In which I am a bad Philadelphian
Yes, yes, long time, no bloggie. Well, I've been finishing up a book that I'm co-authoring, and that took a heckuva lotta time, but it's done now. Last year, I finished a book and immediately went to the Caribbean. This year, I finished a book and got Chinese food. Why Chinese food? Because it's St. Patrick's Day, duh!
So, in this slightly unhinged state, I heard an article on the radio about a newly proposed skyscraper for Philadelphia. They mentioned that it would be taller than the Comcast Center, and I couldn't really process that. I had to come home and look it up online. The Comcast Center isn't even finished yet. It's currently the tallest building in the city, by a reasonable margin, and this new building -- the American Commerce Center -- would have 500 feet on the Comcast. It's taller than the Empire State Building. If it were standing today, it would be the tallest building in the country. And, I'm sorry if my civic pride is flagging here, but if you're going to build the tallest building in the country, why would you build it in Philadelphia? I mean, really?
There's tons of caveats, of course. It might never get built, for one thing. The mayor is behind it, but a lot of local real estate companies are rightfully skeptical. For another, the Freedom Tower and the (rather odd-looking) Chicago Spire would both be taller, and completed first, to say nothing of whatever wacky thing gets built in Dubai next. And, of course, a lot of the height looks to be in the spire, but plenty of record-breaking buildings use that trick.
I kind of feel bad for Comcast. I mean, they build a huge skyscraper, taking the title of "tallest in Philly" away from Liberty Place, which has held it for 20 years, and immediately somebody else announces a taller building a block away? Ouch.
It'd be great for Philadelphia to have a more distinctive skyline; don't get me wrong. I can remember when we didn't really have one at all. And, at least for now, the developer is saying that he wants the building to be green (um, in the ecological sense, not the decorated sense), which would be very cool. I just can't figure out...why here?
So, in this slightly unhinged state, I heard an article on the radio about a newly proposed skyscraper for Philadelphia. They mentioned that it would be taller than the Comcast Center, and I couldn't really process that. I had to come home and look it up online. The Comcast Center isn't even finished yet. It's currently the tallest building in the city, by a reasonable margin, and this new building -- the American Commerce Center -- would have 500 feet on the Comcast. It's taller than the Empire State Building. If it were standing today, it would be the tallest building in the country. And, I'm sorry if my civic pride is flagging here, but if you're going to build the tallest building in the country, why would you build it in Philadelphia? I mean, really?
There's tons of caveats, of course. It might never get built, for one thing. The mayor is behind it, but a lot of local real estate companies are rightfully skeptical. For another, the Freedom Tower and the (rather odd-looking) Chicago Spire would both be taller, and completed first, to say nothing of whatever wacky thing gets built in Dubai next. And, of course, a lot of the height looks to be in the spire, but plenty of record-breaking buildings use that trick.
I kind of feel bad for Comcast. I mean, they build a huge skyscraper, taking the title of "tallest in Philly" away from Liberty Place, which has held it for 20 years, and immediately somebody else announces a taller building a block away? Ouch.
It'd be great for Philadelphia to have a more distinctive skyline; don't get me wrong. I can remember when we didn't really have one at all. And, at least for now, the developer is saying that he wants the building to be green (um, in the ecological sense, not the decorated sense), which would be very cool. I just can't figure out...why here?