Nehalem

[MallowTheCloud 41]

Well, since my computer crashed I've been practicing, and I think I have improved since the days of Duthford and Esta Yew (with the help of lots of mods, and looking over and over again at Jeroni's Sculpting Columbia River). So, I think it's about time for me to try my hand at another CJ.

I downloaded the map for Nehalem Bay (an area on the Oregon Coast). So, logically I named my city Nehalem.

However, as the map is not to scale (the map on the STEX is actually much bigger than the real thing) I am not doing the actual city. In fact, this is one of my first real metropolis areas.

I am using a lot of mods and other STEX items, and it would take awhile to name them all... but I would like to thank Simtropolis and all those modders, batters, and other creators for making City Journals possible in the first place.



Alright then, on with it. This first update is a long one to get us started.



First, an elevation map of the city of Nehalem.




Now, a few of the early terraforming and city layout images.











That last one ^ shows the grid layout for a small part of downtown. I know many of you don't like grids, but have no fear. Only a small portion of downtown is layed out in a grid as you shall see.


Anyways, early on I got a cruise port... so here it is.




One of my favourite parts is my park downtown, as seen below. First is an earlier version, then I made the light rail line run through the park (wouldn't you love to be on that light rail line?) And yes, these are Jeroni's parks! Thanks, Jeroni!






A couple of other light rail pictures are seen below. First, an interchange. The second one is kind of hard to see because the buildings are in the way... but it's a loop of one way road, and the only access to it is the light rail.






Next, we have some earlier views of downtown before I started adding some residential areas.






Finally, we have the latest versions of Nehalem that I have made so far.









And, just for those that may be wondering...

I have a temporary city next to Nehalem to add demand so I can build my downtown first. As everything in Nehalem is slowly completed and I start going elsewhere in the region, I will gradually delete the temporary city.


So, any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!! Thanks.

[whatdoisay 0]

Very cool city, I especially like the central park and the general claw-like geography.

[mentarman 14]

Interesting. Reminds me of NYC somewhat. Only thing I don't like is Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man looking guy on the edges. Not a big deal of course. Anyway, best of luck with this one.

[fosterk 4]

Awesome City! I like the background too

[The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz 27]

Good use of the light rail mod!

[fivedayrental 0]

wow, 10/10

[dhoppeii 12]

Hey, Great Start.  Can't wait to see more.

 

I really like your rail layout, looks like it should prove to be very effecient...

 

[RadioheadFan 1]

Wow, this is obviously inspired by SCR. I hope this turns out as well as it's predecessor...I'll be watching.

RHF

[bradgaz 0]

how do you get people jobs and how do you get the city so big

[MallowTheCloud 41]

Ooh, lots of responses. Alright, where to start.


The person who lacks a name: As previously stated, I grew a very large city and placed it next to Nehalem temporarily. This way, I get lots of demand for whatever I need. I will slowly be removing the temporary city as Nehalem grows.

mentarman: lol, those Stay puffed Marshmallow Men are Mallow the Cloud (Mallow Nimbus) from Super Mario RPG.

fivedayrental, dhoppeii, RadioheadFan, The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz, FosterK, mentarman, whatdoisay: Thank you all for your great comments! I love hearing from so many people. I know I can never make something as well as Jeroni, but he does inspire many ideas... so I hope it's worth making this CJ.


Anywho, the next update is here.

Mostly, I planted new residential areas.



The first images are the beach. I built a large beach (thanks to the creator of these great beaches). Then afterwards, when I received the marina prize, I plopped a few of them in there.






I also built a university. The first picture is of the student housing around the university. The second is the large park I built for leisure nearby.






Now that I have some residential population in my city, my light rail bridge heading in to downtown is beginning to get very crowded. And there aren't really that many residents yet!




These last images are a tale of two parks. One is a small residential park with a small mayor's statue. The other is the large downtown park, with newly planted larger mayor's statue. And, I made sure to take that picture with a light rail train going through the park. Wouldn't you love to be on that train?







And as always, any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!! Thanks.

[RadioheadFan 1]

Wow, that's got to be the most luxurious student residence building I have ever seen! The beaches look great, but the only thing I don't like about the marinas has nothing to do with how you placed them, it's the cheap shack Maxis put on them as the offices. Personally, marinas should look a lot classier than that. Boo Maxis boo...

RHF

[SC4 meister 7]

WOW looking good . Can't wait for more!

[Death Reaper 0]

Really nice island city!!!! !!!

[MallowTheCloud 41]

Thanks again for the comments.

RadioheadFan: Hehe, yeah, those are some luxurious student accomodations. But, hey, it is one of the things that attracts students to the University of Nehalem.

SC4 meister and Death Reaper: Thanks again for your great comments!


