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# Building the Skyline

The Birth & Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://buildingtheskyline.org/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Dwelling on Earth: A Q&A Interview with Stefan Al](https://buildingtheskyline.org/stefan-al-dwelling-on-earth/) - Jason M. Barr April 14, 2026 Stefan Al’s latest book is Dwelling on Earth: The Past and Future of the Places We Call Home (Norton, 2026). His previous book was Supertall: How the World’s Tallest Buildings Are Reshaping Our Cities and Our Lives (Norton, 2022). Al earned a
- [By George! Can a Land Value Tax Work in Gotham?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/lvt-nyc/) - Jason M. Barr and Ronan C. Lyons October 22, 2025 The citizens of New York City are gearing up to pick a new mayor. On one side stands a candidate riding a wave of anger among those struggling to pay the rent and make ends meet. Realizing that land is at the
- [Public Housing: A View From the 21st Century](https://buildingtheskyline.org/public-housing-c21/) - Jason M. Barr September 29, 2025 Public housing remains a controversial subject. On the one hand, America’s government-owned and operated housing stock is widely viewed as worse than the privately owned housing it replaced. Yet today, with an affordability crisis raging across America’s cities, there are calls for governments to build
- [The Jenney Myth: How the Home Insurance Building Falsely Became the “First Skyscraper” (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/jenney-myth-2/) - William Le Baron Jenney falsely convinced the world that his Home Insurance Building was the first skyscraper. Find out why in this blog post.
- [Is Decay Contagious? Building Code Violations across New York City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/contagious-decay/) - Jason M. Barr August 13, 2025 Say an apartment building begins to decay visibly, does it increase the likelihood that buildings around it will also decay? We know that tough economic conditions can impact landlords’ ability to keep their apartment buildings in good working order. As discussed in a previous blog
- [Why Has Gotham Been in a “Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-housing-emergency-1/) - Jason M. Barr January 22, 2025 If you google the definition of “emergency,” the search engine provides an answer from the Oxford Languages Dictionary: “a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.” Merriam-Webster comes in with similar wording: “an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action.”
- [Harming Tenants: The Impact of the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act on New York’s Affordable Housing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/hstpa-maintanence/) - Jason M. Barr June 30, 2025 What is the best way to keep housing affordable? Well, to the former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (2014-2021), the obvious answer was to restrict landlords’ ability to raise rents. Given the severe housing shortage, building owners are seemingly in
- [Why Has Gotham Been in a “Housing Emergency” for 80 Years? (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-housing-emergency-2/) - Jason M. Barr March 6, 2025 Note: This post is the second of two on the drivers of Gotham’s historically low vacancy rates. You can read Part I here. New York’s rental housing vacancy rate is 1.4%—the lowest since 1969. The lack of available housing means that Gotham remains in a “housing emergency”—defined, by
- [The Housing Twenties: New York’s Biggest Building Boom and Its Lessons for Today](https://buildingtheskyline.org/housing-twenties/) - Jason M. Barr October 29, 2024 Let’s travel back a century—to New York during the Roaring Twenties. On our journey, we will see a very different Gotham--not just flappers, speakeasys, and the new jazz--but more importantly massive housing construction. Arguably, 1921 to 1929 was the greatest housing boom in New York’s history. Units of all
- [Busting Skyscraper Myths](https://buildingtheskyline.org/busting-skyscraper-myths/) - Jason M. Barr May 21, 2024 Note: On May 14, my book Cities in the Sky: The Quest for the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers was published by Scribner Books. This post summarizes some of the myths and misconceptions described in the book. For more information, to buy a copy, or to sign up for my email list, please
- [Welcome to the FAR Dome: By How Much is Gotham Allowed to Grow?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/floor-area-ratio-4/) - Jason M. Barr January 31, 2022 [Note this post is the fourth installment in on-going series on the history of the floor area ratio (FAR) and modern zoning. The rest of the series can be found here.] Housing affordability is a major concern for New Yorkers. Gotham’s renaissance in the 21st century has drawn
- [Why Do We Build Cities in the Sky?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/cities-in-the-sky/) - Jason M. Barr May 7, 2024 On May 14, my book Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World’s Tallest Building was released by Scribner Books. You can order a copy and sign up for my email list here. Cities in the Sky tours the world’s greatest cities, from Chicago to New
- [The Plot Thickens (Part II): Sticky Gotham](https://buildingtheskyline.org/land-values-2/) - Jason M. Barr January 29, 2024 [Coming May 14, 2024: Cities in the Sky: The Quest for the the World's Tallest Skyscrapers (Scribner Books)] What’s driving the affordability problem in New York City? If you ask a random person on the street, they’ll blame developers, who seemingly only build luxury towers for the well-to-do. But
- [Long Live the Skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/long-live-the-skyscraper/) - Jason M. Barr June 12, 2023 A few weeks ago, I received an email from an acquaintance with a link to an article about my research. I was naturally intrigued, but when I started reading it, I realized that the author was using my research against me, rotating the findings to suggest they meant
- [To Boldly House Where no Housing has Gone Before (Part II): Land Reclamation and World History](https://buildingtheskyline.org/reclamation-2/) - This post reveals the hidden history of how urban land reclamation has influenced the rise and fall of ancient empires.
- [The Power Author: Robert Caro, Robert Moses, and the “Fall” of New York](https://buildingtheskyline.org/caro-and-moses/) - Jason M. Barr August 5, 2024 A few weeks ago, I was walking in Central Park on the Upper West Side. As I strolled past some benches near the Diana Ross Playground, I saw a young man, likely in his late twenties, with his face buried in a huge, white-covered book. When I got closer,
- [Broken Clockism: The “Skyscraper Curse” is Bogus](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-curse-is-bogus/) - By Jason M. Barr November 5, 2017 In 1999, an economist named Andrew Lawrence thought he saw a relationship between the business cycle and skyscrapers; he dubbed this the “Skyscraper Index,” and it purports to demonstrate the “Skyscraper Curse,” which is, an unhealthy correlation between construction of the next world's tallest building and an impending
- [The Jenney Myth: How the Home Insurance Building Falsely Became the “First Skyscraper” (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/jenney-myth-1/) - Jason M. Barr June 24, 2024 Note: This blog post is based on the research discussed in my book Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers, as well as my working paper on the subject, which includes references to the original sources and archival documents. What was the first skyscraper?
- [To Boldly House Where no Housing has Gone Before (Part I): New York’s Land Reclamation History](https://buildingtheskyline.org/reclamation-1/) - Creating new land through reclamation has been part of New York’s DNA since it was founded in 1624. This post reviews, Manhattan’s land creation history.
- [Saint Jane and the Moses Myth: Revisiting the Robert Moses-Jane Jacobs Debate](https://buildingtheskyline.org/moses-jacobs-myth/) - Jason M. Barr April 18, 2022 Gotham is haunted by a gg-ghost!! The ghost of Robert Moses that is. Whenever a large public project is announced, there’s always a kneejerk reaction against it, with the naysayers shouting, “Remember Robert Moses!” Moses was the Master Builder of New York who, from the Great Depression to the
- [The Birth and Growth of Modern Zoning (Part II): The FARsighted Great Depression](https://buildingtheskyline.org/floor-area-ratio-2/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) August 9, 2021 Preface Today, many cities worldwide regulate urban density by limiting the floor area ratio (FAR)—the amount of allowable building space relative to the lot size. Cities use FAR caps to reduce building bulk, preserve leafy residential neighborhoods, and maintain the historical feel of central cities. The FAR is
- [How Gotham Got Its Grid (Part IV): Green and Greensward](https://buildingtheskyline.org/grid-plan-4/) - Jason M. Barr March 18, 2024 [Note this post is a part of a series on the history of New York’s grid plan. The entire series can be found here.] Manhattan 1.0 In 1811, the Street Plan Commissioners produced Manhattan’s grid system. Accompanying their map was a brief set of remarks highlighting their decisions.
- [How Gotham Got Its Grid (Part III): The Great Unfurling](https://buildingtheskyline.org/grid-plan-3/) - Jason M. Barr February 27, 2024 [Note: Starting Monday, March 4, 2024, Gerard Koeppel and I will be co-teaching a six-week online course on the history of the Manhattan grid plan for the Gotham Center for New York City History. More information and registration can be found here.] Planting the Seeds In April 1811,
- [How Gotham Got Its Grid (Part II): Seeding the Nexus of the Universe](https://buildingtheskyline.org/grid-plan-2/) - Jason M. Barr February 21, 2024 [Note: Starting on Monday, March 4, 2024, Gerard Koeppel and I will be co-teaching a six-week online course on the history of the Manhattan grid plan for the Gotham Center for New York City History. More information and registration can be found here.] “I’m on First and First.
- [How Gotham Got Its Grid (Part I): From Mannahatta to Manhattan](https://buildingtheskyline.org/grid-plan-1/) - Jason M. Barr February 13, 2024 [Note: Starting Monday, March 4, 2024, Gerard Koeppel and I will be co-teaching a six-week online course on the history of the Manhattan grid plan for the Gotham Center for New York City History. More information and registration can be found here.] The Manhattan grid plan is one of
- [The Birth of Height: What was the World’s First Skyscraper?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/birth-of-height/) - By Jason M. Barr October 7, 2017 What was the world’s first skyscraper? If you do have an answer, you would be, most assuredly, wrong (sorry). Any skyscraper that we claim as the “first” is merely a convenience—a social convention to provide a simple answer to a complicated question. But why would it be wrong?
