Buildings do become increasingly inefficient as they get taller. For one, more and more space and energy has to be devoted to elevators and other ways to move people vertically. (If you’ve ever played SimTower, you might have some understanding of this phenomenon.) Skyscrapers are a result of too many people and too little horizontal space; in places where land isn’t as expensive as in Manhattan, it’s usually better (and cheaper) to build outward rather than build upward.
Everything’s up-to-date in Kansas City!
They’ve gone about as fur as they can go.
They went and built a skyscraper seven stories high,
About as high as a building oughta go!
-- from Oklahoma
with apologies to current residents of Kansas City
There may be some truth to this quote.
Buildings do become increasingly inefficient as they get taller. For one, more and more space and energy has to be devoted to elevators and other ways to move people vertically. (If you’ve ever played SimTower, you might have some understanding of this phenomenon.) Skyscrapers are a result of too many people and too little horizontal space; in places where land isn’t as expensive as in Manhattan, it’s usually better (and cheaper) to build outward rather than build upward.