that the Pyramid would remain the centerpiece of the skyline.


Cities need to continually re-invent themselves otherwise they fade away. Former centrepieces have gotten lost in a sea of skyscrapers in lots of cities around the world. It's a little sad but the alternative is the gradual transformation of a city into a museum. Look at Venice. It's pretty but unable to change with the times.


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## KillerZavatar (Jun 22, 2010)

isaidso said:


> When films/tv impose a US skyline shot near the beginning or insert a state license plate it's a dead give away that it's not shot/made there. [...]


the worst offender i have seen is the movie "HER". Set in a "futuristic Los Angeles". And they just shot parts in Lujiazui.


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## A Chicagoan (Aug 9, 2016)

^^ Because except for people like us, nobody would notice. Yeah, right.


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## vfG (Mar 11, 2008)

I don't know... The urban environnement is really really really different... Skyscraper designs, density, walkable streets and public spaces, skywalks and usable public transport... For most American cities, it is quite a stretch...

I assume that one day, some American cities will in some aspects look like their Asian counterparts, but 2025 is quite ambitious for such a difference in term of urban development, we are talking about LA... USA


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