[gmsalpha]

A lot of cities have height restrictions due to their proximity to an airport, such as I believe 500 ft in San Diego. I would rather have three 20-story buildings or two 30-story buildings, personally.

Yes, a city's ego will scream for the 60-story building but ground level is where all the real action takes place and if you have a super tall condo building for instance, that's great and all, but what are the residents going to do? They're hardly going to go running about downtown because the retail, shops, and bars weren't built.

If you can create a vibrant downtown that's pedestrian friendly, the demand will be there for the larger condos, but you have to make downtown a fun place to want to be first. I believe these 20-story buildings are called "infill"? Might not look impressive on a postcard, but it sure will make for a better downtown.

With that said, I'm not opposed to a 60-story building if it looks nice, uses quality materials, and has maximized its street level retail, entertainment, etc. But there are better ways to spend say, $300 million downtown.