[Exodus]

I found this pic cruising the net, and it is of Detroit in 1965. Show your cities skyline from about the same era.
http://steelflame.zoto.com/img/original/b299f1272e565cb75bf04fc81c82b09d-.jpg

[CGII]

Madison, 1967
http://home.earthlink.net/~tfonstad/isthmus.jpg

[MonkeyRonin]

Toronto, late 60s

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/48/1960sskylinenl8.jpg

[STLgasm]

St. Louis '65:

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/27307865.jpg

[netwerk01]

Los Angeles 1966

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044250.jpg

1968

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044261.jpg

[Xing]

Damn, LA didn't have much of a skyline!

[Boris2k7]

Calgary 1958 - Population 206 831
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6822/na5093579hz5.jpg

Calgary 1963 - Population 276 975
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2764/na43414jk0.jpg

Calgary 1970 - Population 385 436
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/8521/na28645311oa0.jpg

The biggest changes came in the late 70's and early 80's

[FREKI]

Copenhagen 1870 - not that much have changed :)

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/7120/franikolaikirketa0.jpg

[netwerk01]

Damn, LA didn't have much of a skyline!

Due to concerns about the structural integrity of buildings in earthquakes, until the late 50s/early 60s, Los Angeles had a height restriction of 150 feet for buildings. The only building which exceeded that was City Hall. Once improvements were made in earthquake resistant building standards were made, the restriction was lifted, but, most plans for skyscrapers took over 10 years to complete. LA's skyline grew most in the 1970s and 80s as a result.

[PhilippeMtl]

http://imagescn.technomuses.ca/_images/common/photos/original/CN000475.jpgMontreal:1971

[Via Chicago]

Chicago, 1965

http://my.fit.edu/~rosiene/1965som.jpg

http://www.uic.edu/depts/ahaa/classes/ah111/som-uic.jpg

[MayorOfChicago]

Damn, Chicago has really changed the past 35 years.

[Exodus]

Chicago, 1965

http://my.fit.edu/~rosiene/1965som.jpg

http://www.uic.edu/depts/ahaa/classes/ah111/som-uic.jpgI love that construction pic.

[J Church]

1964:

http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfphotos/AAC-9100.jpg

1971:

http://pic.templetons.com/brad/pano/midpano/sf71.jpg

[Via Chicago]

I just realized that last pic I posted of Chicago has got to be way more recent, since the Aon and Sears Tower werent built until the 70s.

brand spanking new dan ryan expressway, early 60s
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/xl/296.jpg

cant find a decent skyline pic tho

[pdxstreetcar]

http://www.myfavorites4u.com/pc8645.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b5/PDX1966PGEplant.jpg/800px-PDX1966PGEplant.jpg

http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=24846
Portland, OR

[MayDay]

Cleveland, from 1973:
http://images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/getimage.exe?CISOROOT=/herrick&CISOPTR=21&DMSCALE=100.00000&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=&REC=1&DMTHUMB=1&DMROTATE=0

[Texan]

couldn't find any from the 60's but I found this one

Dallas around 1940
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/samclark/dallas/Dallas_1940.jpg

[Exodus]

St. Louis '65:

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/27307865.jpgDamn great pic:tup: And great engineering.

[bgwah]

Seattle in 1962

http://www.alamedainfo.com/Seattle_World's_Fair_1962_002.jpg

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

Louisville, c. 1970, looking north, but could be 1966, as that modernist skyscraper in the foreground was built in 1965-66

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Louisville%20Tower/Downtown/Louis9.jpg

Another one of Louisville c. 1970, looking south.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Louisville%20Tower/Downtown/Louis11.jpg

(some of these are pretty suprising. Particularly that one of Tornoto)

[Vashon118]

From the WSDOT archives: Seattle, 1968

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/hq/library/ImageLibrary/1966-68/66-68%20p63%20v.jpg

The building under construction is the Seafirst Building.

[MSP]

brand spanking new dan ryan expressway, early 60s
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/xl/296.jpg


cool picture.
Notice there is no CTA line in the median yet?



