BeeLine: The Sky's The Limit

Thursday, October 18, 2018

The Sky's The Limit

I recently came across an interesting graphic that shows the number of skyscrapers by state.

For this purpose, a skyscraper is defined as a building at least 500 feet (152m) in height.

You don't get an appreciation for the size of the buildings in New York City until you look at this map.

267 skyscrapers in the state of New York. Only two of those skyscrapers are not in New York City. There is in one in Buffalo and one in Albany. That leaves 265 in NYC.

Credit:Wikipedia

However, the information in the map above might be dated as The Skyscraper Center website lists 330 buildings in New York City to be at least 500 feet in height including those currently under construction.

Look at the map above.

19 states do not have any skyscrapers.

There are more skyscrapers in New York City than there are in all 24 states west of the Mississippi.

Chicago also has its share of skyscrapers. It has more than California and Texas combined.

Here is a list of the 25 tallest skyscrapers in the United States, including those under construction.

16 out of the 25 are in New York City. 5 are in Chicago. Only 4 are outside these two cities.

An interesting fact (explaining why the map above is a little dated) is that over half of these skyscrapers were (or will be completed) between 2017-2021.

Of course, if you want to look at skyscrapers from a global perspective, the United States is lagging. Consider that the Jeddah Tower that is under construction in Saudi Arabia will be almost twice the height of the new One World Trade Center in New York City.

14 of the tallest 25 skyscrapers globally will be in China by 2022.

History shows that the sky's the limit in building tall buildings when the economy is strong. Look no further than the number of building cranes on the skyline in a city to confirm it. However, nothing lasts forever. Every boom seems to be followed by the inevitable bust.

This is a rendering of 111 West 57th Street in New York City that will become the fourth tallest building in the city (1,428 feet) when it is completed next year.

It will contain 60 condominiums. Starting price---$18 million. The penthouse is $59 million.