- [The Plot Thickens (Part I): Do High Land Values Reduce Housing Affordability?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/land-values-1/) - Jason M. Barr January 10, 2024 The billion-dollar question: What’s driving the housing affordability problem in large cities like New York? When looking to cast blame, people naturally pick developers. Clearly, the conventional wisdom goes, they are making the problem worse because all they do is build unaffordable
- [Our Economic Future (Part I): How Come We’re Not Getting Happier?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/economic-future-i/) - Jason M. Barr December 14, 2023 The Birth of Economics Roughly speaking, the century from 1870 to 1970 can be called the Utopia-Was-Possible Century. By 1870, national incomes began rising faster than their populations; thus, economic growth was a fact of everyday life. This improvement in our material lives was created by the switch to
- [How Deadly Were Gotham's Tenements? Infectious Disease in the 19th Century (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/death-disease-i/) - Troy Tassier and Jason M. Barr November 6, 2023 Those sickened must be cured or die off, & being cheifly [sic] of the very scum of the city, the quicker [their] despatch [sic] the sooner the malady will cease. John Pintard, a founder of the New York Historical Society and a former secretary of
- [How Deadly Were Gotham’s Tenements? Infectious Disease in the 19th Century (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/death-disease-ii/) - Troy Tassier and Jason M. Barr November 27, 2023 Prominent in the list of dangerous and aggressive nuisances are the tenement houses of the city….We thus speak of the inhabitants of the tenant-houses as constituting a class, and as being allied with the cause of sickness, pauperism, and crime. New York Times, June 12,
- [Does Upzoning Work?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/upzoning-1/) - Jason M. Barr August 14, 2023 Many cities around the world have severe housing affordability problems. One reason is overly restrictive zoning regulations. Zoning—the rules that dictate what can be built on each lot—was initially designed to control urban problems, including congestion, pollution, and shadows. Over time, however, planners made common cause with property owners
- [Robert Moses and the Zoning of New York (Part II): 1944](https://buildingtheskyline.org/zoning-moses-2/) - Jason M. Barr July 24, 2023 Author’s Note: This blog post is the second in a series that brings to light Robert Moses’ forgotten role in New York zoning and planning history. Post I from 1938 to 1941 is here. Robert Moses, the Master Builder of New York City from the 1930s to the 1960s,
- [Book Review: Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century by J. Bradford DeLong. Basic Books, 2022](https://buildingtheskyline.org/book-review-slouching-towards-utopia/) - Jason M. Barr December 27, 2022 Slouching Towards Utopia is a “grand narrative” of the “long 20th century” from 1870 to 2010. It focuses on the economic and political evolution of the global north, particularly Western Europe until the end of World War II, and the United States since then. The unifying theme is that
- [Robert Moses and the Zoning of New York (Part I): Killing the Master Plan](https://buildingtheskyline.org/zoning-moses-1/) - Jason M. Barr February 28, 2023 Author’s Note: This blog post is the first in a series that brings to light Robert Moses’ forgotten role in New York zoning and planning history. Gotham is suffering from a housing affordability crisis. One reason stems from its stringent zoning regulations, which limit the number of units on
- [Exciting versus Boring Skylines: Which Countries Build Up?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/exciting-boring-skylines/) - Jason M. Barr and Remi Jedwab May 9, 2023 When we think of skyscrapers, we think of the tales of ego-drenched developers engaging in height competitions to claim the prize of “tallest building.” We recall the three-way height race during the Roaring Twenties between the Chrysler Building, the Bank of Manhattan Building, and the
- [Gotham Needs a Master Plan for the 21st Century](https://buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-master-plan/) - Jason M. Barr September 13, 2022 New York is a resilient city. In 1975, it was left for dead when President Gerald Ford failed to help stave off its Fiscal Crisis. But, the rise of high-tech and high-skilled industries has reinvigorated its economy, while the drop in crime has brought back consumers and tourists
- [The Missing Bottom: Filtering and Housing Affordability](https://buildingtheskyline.org/filtering/) - Jason M. Barr April 3, 2023 “More Rundown Buildings Now!” That should be the new motto for expensive cities. In the current debates on affordable housing, there is no discussion that the best way to help those with the lowest incomes is by letting some of the housing
- [Ugly Architecture: 130 Years of Manhattan Skyscraper Complaints](https://buildingtheskyline.org/ugly-architecture/) - Jason M. Barr May 10, 2018 Critics of Manhattan's new supertall superslim buildings have a laundry list of complaints. One particular trope is that they are ugly and out of scale with their surroundings. While I believe it’s important to debate the pros and cons of tall buildings, it’s also important to keep in mind
- [Book Review: Order without Design: How Markets Shape Cities by Alain Bertaud. The MIT Press, 2018](https://buildingtheskyline.org/book-review-order-without-design/) - Jason M. Barr February 5, 2019 Today, just over half of the world’s population lives in cities. By the middle of the 21st century this figure will likely be near 75%. The future is decidedly urban. Those who care about the well-being of humanity must naturally be concerned with how cities work; for when they
- [Left Hand Meet the Right Hand: New York’s Failure to Implement Transit-Oriented Development](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tod-nyc/) - Jason M. Barr January 17, 2023 Gotham has a housing affordability problem. Gotham has a transit problem. There’s a simple solution to help both. Given New York’s decentralized governance structure, however, the right hand—transit—doesn’t speak to the left hand—city planning. The result: vast resources are needlessly wasted. It’s high time Transit and Planning became friends
- [Revisiting 1916 (Part III): New York's First Zoning Resolution and the Roots of NIMBYism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/revisiting-1916-iii/) - Jason M. Barr April 30, 2019 [Note that this is the third part of a three-part series on New York City’s first comprehensive land use regulations, enacted in 1916. Part I focuses on the history and thinking of the city’s reformers. Part II reviews this thinking through the lens of modern economic analysis. This post
- [Book Review: Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek by Manu Saadia. Pipertext, 2016](https://buildingtheskyline.org/book-review-trekonomics/) - Jason M. Barr December 17, 2017 One day soon man is going to be able to harness incredible energies, maybe even the atom. Energies that could ultimately hurl us to other worlds in some sort of spaceship. And the men that reach out into space will be able to find ways to feed the hungry
- [Book Review: Star Trek, History and Us: Reflections of the Present and Past Throughout the Franchise by A.J. Black. McFarland, 2021](https://buildingtheskyline.org/book-review-star-trek-history-and-us/) - Jason M. Barr May 26, 2021 Peace on Earth In the 23rd century, humanity has finally found peace. The hatred and violence inflicted upon each other for millennia are finally gone. From the ashes of war and conflict and through the beneficial use of technology, Planet Earth is united into one global nation.
- [Take a Walk on the Supply Side: New Evidence on Housing Construction and Rents](https://buildingtheskyline.org/supply-and-rents/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) November 29, 2022 The price of housing just keeps going up and up and up. In many urban neighborhoods, one can’t help but notice the rise of luxury apartment buildings. To the casual observer, it must be that they are driving up the cost of housing. But is this a
- [Mitchell Bites Lama: The Unintended Consequences of a Housing Program](https://buildingtheskyline.org/mitchell-lama/) - Cristina Scofield, Mary Beth Combs, and Jason M. Barr October 26, 2022 The post-World War II period was a time of massive government intervention for cities. Public housing was meant to replace the “slums” with affordable and clean shelter for the poor. While land deeds, federally-backed home loan programs, and highway building allowed members of
- [The Bedrock Myth and the Rise of Midtown Manhattan (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/bedrock-and-midtown-i/) - Jason M. Barr July 29, 2019 Note: This two-part series is adapted from chapters seven and eight of my book, Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan’s Skyscrapers (OUP, 2016), which is based on research (here and here) performed with Troy Tassier of Fordham University. The Bedrock Myth There’s a popular historical
- [Frictions and the City: Housing Affordability and Redevelopment in New York (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/frictions-and-the-city-2/) - Jason M. Barr August 31, 2022 New York City suffers from a housing affordability crisis. The fundamental problem is that there are too few homes to keep up with the demand, particularly in the middle- and lower-income areas. The rich get the units they want because their money incentivizes developers to provide them. Besides, the
- [Supertall: A Q&A Interview with Stefan Al](https://buildingtheskyline.org/stefan-al/) - Jason M. Barr August 8, 2022 Stefan Al is the author of Supertall: How the World's Tallest Buildings Are Reshaping Our Cities and Our Lives (Norton, 2022). Al earned a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a practicing architect and has taught at Virginia Tech, Columbia University,
- [The Bedrock Myth and the Rise of Midtown Manhattan (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/bedrock-and-midtown-ii/) - Jason M. Barr August 6, 2019 Note: This two-part series is adapted from chapters seven and eight of my book, Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan’s Skyscrapers (OUP, 2016), which is based on research (here and here) performed with Troy Tassier of Fordham University. The Bedrock Myth An aerial view of
- [Frictions and the City: Housing Affordability and Redevelopment in New York (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/frictions-and-the-city-1/) - Jason M. Barr June 13, 2022 New York’s resurgence in the 21st century has led to a housing affordability crisis. More than half of the city’s renters pay above 30% of their income for housing. Of this group, one-third are severely rent-burdened, spending more than half of their income on rent. And, of those
- [Make More Manhattan: The Extended Version](https://buildingtheskyline.org/expand-manhattan/) - Jason M. Barr February 21, 2022 Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.’ – Eleanor Roosevelt
- [Skyscrapers and Global Connectivity: Which Causes Which?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscrapers-and-globalization/) - Jason M. Barr March 28, 2022 Today, metropolises like New York, Vancouver, and London, get a lot of flak for constructing ultra-luxury high-rise condos for international jet-setters. They seemingly have become “safe deposit boxes” for billionaires. Whether these structures are good or bad for cities is worthy of debate, but it does raise the question
- [The Technology of Tall (Part II): The Need for Speed](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-technology-2/) - Jason M. Barr September 24, 2019 Note this is Part II of an on-going series on the evolution of skyscraper technology. The rest of the series can be found here. The Chicken or the Egg? What came first: building height or elevator speed? The history of skyscrapers brings us to a kind of chicken-and-egg
- [Housing Gotham (Part II): Supply and Prices in the 21st Century](https://buildingtheskyline.org/housing-gotham-2/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) December 13, 2021 Two facts in New York seem inviolable. Housing prices always rise, and wherever you look, a shiny, new high-rise condo is being built. Therefore, the natural conclusion appears to be that high-rise construction is driving the affordability crisis. However, this is a confusion of correlation with causation. Luxury
- [Housing Gotham (Part I): The 21st Century So Far](https://buildingtheskyline.org/housing-gotham-1/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) and Sean Franklin September 27, 2021 The 1970s was New York’s darkest decade. The government nearly went bankrupt. A recession that began in 1969 triggered the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. Between 1970 and 1980, Gotham’s population shrank by more than 800,000 people, while arsonists burned down
- [The Birth and Growth of Modern Zoning (Part III): FAR and Wide](https://buildingtheskyline.org/floor-area-ratio-3/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) November 1, 2021 If you ask someone familiar with New York City real estate about the birth of modern zoning, they’ll point to 1961, the year the city implemented the floor area ratio (FAR) as the primary method to control building density. Sixty years later, the FAR is still going
- [Boon or Boondoggle? The Long Run Economics of the Empire State Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/empire-state-building-economics/) - Jason M. Barr and Gabriel Ahlfeldt August 17, 2020 The Bricks of Ego When most people look up at supertall skyscrapers, like the Burj Khalifa or the Shanghai Tower, they assume they have been constructed for irrational purposes. The most common belief is that they are built by ego-driven developers seeking to build monuments
- [Six Policy Ideas for the Next Mayor of New York City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/policy-ideas/) - Jason M. Barr June 22, 2021 Today is primary day, and New Yorkers are heading to the polls. This year, the Big Apple is using ranked choice voting, a bold new experiment in democracy. It shows that New York is still capable of adjusting policies when the need arises. And
- [Revisiting 1916 (Part II): The Economics of Population Density](https://buildingtheskyline.org/revisiting-1916-ii/) - Jason M. Barr April 10, 2019 [This is part two of a three-part series on New York’s first zoning regulations, enacted in 1916. Part I focuses on the history of the regulations. This post revisits the reformers’ thinking through the lens of modern economics. Part III will argue that the ideas and rules from 1916
- [The Birth and Growth of Modern Zoning (Part I): From Utopia to FARtopia](https://buildingtheskyline.org/floor-area-ratio-1/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) May 11, 2021 Author’s note: This post is Part I of a four-part series on the birth and growth of modern zoning, focusing on the planning tool the Floor Area Ratio (FAR). Part I is about the birth of the FAR in the 1920s. Part II will be about how
- [New Yimby City: A Roundtable Q&A with Open New York (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/open-new-york-ii/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) April 19, 2021 Editor’s Note: In the Skynomics Blog, I frequently discuss the subject of housing affordability in New York City. It thus piqued my interest when I learned about a group of New Yorkers who have become politically engaged through their organization, Open New York, to increase the city's
- [New Yimby City: A Roundtable Q&A with Open New York (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/open-new-york-i/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) April 5, 2021 Editor’s Note: In the Skynomics Blog, I frequently discuss the subject of housing affordability in New York City. It thus piqued my interest when I learned about a group of New Yorkers who have become politically engaged through their organization, Open New York, to increase the city's
- [Why Doesn’t New York Construct the World’s Tallest Building Anymore?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-record-breaking-skyscrapers/) - Jason M. Barr December 23, 2020 The Space Race At the end of the Roaring Twenties, New York City witnessed a three-way race for the world’s tallest building. First was the Bank of Manhattan Building, at 40 Wall Street, which topped out at 927 feet (283 meters, 70 stories) in November 1929 and officially
- [The Manhattan Skyline during the Roaring Twenties](https://buildingtheskyline.org/roaring-twenties/) - Jason M. Barr July 10, 2018 Author’s note: The paperback of Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers was recently released. This blog post has been adapted from Chapter 9 of the book. The Roaring Twenties remains a mythical time in American culture—an age of danger, of heroes, of unrestraint. Charles Lindbergh
- [The Economics of Skyscraper Height (Part IV): Construction Costs Around the World](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-height-iv/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) June 4, 2019 Note this is Part IV of a series on the economics of skyscrapers. The rest of the series can be read here. Rise of the Skylines As we look around planet Earth, we can’t help but notice that skyscrapers are getting taller. In 2000, for example, the average
- [Skyscrapers and Housing Affordability: Debunking Misconceptions](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscrapers-and-affordability/) - Jason M. Barr (@JasonBarrRU) March 23, 2021 Erin go Tweet On March 9, 2021, Professor Ronan Lyons, an economist at Trinity College Dublin, tweeted about one of my research papers on global tall building construction.[1] Dr. Lyons has 24,000 followers (two orders of magnitude more than me, but you can follow me on Twitter here). His tweet mentioned the paper's findings for
- [The Pandemic Tsunami: How COVID-19 Swept Across America](https://buildingtheskyline.org/covid-waves/) - Jason M. Barr and Troy Tassier February 25, 2021 The Great Equalizer? In March 2020, during the salad days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., many people, from Madonna to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, believed the virus was a "great equalizer," hitting rich as likely as poor, and White as likely as Black or
- [Clouds in Your Coffee? Skyscrapers and their Symbolic Heights](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscrapers-and-symbolic-height/) - Jason M. Barr January 20, 2021 You’re So Vain? On January 4, 2010, the Burj Khalifa officially opened its doors. At 828 meters (2,717 feet) it became the world’s tallest building by a long shot. It overtook the previously tallest building, the Taipei 101, by 302 meters (991 feet). The only rub: Much of
- [Fire and Ice: Lessons from Historical Conflagrations for Cities Today](https://buildingtheskyline.org/conflagrations-and-cities/) - Jason M. Barr October 2, 2018 For millennia, after the birth of cities nearly 6,000 years ago, people world over lived in constant fear of the conflagration—the massive burning of immense swaths of the city due to accidental (or deliberate) spread of fire. Today, it is considered a tragedy if one or two buildings burn
- [The Economics of Skyscraper Height (Part III)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-height-iii/) - Jason M. Barr January 28, 2019 Note this is Part III of a series on the economics of skyscrapers. The rest of the series can be read here. When we look at the world’s tallest buildings, we can’t but help think they are too tall—the product of greed and vanity. But this is too simplistic.