Here's Minneapolis in 1960
http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDBImages/pf014/pf014205.jpg


I would guess this one's from the mid-70's
http://collections.mnhs.org/VisualResources/VRDBImages/pf013/pf013720.jpg

[MayorOfChicago]

I always forget that from really 1935 or earlier until the 1965-1975 urban renewal thing, there was relatively VERY little skyscraper development in the United States. I can't think of very much of anything going up from around 1935 until 1965. Then in the late 60's and early 70's BOOM, you have Hancock, Aon, Sears, World Trade Center, blah blah blah...

I was born in 1979, so I wasn't really aware of skyscrapers and interested in them until maybe 1996, when I was 17. I never realized how tramatic the 1980's were for tall skyscraper development in the United States. By the time I picked things up we were in the 1992-2000 skyscraper lull, so in my lifetime I think of 2000-2006 as being MAJOR. Damn though....the 80's were huge, and were building on top of such a previously "short" environment. What a great time to have been able to watch a downtown grow up.

[mikeelm]

I'd like to make 1 correction on that 1st Chicago picture. 1965 in an incorrect date. They did break ground for the Hancock Center that year it wasn't till 1969 or 70 when it was finished. The photo was probably shot in 1968 I have a book at home called CITY ON THE GO/CHICAGO published that year and has pictures of it under construction at that same hieght. Anyway, they're all great pictures we need to see more of these older photos here more often.

[VivaLFuego]

I always forget that from really 1935 or earlier until the 1965-1975 urban renewal thing, there was relatively VERY little skyscraper development in the United States. I can't think of very much of anything going up from around 1935 until 1965. Then in the late 60's and early 70's BOOM, you have Hancock, Aon, Sears, World Trade Center, blah blah blah...

I was born in 1979, so I wasn't really aware of skyscrapers and interested in them until maybe 1996, when I was 17. I never realized how tramatic the 1980's were for tall skyscraper development in the United States. By the time I picked things up we were in the 1992-2000 skyscraper lull, so in my lifetime I think of 2000-2006 as being MAJOR. Damn though....the 80's were huge, and were building on top of such a previously "short" environment. What a great time to have been able to watch a downtown grow up.
I know you meant "dramatic", but "traumatic" can be appropriate for the 70s-90s as well as this is when so many older skyscraper (er, highrise at least) gems were torn down and the U.S.'s downtowns turned into giant parking lots.

[xzmattzx]

Wilmington in 1975. 10 years off but this is the best I can do.

http://www.oldwilmington.net/photos/wilmington/after-1975/wilm-downtown.jpg

[sabino86]

Atlanta, 1964 (facing west):

http://www.library.gsu.edu/spcoll/spcollimages/av/lane/jpeg/LBGPF6-065a.jpg

1976:

http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/photogallery/images/atlanta1976.jpg

2006:

http://www.slrobertson.com/images/usa/georgia/atlanta/atlanta-skyline-night-b.jpg

[Marcu]

http://my.fit.edu/~rosiene/1965som.jpg

Is the playboy building still there and if so, why is the sign gone?

[goblin king]

Mexico City

50's
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/4397/sho5.jpg

1969
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/325/mexicocityskyline1969lg6.jpg

[raggedy13]

Here's a series of panoramas showing Vancouver first in 1978 and then 2003 from the same spot...
(I couldn't find any from the 60s)

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/cambiewest78web.jpg
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/cambiew03web.jpg

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/creek78web.jpg
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/creek03web.jpg

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/stanley78web.jpg
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/stanley03web.jpg

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/GeorgiaN78web.jpg
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/GeorgiaN03web.jpg

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/granE78web.jpg
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/granE03web.jpg

[Evergrey]

this Pittsburgh shot is from only 3 decades ago... but it's just so cool


http://nwschumm.netfirms.com/schumm13.jpg

[skrish]

raggedy13, those Van pics are great.

[FREKI]

Great post raggedy13!

[fflint]

People--don't confuse and clutter up this thread up with photos from 2006. Just get as close to 1965 as you can and leave the "now" photos for other threads!

[raggedy13]

raggedy13, those Van pics are great.

Thanks... they're from the City of Vancouver website... http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/fade.htm

...and sorry for cluttering things up fflint. I just thought it would be more interesting to show comparisons since as I was looking at everybody elses posts I was wishing they would put current skyline images up just to make things more interesting, especially for those cities whose skylines I am not intimately familiar with.

