The Best of Cleveland - Downtown View

Friends from Cincinnati drive us nuts talking about their skyline. And yes, the view from Kentucky is nice, but Cleveland’s skyline is actually larger and, frankly, better-looking. But our wide avenues make buildings appear far apart, and from certain perspectives, the surrounding landscape hides everything but Key Tower, Terminal Tower and the BP Building. However, we have many midsize buildings that can be seen in all their glory atopCleveland State University’s Rhodes Tower. We sought counsel from Terry Schwarz of Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative on what exactly makes our skyline impressive. She loves our skyline because of how much it says about us. “We have two sets of buildings: older buildings constructed during our most prosperous times and newer ones built during our revival,” she explains. “In other cities, it may look a little more continuous. You also see a lot of industry near our skyline. We’re this urbane, civilized place, but there’s this whole messy urban industrial district that made the skyscrapers possible. It tells a lot of the city.”Rhodes Tower, 2121 Euclid Ave., Cleveland