- [COVID-19 and the Market for Skyscrapers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscrapers-and-covid/) - Jason M. Barr November 19, 2020 In the 21st century, Planet Earth has gone on a skyscraper building spree. Since 1995, for example, the number of skyscrapers (150 meters or taller) completed each year has grown at a rate of 8.8%. The height of the tallest completed building has risen at an average annual
- [Urban Umami or Urban Appakukan?: The Psychology of Streetscapes](https://buildingtheskyline.org/psychology-of-streetscapes/) - Jason M. Barr October 22, 2020 Pleasure or Pain? One of the biggest complaints about new construction is that it is harmful to the quality of urban life. For example, architecture writer, Justin Davidson, says that "shiny towers are invasive species and they are choking our cities and killing off public space." Other critics
- [The Skyline versus the Sprawl-line: CO2 Emissions and Building Types in New York City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscrapers-sprawl-co2/) - Jason M. Barr September 16, 2020 Hong Kong on the Hudson? When we think of New York City, we think of Manhattan and its supertall skyscrapers. As a result, we believe that New York is one of the densest places on Earth: a Hong Kong on the Hudson. And yet, craning our necks upwards diverts
- [Manhattan Profits (Part II): Return on Investment for a Superslim Skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/manhattan-profits-2-roi/) - By Jason M. Barr November 26, 2017 The Manhattan skyline was created by developers seeking their fortunes. Skyscraper heights, frequencies, types, and locations are based on the profits they generate. In the first half of the 20th century, for example, office buildings, such as the Woolworth (1913; 792 feet/241 meters) and Empire State (1931; 1250
- [Star Trek and the Economics of Hate](https://buildingtheskyline.org/star-trek-and-hate/) - Jason M. Barr July 15, 2020 Captain Kirk: It exists on the hate of others. Mr. Spock: To put it simply. And it has acted as a catalyst, creating this situation in order to satisfy that need. --In “Day of the Dove,” Star Trek (S3:E7) E Pluribus Unum? America in the 21st century
- [Skyscrapers, Housing, and Cities: A Q&A Interview with Ingrid Gould Ellen (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/ingrid-gould-ellen-i/) - Jason M. Barr June 17, 2019 Ingrid Gould Ellen is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at New York University, and a Faculty Director at the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. She is the author of Sharing America's Neighborhoods: The Prospects for Stable Racial Integration and editor
- [Disease and Unease in New York City (Part I): Mortality Rates since 1800](https://buildingtheskyline.org/mortality-nyc-1/) - Jason M. Barr June 16, 2020 Pandemic 2020 On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. The first case appeared in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. It arrived in the United States toward the end of January. On March 1, the New York metropolitan region saw
- [Border Crossings: The Spread of COVID-19 across U.S. Counties](https://buildingtheskyline.org/covid19-borders/) - Jason M. Barr and Troy Tassier May 19, 2020 Pandemic 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic rages on with no end in sight. How long it will take to return to normal, at this point, is anybody’s guess. But since the Federal Government has ceded coordination on further mitigation efforts to individual states means there is going to
- [Escape from New York?: Density and the Coronavirus Trajectory](https://buildingtheskyline.org/covid19-and-density/) - Jason M. Barr and Troy Tassier written on April 3, 2020, posted on April 20. Note: A shorter version of this post was written for Scientific American, which was posted on April 17th. The Density Paradox Anyone who follows the journalist Matt Yglesias on Twitter knows his style. He’s sardonic, facetious, and relies on
- [In a City FAR, FAR Away: Building Height Regulations and Their Impacts](https://buildingtheskyline.org/far-regulations/) - Jason M. Barr March 17, 2020 Your New Job Imagine the governor of your state announces that she is going to create a brand-new city out of whole cloth. The state has purchased 200 square miles (519 km2) of farmland (around the size of Chicago) and will begin auctioning off lots for development. The governor
- [Skyscraper Bottlenecks (Part I): The Elevator](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-bottlenecks-i/) - Jason M. Barr February 10, 2020 Note this is the first post in an intended series on the technological and economic barriers that need to be broken to construct the first mile-high skyscraper. The Illinois In 1956, Frank Lloyd Wright unveiled his design for a mile-high skyscraper (1.61 km)—The Illinois. It was to be built
- [No Vacancy? Why Housing Prices in New York City are So High](https://buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-vacancy/) - Jason M. Barr January 14, 2020 Note: This post is one of several about New York City. More posts can be read here. Costanza versus the Andria Doria In Season 8, Episode 10 of Seinfeld ("The Andrea Doria"), George Costanza, the neurotic buddy of Jerry Seinfeld, has found a fantastic Manhattan two-bedroom apartment with
- [Mining the Wind? The Economics of Wind Turbines on Skyscrapers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/wind-turbines/) - Jason M. Barr December 19, 2019 Swaying in the Wind In the early-1990s, my wife worked for WH Freeman and Co., a publisher of scientific and academic textbooks. Her office was on the 35th floor at 41 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The building, opened in 1974, is a 41-story modernist glass box designed by
- [The Economics of Skyscraper Height (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-height-ii/) - Jason M. Barr January 3, 2019 Note this is Part II of a series on the economics of skyscrapers. The rest of the series can be read here. When we think of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, the natural reaction is to insist that they are “freak projects,” built by ego-driven, greedy developers who imposes their
- [The Economics of Skyscraper Height (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-height-i/) - Jason M. Barr December 17, 2018 Note this is Part I of a series on the economics of skyscrapers. The rest of the series can be read here. Clark and Kingston In 1930, W. C. Clark and J. L. Kingston (CK), an economist and architect, respectively, published a book called, The Skyscraper: A Study in
- [The Technology of Tall (Part I): Skeletons, Outriggers, and Buttresses](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-technology-1/) - Jason M. Barr July 16, 2019 Note this is Part I of an on-going series on the evolution of skyscraper technology. The rest of the series can be found here. The Birth of Height In 1900, the architect Cass Gilbert—who later designed the 55-story Woolworth Building (1913)—wrote an article to justify the existence of
- [The Technology of Tall (Part III): Getting to the Core](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-technology-3/) - Jason M. Barr October 23, 2019 Note this is Part III of an on-going series on the evolution of skyscraper technology. The rest of the series can be found here. The Too-Tall Debate A common assumption about many of the world’s tallest buildings is that, from an economic point of view, they are too
- [Is Gentrification Good or Bad?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/gentrification-1/) - Jason M. Barr November 18, 2019 Across U.S. cities, perhaps nothing is more controversial than the issue of gentrification—the process of wealthier residents moving into lower-income, central city communities. Those who are against it claim it destroys cities and harms residents, while proponents say it helps neighborhoods grow and become livelier. So, which is it?
