# Tallest building in any city **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302 "2011-06-29T19:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/1 "2011-06-29T19:49:53Z")
My father would always say that the tallest building in any city will always be a bank. I am wondering how true this is. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/2 "2011-06-29T19:55:16Z")
Probably not true at all. Tallest building in Chicago: office building. Tallest building in Springfield: hotel. Tallest building in Peoria: hotel. Tallest building in St. Louis: a monument. Tallest building in Washington, DC: a monument. …etc. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/3 "2011-06-29T20:01:25Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Probably not true at all. > > Tallest building in Chicago: office building. > > Tallest building in Springfield: hotel. > > Tallest building in Peoria: hotel. > > Tallest building in St. Louis: a monument. > > Tallest building in Washington, DC: a monument. > > …etc. If you look at this list [List of tallest buildings by U.S. state and territory - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_by_U.S._state) a large percentage of them are banks. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/4 "2011-06-29T20:04:18Z")
Don’t think it’s true in Nashville. The tallest building used to be an insurance building, then it was a rival insurance building and now it’s a telephone company building. On this list ( [List of tallest buildings in Nashville - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Nashville) ) #3 and #5 are the insurance buildings I mentioned. Looks like for a while #2 (a bank) was the tallest. FWIW, #1 is better known as “The Batman Building.” ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/5 "2011-06-29T20:04:51Z")
Certainly not true in the U.S. [Just look at the list of tallest buildings by state](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_by_U.S._state). There are a number of bank buildings on it but it is far from true for all or even most cities. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/6 "2011-06-29T20:06:03Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Don’t think it’s true in Nashville. The tallest building used to be an insurance building, then it was a rival insurance building and now it’s a telephone company building. On this list ( [List of tallest buildings in Nashville - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Nashville) ) #3 and #5 are the insurance buildings I mentioned. > > Looks like for a while #2 (a bank) was the tallest. FWIW, #1 is better known as “The Batman Building.” So even if it isn’t the tallest it’s in the top 5. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/7 "2011-06-29T20:17:18Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > So even if it isn’t the tallest it’s in the top 5. Yes. And for a while, before Batman, it was the tallest. When I first came to town #5 was by far the tallest and could be seen in the middle of every highway coming into town. We talking “centrally located.” Recent buildings have made downtown more of a tall building cluster than those days of the 50’s. And the only reason Batman draws so much attention is its shape. Check it out: [File:Nashville panorama Kaldari 01.jpg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nashville_panorama_Kaldari_01.jpg) (The L&C Building (#5) is blocked from view, but you can make out its observation tower behind ths beige/brown building fourth from left.) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/8 "2011-06-29T20:36:51Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Probably not true at all. > > Tallest building in Chicago: office building. > > Tallest building in Springfield: hotel. > > Tallest building in Peoria: hotel. > > Tallest building in St. Louis: a monument. > > Tallest building in Washington, DC: a monument. > > …etc. The Washington Monument’s not really a building, though it remains the tallest structure in the city that’s not a radio tower. The tallest habitable building would be the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/9 "2011-06-30T01:42:31Z")
The tallest building in Montreal is 1000 De La Gauchetière, an office building. The tallest building in Toronto (and in Canada) is First Canadian Place, an office building that houses the headquarters of the Bank of Montreal (yes, we know) but a bunch of other companies too, like most office buildings. The tallest building in Calgary houses the headquarters of an energy company. The tallest building in Vancouver is a condominium and hotel tower; in Edmonton, an office building whose anchor tenant is an insurance company; in Winnipeg it was built by a bank but now belongs to a broadcaster. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/10 "2011-06-30T01:55:26Z")
Boston: 62-story John Hancock Insurance is the tallest, having surpassed the 52-story Prudential (Insurance Co.) Tower (on whose 48th floor I worked for 2 years). As for the tallest in the world, from > **[List of tallest buildings and structures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_and_structures_in_the_world)** > > Download coordinates as: > The world's tallest human-made structure is the 828-metre-tall (2,717 ft) Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building gained the official title of "tallest building in the world" and the tallest self-supported structure at its opening on January 9, 2010. The second-tallest self-supporting structure and the tallest tower in the world is the Tokyo Skytree. The tallest guyed structure is the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, USA at 606 metres (1,987 ft). Tallest building by function Category Structure Country City Architectural top (m, ft) Mixed-Use\* Burj Khalifa United Arab Emirates Dubai 828 2,717 Office Taipei 101 Taiwan Taipei 509 1,671 Hotel Rose Tower United Arab Emirates Dubai 333 1,093 Residential Q1 Australia Gold Coast 323 1,059 Educational Moscow State U Russia Moscow 240 787 Church Ulm Minster Germany Ulm 143 469 Hospital London Guy’s Hospital UK London 143 468 Library Shanghai Library China Shanghai 106 348 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/11 "2011-06-30T01:56:11Z")