[trueviking]

i agree ^...it is interesting to compare...as long as its not 15 pictures of today.

calgary and vancouver look like different worlds from 30 years ago...amazing.

[vertex]

Impressive before/after pics Raggedy, they really show an incredible transformation of Vancouver, and in less than 30 years too.

[Shasta]

Here's a pic of Houston in 1958 before the freeways choked off downtown and destroyed many neighborhoods (the foreground neighborhood in this pic, the African-American 4th Ward area, was ripped apart by the Pierce Elevated construction about 3 years later)
http://www.cah.utexas.edu/db/dmr/image_lg/e_bb_2961_pub.jpg

Here's a 1964 photo taken from Allen Parkway along the Buffalo Bayou about 1.5 miles West/Southwest of downtown. The building in the foreground under construction is the 330 foot Wortham Tower. The tallest building in downtown proper (far Southern edge) is the 606 foot Exxon (formerly Humble Oil) Building with the Petroleum Club on the top floor.
http://www.cah.utexas.edu/db/dmr/image_lg/e_bb_2999_pub.jpg

[northstar]

1953 - around city hall
http://www.byarkivet.oslo.kommune.no/OBA/webflyfoto/A-20027_Uo0001_074.jpg

1963 - around city hall
http://www.byarkivet.oslo.kommune.no/OBA/webflyfoto/A-20027_Uo0001_101.jpg

1961 - Bjørvika
http://www.byarkivet.oslo.kommune.no/OBA/webflyfoto/A-20027_Un0001_100.jpg

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Thanks... they're from the City of Vancouver website... http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/fade/fade.htm

...and sorry for cluttering things up fflint. I just thought it would be more interesting to show comparisons since as I was looking at everybody elses posts I was wishing they would put current skyline images up just to make things more interesting, especially for those cities whose skylines I am not intimately familiar with.

same here. very cool pics and it looks as though vancouver improved in each one.

[antinimby]

Lower Manhattan 1965

http://content.barewalls.com/closeup/d0150014549c.jpg

[initiald]

Charlotte
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/2371/233ah2.jpg

[Altauria]

I know you meant "dramatic", but "traumatic" can be appropriate for the 70s-90s as well as this is when so many older skyscraper (er, highrise at least) gems were torn down and the U.S.'s downtowns turned into giant parking lots.

Seeing some of the buildings that were torn down in Chicago alone is pretty sad. After seeing a picture of a couple of the Old Post Offices....especially the newer old post office.....it made me want to cry. There had been a TON of buildings that were torn down that very much reminded me of the cast-iron district in Manhattan.

[Latoso]

Is the playboy building still there and if so, why is the sign gone?

Playboy moved out of the building and it is currently being converted to condos and it has reverted back to its original name: The Palmolive Building.

[rgolch]

I just realized that last pic I posted of Chicago has got to be way more recent, since the Aon and Sears Tower werent built until the 70s.

brand spanking new dan ryan expressway, early 60s
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/xl/296.jpg

cant find a decent skyline pic tho

Your right, the second pic is much more recent. You'll notice that the water tower place building is in the pic, which was completed sometime close to 1980.

[Mr Roboto]

Louisville, c. 1970, looking north, but could be 1966, as that modernist skyscraper in the foreground was built in 1965-66

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Louisville%20Tower/Downtown/Louis9.jpg



Louisville looks pretty impressive for that time period. I imagine that it must have been a more national player during the first half of the 1900's.

The Chicago pics look weird. Actually when I imagine the city in the late 60's and 70's, all I can think of is the Good Times opening theme that made Chicago seem kinda like a burnt out city. And how bare it was near the Hancock. Its amazing how much has been built since then.

[trueviking]

winnipeg's portage avenue:

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2729/1jg7.jpg

[alps]

I don't have a photo of Halifax back then, but I think the tallest building would probably be the old post office building, or maybe the spire on St Mary's basilica. Not much to show. In the late 60s/early 70s came Scotia Square, and a bunch of other buildings followed.

[kznyc2k]

I can't think of very much of anything going up from around 1935 until 1965. Then in the late 60's and early 70's BOOM..