- [The Value of Dirt: Introducing the Astor Index](https://buildingtheskyline.org/astor-index/) - Jason M. Barr September 3, 2019 Astor’s Vision On his deathbed in 1848, John Jacob Astor—America’s first millionaire—reportedly quipped, “Could I begin life again, knowing what I now know, and had money to invest, I would buy every foot of land on the Island of Manhattan.” Astor came to America from Germany in 1783 with
- [Solving Traffic Congestion: A Plan for New York City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/traffic-plan-nyc/) - Jason M. Barr May 16, 2019 Congestion Pricing for Manhattan This past April, New York State passed a law allowing congestion pricing in Manhattan. It will take effect sometime by the end of 2020. Drivers will be charged a fee, likely around $14, to enter the island south of 60th Street. The plan, similar to
- [Revisiting 1916 (Part I): The History of New York City’s First Zoning Resolution](https://buildingtheskyline.org/revisiting-1916-i/) - Jason M. Barr March 27, 2019 [Note this the first part of a three-part series on New York’s first comprehensive land use regulations, enacted in 1916. Part I focuses on the history and thinking of the city’s reformers. Part II reviews this thinking through the lens of modern economic analysis. Part III argues that the
- [Skyscrapers and Happiness: An International Comparison (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscrapers-happiness-1/) - Jason M. Barr December 10, 2017 While skyscrapers are primarily built for their occupants, they, perforce, impose themselves on the urban fabric. We can, for example, look at the prices that people pay to rent or buy space within them to estimate their value to the tenants. However, what measures do we have about how
- [Skyscrapers, Housing, and Cities: A Q&A Interview with Ingrid Gould Ellen (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/ingrid-gould-ellen-ii/) - Jason M. Barr July 1, 2019 Ingrid Gould Ellen is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at New York University, and a Faculty Director at the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. She is the author of Sharing America's Neighborhoods: The Prospects for Stable Racial Integration and editor of
- [Skyscrapers and Cities: A Q&A Interview with Edward Glaeser (Part II)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/glaeser-interview-2/) - by Jason M. Barr September 12, 2018 [Author’s Note: This is Part II of a two-part Q&A Interview with Professor Edward Glaeser. Part I can be read here.] Edward Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. He one of the world's leading experts
- [Skyscrapers and Shadows: The Value of Sunshine in the City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/city-shadows/) - Jason M. Barr March 13, 2019 Almost none of the land use regulations that cities have ardently adopted for over a century have been justified by any serious quantitative work. The existence of even the smallest externality, such as a shadow, has been seen as justification for massive interventions in the housing market. – Edward
- [Star Trek and the Economics of the Future (Part I): Tribalism versus Terranism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/star-trek-i/) - Jason M. Barr November 26, 2018 You are a barbarian….Don’t sound so incredulous, captain. We all are. A killer first, a builder second. A hunter, a warrior, and—let’s be honest—a murderer. That is our joint heritage, is it not? --Anan 7, Leader of the High Council of Eminiar VII, to James T. Kirk, Captain of
- [Star Trek and the Economics of the Future (Part II): Programming versus Survival](https://buildingtheskyline.org/star-trek-ii/) - Jason M. Barr February 20, 2019 Is it possible they built their machines too well…gave them pride and a desire to survive? Machines that wanted order and logic and found that frustrated by the illogical emotional creatures that built them? --Captain James T. Kirk to the ancient android, Ruk (TOS:S1:E7, What Are Little Girls Made
- [Growing Up: Skyscraper Heights over the 20th Century](https://buildingtheskyline.org/growing-up-skyscraper-heights-in-the-20th-century/) - By Jason M. Barr October 20, 2017 In the year 1848, a stroll down lower Broadway in Manhattan would have revealed a decidedly low-rise town. The reason was simple: the only way to get to the top floor was to climb the stairs. Humans, unlike birds, do not have the anatomy to defy gravity (what
- [Midnight Cowboys? New York City Housing Prices and Population Growth in the 21st Century](https://buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-population-growth/) - Jason M. Barr November 7, 2018 In the 1969 film, Midnight Cowboy, the eager young Texan, Joe Buck (played by John Voight) abandons his hometown and makes his way to the Big Apple. Like countless souls before him, there he seeks his fortune. Buck quickly realizes that easy riches in the metropolis are a pipe
- [Tribalism, Terranism, and Technology: The Pitfalls and Promises of Globalization](https://buildingtheskyline.org/globalization-1/) - Jason M. Barr October 19, 2018 A Brief History of Homo Sapiens If we look back over the long sweep of Earth history, Homo sapiens has succeeded not only because it can adapt to nearly any environment on the planet, but also because it can change the environment to suit its needs and wants at
- [Skyscrapers and Cities: A Q&A Interview with Edward Glaeser (Part I)](https://buildingtheskyline.org/glaeser-interview-1/) - by Jason M. Barr September 5, 2018 [Author’s Note: This is Part I of a two-part Q&A interview with Professor Edward Glaeser. You can read Part II here.] Edward Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. He one of the world's leading experts
- [Saint Jane versus the Nimby](https://buildingtheskyline.org/jane-jacobs-part-2/) - Jason M. Barr August 23, 2018 [Author’s note: This is the second of at least two blog posts about Jane Jacobs and her book, The Death and Life Great American Cities. The first one can be read here.] The Visions of Saint Jane In 1961, Jane Jacob published her seminal book, The Death and
- [Jane Jacobs: Libertarian?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/jane-jacobs-part-1/) - Jason M. Barr August 9, 2018 [Author’s note: This is the first of at least two blog posts on Jane Jacobs and her book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, published in 1961.] With the resurgence of large cities like New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago, it’s hard to imagine that
- [The “Parabox”: Glass Skyscrapers and the City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/glass-skyscrapers/) - Jason M. Barr July 25, 2018 From my eighth-floor office in Newark, New Jersey, I have a view of the Manhattan skyline. On a clear day, I can see One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building. I can also see much of downtown Newark, which, in many respects, is a typical central business
- [Zoned Out: Building Regulations and Housing Affordability](https://buildingtheskyline.org/supply-and-affordability/) - Jason M. Barr June 18, 2018 Have you heard the old joke about gravity—it’s not just a good idea, it’s the law! Ignore the law—say by jumping off a cliff in an attempt to fly—and suffer the consequences. The same can be said about supply and demand in economics—supply is not just a good idea,
- [Building Height and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Case of New York City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/building-height-and-co2/) - Jason M. Barr May 31, 2018 A growing body of research demonstrates that across the United States there is significant variation in household greenhouse gas emissions.[1] Regionally speaking, the “sweet spots” are those places with warm winters and cool summers, such as California. Within regions, however, CO2 emissions have an inverted u-shape. Starting in the
- [Cities and CO2: What Can be Done?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/cities-and-co2/) - Jason M. Barr April 10, 2018 Imagine it’s the dead of winter and you've just come home from work. Your house is chilly and so you move to the thermostat to crank up the heat. But, just as your hand is about to turn the dial, you think, “Wait! If I heat my house, I
- [Incentivizing YIMBY: Greasing the Wheels to Improve Cities and Happiness](https://buildingtheskyline.org/incentivizing-yimby/) - Jason M. Barr March 26, 2018 First, answer this survey question: On a scale of 0 to 10, please rate your satisfaction with life in general, where 0 means completely dissatisfied, 5 means neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and 10 means completely satisfied. What number did you say? If you are the “average” American, you would
- [Working High: Who’s on Top in Office Buildings?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/office-building-sorting/) - Jason M. Barr March 8, 2018 Imagine that one day, walking through a crowded business district, you discover that you have a new power: you can see directly inside a skyscraper office building, as if one of the glass facades had just been removed. Before you is your very own ant farm. Five thousand men
- [Name that Index! Land, Labor, or Capital?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/name-that-index/) - Jason M. Barr February 20, 2018 On a recent Saturday, my wife and I stopped into a burger joint on the Upper West Side of Manhattan; nothing fancy, but not a dive either. Two burgers, a side of fries, and two beers. The total, with tip and tax: $75. When did lunch get so expensive?
- [Manhattan Profits (Part III): Are Superslims Good or Bad for New York?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/manhattan-profits-3/) - Jason M. Barr January 15, 2018 In the last decade, New York has seen the emergence of a new skyscraper type—supertall, superslim, ultra-luxury residential condominiums. As discussed in previous posts, the combined forces of new technology and economic demand have made them profitable projects. However, they have attracted their share of controversy, riling up feelings
- [The High Life? On the Psychological Impacts of Highrise Living](https://buildingtheskyline.org/highrise-living/) - Jason M. Barr January 31, 2018 As the income of Planet Earth continues to rise, the construction of tall buildings proceeds apace. Many cities around the world are increasingly housing their residents in highrises. Skyscrapers are seen as way to provide shelter to growing urban populations without resorting to sprawl and which can potentially provide
- [Privacy Policy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/privacy-policy/) - Your email will not be shared with anyone and emails will not be sent from this website without your consent.
- [Why Was 2017 Another Record-Breaking Year for Skyscrapers?](https://buildingtheskyline.org/global-skyscraper-growth/) - Jason M. Barr January 2, 2018 The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) recently issued its 2017 Year in Review for skyscraper construction around the world. As in prior years, the report has lead to a flurry of excited headlines. From The Times UK: “Taste for High Life Gives Rise to More Skyscrapers”;
- [Manhattan Profits (Part I): The Economics of the Superslim Skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/manhattan-profits-1/) - By Jason M. Barr November 19, 2017 In the last decade, New York has seen a resurgence of skyscrapers. In particular, has been the rise of the superslim—a super-tall, ultra-thin luxury apartment building. The definition of a superslim comes from the ratio of the building’s ground floor width to its height. The Empire State Building,
- [Preface to the Skynomics Blog](https://buildingtheskyline.org/preface-to-the-skynomics-blog/) - By Jason M. Barr October 1, 2017 Skyscrapers are awe-inspiring creations—their gigantism makes them so compelling. They impose themselves on the urban landscape and reflect back upon us something about who we are and what we aspire to be, as a society, civilization, and species. The skyline yields a kind of mystical window into the
- [Figure: The residential locations of FIRE and Corporate Service Workers from 1861 to 1906.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/residences-fire-corporate-workers-1861-1906/) - Figure: The residential locations of FIRE and Corporate Service Workers from 1861 to 1906. These maps show the northward residential movement of different samples of workers employed in the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector, or who are corporate executives. In all four periods, employment locations remained largely downtown. However, over the 19th century
- [Manhattan's Expanding Footprint](https://buildingtheskyline.org/manhattan-expanding-footprint/) - Figure: Manhattan’s Expanding Footprint. This map shows Manhattan’s expanding footprint over the 19th century. The increase in population and the development of mass transit around 1830 allowed for a dramatic northward movement of the population. Before that, New York was a walking city and expansion occurred rather slowly. Source: Robert Ernst’s book, Immigrant life in
- [Fig. 9.1: Grand Central Station and Terminal City.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/fig-9-1grand-central-station-and-terminal-city/) - Fig. 9.1: Grand Central Station and Terminal City. As part of the new Grand Central Station (1913), the New York Central Railroad created a planned Terminal City over the covered tracks. The company would sell the air rights to developers who would build offices, hotels and apartment buildings. The Terminal City drew midtown northward during
- [Fig. E.1: The Sandy Effect.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/fig-e-1-the-sandy-effect/) - Fig. E.1: The Sandy Effect. This map shows the area of lower Manhattan that was flooded by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. We can see that much of the land that was inundated was made land, filled in over the centuries since 1626. Note, however, that one area was relatively unscathed: Battery Park City, which was
- [Figure: Jump of Ladies Garment Manufacturers.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/fig-jump-of-ladies-garment-manufacturers/) - Figure: Jump of Ladies Garment Manufacturers The figure shows the location of Ladies Garment Manufacturers in 1900 and 1922. The industry grew from Canal Street to 14th Street along Broadway and employed the newly-arrived immigrants living in the Lower East Side. In the 1920s, the garment manufactures moved their cluster northward, mostly north of 34th
- [Figure: Mannahatta to Manhattan.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/mannahatta-to-manhattan/) - Figure: Mannahatta to Manhattan. In 1609, the Manhattan skyline was a verdant oak forest; today it is a forest of skyscrapers. Source: Left: Courtesy of Markley Boyer, The Mannahatta Project, Wildlife Conservation Society. Right: Courtesy of Flyin Phil.
