Nyhaven: Views From Within (AIN)

[woodb3kmaster 342]

Nyhaven is a proud member of the Alliance of Independent Nations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Nyhaven: an Engineer's View 1.0

1, Introduction (this post)

2, First Day at Work: page 1

3, Touring the Island: page 1

4, Nyhaven Bids for the II Simlympiad: page 1

5, A Night Out: page 2

6, Olympic-Sized Headaches: page 2

7, The Waterfront Gets a Facelift: page 3

8, A Highway Through the Ghetto: page 3

Nyhaven Reloaded

1, Humble Beginnings: page 4

2, Birthplace of a Nation: page 5

3, The Ever-Changing World of Light Rail: page 5

4, A New Media City: page 5

5, Beacon of Prosperity: page 6

6, Boomtown: page 6

7, The Modern Nyhaven: page 6

Nyhaven: an Engineer's View 2.0

8, Homecoming: page 7

9, Brainstorms: page 7

10, To Beg the King: page 7

11, Bridging the Gap: page 8

(Interlude in the Suburbs: page 8 )

12, Soaring over Nyhaven: page 9

13, The Golden Mean: page 11

14, Learning to Fly: page 11

15, The Simlympic Summary: page 11

16, The Effects of Prosperity: page 11

17, Mad Road-Building Returns: page 12

18, The Price of Mass Transit: page 12

19, Run to the Hills (Part I): page 13

20, Run to the Hills (Part II): page 13

21, The Web of Rail (Part I): page 13

22, The Web of Rail (Part II): page 13

23, Pimp My City Hall: page 14

24, A Neighborhood Reborn: page 14

25, Let's See How Far We've Come: page 15

26, Terra Ex Mari: page 16

27, Reaching Inward: page 16

28, Sprucing Up the Shore: page 16

29, Full Circle: page 17

30, Nyhaven's Vital Signs: page 17

31, A Capital Idea: page 18

32, Movin' On Up: page 18

33, Northern Connections: page 18

34, On Broadway: page 19

35, Rise Above: page 19

36, County Growing Pains: page 20

37, Sitnalta: page 20

38, Putting Down Roots: page 26

39, Strike the Match: page 26

40, Meet the Family: page 27

41, Fan the Flames: page 27

42, A Second City Getaway: page 28

43, Pyrotechnics: page 29

44, A Home of Our Own: page 30

45, Circle of Life: page 30

46, The Illu'an Excursion (Part I): page 31

(Excursion 1: Main Street: page 31)

47, The Illu'an Excursion (Part II): page 31

(Excursion 2: Market Street: page 32)

(Excursion 3: Skamokawa Road: page 33)

(Excursion 4: University Avenue: page 34)

(Excursion 5: Broadway: page 34)

(Excursion 6: 10th St: page 35)

(Excursion 7: R-50 Part 1: page 36)

(Excursion 8: R-50 Part 2: page 36)

(Excursion 9: R-50 Part 3: page 37)

(Excursion 10: Eighth Avenue: page 37)

48, The Illu'an Excursion (Part III): page 37

Nyhaven 3.0: Views From Within

Something New: page 37 (above Update 48)

Preview 2: Ebenezer Square: page 37

1, An Explorer's View: page 38

FlashForward 1: Nyhaven Int'l Airport: page 38

FlashForward 2: Kendall Government Quarter: page 38

FlashForward 3: Sporthaven: page 39

(Springtime is coming...: page 39)

FlashForward 4: University of Nyhaven: page 39

FlashForward 5: Chinatown and the Port: page 39

2, A View of the Island: page 39

3, An Athlete's View: page 39

4, An Ethnic View: page 40

5, A View of the Suburbs: page 40

Finale: page 40

Hello, my fellow Simtropolitans! It's been a long time since I last posted anything in the forums, let alone a CJ. However, since I'm pretty happy with the way my current region is developing right now, I thought I'd share it with you.

Of course, in the time since I last ran a CJ, things have changed quite a bit.In my day, nobody had storylines in their CJs; they just gave tours of their regions. So, in keeping with the zeitgeist known as "CJs with Plots", I decided to show you the Nyhaven metropolitan area as a recently-arrived civil engineer would see it. Naturally, then, there will be plenty of talk about infrastructure; but since engineers have lives after 5pm, there will be plenty of other things to look at. So, without further ado...

Update 1: Arrival and Overview

"Nyhaven tower, this is United 853 heavy requesting permission to land."

"Roger, United 853 heavy. You are cleared to land on runway 18 left."