Damn though....the 80's were huge, and were building on top of such a previously "short" environment.

Two good points, although I'd like to correct you a bit in that there was stuff going on in the 50s/early 60s, but it naturally was at a smaller scale from what we saw from 1965-75. For instance, in your town there was the original Prudential Plaza tower, which at 41 stories in 1955 was I believe the tallest tower in the country to be built thus far after the Depression. And while we may overlook it today, it should just be noted that the BOOM around 1967 you speak of didn't materialize out of nowhere. Just like any real estate boom, project sizes and scopes grow linearly, even if it's an exponential line.

But you're absolutely right about the 80s boom. We all know about the craze of the mid to late 80s, but it's also worth it to note that there was a TON of office space being built in the late 70s and 80s in the towns that were booming from oil profits, and in most cases just as much, if not more, gross office space was built during that period than in the late 80s. But personally I never thought that way because most of the stuff from then was architecturally mediocre at best, and none were breaking any height records (Seattle's BOA tower is a notable exception). I wish I could find a chart that shows year-by-year totals of office construction in the US to back myself up, but at the moment it's hidden deep somewhere in the McGraw-Hill website.

Anyway I'll shut up and contribute my fair share to the thread, although I've never set foot in either town

Dallas 9/17/1960, the tallest building to the left was completed a year earlier

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/8544/dallas1960es9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

1963, the skeleton to a new tallest is topped out, and one that will surpass that one is going up to the right of the tower with the spire(!)

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/8193/dallas1963if5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

1975..the tower with "Life" written on it was the tallest in the 1960 shot..

http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/1222/dallas1975ew5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


And this should be familiar to many becuase it had its own thread not too long ago.. I forget who created it, but here's Atlanta from 1973

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2223/atlanta51973jr4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And today (isn't the difference utterly fascinating?)

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/8313/atlanta4ny0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Please, whoevers photos these Atlanta ones are, speak up and stake your claim!

[kznyc2k]

Duhhh, I forgot to do my hometowns

Albany circa 1972, when the scar was still an open wound (sorry 'bout the watermark)

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/379/1972da3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Boston circa 1975

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/6804/boston1975et2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[JMancuso]

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/db/dmr/image_lg/e_bb_2961_pub.jpg

wow...unrecognizable without the freeways.

[bryson662001]

Philadelphia from 1932 till about 1962......tallest is city hall at 548 ft (looks like a rocket) and PSFS office building at 492 ft

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k50/bryson662001/IMG_0227.jpg

same view mid '70's......still nothing taller then city hall tower but a few are getting close.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k50/bryson662001/IMG_0229.jpg

Early 2007......with new 975 ft Comcast Ctr. topped out. Even the trees are getting taller.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k50/bryson662001/12547.jpg

[neuhickman79]

Sacramento 60's:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/neuhickman79/smf60s1.jpg

[brickell]

Miami 1962. From FTL Beach Bum - SSC

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/4975/miami2hl4.jpg

[TexasStar]

Dallas circa 1950
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/samclark/dallas/1950.jpg

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/samclark/dallas/1950_2.jpg

1948
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/samclark/dallas/1948.jpg

1946
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/samclark/dallas/1946.jpg
The Rio Grande Hotel is where the Renaissance Tower now stands.

[bobdreamz]

Miami 1962

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/1559/miamido2.jpg

[tarapoto]

Calgary circa 1963 (someone posted this before, but look at the comparison
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/8521/na28645311oa0.jpg

Circa 2006
http://www.worldcityphotos.org/Canada/CAN-AB-Calgary-CDeWolf3.jpg

Circa 2011
http://calgaryurban.com/images/calgary2011big.jpg

[rds70]

Denver 1970:

http://denverskyscrapers.com/images/specialfeatures/evolution/1960s_10.jpg

[coddat]

San Antonio:
1971-http://www.texasfreeway.com/SanAntonio/historic/photos/images/i37_san_antonio_durango_5_19_1971.jpg

[RafflesCity]

SINGAPORE

1960s
http://www.jellesen.dk/webcrea/places/sing/85x.jpg


2006
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/westinskyline2.jpg

[Coyett]

Taipei 1973

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/chung68/taipei70s.jpg

[circle33]

