# What is your favorite city skyline? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692 "2005-12-21T22:14:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/21 "2005-12-22T09:05:52Z")
[My Auckland.](http://www.slrobertson.com/nz-north-auckland.htm) ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/22 "2005-12-22T09:10:26Z")
Seattle: [http://justzheng.com/photos/Seattle\_skyline.jpg](http://justzheng.com/photos/Seattle_skyline.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/23 "2005-12-22T09:11:20Z")
I like the [Makati skyline](http://philippines.dulcemichaelanya.com/HPIM2203.jpg), part of Metro Manila. Here’s a fun site, related to the OP [http://www.skyscrapercity.info/900.php?id=1003](http://www.skyscrapercity.info/900.php?id=1003) ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/24 "2005-12-22T09:28:02Z")
I’m fond of [Seattle’s](http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/772/sea28je.jpg) [skyline](http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/9493/sea37vo.png). I’m sure I’m biased because I live here, but I still see much of the city through the eyes of a tourist. I’m in love with it. Also, I like being able to look at a picture of a “big” city (hey. I come from a town of about 800. Seattle is “big” to me.) and realise that I know where that is, and what exactly I’m looking at. It’s kind of a thrill for me. ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/25 "2005-12-22T09:36:19Z")
Sorry, you’re all wrong… How about [this](http://www.skyscraperpicture.com/hongkong002.jpg) or [during daytime](http://www.gakei.com/dhk/20040715c.jpg) or [from the peak](http://www.ambuehler.ch/trip_reports/2001_hongkong/04-30/peak-view_2.jpg) . (It’s Hong Kong, for anyone who didn’t get it.) ---
**Author:** ![indierock82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@indierock82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indierock82)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/26 "2005-12-22T12:03:31Z")
Hong Kong, hands down. ---
**Author:** ![indierock82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@indierock82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indierock82)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/27 "2005-12-22T12:05:46Z")
**Hemlock** , where do you live in Hong Kong? I lived on Lamma for 11 years. Boy do I miss the city. Have they opened up Wan Chai after the riots/demonstrations? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/28 "2005-12-22T12:15:11Z")
I love HK’s too. Most people don’t consider hills/mountains as a part of a skyline when they think of one, but in HK the contrast of steel and glass buildings and nature just works marvellously. And it’s a fantastic city which I miss greatly, so that might be part of it for me too. ---
**Author:** ![Whifton\_Polekitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/97f17d/32.png) [@Whifton\_Polekitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whifton_Polekitty)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/29 "2005-12-22T12:15:15Z")
Okay I’m fond of Portland Oregon’s skyline and I grew up in Honolulu, but really Hong Kong’s is the only one to bring tears to my eyes. I’ve visited Hong Kong a few times and LOVED every second of it. SUCH a beautiful city. (Except the parts that reeked of fried fermented bean curd, and even that grows on ya after a few days.) Hong Kong dopers, is the Robert Black College still there? Kinda on the slopes of the Peak IIRC? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/30 "2005-12-22T12:23:35Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > Chicago Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/31 "2005-12-22T12:46:34Z")
I like London’s skyline with the Big Ben and the river Thames. I wished I had taken a picture of NYC before 911 ☹ Seeing the skyline of Hong Kong, Sydney, San Francisco and Honolulu I really wish I have enough money/time to visit ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/32 "2005-12-22T13:02:36Z")
> [@indierock82](#): > > **Hemlock** , where do you live in Hong Kong? I lived on Lamma for 11 years. Boy do I miss the city. Have they opened up Wan Chai after the riots/demonstrations? when were you on lamma? I had a flat there from 1986-89. Did publishing work. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/33 "2005-12-22T13:10:39Z")
Sydney has a particular iconic, marketable view (Opera House, Bridge, harbour), and that’s great, but I wouldn’t describe the skyline of the downtown area itself as a world beater. It’s nice, but it’s just another skyline. Surprisingly, I reckon the best angle for flattering Sydney’s skyline is away from the icons, around at Darling Harbour, where the western edge of the city centre forms a Manhattanesque wall of towers. That’s a great view. Still, most of the famous stuff is closer to ground level. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/34 "2005-12-22T13:15:03Z")
Just to add, the reason I like that western view of Sydney is that I like my skyscrapers blocky, thanks. Spires and unusual buildings are well and good, but nothing suggests power and “big city” like a flat wall of buildings extending in either direction. I do like Sydney’s Sydney Tower, and Auckland’s SkyTower looks good, but they’re the exceptions, and as somebody once quipped, “every boring city has a space needle.” That seems sadly true. There is something of the “trying too hard” about buildings like that. The great megacities of the world don’t seem to have them. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/35 "2005-12-22T13:57:40Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > I love HK’s too. Most people don’t consider hills/mountains as a part of a skyline when they think of one, but in HK the contrast of steel and glass buildings and nature just works marvellously. And it’s a fantastic city which I miss greatly, so that might be part of it for me too. While Hong Kong has more trophy buildings today, the congestion threatens to overwhelm the beauty of the mountainous backdrop. All in all, it was prettier 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![indierock82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@indierock82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indierock82)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/36 "2005-12-22T14:10:58Z")
> [@China Guy](#): > > when were you on lamma? I had a flat there from 1986-89. Did publishing work. I lived on lamma from '90-'02. Lived on the southside… Motat, if you remember. I’m betting you lived in Yung Shue Wan 🙂 Are you currently in Shanghai? Are you an expat? I, too, love the contrast between the hilly-side of Hong Kong and the actual city. My school was out in the “country” side, along with the more elegant housing in Hong Kong. And it was only half an hour from the actual city, where I spent most of my time. Honestly, the congestion never really bothered me. In fact I didn’t even notice it until I moved to Sweden and noticed how empty the streets are in comparison. \<== But that’s a whole other discussion. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/37 "2005-12-22T14:26:51Z")
> [@indierock82](#): > > Honestly, the congestion never really bothered me. Hong Kongers do congestion very, very well. Let’s say, for example, a typical Kowloon street on an average weekday has congestion levels similar to a special event (New Year’s Eve or such) in Sydney. Where the Sydneysiders would be stopped in gridlock abusing each other and getting their blood pressure skywards, the folks in HK just fluidly move around each other like molecules of water. And for the most part, they do it calmly. Even a casual first time tourist can get into the vibe after only a few minutes. If you get upset with it, you’ll receive some rather odd looks. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/38 "2005-12-22T15:31:21Z")
All of these picks are great (I particularly love Chicago and Hong Kong), but for me, #1 will always be my hometown. The [Cleveland](http://www.comeo.de/files/181.jpg) [skyline](http://mk23.image.pbase.com/u12/tremont/large/2948457.dtown407sm.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/39 "2005-12-22T15:38:23Z")
I like the look of Shanghai at hight. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692/40 "2005-12-22T16:25:16Z")
> [@PigBoy](#): > > The title says it all, I guess. Which city’s skyline is your favorite? Links to pictures would be wonderful! > > My favorite is [Pittsburgh](http://metroscenes.com/2005/yr.in.rv.05.59.jpg), for various reasons. (That photo and many more great ones can be found at [this site](http://www.pittsburghskyline.com/).) I’m from Pittsburgh. I do love the skyline, the skyline of home. I’ve been meny other places that have impressed me with their beauty. But no view chokes me up like this one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-city-skyline/336692.md?page=3)