The Manhattanization of SF: How the city's skyline has changed in the last two decades

San Francisco skyline: Before and after: 1980s vs. 2017 Much has changed in the last 30 years. Here we compare an aerial photograph from the mid-1980s to one taken Dec. 12, 2017. San Francisco skyline: Before and after: 1980s vs. 2017 Much has changed in the last 30 years. Here we compare an aerial photograph from the mid-1980s to one taken Dec. 12, 2017. Photo: Top: Courtesy Heller Manus Architects. Bottom: Proehl Studios Photo: Top: Courtesy Heller Manus Architects. Bottom: Proehl Studios Image 1 of / 55 Caption Close The Manhattanization of SF: How the city's skyline has changed in the last two decades 1 / 55 Back to Gallery

In the past 20 years, construction cranes have hovered above San Francisco, erecting glassy and sleek towers where parking lots and dilapidated buildings once stood.

The city's formerly low-slung skyline has risen dramatically into a landscape of towering buildings.

One might say the city has grown up, even been "Manhattanized."

Since 2000, more than 15 skyscrapers with more than 30 stories have been built. The city now has 160 buildings taller than 240 feet and more are planned or under construction.

The most visible newcomer is the Salesforce Tower, a colossal column of glass at 415 Mission that became the city's tallest building at 1,070 feet when it opened in 2018. It surpassed the 853-foot-tall Transamerica Pyramid that had long been the city's tallest since being completed in 1972.

Another big addition was 181 Fremont; the mixed-use building at 802 feet is the city's second-tallest building.

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Perhaps the most talked about skyscraper built in the last decade is the Millennium Tower, the city's sixth tallest building that's sinking and tilting, resulting in multiple lawsuits over repair costs.

This is all the result city leaders calling for a more dense and more vertical downtown. San Francisco Chronicle urban design critic John King has covered the changing skyline and in 2009 explained in a story, it's the "vision of planners and politicians who in the early years of this decade loosened city zoning to allow as many as 15 residential high-rises to emerge from the long-neglected blocks between the Bay Bridge and the Financial District."

In the gallery above, we feature a selection of photos that show how just how much the skyline has changed.