New York and Chicago's Century-Old Skyscraper Contest

Few people would challenge the idea that New York and Chicago possess the two best skylines in the United States. At present, the two cities account for more than half of all the country's buildings taller than 785 feet. They also boast the nine tallest U.S. skyscrapers between them — five in New York (if you count One World Trade Center) and four in Chicago.

Urban economist Jason Barr of Rutgers University believes this shared skyline dominance is no coincidence. On the contrary, he recently analyzed the history of tall buildings in the two cities and concluded that they've been locked in a skyscraper contest since roughly 1885 (right around the time Chicago began rebuilding in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1871). Barr reports these findings in this month's issue of the Journal of Regional Science.