Zócalo's Connecting California
Tall tells in LA and San Francisco
Two new buildings – one in Los Angeles and the other in San Francisco – are the tallest on the West Coast. But where's the vision for the future?
By Joe Mathews • • 5m ListenA pair of new skyscrapers that dominate the skylines of Los Angeles and San Francisco reinforce modern narratives of those cities. LA's 1,100-foot Wilshire Grand is a bit of an outpost: difficult to reach, foreign-owned and insular. The soon-to-open Salesforce Tower in San Francisco is more integrated with its surroundings and focused on connectivity. But Zócalo Public Square columnist Joe Mathews says the buildings have key commonalities: One is a lack of imagination, and another is that they both serve as symbols of corporate power in the Golden State.