Top US Skylines (Best Ranking of Skyline Size by its Footprint in the CBD)

This video is part of a series that explores several metrics for measuring skylines.
   • Top US Skylines  (Best Ranking of Sky...  

This video is an estimate of the largest US skylines based on their contiguous footprint. Only the Central Business District (CBD) and immediate adjacent (within 0.25 miles) areas with buildings 20 stories or 200ft and taller was considered. This ranking does not look at the beauty/aesthetics of the skyline, only the size.

Some of the cities (Atlanta , Houston, LA, and Miami, etc) have multiple skylines in various parts of their metropolitan areas; Although these secondary skylines may have significant height, they were considered too far away to have a reasonable impact on the skyline of the CBD and its immediate vicinity. Cities like Houston, which ranks third in the US in regards to height , ranks lower because the footprint of the CBD is more compact; in addition that height is spread out to the multiple areas.

This ranking does not heavily weigh density ;(where NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia , San Francisco and Seattle excel) . Notably, Atlanta, Dallas and Miami have made significant increases in density in the last decade.

In general there are a number of ways to rank skylines (size of their footprints, height of their buildings, sheer number of buildings etc, ). If someone says my city has 7 buildings taller than 700ft (but only 30 other buildings in their CBD and 40 more in secondary areas); and someone else says my city has 70 buildings taller than 500ft (but nothing greater than 600ft, yet 120 buildings in the CBD) . Either one can rightfully claim that their skyline is larger based on consideration of height or amount of development.

This ranking only focus on the CBD's. Although secondary skylines may have significant development, they were considered too far away to have a reasonable impact on the skyline of the CBD and its immediate vicinity.