Listening to the flight deck on the radio has always been a favorite flight pastime of mine when landing and taking off. As the plane grew closer to the ground, I kept looking through my window, keeping up with the action as it unfolded.

I was lucky to have a window seat on the right side of the plane. As I looked through the window, I saw the houses and shops, all in their little rows, as I flew past them. Looking at the big hotels right near the airport entrance, I figured it was a pretty busy place, this Nyhaven. There must be plenty of business travelers passing through here.

With a thud and a roar, I knew we had landed. I took off my headphones and put them back in the pouch in front of me; I knew I wouldn't need them anymore.

After the usual droll wait while we taxied, the plane came to a stop and the fasten-seat-belt sign went off. Once I had collected my bags at the carousel, I evaluated my travel options. Should I take the subway downtown, since I'll be working a lot on improving it? Or would it be better to take a taxi and see my new hometown better? After a few moments, I walked toward the terminal exit. It was taxi time.

It was a cloudy day, so it wasn't too bright when I stepped outside. It was definitely not what I was used to back in Los Angeles. Before long, I found a cab and told the driver where I was going: my new apartment downtown. And with that, we were off.

The long-term parking lot seemed to stretch on for no end, though it ended soon enough. Before I knew it, we were on the freeway, passing all those hotels I had seen when we were landing. The Marriott, the Hampton Inn, and others besides, all whizzed past me.

I was surprised to see an exit so soon, but perhaps I shouldn't have been. The suburb of Shelbyside was just north of the airport and home to a growing number of families and all the amenities they needed. I was soon distracted from the suburbs, however, because we crossed onto the Shelby Passage Bridge, the connection between the airport and the mainland.

Traffic on the bridge was light, so we reached Riverside Heights in short order. It was nice to see some taller buildings for a change, along with the university just past the highway. The city flew past, and we were soon in Nyhaven's Uptown district.

As we traveled along the highway, I looked out over the city. The rowhouses were all so charming, and the view over the river was beautiful. This was clearly a nicer part of the city, I thought.

Before long, though, the scenery changed. I had read about Midtown's economic troubles, but the sight of all those run-town apartment buildings confirmed the rumors for me. Here the freeway ended, and the traffic worsened. No mistaking it: Nyhaven was as busy as any other large city.

The ugly view didn't last long, though. As we approached downtown, things started looking better and better. Driving down 12th Avenue, it wasn't long before I had shifted my focus to the bright new buildings I saw.

As we passed under the Metro Green Line's tracks, I remembered why I had moved to Nyhaven: the mayor needed a new city engineer after my predecessor was caught in a huge scandal. It was my job now to restore trust in the position and improve the city's infrastructure, which had lagged behind recent growth.

"Here you are, 482 Sixth Street. That'll be $13.60."

I looked out at my new home once I had unloaded my bags from the taxi. Sure, it wasn't the most opulent place in the neighborhood, but it didn't have to be. Besides, the surroundings were pretty good, in my opinion. Having a library and a hospital across the street looked like a pretty good deal, and it was just off the Green Line, too. It looked like life in Nyhaven would be a great experience.

[cityhawk 12]

They didn't have CJs with plots back when your last CJ was?! Perhaps my CJ would better fit in that time then because I don't have a plot-driven CJ. Anyway, the introduction story was well thought out, and your pics are awesome! The airport overview and the city overview are my favorites. I look forward to more!

[dedgren 830]

I see evidence of a "Big Dig" project out at the airport.  Your predecessor didn't let things slide too far.

'Course, maybe it was the Big Dig that did him in- they seem to have a track record of that happening.

Nice start!  I'm not a big fan of story-based CJs, but your narrative is very helpful in guiding through the pics.

Back soon.

[6459978. 106]

Nice CJ; especially like the fact that it's from a civil engineering point of view.

[woodb3kmaster 342]

cityhawk, dedgren and 6459978., thanks very much for replying! It could just be that non-plot-driven CJs were the norm back when I started my first journal (three years ago, as I recall), and so I don't remember any plot-driven ones that may have existed. Anyway...

After starting this thread, I realized that I didn't really provide a wide view of the region. So here goes.

First, to clarify before it comes up: I do use mods when playing, and I use ArtMoney to ensure a big enough starting budget in every city. Specifically, I use the NAM with Rural Highways, a home-made limited version of Super Demand that only raises IHT demand, the bridge height mod, and the RH trnasportation view mods. Just so you know I haven't built this region up by sheer force of will...

