I don't think it's the colors - There are only so many glass/stone/metal elements in the tool kit. Would more imagination be welcome, yes, but the high-rise palette of Houston or Boston is comparable. At least we have brick and brownstone as a contrast. It's the shapes. Boston is very boxy and flat at all levels. Step backs, cornices, ornamentation, spires, are exceedingly rare on anything built from the 50's onward. Balconies on residential buildings are almost non-existent so residential and commercial are indistinguishable. The Millennium/Handel slant is about as outrageous as it gets. Woo!