Bartopolis

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

This is where my city Bartopolis ends. Made some serious planning mistakes. So right now Bartopolis II is under construction.

I decided to share the story of Bartopolis-One for people to learn and enjoy.

 

My planning method included lots of cheating (let's call it 'foreign investors') and a little help from God. Yet, right now even the radical ordinance won't keep my city growing.

 

Here's the region view:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Bartopolis.jpg align=baseline>

It all started on Midden Hill, the historical city center. From there the city expanded first to the south. Then the old harbour developed into the bay. But industrialisation was too much for the old town centre to deal with. With the development of Port of Bartopolis industry left the city center. The industrial and trade corporations decided to reuse their old harbour area to build their headquarters. The CEOs found out it was a cool thing to have their offices in Midden and have a view from their offices over their new industrial area in Port of Bartopolis. A skyline rose up, just north of Midden Hill. Two more waves of highrise followed. The last one, Supercity, was the result of decades of studies, to prevent plannig mistakes like the first highrise distict. That one was much too dense. Supercity eventually took shape in the old western docks, as a mixture of super highrise and lots of open space.

 

Detailed city views will follow

 

[____----____ 37]

looks great so far, something to watch

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

The North side of Midden Hill: Transition from the higher grounds of the historical centre to the lower old harbour district. Residential areas developed southward and the harbour district became a high density CBD. The narrow tunnel under the historical city turned into a permanent traffic jam. People started to use the little curvy roads through the historical centre as sneak routes. Pollution turned Saint Bart Cathedral black. The underground rail that runs parallel to the tunnel is hardly used since the station that feeds it is clogged by commuters using it as their major hub for bus and train.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//NorthMiddenHill.jpg align=baseline>

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

West Midden Hill: Again the terrain drop. In the bottom the canalized part of the Heidi River. To the right highway 10 that runs along the edge of the western part of the old harbour district, then straight through the old centre, under Karl Blossfeldt Avenue. An ugly scar, since they also incorporated a highway exit.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//WestMiddenHill.jpg align=baseline>

 

Here's a picture of Karl Blossfeldt Square and the highway 10 running under it. Not only an ugly scar, but most commuter traffic is south to north. The highway runs west to east. At the bottom of the picture the theatre district on the south flank of Midden Hill:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//KarlBlossfeldtAvenue.jpg align=baseline>

[silentbreaker 6]

Looks interesting.

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

Just south of Karl Blossfeldt Avenue, the '10-30 Connector': a tunnel built to connect Highway 10 with Highway 30 further south. Succesful yes, to give the commuters from the south a shortcut to highway 10 and thus to Supercity. But it brought traffic madness to the old idyllic Borromini Square.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//BorrominiSquare.jpg align=baseline>

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

Part of the old harbour district west of Midden Hill. Highway 10 runs from Midden Hill at the bottom of the picture towards Supercity, along a line that used to be the old bay bank. Fragments of the old bank can be seen just beside one of the highway curves. On the other side of the highway the Louis I. Kahn Conference Centre. It attracted many businesses and is seen as the kickoff for the second wave of office highrises. On the left just a corner of the clogged South Terminal Station. Extra rail platforms have been built underneath the existing building and one of the lines continues northbound into the old harbour district and ends in Supercity.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//LousIKahnConferenceCenter.jpg align=baseline>

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

Supercity...

The city studied these western docks, the last ones to be abandoned by industrial activities, for decades. To deal with ever increasing demand for highrise development sites and to prevent planning mistakes that had been made earlier. Studies involved a truly vertical city taking the traffic far up in the sky, a true superstructure. But that plan was too daring for Bartopolis. Eventually the mayor and a consortium of multinationals agreed on developing a super highrise district. No height restrictions, but the developers needed to incorporate considerable open space and enough transport capacity to support both Supercity and new developments on the banks. The one 'older' tower in front is in fact a new building in retro style. Not my personal choice but I've seen worse

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Supercity.jpg align=baseline>

 

Supercity Park... Stuffed with people during lunch break:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//SuperCityPark.jpg align=baseline>

[sloppet 3]

very interesting CJ... nice update! keep up the good work!!

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

Zandwijk.... Popular for pilots and stewardesses since it's so close to the airport. Probably the only ones that aren't complaining about ever increasing activity on the airport.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Zandwijk.jpg align=baseline>

 

And here's the airport. It has a monorail loop to connect all the terminals and parking facilities...

Though it's still close to the city, the connecting highways either take you a giant detour around the bay or straight through Port of Bartopolis. Office staffs usually take their foreign clients for the longer but prettier tour around the bay. Too bad. The humongously expensive Bay Bridge remains mostly unused. And most industrial workers are poor and take the underground rail to Port of Bartopolis. Some stations on that line are squeezing 8 times more passengers in and out than they were built for.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//BartopolisInternationalAirp.jpg align=baseline>

 

[sloppet 3]

heh those small houses near the sea are great!! cool work!

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

This is east of Midden. Breeddal, developed around a high tech industrial area along the main artery towards the east. Happy Sims are living uphill in Heidi Hills. Ahhh there's some planning that worked out fine! Not surprising, since they can choose between highway 10, 30 and 110 to go to downtown. That's three different traffic jams to choose from!

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//BreeddalandHeidiHills.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

See the happy sims smiling?

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//HeidiHills.jpg align=baseline>

[____----____ 37]

yes definitly great cj, nice use of mtel and marrast lots and your city spaces look great the buildings gel great together.

keep it up!!!

