By contrast, San Francisco has real skyscrapers. The Transamerica Pyramid is 853 feet and the Bank of America building is 779 feet. New York's Empire State Building tops out at 1,250 feet, and Chicago's Sears Tower is 1,450 feet. San Jose's building heights make for a stubby skyline that isn't very impressive for visitors flying into or out of San Jose. And skylines are important for a city's image, planners and architects say.
TV networks use it.
It's an image you see, and you recognize it. New York's skyline is probably its most popular symbol. So the city is looking to architects to make the tops of buildings more interesting to compensate for the flatness. In addition, they're illuminating them in an interesting way. To Chavez, San Jose's architecture is more than aesthetics.