Banks are nothing but offices. And despite their selling themselves as those friendly people for savings accounts and mortgages, their real customers are businesses. So logically they are going to need large buildings full of office space, and situate them in the middle of concentrations of their biggest clients. That translates into skyscrapers in downtowns. Skyscrapers are expensive to build and maintain. Suburban complexes are cheaper. But building the largest and most visible skyscrapers is a form of advertising and a big piece of ego on the part of CEOs. Tall bank buildings are logical investments. Really big skyscrapers are not. They sometimes still happen because ego triumphs over sense, and bankers aren’t immune. So the OP’s dad is onto something if you dial it back to say that most cities (in America, and also in Canada and I’m pretty sure in most European countries, and maybe everywhere) will have an abundance of large skyscrapers built by banks. That’s true even if the very largest skyscraper isn’t a bank. It’s a good bet that if you take inventory of skyscrapers you’ll see more bank names than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![AntiCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a587f6/32.png) [@AntiCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntiCoyote)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/12 "2011-06-30T02:11:23Z")
You should have a look at the forums at [skyscraperpage.com](http://skyscraperpage.com) Anything you want to know about tall building they know ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/13 "2011-06-30T03:59:15Z")
Quoth **matt\_mcl** : > [@](#): > > The tallest building in Toronto (and in Canada) is First Canadian Place, an office building that houses the headquarters of the Bank of Montreal (yes, we know) but a bunch of other companies too, like most office buildings. I presume that this is by a definition of “building” which excludes the CN Tower? The tallest building by far in Cleveland was, for many decades, a multi-use office building, originally built as a railroad terminal (though the complex also includes a hotel, a department store, and a shopping mall). In the 80s, an oil company built another skyscraper that rivaled it, but was a little shorter. Then, in the early 90s, a bank building was built that surpassed the Terminal Tower. There’s still no other building in Cleveland that’s anywhere near as tall as those three, so one might say that banking accounts for 1/3 of the tallest buildings in Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/14 "2011-06-30T04:36:54Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > So even if it isn’t the tallest it’s in the top 5. Quite right. Excluding the many cases where it isn’t true, the tallest building in any city is always a bank. Happy now? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/15 "2011-06-30T04:49:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **matt\_mcl** : > I presume that this is by a definition of “building” which excludes the CN Tower? Yes, a “building” is a habitable structure. [Specifically](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_and_structures_in_the_world), > [@](#): > > The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an organization that certifies buildings as the “World’s Tallest”, recognizes a building only if at least fifty percent of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area.[1] Structures that do not meet this criterion, such as the CN Tower, are defined as “towers”. Anyway, all we’re discussing here are buildings so defined; there are no radio masts or observation towers (the Washington Monument was previously dealt with), since these are obviously not banks. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/16 "2011-06-30T04:54:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **matt\_mcl** : > I presume that this is by a definition of “building” which excludes the CN Tower? I’ve never heard it called a “building”. Usually people describe it as “the world’s tallest free-standing structure”, but not “building”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/17 "2011-06-30T04:58:46Z")
I don’t think I’ve lived anyplace where the tallest building was a bank. In Thailand, it’s Bangkok’s [Baiyoke Tower II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiyoke_Tower_II), which contains the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest hotel in Southeast Asia. The tower is the fourth-tallest all-hotel structure in the world. It will soon be eclipsed by the [Ocean 1 Tower](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_1_Tower) in Pattaya, which will be the tallest all-residential building in the world. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/18 "2011-06-30T05:11:51Z")
Does “it’s a bank” mean that the building is owned by a bank or that a bank has bought the sign rights to the building? For example, the tallest building in Los Angeles is the U.S. Bank Tower, but they don’t own the building and it has many other tenants. I work in the “X Bank Building” (not nearly the tallest in the city, only 33 stories) but we don’t actually occupy even half the floors. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/19 "2011-06-30T05:50:56Z")
The tallest building in Lincoln, Nebraska is the state capitol building, AKA the “penis on the plains”. It will always be the tallest because no buildings taller are allowed by law. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302/20 "2011-06-30T14:21:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Banks are nothing but offices. And despite their selling themselves as those friendly people for savings accounts and mortgages, their real customers are businesses. > > So logically they are going to need large buildings full of office space, and situate them in the middle of concentrations of their biggest clients. That translates into skyscrapers in downtowns. But just because a bank owns a building doesn’t mean it occupies all of the office space (or even any of it). Three of the six largest buildings here in Rochester carry the name of a bank, but I’d wager the banks aren’t even the largest tenant in any of them. Most skyscrapers house dozens (or hundreds) of different companies. A 30 story building with a bank branch in the lobby and a couple of floors of offices doesn’t make the whole building a bank. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building-in-any-city/587302.md?page=2)