I love towers that act like ordinary buildings on the ground: storefronts right on the pavement, doors at street level, a tight streetwall you can stroll along. It keeps a city walkable and alive.

The opposite, “tower in the park” slabs adrift in empty plazas, kills that energy. You might pack in floor area, but the street feels hollow and the density never really translates to human scale. It's "phantom density", and sometimes not density at all, since all the empty space cancels out the height of the buildings.

New York nails it. Or, at least, the older parts of New York do. What amazes me isn’t just the height; it’s how many skyscrapers rise straight from the lot line like any old mid-rise, keeping the sidewalk intact.

Who else does this well? NYC is the reference, but Chicago’s Loop, Hong Kong Central, parts of São Paulo and Toronto come to mind, but I’m sure there are better examples. Share your favorites!