Skyline

A skyline is the horizon created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a non-urban setting or in nature. City skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint as no two skylines are alike. For this reason, news and sports programs, television shows, and movies often display the skyline of a city to set a location. The term The Sky Line of New York City was first introduced in 1896, when it was the title of a color lithograph by Charles Graham for the color supplement of the New York Journal.

Paul D. Spreiregen, FAIA, has called a skyline "a physical representation [of a city's] facts of life ... a potential work of art ... its collective vista."

History

Early examples

The Colosseum in Rome

The Colosseum in Rome

Gizah pyramids

Gizah pyramids

Acropolis

Acropolis

Stonehenge's skyline has been known for millennia.

Stonehenge's skyline has been known for millennia.

Historic buildings in Toledo, Spain have been part of the city skyline for many years.

City

A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town in general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.

Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation. The concentration of development greatly facilitates interaction between people and businesses, benefiting both parties in the process, but it also presents challenges to managing urban growth.

A big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are usually associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas, creating numerous business commuters traveling to urban centers for employment. Once a city expands far enough to reach another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. In terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai.

Origins

There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities. Some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces.

City government in Washington (state)

There are 281 municipalities in the U.S. state of Washington. State law determines the various powers its municipalities have.

City classes

Legally, a city in Washington can be described primarily by its class. There are five classes of cities in Washington:

First class cities are cities with a population over 10,000 at the time of reorganization and operating under a home rule charter. They are permitted to perform any function specifically granted them by Title 35 RCW (Revised Code of Washington). Among them are Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Vancouver, and Yakima.

Second class cities are cities with a population over 1,500 at the time of reorganization and operating without a home rule charter. Like first class cities, they are permitted to perform any function specifically granted them by Title 35 RCW. Among them are Port Orchard, Wapato, and Colville.

Towns are municipalities with a population of under 1,500 at the time of reorganization. Towns are not authorized to operate under a charter. Like the previously listed cities, they are permitted to perform any function specifically granted them by Title 35 RCW. Among them are Steilacoom, Friday Harbor, Eatonville, and Waterville. In 1994, the legislature made 1,500 the minimum population required to incorporate.

Administrative divisions of Texas

Texas has a total of 254 counties, many cities, and numerous special districts, the most common of which is the independent school district.

County

Texas has a total of 254 counties, by far the largest number of counties of any state.

Each county is run by a five-member Commissioners' Court consisting of four commissioners elected from single-member districts (called commissioner precincts) and a county judge elected at-large. The county judge does not have authority to veto a decision of the commissioners court; the judge votes along with the commissioners (being the tie-breaker in close calls). In smaller counties, the county judge actually does perform judicial duties, but in larger counties the judge's role is limited to serving on the commissioners court and certifying elections. Certain officials, such as the sheriff and tax collector, are elected separately by the voters, but the commissioners court determines their office budgets, and sets overall county policy. All county elections are partisan, and commissioner precincts are redistricted after each ten year Census both to equalize the voting power in each and in consideration of the political party preferences of the voters in each.

City (disambiguation)

A city is generally an urban settlement with a large population.

City or Cities may also refer to:

Places

Literature

Music

24 City

24 City (Chinese: 二十四城记/二十四城記; literally: The Story of 24 City) is a 2008 film directed and cowritten by Chinese film-maker Jia Zhangke. The film follows three generations of characters in Chengdu (in the 1950s, the 1970s and the present) as a state-owned factory gives way to a modern apartment complex. The film was also known as The Story of 24 City during production.

The apartment complex featured in the film is an actual development (also called "24 City") built on the former site of an airplane engine manufacturing facility. Jia will also produce a documentary about the location.

The film's narrative style is described by critics as a blend of fictive and documentary story-telling, and it consists of authentic interviews and fictive scenes delivered by actors (but presented in a documentary format).

24 City made its debut shown in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.Film Comment, official journal of the Film Society of Lincoln Center listed the film at the end of 2008 as the second-best unreleased (without U.S. theatrical release) film of the year.

Blake Butler (author)

This article is about the American writer; see Blake Butler for the British actor

Blake Butler (born 1979) is an American writer and editor. He edited the defunct literature blog HTML Giant, and two journals: Lamination Colony, and concurrently with co-editor Ken Baumann, No Colony. His other writing has appeared in Birkensnake, The Believer, Unsaid, Fence, Willow Springs, The Lifted Brow, Opium Magazine, Gigantic and Black Warrior Review. He also writes a regular column for Vice Magazine.

Butler attended Georgia Tech, where he initially intended to major in computer science before switching to multi-media design. He graduated with a Bachelors and went on to Bennington College for his Master of Fine Arts.

Bibliography