[mhays]

I like residential-dominated skylines like Miami and Vancouver. These tend to be skinnier buildings, and something about balconies might subconsciously remind me of the life inside them. We might overly fetishize the residential component of urban cores as being the top factor, but some of that might be in my head too.

A skyline shouldn't be a series of individual towers, and there shouldn't be chasms...LA viewed from some angles has a chasm for every cross street. That suggests depth vs. just a row or two along a major street or waterfront. It also favors cities where the grid changes or there isn't a grid. A hillside helps add depth (short buildings in the back can be seen) and even the street itself becomes part of the view. Or you can be Manhattan where there's depth from nearly any perspective.

A skyline should also be long. I'm not impressed with the "volcano" shape. Sometimes good skylines are shown from angles I don't like, like LA above, Seattle from the south, Pittsburgh from the west, or Lower Manhattan from the south. A long skyline with depth plus some visual interest can be fantastic, especially with a sizeable residential component.