Why is the Los Angeles skyline not as large in terms of area as other U.S. cities such as NY or Chicago?

Los Angeles has the Area to spread out and does not need to go UP.

Besides, LA sits on several earthquake fault lines.

I agree with "A Hunch" and "Baseball",Los Angeles has many skylines, unlike other cities Like Chicago or New York, when you combine all the skylines of Los Angeles, there would be more skyscrapers than Chicago, and maybe like New York. Here are some LA skylines: Downtown Los Angeles, Culver City, Downtown Long Beach, Downtown Glendale, Downtown Pasadena, Downtown Santa Monica, the Wilshire BLDV corridor,Warner Center, the Ventura BLDV corridor and more.

Check this pic out, the buildings of Century City and Downtown LA are visible: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8189/8378970129_1a11...

Additionally, NY & Chicago have a single skyline. Los Angeles has pockets of large office buildings all over the city - Pasadena, Santa Monica, Century City, Woodland Hills, Miracle Mile, Long Beach and I'm probably leaving some places out.

Los Angeles, has two major skylines, downtown and century city. LA is very large city, but instead of building up (with tall buildings) it is spread out.

The major challenge with the city is the lack of efficient public transportation. It is so spread out that it is not possible to have a train/subway system.

Dispite this, it's a great major city in the US. The weather is very nice!

It's a different mix of downtown businesses. New York's skyline is made up of Corporate Headquarters buildings where Los Angeles' skyline is made up primarily of local services.

Until 1956 the Los Angeles City Charter had a legal restriction in it which limited the height of buildings in the city to 12 stories. Because developers were unable to build skyscrapers which reached upward, they build outward.

Today Washington DC still has a legal restriction which limits the height of buildings there.

Bill nailed it.

During the period that LA expanded, it expanded outward, not up. This was because it was cheaper to do so.

Also, NY & Chicago do not sit near earthquake faults. LA does, and had to wait for construction techniques to get better in order to safely build upwards.

gracias por tu pregunta es un tema cultural