I think this is closer to 5 decades ago. I trust that's OK.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k195/circle33/Bes/Bes.jpg

and from 2004

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k195/circle33/Bes/17.jpg

[-GR2NY-]

Grand Rapids Michigan, 1950's....

http://www.grpl.org/site_images/collections/grhsty_spcoll/photocoll/125.c042936.11.jpg

http://www.grpl.org/site_images/collections/grhsty_spcoll/photocoll/125-934-37.n3958.jpg

[ltsmotorsport]

Sacramento 60's:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/neuhickman79/smf60s1.jpg
Hard to believe how much has changed in that time span.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ltsmotorsport/SACTO_Oblique_lg.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ltsmotorsport/sac2.jpg

[Altauria]

Why is it that every time I see a picture of Sacramento, it looks like a completely different city in a completely different ecosystem? (than the pictures seen prior, that is)

[ltsmotorsport]

It's just gotten that much better. ;)

But seriously, A LOT has changed in that time span; from being a small state capitol, to being a city anchoring a metro of 2+ million people. Especially compared to the tow recent photos, Sac in the 60's looks like it was in the dust bowl.

[Altauria]

Actually I meant in recent pictures only. I could've been more clear, though. Definitely a place I'd like to vist as well.

[satsuchan]

Indianapolis

around 1960
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/indianaave.jpg

mid 1960s
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/C-Cbuilding.jpg

around 1970
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/INBone.jpg

probably early 1970s (think "One Day at a Time")
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/65-70split.jpg

[satsuchan]

Not really skyline shots...

Terre Haute, Indiana (between Indy and Saint Louis)

1952
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/thaerial1952.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/dth1952.jpg

East Side of Downtown, 1960
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/hulmanandco1960.jpg

Central Part of Downtown - early 1960s, judging by the cars
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/crossroads1.jpg

[LeeWilson]

Tokyo, 1958. A postcard featuring the newly completed Tokyo Tower.
http://www.vgfun.net/lee/misc_images/tokyotower-old.jpg

Tokyo, Nov 2005: Taken from Roppongi Hills one year ago.
http://www.vgfun.net/lee/misc_images/tokyotower-2005.jpg

[JMancuso]

SINGAPORE

1960s
http://www.jellesen.dk/webcrea/places/sing/85x.jpg


2006
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/westinskyline2.jpg

wow...

[Fusey]

Sacramento 60's:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/neuhickman79/smf60s1.jpg

Whoa... It's weird not seeing I-5 right along the river.

[william]

Whoa... It's weird not seeing I-5 right along the river.

Those comparison pictures are nothing short of astounding. They also show the two biggest mistakes ever made by Sacramento leaders: Interstate Five cutting off downtown from the Sacramento River... and Joe's Crab Shack.

I am told there was a great debate about which side of the river I-5 should go on. Obviously, West Sacramento won that battle, but at the time, I understand Sacramento lobbied hard to get it on their side. Anyone know more about this?

[Comrade Reynolds]

Salt Lake City in the 1950s:

http://images.fotop.net/albums/Sean84106/Web_Stuff/slc50s.jpg

60s:

http://images.fotop.net/albums/Sean84106/Web_Stuff/slc1964.jpg

http://images.fotop.net/albums/Sean84106/Web_Stuff/skylineold10.jpg

[smArTaLlone]

It's just gotten that much better. ;)

But seriously, A LOT has changed in that time span; from being a small state capitol, to being a city anchoring a metro of 2+ million people. Especially compared to the tow recent photos, Sac in the 60's looks like it was in the dust bowl.

I was going to comment on this. The changes are dramatic for a lot of cities but Sacramento seems to have grown from almost nothing in that time span.

[hoosier]

probably early 1970s (think "One Day at a Time")
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/65-70split.jpg

That last picture looks to have been taken around 1974 or 1975, judging by the fact that Market Square Arena looks nearly finished. MSA was completed in 1975.

[Lost Island]

Hard to believe these would have been coming up on 40 years since breaking ground....

Under construction 36 years ago:

http://www.souptree.net/blog/images/wtc_underconstruction.jpg

[ltsmotorsport]

Those comparison pictures are nothing short of astounding. They also show the two biggest mistakes ever made by Sacramento leaders: Interstate Five cutting off downtown from the Sacramento River... and Joe's Crab Shack.

