Los Angeles qualifies in a way; there is a downtown skyline with a number of respectably tall skyscrapers, but most people so rarely go downtown that it might as well be another city.
On the other hand, the surrounding mountains do make for a different kind of skyline. On a clear day, from a good vantage point, the expansive sequence of low, light-colored buildings against the Santa Monica can be rather attractive.
Santa Fe, NM and Palm Springs, CA (populations unknown) have a limit of 3 or 4 stories for buildings. Therefore, there should be no skyline visible from anywhere.
Charleston, SC, has a Board of Architectural Review (BAR), and any new edifice in the designated area under its review (downtown and environs) must comport with the historical layout of the city. Until recently (within the last 10 years), there were no buildings taller than 4 stories. In addition, the architectural motif must be consonant with the historical basis of the city. However, within the last 10 years, BAR has provided numerous exemptions. The latest, the new Federal Judicial Buidling, initially was drawn up for six stories. After much haggling and compromising, it is 5 stories high. Also, uncompromised views of the ocean and rivers were the norm. Now, however, there are condos obstructing many of these views, much to the consternation and objection of the long-time residents.
A beautiful skyline of the city can be seen from the harbor, but it is not of skyscrapers, just beautiful buildings and beautiful parks. A new park was created by the Ashley River, and an ocean and river view walk (actually called Riverview Walk) is being finished that goes all the way around the battery, a distance of 4 or 5 miles. (Charleston is a peninsular surrounded by the Ashley, the Cooper, and the harbor.)
That said, the population of the city is only about 100,000, but the metropolitan area is about four times that, having North Charleston with even a larger population than Charleston and Mt. Pleasant, among others.
Large cities in North America that I know of that have nothing I would call a skyline; i.e. a cluster of relatively tall buildings.
Washington, DC
Erie, Pennsylvania
Amherst, New York
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Olathe, Kansas
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Boulder, Colorado
Grand Junction, Colorado
Aurora, Colorado
Juarez, Chihuahua
What about Ottawa? ~500 000 people, built in the valley of the Ottawa River (duh), and until recently, I believe, there was a bylaw that no building could be taller than the Peace Tower, the campanile* of the Pariament Buildings. As a result the city is composed of many 12-15-storey-high buildings downtown. Coming in from the west, you see the downtown in the distance, but it is not silhouetted against the sky, which is my criterion for a ‘skyline’. There are, however, a few isolated towers in the 'burbs, such as at Carleton University.
[sub]* Campanile: free-standing bell-tower. I toured the Parliament buildings a couple of weekends ago. Can you tell? [/sub]
What about Ottawa? ~500 000 people, built in the valley of the Ottawa River (duh), and until recently, I believe, there was a bylaw that no building could be taller than the Peace Tower, the campanile* of the Pariament Buildings. As a result the city is composed of many 12-15-storey-high buildings downtown. Coming in from the west, you see the downtown in the distance, but it is not silhouetted against the sky, which is my criterion for a ‘skyline’. There are, however, a few isolated towers in the 'burbs, such as at Carleton University.
[sub]* Campanile: free-standing bell-tower. I toured the Parliament buildings a couple of weekends ago. Can you tell? [/sub]
“Skycrapper” indeed! Yes, I wish they’d tear it down, it’s so out of place in such a gorgeous city. Paris’s skyline has got to be the strangest - the Eiffel Tower, the Butte of Montmartre, and way to the west, outside the central city, is the cluster of skyscrapers of La Defense.
Ah, c’mon. That’s a skybump. The First National building looks like a giant pin on a map pointing to the cluster of dwellings below where lies Omaha. “Surprisingly large city HERE” it says…