New York City and Chicago have the largest urban cores in the United States. To me—someone from Michigan—they both feel endless, even though New York’s legal boundary includes nearly four times the population packed into Chicago’s Loop. New York also layers that population far more densely—block after block feels packed compared to Chicago’s roomier downtown grid. The Chicago metropolitan area covers a comparable footprint, but its overall population is roughly one third of New York’s. Looking at the two skylines side-by-side really drives home how dramatic that contrast is.
I’m sure the differences would be obvious to someone who’s lived in both cities. Still, I wanted to see how the two cores stack up visually, so I mocked a few side-by-side renders—swapping Jersey City out for Chicago to keep things tidy. Here are the angles that jumped out to me.
Note: Willis / Sears Tower sits in the lower-right of the comparison above, with One World Trade Center across the river.