- [Figure: Population Density Map of the Lower East Side in 1900](https://buildingtheskyline.org/__trashed-2/) - Figure: Population Density Map of the Lower East Side in 1900 This map, created by the newly-formed Tenement House Department, shows the populations, population densities and predominant nationalities for each block in the 10th Ward in 1900. The block bound by Broome, Delancey, Orchard and Allen Streets had a density of 1,089 per acre, one
- [Skynomics Blog Coming Soon](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skynomics-blog-coming-soon/) - Starting in the fall of 2017, I will be blogging about “skynomics”: the economic causes and consequences of tall buildings around the world. The goal is to discuss what drives the construction and heights of skyscrapers, and how they impact cities and the people who work, live and play in them. From time to time,
- [Figure: Bedrock Topography of Manhattan.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/figure-bedrock-topography-of-manhattan/) - Figure: The Original Land Grants and Patents from the Dutch West India Company. This map demonstrates that the size of the grants given to New Amsterdam residents was related to how close they were to the fort and port. It demonstrates that the standard lot sizes of 25 feet by 100 feet were part of
- [Figure: Skyscraper Hotspots in Midtown from 1900 to 1993.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-hotspots-midtown-1900-1993/) - Figure: Skyscraper Hotspots in Midtown from 1900 to 1993. Each map shows the skyscraper hotspots in midtown—those areas with the densest construction—in each period. During the first generation, the period from 1900 to 1919, skyscrapers were mostly built near Madison Square Garden, with a few along 42nd Street. During the second generation, skyscrapers were constructed
- [Table: Top Ten “Too Tall” Buildings in New York](https://buildingtheskyline.org/table-too-tall-buildings-nyc/) - Table: Top Ten “Too Tall” Buildings in New York This table compares the actual heights of buildings to the predicted heights based on estimates from a statistical analysis. The top “too tall” building is the recently-completed 1 World Trade Center; at 1,776 feet, its height was a political and symbolic choice, with little regard for
- [Figure: Bedrock Topography of Manhattan.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/bedrock-topography-manhattan/) - Figure: Bedrock Topography of Manhattan. This figure shows the bedrock depths relative to sea level. The blue parts are where the bedrock is below the sea level and the orange parts where it is above. The deepest bedrock is in the Lower East Side (but that’s not why there are no skyscrapers there). Most of
- [Figure: Fertile Manhattan.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/fertile-manhattan/) - Figure: Fertile Manhattan. Caption: This map shows the location of the relatively fertile soils on the island (and which are correlated with the bedrock depths). The Dutch and English settlers were attracted to these regions of the island and their location choices later encouraged real estate development and transportation investments, which would greatly influence
- [Figure: Home Locations of Merchants and Laborers in 1827 and 1849.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/home-locations-1827-1849/) - Figure: Home Locations of Merchants and Laborers in 1827 and 1849. These maps show the residential locations of merchants and laborers in 1827 and 1849. In 1827, the majority of merchants lived in lower parts of the city and the laborers lived in the northern parts. Then, after the introduction of horse-drawn street cars in
- [Figure: New Amsterdam in 1660 & Amsterdam Today.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/new-amsterdam-1660-amsterdam-today/) - Figure: New Amsterdam in 1660 & Amsterdam Today. The map on the left shows the village of New Amsterdam. Note how the center of the town starts at the fort and goes east toward the port, and then up to the canal, what is Broad Street today. The west side remained relatively undeveloped during the
- [Figure: Grand Central Station and Penn Station.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/grand-central-station-penn-station/) - Figure: Grand Central Station and Penn Station. On left is Grand Central Station (1913). As part of the construction project (1913), the New York Central Railroad created a planned Terminal City over the covered tracks. The company would sell the air rights to developers who would build offices, hotels and apartment buildings. The Terminal City
- [Figure: Population Density by Race and Ethnicity in 1900.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/figure-population-density-race-ethnicity-1900/) - Figure: Population Density by Race and Ethnicity in 1900. These maps show the relative concentration of ethnic groups in Manhattan in 1900 at the block level. Each maps shows the number of heads of households whose parents were of a particular nationality. The data set was collected as part of the 1900 census and was
- [Figure: Height Cycles in New York, 1890 to 2014.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/height-cycles-in-ny-1890-2014/) - Figure: Height Cycles in New York, 1890 to 2014. The top graph shows the total additions to the skyline each year in feet. Note that I only include buildings that I define as a skyscraper, which is a structure that is 295 feet or taller, regardless of use. Note how total height moves in waves
- [Figure: Land Values: 1905 to 1929.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/land-values-1905-1929/) - Figure: Land Values: 1905 to 1929. Land prices measure the value of geography; they indicate what people and businesses are willing to pay for the right to occupy a location in the city. The figures show how the highest land values in the city were downtown and along the central spine. As the 20th
- [Figure: Tall Buildings by Decade, 1900 to 2014.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tall-buildings-by-decade-1900-2014/) - Figure: Tall Buildings by Decade, 1900 to 2014. These graphs show the location of tall buildings (10 stories or higher) in Manhattan as of 2014 by the decade in which they were constructed. They suggest the evolution of tall building locations across the 20th century. In the early decades of the skyscraper, tall buildings
- [Figure: Population Density by Race and Ethnicity in 1890.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/figure-pop-density-race-ethnicity-1890/) - Figure: Population Density by Race and Ethnicity in 1890. These maps show the relative concentration of different racial and ethnic groups in each of Manhattan’s Sanitation Districts, which were the size of large neighborhoods. An 1894 report by the Census Bureau tracked the health status and mortality rates of residents by Sanitation District from data
- [Figure: Skyscraper Locations 1890 to 1915.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skyscraper-locations-1890-1915/) - Figure: Skyscraper Locations 1890 to 1915. The maps show the location of all skyscrapers (buildings 262 feet or taller) that were constructed during their first generation. Except for the tower of Madison Square (1890), all tall building were constructed in lower Manhattan before the 20th century. Then, suddenly, starting in 1902, there was a
- [Figure: Buildings and Bedrock.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/buildings-and-bedrock/) - Figure: Buildings and Bedrock. For the top graph, the horizontal axis represents the degrees latitude of Manhattan starting at the southern tip and going north to 59th Street. On the vertical axis is the depth to bedrock (in feet) relative to the street level. Each triangle is the location of a particular skyscraper that was
- [Figure: Population Density across Manhattan in 1900.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/population-density-manhattan-1900/) - Figure: Population Density across Manhattan in 1900. This map shows a 3D rendering of population density across Manhattan north of about Chamber Street and south of 155th Street. The greatest concentration of population was in the Lower East Side and the wards just north of City Hall. Source: First Report of the Tenement House
- [Figure: Total Height and the Skyscraper Profit Index, 1963-2013.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/total-height-skyscraper-profit-1963-2013/) - Figure: Total Height and the Skyscraper Profit Index, 1963-2013. The Skyscraper Profit Index is created by dividing average midtown asking office rents by the Turner Construction Cost Index. It is a measure of the relative profitability of office construction in Manhattan. The figure shows a two-year moving average of the value for two years prior.
- [Figure: The Evolution of Skyscraper Design, 1870 to 2016](https://buildingtheskyline.org/figure-evolution-of-skyscraper-design-1870-2016/) - Figure: The Evolution of Skyscraper Design, 1870 to 2016 In the 1870s, building height was limited to nine or ten stories. Styles of the day tended to be heavy on ornamentation and have masonry or cast iron facades. The Tower Building, completed in 1889, was the city's first "skyscraper," in that it partly used iron-skeletal
- [Fig. 9.2: Penn Station.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/fig-9-2-penn-station/) - Fig. 9.2: Penn Station. In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) completed its terminal on Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street. Unlike the New York Central, the PRR was not interested in engaging in real estate development. The hanging laundry in the right front shows how the surrounding neighborhood was a dense tenement area, and was less

## Pages

- [Skynomics Blog](https://buildingtheskyline.org/skynomics-blog/) - (You can follow Jason Barr on Twitter here or follow me at Bluesky here.) My latest book was published May 14, 2024--please check it out: Cities in the Sky: The Quest for the the World's Tallest Skyscrapers (Scribner Books) Dwelling on Earth: A Q&A Interview with Stefan Al Jason M. Barr
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: Revisiting Robert Moses](https://buildingtheskyline.org/robert-moses-series/) - The Power Author: Robert Caro, Robert Moses, and the “Fall” of New York Jason M. Barr August 5, 2024 Robert Moses held power in Gotham for three decades. Robert Caro’s version of Moses in the Power Broker has been in power for five decades. It’s time to vanquish the ghost of Moses. Read More
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: The Manhattan Grid Plan of 1811](https://buildingtheskyline.org/grid-plan-series/) - How Gotham Got Its Grid (Part I): From Mannahatta to Manhattan Jason M. Barr February 13, 2024 Despite being so deeply embedded—both literally and figuratively—in Manhattan Island, the grid plan retains an ongoing fascination. In this first post in a series on the grid plan, we revisit its history to see how New York
- [Events](https://buildingtheskyline.org/upcoming-events/) - Stay tuned for events related to Jason's new book, Cities in the Skyline: The Quest to Build the World's Tallest Skyscrapers Past: for Building the Skyline May 6, 2019 (Monday). Rethinking the Grid: A Panel Discussion on the 1811 Manhattan Grid Plan, Gotham Center for New York History,The Graduate Center, CUNY, Skylight Room (9th Floor),
- [Contact the Author](https://buildingtheskyline.org/contact-the-author/) - The easiest way to contact Jason Barr is through his new book's website, Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World's Tallest Skyscrapers. Contact Jason
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: New York City Real Estate](https://buildingtheskyline.org/nyc-real-estate-series/) - The following are posts about New York City real estate, past and present. Frictions and the City: Housing Affordability and Redevelopment in New York (Part I) Jason M. Barr June 13, 2022 Why is NYC housing so expensive? This blog post discusses the barriers to new housing construction in one neighborhood in the Bronx—the
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: Interviews about Skyscrapers and Cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/interviews-series/) - Stefan Al In this Q&A interview, Stefan Al, author of Supertall: How the World's Tallest Buildings Are Reshaping Our Cities and Our Lives, offers his thoughts on skyscrapers and the future of cities. Q&A Interview with Stefan Al Members of Open New York This post presents a roundtable Q&A with members of the NYC YIMBY
- [In the Media](https://buildingtheskyline.org/in-the-media/) - The Book My "top five" book recommendations about the New York City Skyline, July 2022 "The Invisible Hand of Gotham: A Professor Explains How Economics Shaped the Skyline," by Matt Grossman, Commercial Observer, September 4, 2018 The Provocateur Podcast interview with Gah-Kai Leung, August 7, 2017 2017 Summer Recommended Reading, Architectural Record, May 1, 2017.
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: Zoning and Planning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/zoning-series/) - The following are posts about zoning and planning history The Birth and Growth of Modern Zoning (Part I): From Utopia to FARtopia Jason M. Barr May 11, 2021 Around the world, cities regulate building densities by limiting the floor area ratio (FAR)--the amount of allowable building area per square foot or meter of land.