 

ALeking

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

East Midden Hill.... Where the happy sims from Heidi Hills go. At the bottom highway 110 plunges into downtown. On the lower right corner you see the too dense first highrise district. It completely blocks the view towards the bay from Midden Hill, erasing viewpoints that used to give Bartopolis its famous charm. In the middle there's Midden Hill terminal, just another station that got too popular. A road and a bus line are running under the tracks.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//EastMiddenHill.jpg align=baseline>

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

Avenue May 16...running south to north through the older parts south of Midden. Asymmetrical avenues... it's my thing

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//BoulevardMay16.jpg align=baseline>

[Granthos 0]

On the supercity post, what is the link ot the huge back tower not the pointy one but hte really black one.

[mayormommy 8]

Hey, I really like your city and your self-deprecating style, but could you please combine your pics into longer posts? It's kind of choppy having a lot of short posts so close together.

And your city sure looks nice, even if you say there's traffic problems. It's quite pretty, actually.

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

That's it... Well, for Bartopolis-One. Bartopolis II is already under construction.

Some lessons learned. Which?

My basic rule... space.... Use lots of space. I thought I did, but not enough. The second wave highrise district was okay. A Manhattan based grid, 10x5, leading to either 9x4 lots or 4x4 lots for skyscrapers. And some midrise, parks and unused lots that are temporarily used for parking. Supercity was better already.

But the old centre was just too small. Highrise district just on the northern edge, blocking the view, dwarfing the cathedral, highway slicing through on the south side. Blossfeldt Avenue should have turned out like something similar to Bostons Big Dig, but Sims decided differently, They traveled perpendicular to the avenue.

Zoning... Sims like living on the bay shore. Near Supercity the residential towers plopped up one after another. The offices however, are much better placed more inland. Along the shore they only get commuters from one side.

Port of Bartopolis was another mistake. Not really a relief for the city centre. I think it was the main reason why both development on the south side of the city and on Port of Bartopolis came to a hold.

Funny...cheating as much as I did, the game still showed some serious realism.

 

The new Bartopolis will have a much larger historical centre. First plop old buildings there, then later I can destroy some to allow new development. No highways there. Maybe a few tunnels running under some avenues. I'm using higher land levels now, allowing tunnels. To prevent the historical part from being too much of an obstacle for develpment, I place it a bit more off the centre of the region. Instead, the centre of the region will house a new Supercity in the future.

Residential areas along the shores and rivers.... and Port of Bartopolis will be on the main land. Hopefully I can develop a super artery along the harbour. A massive corridor with double highway, rail and everything pumping hundred thousands of Sims to their jobs. Did that once. Very cool.

I'm gonna include a historical port instead of wiping out all history for offices.

Space..... suburbs with beautiful parkways and giant shoppig malls.

 

Any suggestions are welcome. Think I'll post some pics of the new Bartopolis soon.

 

Oh, to anyone of NAM.... I have a request.... ELrail over parking, ELrail over plaza. It's just ridiculous, having elevated rail, or highway, running through dense areas and besides for a few streets crossing there's just grass growing under my expensive elevated constructions.

 

thx

 

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

Date: 4/22/2005 3:10:50 PM Author: Granthos On the supercity post, what is the link ot the huge back tower not the pointy one but hte really black one.

quote>

 

The big black tower is Sears Tower, Chicago.

I downloaded a file called searstowerfinalversion but don't from where. i think STEX

try searching 'sears'

 

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

Well....here's the kickoff for Bartopolis II

Some images...will give longer descriptions later..

 

 

South station:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114639698.jpg align=baseline>

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640899.jpg align=baseline>

 

Haven't named the square and the park yet:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114639747.jpg align=baseline>

 

Old defenses on south side of the city still intact:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114639797.jpg align=baseline>

 

Quattre saisons made an underground extension:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114639905.jpg align=baseline>

 

The theatre district:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114639982.jpg align=baseline>

 

Nice boulevard towards the coast, has a tunnel running under its full length:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640051.jpg align=baseline>

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640124.jpg align=baseline>

 

Large bridge plunges into the city. The highway is partially following the path of an old elevated railroad.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640337.jpg align=baseline>

 

Old station as a reminder of the elevated railroad. It has been replaced by an underground system.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640240.jpg align=baseline>

 

Spanish quarter and the old harbour:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640288.jpg align=baseline>

 

The oldest part of town:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640496.jpg align=baseline>

 

Fragments of the old city wall are a major tourist attraction:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640529.jpg align=baseline>

 

Highway passing the city on the east side:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Heuvel-3-Jan.,-001114640634.jpg align=baseline>

 

That's it for now.

 

[Dr. Neitchskrimfrauwnmoya 7]

Wow! That's a really great city you have here, I'm quite impressed!

I like how you dealt with elevations with those walls and smooth transitions (thanks to BRF mod)

Also, very very good use of NAM, I loved the very last pic showing that highway interchange.


Continue the good work!

[jacqulina 162]

very nice love the planning

[+Guest]

whow..

 

this some great city you have there!!

 

I like the combination of old centre and new downtown

 

keep us updated

[mayormommy 8]

Great pics! Can we get a new region shot? Thanks.

[palmgurl 1]

it is so pretty! your city is realistic another city I have to put it in my signatiur but if I only knew how? any one????

[Bart_Betrwrld 0]

Part of the region:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Bartopolis-1114806991.jpg align=baseline>

[bienefeldt 3]

Wow. Supercool. Where is it located? I love the tunnels!

[Romie 1]

It looks great. Keep it up. I love the tunnels.

[ExiL3 10]

oh man, yeah good job, looks very nice!
good planning !

[PhatHead 247]

This CJ  is phar  out.     lol

 

Great job keep up the super werk.