The city didn’t have tall buildings until the 1980s. Then its skyline took off.
Julia Terruso explores the evolution of the Philadelphia skyline, beginning with the 196-foot Christ Church. “The church, which dates to 1744, was the tallest structure in North America for 56 years. It is still considered one of the finest Georgian buildings in America,” she notes.
City Hall was completed in 1901, and it was the tallest building in Philadelphia, at 548 feet, until One Liberty Place went up in 1987. “The building, blue glass and steel, with a top that resembled the Chrysler Building in New York City, would rise almost twice the height of City Hall and put Philadelphia on course for a building boom in the early 1990s,” says Terruso.
Former chief city planner Barbara Kaplan says Philadelphia transformed from a city with no skyline to one with a dozen skyscrapers in a short period of time. This development growth also happened later than in most other cities.
The tallest building in the city currently is the 974-foot Comcast Center, which was completed in 2008. But next year, the Comcast Technology Center will take that title. At 1,121 feet, it will be the ninth tallest building in the country.
“The Comcast Technology Center is 147 feet taller than its neighbor, due mostly to its narrow spire of three long rectangles, the middle one the highest. Some Philadelphians have said it resembles a middle finger,” reports Terruso.
FULL STORY: Philadelphia’s skyline rising: From a colonial church spire to glassy blue Comcast 2
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
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