- [About the Author](https://buildingtheskyline.org/about-the-author/) - Jason M. Barr is a professor of economics at Rutgers University-Newark. His areas of interests include urban and real estate economics, New York City history, and computational economics. He has published many articles in top peer-reviewed economics journals. He is one of the leading scholars on skyscraper economics. His research has been discussed widely in
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: Star Trek and the Economics of the Future](https://buildingtheskyline.org/star-trek-series/) - Book Review: Star Trek, History and Us: Reflections of the Present and Past Throughout the Franchise by A.J. Black. McFarland, 2021 Jason M. Barr May 26, 2021 A.J. Black's book is a thought-provoking and insightful book that takes the reader on a deep-dive, 60-year journey through the Star Trek franchise. His book shows
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: COVID-19](https://buildingtheskyline.org/covid-19-series/) - Posts on the causes and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and related topics The Pandemic Tsunami: How COVID-19 Swept Across America Jason M. Barr and Troy Tassier February 25, 2021 Staring in March 2020, COVID-19 swept across American like a tsunami. This blog post details how hard--and when--minorities and lower income residents got hit.
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: CO2 and Climate Change](https://buildingtheskyline.org/climate-change-series/) - Skynomics Blog posts about CO2 and climate change. The Skyline versus the Sprawl-line: CO2 Emissions and Building Types in New York City Jason M. Barr September 16, 2020 Skyscrapers get a bum rap for producing a lot of greenhouse gases. By which is worse for the environment, tall residential buildings in the city center or
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: The Economics of Skyscraper Height](https://buildingtheskyline.org/economics-of-skyscraper-height-series/) - The Economics of Skyscraper Height (Part I) Jason M. Barr December 17, 2018 Many people look at skyscrapers around the world and conclude they are unnecessarily tall. This blog post discusses the economics of skyscraper height. Contrary to popular belief, most skyscrapers have a strong economic rational. Read More » The Economics of Skyscraper Height
- [Skynomics Blog Post Series: The Technology of Tall](https://buildingtheskyline.org/technology-of-tall-series/) - The Technology of Tall (Part I): Skeletons, Outriggers, and Buttresses Jason M. Barr July 16, 2019 How are the world's tallest buildings able to stand up? This blog post discusses the evolution of skyscraper structural technology, which allow skyscrapers to keep getting taller and taller--and at lower costs. Read More » The Technology of
- [My Instagram Feed Demo](https://buildingtheskyline.org/my-instagram-feed-demo-2/) - [my-instagram-feed user_id='' skin_id='3603'] This is a mif demo page created by plugin automatically. Please don't delete to make the plugin work properly.
- [Facebook Demo](https://buildingtheskyline.org/facebook-demo-2/) - This is a Facebook demo page created by plugin automatically. Please do not delete to make the plugin work properly.
- [Facebook Demo](https://buildingtheskyline.org/facebook-demo-3/) - This is a Facebook demo page created by plugin automatically. Please do not delete to make the plugin work properly.
- [My Instagram Feed Demo](https://buildingtheskyline.org/my-instagram-feed-demo/) - [my-instagram-feed user_id='' skin_id='3571'] This is a mif demo page created by plugin automatically. Please don't delete to make the plugin work properly.
- [Facebook Demo](https://buildingtheskyline.org/facebook-demo/) - This is a Facebook demo page created by plugin automatically. Please do not delete to make the plugin work properly.
- [Op-Eds. & Blogs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/the-occasional-blog/) - "Big Data and the Happiness of Cities," OUP Blog, August 22, 2018 "Stop the sprawl! If we are serious about our future, we must look up," Independent.ie, June 4, 2018 (with Ronan Lyons) "Asia Dreams in Skyscrapers," New York Times, October 11, 2017 "Unshackle New York City," Crain's New York Business, April 12, 2017 "The
- [Now in Paperback](https://buildingtheskyline.org/paperback/) - 30% OFF! July 2018 Paperback | 9780190912291 $ 29.95 $20.97 Order online at www.global.oup.com with promotion code ASFLYQ6 to save 30%
- [Reviews and Advance Praise](https://buildingtheskyline.org/advance-praise/) - Book Reviews ...in a conversational style that almost makes you forget that you are reading a book about economic history. Economists will appreciate Mr Barr’s careful use of wonky concepts; architects and historians will enjoy his keen eye for detail. But whatever your persuasion, after reading this book you will never look up at a
- [Home](https://buildingtheskyline.org/home/)
- [Corrections & Additional Notes](https://buildingtheskyline.org/corrections-additional-notes/) - p. 65: Gouverneur Morris not Governor Morris p. 66: Regarding "Randel's plan," Gerard Koeppel's book, City on a Grid, notes, "Of late, a myth has grown up as myths do that John Randel was responsible for Manhattan's grid....If the designers of the grid—the heavy greatcoat on the land, the dense undergarment of the city—were the
- [About the Book](https://buildingtheskyline.org/about-the-book/) - Building the Skyline The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers Jason M. Barr Oxford University Press (2016) The first book to cover the economic history of the Manhattan skyline from 1626 to the present Presents a unique window into the economics of skyscrapers and demonstrates that fundamentally the skyscraper is a solution to an economic
- [For Researchers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/for-researchers/) - Table of Contents with links to data sets used in Building the Skyline PART I: BEFORE THE SKYSCRAPER REVOLUTION 1. Manhattan's Natural History [Bedrock Depth by Block] 2. Mannahatta to Manhattan: Settlement to Grid Plan [Historical Land Values] 3. Land Use before the Civil War [Directory Data 1827_1849] 4. The Tenements and the Skyline [Lower East
- [Helicopter Tour](https://buildingtheskyline.org/helicopter-tour/) - Figure: Helicopter Tour of Manhattan's Bedrock. This helicopter tour shows the bedrock depths relative to sea level. The blue parts are where the bedrock is below the sea level and the orange parts where it is above. The deepest bedrock is in the Lower East Side (but that’s not why there are no skyscrapers there).
- [Graphics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/graphics/) - PART I: BEFORE THE SKYSCRAPER REVOLUTION Introduction 1. Manhattan's Natural History 2. Mannahatta to Manhattan: Settlement to Grid Plan 3. Land Use before the Civil War 4. The Tenements and the Skyline PART II: THE RISE OF THE SKYLINE 5. The Economics of Skyscraper Height 6. Measuring the Skyline 7. The Bedrock Myth 8. The

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/uncategorized/)
- [epilogue](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/epilogue/)
- [chapter1](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter1/)
- [chapter2](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter2/)
- [chapter3](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter3/)
- [chapter4](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter4/)
- [chapter5](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter5/)
- [chapter6](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter6/)
- [chapter7](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter7/)
- [chapter8](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter8/)
- [chapter9](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter9/)
- [chapter10](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/chapter10/)
- [intro](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/intro/)
- [Skynomics Blog](https://buildingtheskyline.org/category/skynomics-blog/)

## Tags

- [Skynomics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skynomics/)
- [Jason Barr](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/jason-barr/)
- [first skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/first-skyscraper/)
- [Home Insurance Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/home-insurance-building/)
- [Tribune Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/tribune-building/)
- [William Le Baron Jenney](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/william-le-baron-jenney/)
- [steel skeleton](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/steel-skeleton/)
- [New York](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/new-york/)
- [Chicago](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/chicago/)
- [world's tallest building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/worlds-tallest-building/)
- [20th century](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/20th-century/)
- [skyscraper revolution](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper-revolution/)
- [Singer Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/singer-building/)
- [Burj Khalifa](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/burj-khalifa/)
- [supertall](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/supertall/)
- [megatall](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/megatall/)
- [CTBUH](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/ctbuh/)
- [Louis Sullivan](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/louis-sullivan/)
- [skyscraper height](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper-height/)
- [New York City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/new-york-city/)
- [Shanghai](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/shanghai/)
- [Park Row Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/park-row-building/)
- [skyscraper index](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper-index/)
- [skyscraper curse](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper-curse/)
- [record-breaking skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/record-breaking-skyscraper/)
- [Lotte Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/lotte-tower/)
- [Jeddah Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/jeddah-tower/)
- [Shanghai Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/shanghai-tower/)
- [Gross Domestic Product](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/gross-domestic-product/)
- [business cycle](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/business-cycle/)
- [economic crisis](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economic-crisis/)
- [truthiness](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/truthiness/)
- [skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper/)
- [Manhattan](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/manhattan/)
- [profits](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/profits/)
- [construction costs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/construction-costs/)
- [height premium](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/height-premium/)
- [windbracing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/windbracing/)
- [432 Park Avenue](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/432-park-avenue/)
- [One57](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/one57/)
- [Steinway Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/steinway-tower/)
- [MOMA Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/moma-tower/)
- [Central Park Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/central-park-tower/)
- [superslim](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/superslim/)
- [economics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economics/)
- [220 Central Park South](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/220-central-park-south/)
- [return on investment](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/return-on-investment/)
- [Billionaire's Row](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/billionaires-row/)
- [land values](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/land-values/)
- [condo](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/condo/)
- [air rights](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/air-rights/)
- [starchitect](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/starchitect/)
- [happiness](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/happiness/)
- [skyscrapers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscrapers/)
- [Adam Smith](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/adam-smith/)
- [Happiness Index](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/happiness-index/)
- [Human Development Index](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/human-development-index/)
- [wealth of nations](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/wealth-of-nations/)
- [Easterlin Paradox](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/easterlin-paradox/)
- [World Happiness Report](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/world-happiness-report/)
- [regression](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/regression/)
- [correlation versus causation](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/correlation-versus-causation/)
- [building height](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/building-height/)
- [Trekonomics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/trekonomics/)
- [Star Trek](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/star-trek/)
- [Jean-Luc Picard](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/jean-luc-picard/)
- [James Kirk](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/james-kirk/)
- [Spock](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/spock/)
- [utopia](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/utopia/)
- [USS Enterprise](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/uss-enterprise/)
- [24th Century](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/24th-century/)
- [Ferengi](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/ferengi/)
- [unintended consequences](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/unintended-consequences/)
- [Deep Space Nine](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/deep-space-nine/)
- [Benjamin Sisko](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/benjamin-sisko/)
- [marginal cost](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/marginal-cost/)
- [Global growth](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/global-growth/)
- [record-breaking skyscrapers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/record-breaking-skyscrapers/)
- [urbanization](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urbanization/)
- [plutocrats](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/plutocrats/)
- [corruption](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/corruption/)
- [affordable housing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/affordable-housing/)
- [income inequality](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/income-inequality/)
- [NIMBYism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/nimbyism/)
- [zoning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/zoning/)
- [1%](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/1/)
- [Park Avenue](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/park-avenue/)
- [money laundering](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/money-laundering/)
- [highrise](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/highrise/)
- [China](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/china/)
- [Pruitt-Igoe](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/pruitt-igoe/)
- [well-being](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/well-being/)
- [apartment buildings](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/apartment-buildings/)
- [psychology](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/psychology/)
- [public housing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/public-housing/)
- [greenwalls](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/greenwalls/)
- [mental health](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mental-health/)
- [Robert Gifford](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/robert-gifford/)
- [input prices](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/input-prices/)
- [price index](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/price-index/)
- [commodities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/commodities/)
- [monopoly power](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/monopoly-power/)
- [invisible hand](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/invisible-hand/)
- [Consumer Price Index](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/consumer-price-index/)
- [CPI](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/cpi/)
- [GDP](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/gdp/)
- [supply and demand](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/supply-and-demand/)
- [stock prices](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/stock-prices/)
- [office rents](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/office-rents/)
- [rent premium](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rent-premium/)
- [sorting](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/sorting/)
- [Amsterdam](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/amsterdam/)
- [tall buildings](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/tall-buildings/)
- [social hierarchies](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/social-hierarchies/)
- [signalling](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/signalling/)
- [office buildings](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/office-buildings/)
- [clustering](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/clustering/)
- [views](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/views/)
- [work](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/work/)
- [Rembrandt Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rembrandt-tower/)
- [NIMBY](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/nimby/)
- [YIMBY](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/yimby/)
- [commuting](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/commuting/)
- [homeownership](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/homeownership/)
- [urban density](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-density/)
- [densification](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/densification/)
- [single family home](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/single-family-home/)
- [trust](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/trust/)
- [social capital](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/social-capital/)
- [nudge](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/nudge/)
- [Richard Florida](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/richard-florida/)
- [Enrico Moretti](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/enrico-moretti/)
- [Charles Montgomery](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/charles-montgomery/)
- [social interactions](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/social-interactions/)
- [Carbon Dioxide](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/carbon-dioxide/)
- [Greenhouse Gas](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/greenhouse-gas/)
- [Emissions](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/emissions/)
- [CO2](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/co2/)
- [cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/cities/)
- [automobiles](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/automobiles/)
- [electricity](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/electricity/)
- [density](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/density/)
- [suburbs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/suburbs/)
- [global warming](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/global-warming/)
- [climate change](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/climate-change/)
- [cap and trade](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/cap-and-trade/)
- [externalities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/externalities/)
