Here’s one list,, but I’m not sure I’d agree with it. Dubai is #3 in the world, but it seems too seperate to be a skyline. Nor would I put downtown Los Angeles over downtown San Francisco.
I have spent considerable time in each of the cities you have mentioned except Miami, and I would say that San Francisco is by far the most scenic, New York City probably second and Seattle would have to be third. The Seattle skyline from the Queen Anne Hill neighborhood is simply amazing.
Chicago is indeed beautiful from afar, but so is Denver, framed by the Rocky Mountains in the distance…
SF is pretty because of the topographical arrangement of the peninsula, but not very tall of a skyline
Haven’t been to Philly, but pictures seem nice, bulky, and varied
Boston is also short
Houston, from what I’ve seen, has like 3 different downtowns
Dallas’ is most out of place on your list - it’s pitifully small imho for a metro area of 6 million
Atlanta’s is nice - the buildings are large and architecturally varied, but there’s not a lot of mid-sized stuff to fill in the gaps
Miami - seems to be all condos, but that provides bulk
Seattle is pretty, good height, has a visual feature in the space needle
Denver - can’t recall it very much
I would probably put it:
Seattle
SF
Atlanta
Houston
Philly
Miami
Dallas
Denver
Madison, Wisconsin. For those unfamiliar, the downtown area is wedged tightly between two lakes on an isthmus about 3/4-mile wide. The state capitol building is at the center of it all. The view from the water, especially at night, is magnificent.
Of that list, I think San Francisco and Seattle are the only ones I’d recognize, and I’ve never actually been to Seattle. I’m going to toss out a vote for St. Louis. I like the drama of the river, arch, courthouse, and office buildings. Here’s a decent shot: File:St. Louis wiki montage.jpg - Wikipedia
Here’s another discussion on it replete w/ a number of pics. San Fran sure is nice although I really like Dallas’ as it has some interesting, innovative architecture.
While I think other cities may be prettier overall, I’ll answer Chicago as first because I feel its prettiness is largely defined by its buildings. Chicago has awesome architecture, with just about every style imaginable in a compact area. It is a stunning downtown.
San Francisco and Cape Town are awesome too, but a lot of that comes from the geography. I like both of them for similar reasons, so I’ll make them second and third in whatever order you like.
I’ve always been partial to LA’s. I know we’re all fans of waterfront skylines, but do the mountains do nothing for you? Photos like this I like, but this I like more because there’s a palm tree in the foreground. Edit: Never cared for the SF skyline much. It’s too small.
