You may have seen, on any number of other sites accessible via the World Wide Web, that Dallas was chosen the best skyline in the world — let me repeat, the best skyline in the world — in a readers’ poll on USA Today.com. In other words, not only do we have a world-class skyline, we have the world-classiest skyline.
Here’s what the newspaper’s site had to say about that:
“Dallas became initially identifiable by the opening credits of an infamous ’80s TV show,” says expert Preston Kissman. “The contemporary Dallas skyline tells a story of big banking, big oil, big money, and the occasional big bust.” James Adams add, “Dallas has continued to stay flashy. Controversially, it has done this not with the height or style of its newest architecture, but rather through an internal race to adorn its existing and new icons with colorful interactive lighting that cannot be ignored.”
We’re among friends here, so I’m sure we can all agree that ranking Dallas the No. 1 skyline on the entirety of planet Earth is ridiculous. What about Chicago? New York? San Francisco? Sure, we beat the pants off places like Houston, Omaha, and Atlanta, but do we even belong in the top tier once you factor in locales in all hemispheres?
So how did we win? I suspect it might have something to do with the fact that the two of the three experts USA Today used for commentary, and who chose the 20 nominated cities, hail from Dallas.
I’m not saying the fix was in on the voting, but maybe architects James Adams and Preston Kissman were enthusiastic promoters of the voting, due to their own participation, and thus their personal networks tended to be heavy on the DFW locals, and that was enough to skew what might have been a close vote? Seems like too big a coincidence to ignore.
Now, how Dallas also won the Best Quirky Landmark in the U.S.? (Big Tex) That one I’m pretty sure we earned fairly.