- [taxes](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/taxes/)
- [carbon footprint](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/carbon-footprint/)
- [greenhouse gases](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/greenhouse-gases/)
- [economic policy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economic-policy/)
- [ConEd](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/coned/)
- [carbon tax](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/carbon-tax/)
- [architecture](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/architecture/)
- [architecture criticism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/architecture-criticism/)
- [Chrysler Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/chrysler-building/)
- [Flatiron Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/flatiron-building/)
- [Lewis Mumford](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/lewis-mumford/)
- [Ada Louis Huxtable](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/ada-louis-huxtable/)
- [Roaring Twenties](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/roaring-twenties/)
- [Philip Johnson](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/philip-johnson/)
- [Walter Gropius](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/walter-gropius/)
- [modern architecture](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/modern-architecture/)
- [postmodern](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/postmodern/)
- [International Style](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/international-style/)
- [Daniel Burnham](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/daniel-burnham/)
- [building size](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/building-size/)
- [Grand Central Station](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/grand-central-station/)
- [Regressions](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/regressions/)
- [Bank of America Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bank-of-america-tower/)
- [Local Law 84](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/local-law-84/)
- [benchmarking](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/benchmarking/)
- [urban planning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-planning/)
- [Law of Supply](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/law-of-supply/)
- [building regulations](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/building-regulations/)
- [California](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/california/)
- [gentrification](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/gentrification/)
- [housing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing/)
- [1920s](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/1920s/)
- [Empire State Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/empire-state-building/)
- [Walter Chrysler](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/walter-chrysler/)
- [Henry Ford](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/henry-ford/)
- [skyline](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyline/)
- [automobile](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/automobile/)
- [office](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/office/)
- [rents](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rents/)
- [Lefcourt](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/lefcourt/)
- [Industrial Revolution](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/industrial-revolution/)
- [Penn Station](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/penn-station/)
- [midtown](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/midtown/)
- [Times Square](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/times-square/)
- [Art Deco](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/art-deco/)
- [Building the Skyline](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/building-the-skyline/)
- [William Van Alen](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/william-van-alen/)
- [Garment District](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/garment-district/)
- [glass](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/glass/)
- [glass skyscrapers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/glass-skyscrapers/)
- [Newark](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/newark/)
- [Justin Davidson](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/justin-davidson/)
- [Prudential](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/prudential/)
- [open floor plan](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/open-floor-plan/)
- [invasive species](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/invasive-species/)
- [death ray](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/death-ray/)
- [knowledge spillovers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/knowledge-spillovers/)
- [walkable cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/walkable-cities/)
- [facade](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/facade/)
- [urban growth](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-growth/)
- [Jane Jacobs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/jane-jacobs/)
- [libertarian](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/libertarian/)
- [Milton Friedman](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/milton-friedman/)
- [Death and Life of Great American Cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/death-and-life-of-great-american-cities/)
- [Capitalism and Freedom](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/capitalism-and-freedom/)
- [diversity](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/diversity/)
- [Hudson Street](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/hudson-street/)
- [Le Corbusier](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/le-corbusier/)
- [Garden Cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/garden-cities/)
- [Planning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/planning/)
- [paternalism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/paternalism/)
- [economic freedom](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economic-freedom/)
- [urban renwal](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-renwal/)
- [slum clearance](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/slum-clearance/)
- [Ebenezer Howard](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/ebenezer-howard/)
- [livable cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/livable-cities/)
- [Greenwich Village](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/greenwich-village/)
- [North End](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/north-end/)
- [Goldilocks Density](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/goldilocks-density/)
- [Robert Moses](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/robert-moses/)
- [preservation](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/preservation/)
- [landmarking](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/landmarking/)
- [The Death and Life of Great American Cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-death-and-life-of-great-american-cities/)
- [Edward Glaeser](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/edward-glaeser/)
- [Triumph of the City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/triumph-of-the-city/)
- [urban economics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-economics/)
- [Michael Bloomberg](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/michael-bloomberg/)
- [Boston](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/boston/)
- [building technology](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/building-technology/)
- [urbanism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urbanism/)
- [urban policy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-policy/)
- [livability](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/livability/)
- [mortgages](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mortgages/)
- [future of cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/future-of-cities/)
- [luxury condos](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/luxury-condos/)
- [skyscraper economics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper-economics/)
- [sprawl](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/sprawl/)
- [housing prices](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-prices/)
- [CityLab](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/citylab/)
- [affordability](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/affordability/)
- [urband density](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urband-density/)
- [urban livability](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-livability/)
- [climage change](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/climage-change/)
- [traffic congestion](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/traffic-congestion/)
- [William Cronon](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/william-cronon/)
- [New Amsterdam](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/new-amsterdam/)
- [fire](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/fire/)
- [conflagration](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/conflagration/)
- [Great Fire](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/great-fire/)
- [American Revolution](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/american-revolution/)
- [San Francisco](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/san-francisco/)
- [natural experiment](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/natural-experiment/)
- [econometrics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/econometrics/)
- [digital mapping](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/digital-mapping/)
- [Homer Hoyt](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/homer-hoyt/)
- [globalization](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/globalization/)
- [skills](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skills/)
- [trade](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/trade/)
- [civilization](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/civilization/)
- [war](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/war/)
- [tribalism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/tribalism/)
- [capitalism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/capitalism/)
- [Homo sapiens](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/homo-sapiens/)
- [Roman Empire](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/roman-empire/)
- [British Empire](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/british-empire/)
- [markets](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/markets/)
- [iPhone](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/iphone/)
- [World War II](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/world-war-ii/)
- [the big sort](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-big-sort/)
- [social mobility](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/social-mobility/)
- [economic mobility](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economic-mobility/)
- [geographic sorting](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/geographic-sorting/)
- [political sorting](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/political-sorting/)
- [technology](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/technology/)
- [technological innovation](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/technological-innovation/)
- [terran](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/terran/)
- [Pax Romana](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/pax-romana/)
- [Midnight Cowboy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/midnight-cowboy/)
- [immigration](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/immigration/)
- [population](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/population/)
- [demographics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/demographics/)
- [migration](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/migration/)
- [The New Colossus](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-new-colossus/)
- [economic growth](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economic-growth/)
- [Gotham](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/gotham/)
- [Big Apple](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/big-apple/)
- [U.S.S. Enterprise](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/u-s-s-enterprise/)
- [Next Generation](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/next-generation/)
- [Science Fiction](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/science-fiction/)
- [Gene Roddenberry](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/gene-roddenberry/)
- [Warfare](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/warfare/)
- [Economics of the future](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economics-of-the-future/)
- [First Contact](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/first-contact/)
- [Cloud Minders](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/cloud-minders/)
- [Taste of Armageddon](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/taste-of-armageddon/)
- [Let That Be Your Last Battlefield](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/let-that-be-your-last-battlefield/)
- [record breaking skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/record-breaking-skyscraper-2/)
- [vanity height](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/vanity-height/)
- [economic height](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economic-height/)
- [Irrational Exuberance](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/irrational-exuberance/)
- [moral hazard](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/moral-hazard/)
- [skyscraper competition](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper-competition/)
- [Symbolic Height](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/symbolic-height/)
- [Sky Mile Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/sky-mile-tower/)
- [Sears Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/sears-tower/)
- [Willis Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/willis-tower/)
- [Bank of Manhattan Trust Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bank-of-manhattan-trust-building/)
- [Chryser Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/chryser-building/)
- [John Raskob](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/john-raskob/)
- [Al Smith](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/al-smith/)
- [econonomics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/econonomics/)
- [Petronas Towers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/petronas-towers/)
- [Taipei 101](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/taipei-101/)
- [Starrett Brothers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/starrett-brothers/)
- [supertall buildings](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/supertall-buildings/)
- [Taiwan](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/taiwan/)
- [Dubai](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/dubai/)
- [Kuala Lumpur](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/kuala-lumpur/)
- [order without design](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/order-without-design/)
- [Alain Bertaud](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/alain-bertaud/)
- [land](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/land/)
- [mobility](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mobility/)
- [transportation](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/transportation/)
- [population density](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/population-density/)
- [economics of cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economics-of-cities/)
- [land use](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/land-use/)
- [poverty](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/poverty/)
- [Captain Kirk](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/captain-kirk/)
- [Artificial Intelligence](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/artificial-intelligence/)
- [computers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/computers/)
- [technological change](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/technological-change/)
- [unitended consequnces](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/unitended-consequnces/)
- [Elon Musk](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/elon-musk/)
- [Return of the Archons](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/return-of-the-archons/)
- [androids](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/androids/)
- [productivity](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/productivity/)
- [shadows](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/shadows/)
- [sunlight](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/sunlight/)
- [valuing sunshine](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/valuing-sunshine/)
- [heat island effect](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/heat-island-effect/)
- [Pigouvian Tax](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/pigouvian-tax/)
- [Central Park](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/central-park/)
- [New York City shadows](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/new-york-city-shadows/)
- [shadow accrual maps](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/shadow-accrual-maps/)
- [real estate](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/real-estate/)
- [1916 zoning ordinance](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/1916-zoning-ordinance/)
- [Equitable Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/equitable-building/)
- [building setbacks](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/building-setbacks/)
- [building envelope](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/building-envelope/)
- [city planning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/city-planning/)
- [1916 zoning resolution](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/1916-zoning-resolution/)
- [tenements](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/tenements/)
- [setback multiple](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/setback-multiple/)
- [Edward Bassett](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/edward-bassett/)
- [1961 Zoning Resolution](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/1961-zoning-resolution/)
- [city shadows](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/city-shadows/)
- [Bronx](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bronx/)
- [Brooklyn](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/brooklyn/)
- [Jacob Riis](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/jacob-riis/)
- [urban reformers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-reformers/)
- [slums](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/slums/)
- [How the Other Half Lives](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/how-the-other-half-lives/)
- [subway](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/subway/)
- [overcrowding](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/overcrowding/)
- [economic theory](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economic-theory/)
- [economics of zoning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/economics-of-zoning/)
- [Not in my backyard](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/not-in-my-backyard/)
- [FAR](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/far/)
- [floor area ratio](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/floor-area-ratio/)
- [tolls](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/tolls/)
- [congestion pricing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/congestion-pricing/)
- [trolleys](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/trolleys/)
- [smart cities](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/smart-cities/)
- [subways](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/subways/)
- [Els](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/els/)
- [streetcars](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/streetcars/)