Now, a little about the region. Nyhaven and its many suburbs are situated in the Columbia River Delta, on the border with Washington and Oregon (I used flamesrock's CRD region). After months of development, I have brought the regional population up to about 676,000 residents, along with over 306,000 commercial and 212,000 industrial jobs. Here's what it all looks like from Region Census:

As you can see, there's plenty more room for the city to grow. I'll go through each part of town as part of the engineer's story, but for now, here's a teaser from downtown:

Coming soon: Update 2, First Day at Work

[owenluby 1]

This is a really good CJ!

I liked your story...(it's the only one i ever followed )

Great region shot!

Just a question:

Where'd you download the region census? I have been looking for it for ages but i can't find it!

Looking forward to more!

[Krio 624]

Your airport left me with no words. Great.

[crazychickensc12 84]

Great update and awesome region shot, keep up the good work and i can't wait to see more!!

[Nik-nik 3]

Great start. The storyline is intrueging enough.

The region looks very nice. i like the down town concentration of highrises.

The bridges are huge though very nice.

ALos nice tos ee all those Maxis buildings, the CJ's I follow do not show these originals much so it is a nice change of things.

Keep this work up.

Nik-Nik

[USMC 0]

Great start! I look forward to seeing more.

[woodb3kmaster 342]

Thanks very much for all your replies! Owenluby, unfortunately I don't remember exactly where I got Region Census, other than that it was in a thread somewhere around here. You should be able to find it by searching for the program name in the forums.

Anyway, time for a new update! This one won't have as many images, but sometimes quality is more important than quality, don't you think? On with the show...

The next morning, I walked a block to the nearest Green Line rail station. What struck me the most when figuring out how to get to City Hall, home of my new office, was the sheer complexity of the metro network. I had to change trains twice just to go a measly few blocks! Anyway, even with the trains crowded with morning rush-hour commuters, it wasn't long before I stepped out onto Founders' Square, gazing up at the mammoth building where I would shortly spend 40 hours a week bettering local transportation.

The first order of business was meeting with Mayor Lundgren, as I found out from my receptionist. (My own receptionist! I certainly had moved up in the world; I didn't get this kind of treatment when I was an underling at Burbank...) She paged his office and sent me on my way, thankfully not without directions.

Once I was inside and Mayor Lundgren and I had shaken hands, we got right to business. "As you know," he began, "Nyhaven is in the midst of a major growth spurt. Not only are the suburbs east of Riverside Heights building up, but the delta islands are growing like wildfire thanks to the airport and bridges. My head spins just looking over the pile of building permits in my inbox. Of course, all the people in these lovely new homes need a way to get downtown, or wherever they work. The trouble is, your predecessor focused on roads and bus routes more than light rail, so now the mass-transit system doesn't reach as far west as it needs to. Take a look at this map and you'll see.

"I've taken the liberty of pencilling in the real problem areas - those dashed lines you see. What's more, the line transfer situation is abysmal. It's no wonder our citizens prefer to drive!"

"I know I would, if I had a car here," I said.

The mayor continued, "Of course, there's also the under-developed highway system. With so many subway lines cris-srossing downtown, there's no way to connect the highways that end on the island. Furthermore, with no highway in the west, people are having a hard time getting here from there; they're mostly crowding into the Cross-Rover Tunnel or onto the Main Street Bridge, which are nearing capacity. So you see, you've sure got your work cut out for you."

"I sure do, mayor. I have to wonder, though, how much I can really do to help."

"I'm sure you'll find a way. Here's my advice: go around the city; look for things you think could be improved. The way your predecessor acted, you should find no shortage of them. Good luck."

"Thanks, mayor," I replied. Once I was back at my office, I let my receptionist I would be gone for a while. It was time to take Lundren's advice; I was going on a tour.

Coming soon: Update 3, Touring the Island

[owenluby 1]

YAY!

New update!

I love that map!

Well done, great story aswell!

I found the region census!

Thanks

[jacqulina 162]

great start and story,nicely put together nice map,beautifull pics

[woodb3kmaster 342]

This will be a fairly rushed update, since it's late here in California and I need to get some sleep before driving to Las Vegas. So, here are the pictures, with limited commentary. Enjoy your tour of the Island!