I am told there was a great debate about which side of the river I-5 should go on. Obviously, West Sacramento won that battle, but at the time, I understand Sacramento lobbied hard to get it on their side. Anyone know more about this?
Yeah; actually both sides wanted the interstate on their side of the river, but obviously Sacramento had more power than W. Sac, being the capitol and having many more people. I really hope we get some kind of decking plan going, but it's really hard to see where the money is going to come from.

[RAlossi]

I know someone posted a couple LA shots from about 40 years ago, but I wanted to show some that I found from USC's Digital Archive, as well as some comparisons with KCgridlock's Above Los Angeles thread from this year, http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=108599 ...

Downtown LA looking north at Bunker Hill, 1973
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/dtlanorthbunkerhill1973.jpg

KCgridlock's 2006 photos of the same area:

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/NEWdtlabunkerhill.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/NEWdtlanorthwestbunkerfidigriffith.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/NEWdtlanorthbunkerhill.jpg


Northeast toward Bunker Hill, 1973:

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/dtlanortheastbunkercityhall1973.jpg

KCgridlock's photo from almost the same exact viewpoint, 2006:

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/NEWdtlanortheastbunkerfidi.jpg



Northeast from the Santa Monica 10 and the Harbor 110 freeways, with a nice layer of smog in the background, circa 1965-1970:

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/dtlaharborsantamonica1970.jpg


KCgridlock's photos of the same area, 2006:

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/NEWdtlanortheastsantamonicaharborco.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/NEWdtlanortheastsantamonicaharbor.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l184/alossix/NEWdtlanortheastsantamonicaharbo-1.jpg

[smArTaLlone]

And this should be familiar to many becuase it had its own thread not too long ago.. I forget who created it, but here's Atlanta from 1973



Also immediately north of downtown is midtown Atlanta

Looking from the Southwest over Georgia Tech into midtwon in 1968:
http://www.space.gatech.edu/images/aerial-1_1968-MariettaSt-b1.jpg

Same view in 2006:
http://www.space.gatech.edu/images/northyards_03a1a.jpg

[LordMandeep]

who's smart idea was to put that ten lane highway right through Downtown LA???

[toddguy]

This looks like it would be Columbus about 45 years ago-after 70 and 71 were carved through but before any real modern buildings had been built. The only real skyscraper visible is the Leveque Tower in the very center. Amazing how the south end of downtown looks filled in then..and is now mostly a sea of surface lots it seems. (view from the west):

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k40/toddguy/colum00002751_1.jpg

And recently(view from the northwest-cannot find a decent aerial from the west).*neither pic mine/from the net*

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k40/toddguy/columbus55-1.jpg

[kznyc2k]

Also immediately north of downtown is midtown Atlanta

Holy cow what an explosion of growth (and apparently land values!) that has occured in that area! From a few roughly 10 story buildings to a gorgeous cluster of 40+ story towers in less than 40 years is quite amazing.

[c4smok]

Houston 1924
http://www.hellohouston.com/Houston/images/Houston%201924.jpg
Houston 1949
http://www.hellohouston.com/Houston/images/Houston%20skyline%201949.jpg
Houston 1961 "in comes the monsters =X
http://www.texasfreeway.com/Houston/historic/photos/images/i45_downtown_i10_merge_5_1961.jpg
http://www.texasfreeway.com/Houston/historic/photos/images/i45_downtown_exit_4_1961.jpg

[themaguffin]

Pittsburgh's Triangle... 1930:

http://www.spdconline.org/history/Facts/images/Point1930.JPG


1938...

http://www.spdconline.org/history/Facts/images/Point1938.JPG


1961...

http://www.spdconline.org/history/Facts/images/Point1961.JPG


1969 (USX Tower still under construction)...


http://www.spdconline.org/history/Facts/images/Point1969.JPG

More recent...

http://www.djotto.com/pittsburgh.jpg


http://www.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/images/photos/photo_burgh02.jpg





http://204.17.36.86/images/db/static/conv29.jpg

[Darkoshvilli]