- [mass transit](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mass-transit/)
- [self-driving cars](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/self-driving-cars/)
- [NIBMYism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/nibmyism/)
- [big data](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/big-data/)
- [rapid transit](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rapid-transit/)
- [United Arab Emirates](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/united-arab-emirates/)
- [One World Trade Center](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/one-world-trade-center/)
- [One Vanderbilt](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/one-vanderbilt/)
- [marginal costs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/marginal-costs/)
- [total costs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/total-costs/)
- [real estate prices](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/real-estate-prices/)
- [housing affordability](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-affordability/)
- [Ingrid Gould Ellen](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/ingrid-gould-ellen/)
- [homelessnes](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/homelessnes/)
- [displacement](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/displacement/)
- [street life](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/street-life/)
- [integration](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/integration/)
- [housing policy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-policy/)
- [Brendan O'Flaherty](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/brendan-oflaherty/)
- [inclusionary zoning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/inclusionary-zoning/)
- [Furman Center](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/furman-center/)
- [housing supply](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-supply/)
- [Hurricane Sandy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/hurricane-sandy/)
- [Tyler Cowen](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/tyler-cowen/)
- [Resilience](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/resilience/)
- [Sustainability](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/sustainability/)
- [housing rents](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-rents/)
- [sea level rise](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/sea-level-rise/)
- [emergence](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/emergence/)
- [Woolworth Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/woolworth-building/)
- [Cass Gilbert](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/cass-gilbert/)
- [structural systems](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/structural-systems/)
- [Fazlur Khan](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/fazlur-khan/)
- [outrigger](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/outrigger/)
- [buttressed core](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/buttressed-core/)
- [tube](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/tube/)
- [premium for height](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/premium-for-height/)
- [Twin Towers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/twin-towers/)
- [Monadnock Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/monadnock-building/)
- [bedrock](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bedrock/)
- [caissons](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/caissons/)
- [geology](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/geology/)
- [foundations](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/foundations/)
- [Lower East Side](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/lower-east-side/)
- [Wall Street](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/wall-street/)
- [myth busting](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/myth-busting/)
- [Madison Square](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/madison-square/)
- [vacant land](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/vacant-land/)
- [John Jacob Astor](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/john-jacob-astor/)
- [developer](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/developer/)
- [Astor Index](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/astor-index/)
- [rent stabilization](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rent-stabilization/)
- [landlord](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/landlord/)
- [condos and coops](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/condos-and-coops/)
- [income inquality](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/income-inquality/)
- [elevators](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/elevators/)
- [Woorlworth Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/woorlworth-building/)
- [Elisha Otis](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/elisha-otis/)
- [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/frank-lloyd-wright/)
- [elevator speed](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/elevator-speed/)
- [building core](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/building-core/)
- [skyscraper efficiency](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper-efficiency/)
- [Bank of China Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bank-of-china-tower/)
- [floor area](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/floor-area/)
- [elevator economics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/elevator-economics/)
- [skyscraper technology](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skyscraper-technology/)
- [Philadelphia](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/philadelphia/)
- [statistics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/statistics/)
- [low income](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/low-income/)
- [employment](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/employment/)
- [identification strategies](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/identification-strategies/)
- [energy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/energy/)
- [wind turbines](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/wind-turbines/)
- [LEED](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/leed/)
- [wind bracing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/wind-bracing/)
- [Pearl River Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/pearl-river-tower/)
- [Strata SE1](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/strata-se1/)
- [Bahrain World Trade Center](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bahrain-world-trade-center/)
- [Hess Tower](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/hess-tower/)
- [housing costs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-costs/)
- [vacancy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/vacancy/)
- [Seinfeld](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/seinfeld/)
- [MULTI](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/multi/)
- [bottlenecks](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bottlenecks/)
- [The Illinois Skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-illinois-skyscraper/)
- [Mile-high skyscraper](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mile-high-skyscraper/)
- [maglev](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/maglev/)
- [Bangalore](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bangalore/)
- [Bengaluru](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bengaluru/)
- [Jan Brueckner](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/jan-brueckner/)
- [India](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/india/)
- [covid-19](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/covid-19/)
- [epidemiology](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/epidemiology/)
- [reproduction number](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/reproduction-number/)
- [social distancing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/social-distancing/)
- [coronavirus](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/coronavirus/)
- [pandemic](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/pandemic/)
- [Grand Central Terminal](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/grand-central-terminal/)
- [spillovers](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/spillovers/)
- [U.S. counties](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/u-s-counties/)
- [mortality](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mortality/)
- [homicides](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/homicides/)
- [epidemics](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/epidemics/)
- [mortality rates](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mortality-rates/)
- [history](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/history/)
- [cholera](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/cholera/)
- [yellow fever](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/yellow-fever/)
- [typhoid](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/typhoid/)
- [excess deaths analysis](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/excess-deaths-analysis/)
- [Hatred](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/hatred/)
- [Prisoner's Dilemma](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/prisoners-dilemma/)
- [the Gorn](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-gorn/)
- [game theory](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/game-theory/)
- [Great Depression](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/great-depression/)
- [sprawl-line](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/sprawl-line/)
- [urban spatial structure](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-spatial-structure/)
- [land-use regulations](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/land-use-regulations/)
- [streetscapes](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/streetscapes/)
- [curb appeal](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/curb-appeal/)
- [oppression](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/oppression/)
- [Computer Vision](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/computer-vision/)
- [construction](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/construction/)
- [forecasting](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/forecasting/)
- [Bradford Lee Gilbert](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bradford-lee-gilbert/)
- [Bank of Manhattan Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/bank-of-manhattan-building/)
- [World Building](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/world-building/)
- [architectural height](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/architectural-height/)
- [race and ethnicity](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/race-and-ethnicity/)
- [Dublin](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/dublin/)
- [human scale](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/human-scale/)
- [Twitter](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/twitter/)
- [Ireland](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/ireland/)
- [Hong Kong](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/hong-kong/)
- [Open New York](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/open-new-york/)
- [RPAA](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rpaa/)
- [Town Planning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/town-planning/)
- [Thomas Adams](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/thomas-adams/)
- [garden apartments](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/garden-apartments/)
- [Regional Plan of New York and its Environs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/regional-plan-of-new-york-and-its-environs/)
- [Discovery](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/discovery/)
- [Michael Burnham](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/michael-burnham/)
- [9/11](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/9-11/)
- [Cold War](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/cold-war/)
- [policy](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/policy/)
- [Frederick Ackerman](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/frederick-ackerman/)
- [Robert Kohn](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/robert-kohn/)
- [Thorsten Veblen](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/thorsten-veblen/)
- [The Great Depression](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-great-depression/)
- [The City Club of New York](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-city-club-of-new-york/)
- [Fiorello La Guardia](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/fiorello-la-guardia/)
- [Rexford Tugwell](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rexford-tugwell/)
- [Theodore McCrosky](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/theodore-mccrosky/)
- [City Planning Commission](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/city-planning-commission/)
- [James Felt](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/james-felt/)
- [Land Reclamation](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/land-reclamation/)
- [resiliency](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/resiliency/)
- [skylines](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/skylines/)
- [GaWC](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/gawc/)
- [ROI](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/roi/)
- [real estate development](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/real-estate-development/)
- [Mosholu Parkway](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mosholu-parkway/)
- [Queens](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/queens/)
- [transit oriented design](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/transit-oriented-design/)
- [VEAM](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/veam/)
- [Mitchell-Lama](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mitchell-lama/)
- [unitended consequences](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/unitended-consequences/)
- [book review](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/book-review/)
- [World War I](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/world-war-i/)
- [Socialism](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/socialism/)
- [Hayek](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/hayek/)
- [Polanyi](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/polanyi/)
- [Keynes](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/keynes/)
- [ideology](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/ideology/)
- [MTA](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mta/)
- [transit oriented development](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/transit-oriented-development/)
- [filtering](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/filtering/)
- [low-income housing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/low-income-housing/)
- [global](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/global/)
- [disease](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/disease/)
- [Five Points](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/five-points/)
- [housing reform](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-reform/)
- [wards](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/wards/)
- [land value tax](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/land-value-tax/)
- [Mannahatta](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mannahatta/)
- [grid plan](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/grid-plan/)
- [1811](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/1811/)
- [John Randel Jr.](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/john-randel-jr/)
- [Andrew Haswell Green](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/andrew-haswell-green/)
- [street planning](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/street-planning/)
- [Cities in the Sky](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/cities-in-the-sky/)
- [myth busing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/myth-busing/)
- [Manhattan bedrock](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/manhattan-bedrock/)
- [Leroy Buffington](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/leroy-buffington/)
- [George Post](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/george-post/)
- [The Battery](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-battery/)
- [Battery Park City](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/battery-park-city/)
- [New Mannahatta](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/new-mannahatta/)
- [Manhattan Extension](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/manhattan-extension/)
- [landfill](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/landfill/)
- [T. Kennard Thomson](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/t-kennard-thomson/)
- [World Trade Center](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/world-trade-center/)
- [The Power Broker](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/the-power-broker/)
- [Robert Caro](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/robert-caro/)
- [Mumbai](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/mumbai/)
- [Tyre](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/tyre/)
- [Constantinople](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/constantinople/)
- [world history](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/world-history/)
- [Aztecs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/aztecs/)
- [Venice](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/venice/)
- [Spanish Empire](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/spanish-empire/)
- [Carthage](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/carthage/)
- [urban history](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/urban-history/)
- [rent control](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rent-control/)
- [rent regulations](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/rent-regulations/)
- [housing crisis](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-crisis/)
- [housing maintenance](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-maintenance/)
- [housing affordabability](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-affordabability/)
- [apartment rents](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/apartment-rents/)
- [difference-in-difference regression](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/difference-in-difference-regression/)
- [HSTPA](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/hstpa/)
- [2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/2019-housing-stability-and-tenant-protection-act/)
- [Class C Violations](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/class-c-violations/)
- [housing decay](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/housing-decay/)
- [contagious decay](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/contagious-decay/)
- [landlords](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/landlords/)
- [builidng operating costs](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/builidng-operating-costs/)
- [NYCHA](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/nycha/)
- [Howard Husock](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/howard-husock/)
- [Social Housing](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/social-housing/)
- [real estate taxation](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/real-estate-taxation/)
- [Henry George](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/henry-george/)
- [Grand Concourse](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/grand-concourse/)
- [Stefan Al](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/stefan-al/)
- [Dwelling on Earth](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/dwelling-on-earth/)
- [archeology](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/archeology/)
- [Suptertall](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/suptertall/)
- [book Q&A](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/book-qa/)
- [home](https://buildingtheskyline.org/tag/home/)