Coming no earlier than Thursday: Update 4, "Nyhaven Bids for the Simlympics" (will not be part of the main story)

[jacqulina 162]

fantastic update that sure is some very nice work on the waterways,very nice building and detail,the pics are excellent

[Gaston 0]

Woodb3,

        Very good CJ beginning.     I like the "City Engineer" story line.   It makes for a great read as well as some interesting prospects for the future.   Looking forward to seeing more of this in the future.

edit

       As far as the Simlympics go, as the City Engineer you will have alot of work to do to prepare for the huge crowds that will be visiting the city.

[cammo2003 20]

Great map. The first thing that strikes me about it is that ther are many lines going onto the island, but very few of them continue in to Downtown. Further, some of the lines are trying to do too much. There are a few lines which could afford to lose some spurs, and those spurs could be reallocated to some other lines which don't do enough. The green and dark blue lines are trying to do a LOT.

Further, there's no direct line from the airport into the CBD (!) And there's an awfully large number of stops on the way! It needs an express service.

Another point, perhaps the White and yellow lines could be merged?

Just some ideas

[jasperdeman.nl 1]

Hey, I really like the story, it's great specially the fact that is about a civil engineer, wicht is what I'm studying for at the TU Delft, Netherlands. Are you a civil engineer?

Hope to see more soon!

[Baro 44]

What's with all the abandonment?

[RushHourFreak 1]

fantastic shots really appreciate your work, a friend got impressed with the pics, congratulations kepp on doing it !

[Meastro444 1]

ey, nice story line. are you going to do some sort f toturail, or step by step developing you city, so we can follow what yuo are going to do. if you do that, it would be very nice

Meastro444

[crazychickensc12 84]

Great update there!! Keep up the excellent work!!

[iamthouth 0]

Region looks awesome, loving the detail, airport out of this world, story good so far, will for sure be watching this space.

[hamsterTK 93]

nice airport.

i second what cammo said about the rail system. although simcity isnt real life or even close and if the system works its fine. for one thing i would never lose too much sleep on a dedicated airport line seeing as how in simcity the airport is pretty much eye candy and not a realy source of riders.

[jpnalex 0]

Great Tour!  It's nice to see a change in the everyday CJ!.  The story line and photos match well.  I am anxious to see what you will do for this city.

Alex

Coming soon!

BB_SpecialtyMiddleSquare.zip

[woodb3kmaster 342]

Well, I had a lovely time in Vegas, and now I'm back to answer you!

Gaston: That's a very valid point. Some aspects of Nyhaven's infrastructure will definitely need some improvements before the Simlympics arrive, most notably the highway system. I've been hard at work improving the light rail lines, so not much remains to be done with them for the system to be complete.

cammo2003: I appreciate your input on the rail network and would be interested to hear which spurs you would reassign to which lines. After looking through the city's infrastructure in-game, I found that what I have on the map as the White Line is actually an extension of the Purple Line; accordingly, I will recolor it as such and make the Purple Line's east-west section the new White Line, which now extends west across the river into the suburbs. I'm not too concerned about the fact that the Indigo Line doesn't run directly into downtown from the airport, as in my experience, even large cities like London lack such lines (after all, the Piccadilly Line runs through the West End but not the City or Canary Wharf). Besides, in Nyhaven, one only needs to change trains once to get there (onto the Green, Yellow or reassigned White Lines). However, I'll look tinto the possibility of an express line, maybe even one with a spur into downtown.

jasperdeman.nl: Thanks! I'm not a civil engineer, but it was my major (I think it's called "concentration" in Europe) for half of last year; I'm now a linguistics major.

Baro: I was wondering the same thing before I decided to download the No Dilapidaton Abandonment mod. Abandonment seems to plague all my larger cities, especially in specific parts of town; I would really like to know why.

Meastro444: Thank you! I do plan on doing a few step-by-step updates to show some of the more complicated infrastructure and development expansions; I've already taken pictures of one.

jacqulina, RushHourFreak, crazychickensc12, iamthouth, HamsterTK and jpnalex: Thanks for all your compliments! It means a lot to me that you all took the time to post.

With that out of the way, here's what I've been doing to make Nyhaven a contender for a future Simlympics.

Here's a preliminary logo - not the best, but it's a start. I'd greatly appreciate the help of anyone with better graphical skills than me in creating a better one...

After a great deal of playing time, I've brought the regional population up to 743,000, and I'm far from finished! I've also been adding new venues that would be used for Simlympic sporting events if the city is chosen as a host. The following satellite view will help you place the proposed venues.