Unfortunately, my computer is giving me problems again... my sound driver doesn't work, so when I try to load SC4 and it gets to the part where it's supposed to say EA Games: Challenge Everything... there is no sound, so it freezes then exits to the desktop.

In other words, I can't play SC4 anymore.... I've tried lots of things, but I can't seem to get my drivers to work... I think I'll post something in the bugs and technical support section and see if anyone can help me out.

In the meantime, thanks again for the support.

[oroen 0]

Well, I for one hope things work out for you. I like how you've got your light rail system well integrated (this from me, who is not a big fan of light rail systems in general). And the university area looks great, with the tall apartment buildings surrounded by smaller row homes and single homes. Excellent start overall! You've definitely got a professional building style.

[RadioheadFan 1]

Why do these things have to happen to us? Oh well...is this the end of Nehalem? This was so promising...

In mourning,

RHF

[rix10 0]

rats

[MallowTheCloud 41]

Thanks very much for your concern, oroen, Radiohead Fan, and rix10.

However, this morning I put all my important files (including Nehalem) on to CDs, and then reformatted my hard drive. This, luckilly, fixed my audio driver issue.

So, another update in Nehalem today.



The first map shows the current zoning plan for Nehalem. The second is the future plan.






Next is a little park I made... can you read what it says? I know it's kind of hard...



(It says Mallow The Cloud)


I also created a light rail map to show the four separate rail lines in Nehalem.




Finally, I created a couple zoomed out views of Nehalem... but they're a little blurry (I had to compress them to fit them in an 800 x 600 image)...







So... what do you think? As always, any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!! Thanks.

[mayormommy 8]

It looks pretty nice so far - plenty of parks and trees. I think you should maybe add a little more medium density residential to transition between the high and low density areas. This has potential to become a very big and extremely attractive city.

[crazyarchitect 7]

really nice so far, so they finally have light rail, I've been hearing about that project for ahile, and now they have it, anyway I agree with Mayormommy that there should be some more med density between the low and high, great job

[RadioheadFan 1]

Judging from the data views, it looks like you have a lot of parks downtown! But I thought parks actually lowered commercial desirability?

RHF

[your_adress_here 11]

Very nice! I love the parks!

[Simguyuk 0]

I agree with mayormommy, there should be some medium density between high and low density, It looks a bit out of place.

Apart from that, this city looks really good. It is aesthetically (my word for the day) pleasing

[+Guest]

Wow, i love your road layout!
Tram lines looks very well =

[MallowTheCloud 41]

Well, the masses have spoken. I was actually debating whether I should add those medium density residences before, but I decided not to.

However, since it seems like a popular idea, then sure, why not?

So, mayormommy, crazyarchitect, your_adress_here, Simguyuk, and marrast, thank you VERY much for your comments and suggestions!

And, RadioheadFan... I thought last time I saw the YIMBY efficiency table it showed that parks do nothing to commercial desirability (niether lower nor raise). And, looking at my desirability map, it seems to confirm that.

I wish I could find that YIMBY efficiency table again...


Anyways. Once again, thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I think I will be able to post another update again tomorrow morning (PST). That's tomorrow afternoon for western Europe.

[RadioheadFan 1]

Awesome! Glad to see that you're recovering from your computer scare, can't wait to see more of Nehalem!

RHF

[bobinator 0]

Very cool update! I'm glad your back in buisness! Really neat light rail map- looks extreamly realistic!

[MallowTheCloud 41]

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Alright then. Sorry about me being late... I'll try to make a more accurate guess next time I predict when I'll update the CJ....

Anyways...

RadioheadFan and bobinator: Thank you very much for your concerns and comments!



So, it's update time again.

Let's see, soon I will name roads and other things in Nehalem... and I think I'll start by naming things after those who have commented here!

But, for now Nehalem is still growing. I have finished the industrial sector, and added some mid-rise residences between the high rises and the single family housing.

So... here come the pictures.



The first pictures will be the new highway which runs east-west through Nehalem. I did some bulldozing to make way for it, but I needed some sort of bridge to cross the wide Nehalem River. Let's start in the west and move our way eastward.










Next is the marina area. I sort of agree with RadioheadFan in that the marina's offices are measley. So... I added an office of my own (well, actually I zoned commercial and one grew for me). Here it is...




Next is just a quick picture of the mid rise area behind the high rise residences.




Next, we have a couple pictures of the new industrial area. The first is some shoreside rowhouses that grew across the street from some industry. The other is my industrial park in the center of my northern industrial sector.






Finally, a zoomed out view of some of the new happenings in Nehalem.





So, as always, any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!! Thanks.

[RadioheadFan 1]

Suburban paradise! Nice suburbs, and I love the park and the industrial district.

RHF

[mayormommy 8]

Yay, the mid-rises look great, IMO. And that is a huge industrial area, wow. Good work getting the avenue to tunnel under the highway bridge, tricky work that is. Very nice!