Universite de Montreal circa 1950

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d159/olegk/oeuvreErnestCornier_19501.jpg[/IMG]

Place ville-marie and cibc under construction 1962

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d159/olegk/Feature0166_06x1.jpg[/IMG]

1963

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d159/olegk/p632381-11.jpg[/IMG]

1964

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d159/olegk/p641394-11.jpg[/IMG]

1966

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d159/olegk/p662571-11.jpg[/IMG]

Expo67

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d159/olegk/Feature0166_04x1.jpg[/IMG]

Looking east from mount-royal 1971. Today Olympic stadium stands on the upper left side of this image.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d159/olegk/p71-0548-11.jpg[/IMG]

[MolsonExport]

^By the mid 1960's, I recall that Montreal ranked #3 in North America in terms of tall buildings. The 1960's were the heyday of Montreal.

[caltrane74]

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/xl/296.jpg

I love this Chicago shot. It has a connection to the 401 in North Toronto which was modelled after it. ( Dan Ryan Expressway)

[Lakelander]

Jacksonville, FL - late 1950's

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/3788/1950saerialzn4.jpg

[AdrianXSands]

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/img/media/xl/296.jpg

I love this Chicago shot. It has a connection to the 401 in North Toronto which was modelled after it. ( Dan Ryan Expressway)

The Dan Ryan and Kennedy Expressways are scares on the Earth.

[AdrianXSands]

Houston 1949
http://www.hellohouston.com/Houston/images/Houston%20skyline%201949.jpg


Man, it's sad how a lot of cities, like Houston, have ended up. And by that I mean, in a lot of these pictures I see more regress rather than progress compared to how these cities are now.

[RobMidtowner]

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/50th/images/AtlantaAreaInterstatesinthe1970s1980s/photos/photo3.jpg

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/50th/images/AtlantaAreaInterstatesinthe1970s1980s/photos/photo7.jpg

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/50th/images/AtlantaAreaInterstatesinthe1970s1980s/photos/photo2.jpg

[DizzyEdge]

Calgary 1958 - Population 206 831
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6822/na5093579hz5.jpg

Calgary 1963 - Population 276 975
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2764/na43414jk0.jpg

Calgary 1970 - Population 385 436
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/8521/na28645311oa0.jpg

The biggest changes came in the late 70's and early 80's

Some more Calgary pics:

1968
http://www.calgaryheritage.org/images/1968.jpg

2006
http://www.calgaryheritage.org/images/2006.jpg

[Boris2k7]

Some more Calgary:

1915:
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/6452/na1604251915ma1.jpg

(2001?):
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2666/hotspotshires21tk2.jpg

1955:
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2140/na5093591955dt7.jpg

2005 (courtesy of Chris Dewolf):
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9602/calgaryskylinechisdewolsc7.jpg

[DizzyEdge]

Some more Calgary:


(2001?):
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2666/hotspotshires21tk2.jpg


Sweet, I was thinking my east side pic didn't give the skyline its due, glad you had that.

[Bailey]

Downtown Houston 1958
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/KSteel/Houston1958-II-1.jpg

Downtown Houston 2004

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/KSteel/SKDT1090.jpg

Medical Center Houston- 1958
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/KSteel/MedicalCenter1958.jpg

Medical Center Houston- 2006
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/KSteel/Warwick.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/KSteel/Texas_Medical_Center.jpg

[Coldrsx]

Edmonton:

1924

http://airphotos.nrcan.gc.ca/photos101/images/ca74_013.jpg

2006

http://www.dc5ab.com/forums/uploads/post-4-1121188355.jpg

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

And by that I mean, in a lot of these pictures I see more regress rather than progress compared to how these cities are now.

that would hold for Louisville and Dayton, too.

Recall that old quote from the Vietnam War era? "We had to destroy the village in order to save it"?

Well, that applies to the urban renewal era too, which was going on at the same time.

"We had to destroy the city in order to save it".

...and instead of a real city one gets the "Potemkin village" city of skyscrapers and skylines.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Gotta make my pitch for the little city.

Ithaca - early 60s (when I was going to Junior High downtown)

http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/6760/oldithaerialqx2.jpg

Sorry, I don't have a comparison pic.:(