As you can see, the proposed venues are located across the metropolitan area, so trnasportation improvements would be needed. The biggest project for achieving this is already in progress: the construction of a western loop highway linking Nyhaven International Airport in the south with the Fairfax district in the north. This highway's southern portion is partly open now, and work is progressing on the central section near the city of Barrington in the west. Not far from the highway's future path would be the Olympic Park, at the foot of Shelby Island. This area is entirely agricultural right now, but pland have already been drawn up for its layout. Here's a map of the plans:

In the hopes of currying the Simlympic Committee's favor, the Black and Pink Lines have been extended to a large new transfer station within the site, with the Black Line continuing eastward to a tranfser station with the Indigo Line, allowing athletes and tourists the ability to change trains only once to reach the park. On this map, the major stadiums have been labeled the colored yellow, the minor arenas have been labeled and colored orange, and auxiliary and support facilities have been colored red. The blue areas are future commercial development (both shops and hotels), while the white areas would be the Olympic Village, with housing for all athletes and other staff. The unmarked areas between the existing roads and proposed stadiums would be a combination of landscaping and parking.

This is the nearby Tilden Air Force Base, which would provide military flyovers for ceremonies and extra security for the games. It sits only about a mile from the proposed Olympic Park.

Midtown Coliseum was shown in the previous update, but due to its size, it could easily serve as an urban indoor venue. Transportation to it is already quite good, but there is a possibility of either adding a subway spur or rerouting an entire line directly to the Coliseum.

This lake which gives its name to the surrounding neighborood is about 800 meters long, and could therefore be used as the location of rowing and/or sailing contests. If, however, the committee requests a larger body of water, the Columbia River is a possibility.

This new American football stadium in the Nyhaven Vista neighborhood is a prime location for the Simlympic ceremonies, as well as track and field events, and could serve as the start/end point for the marathon. It sits at the end of the Yellow Line, while the Brown Line is only a couple of blocks away.

I have already shown you the University of Nyhaven (venue #6), which has offered the use of its athletic facilities in the Games, so let's move on to the next potential venue:

As you can see, this park at the edge of Fairfax has plenty of room to host a number of events, and its more rugged areas could host the mountain biking competitions. The Red Line ends inside the park.

The west side of Fairfax is home to three facilities which would make excellent Simlympic venues. Here are the first two:

This harbor is quite large, with room for additional piers, and could be used as a sailing and triathlon venue. The adjacent convention center could be an additional indoor venue. To serve this area, an extension of the Pink Line would be built (in fact, it is part of the regional plan).

Near both of these venues is the Performing Arts Center, which could be reconfigured internally to add three more indoor arenas for some of the sports which do not require much stage room (perhaps gymnastics, wrestling and some others?).

Like its crosstown rival, this local Cougar campus is offering the use of its sporting facilities.

Finally, Nyhaven is home to six golf courses, which could become very large athletic venues if the Committee deems it necessary for certain sports. Transportation to them tends to be limited, however, with only some country clubs having nearby subway stations.

This huge proposal (intended for a summer olympiad in early 2007) should help both the Simlympic Committee and the Simtropolis population at large see just how serious Nyhaven is about hosting these coveted games. We are prepared to do whatever we must to bring the games to Nyhaven (anything ethical, anyway), and we won't let any number of lost bids dissuade us.

Note to any committee members reading this: I have already registered at the Simlympics forum and would be willing to repost this bid there once bidding opens for the next summer olympiad.

[Superchan 23]

looks nice

[RushHourFreak 1]

omg, this is just awesome, i've been got impressed with every shots of your Cj, i can imagine the Simlympics there, I will defienetely follow your Cj closely, can't wait for more!

[Gaston 0]

    Excellent update.   I think the comitee will definately take a very close look at Nyhaven while considering a site.     I can see some great potential there.     Parking for all those people might have to be addressed as well.   I didn't see alot of space for that particular problem.      Also, (just a suggestion) perhaps the use of tolls on the highways might help to ofset the cost a bit for all the reconstruction on the rail networks.     It might even encourage the use of the mass transit system.      You could set up something like a lot of major cities have done.   A "park and ride" program.   Where you have a series of secure parking areas on the outskirts of the city that are linked directly to the rail network.     Once again just an idea.

[iamthouth 0]

Just checking in again, and what do I see: More amazing parts of Nyhaven! Sunset Mountain Park is the best openair park I've seen created!

I agree that you need a Western Highway Loop, and you may even consider an Eastern Highway Loop too, from say Venue 7, following the mountains/city borders down to venue 5, and connecting to the southern higway.

Have you seen Arbordale Stadium on the STEX? Would be a definate contender as a venue for the Baseball games......