Auburn Valley

[ky72x 13]

Welcom to Page 18!

After all of that grittiness featured in Part 3, we move on to a more peaceful part of town.  That is, if you take out all of the traffic.  Sandwiched in between three major industrial sectors  and Downtown, this mostly residential area is clogged with traffic.  With a good portion of the transportation networks being only one-laned roads, traffic gets bottlenecked every easily, and fast.  But it's not all doom and gloom!  Recently, several road improvements have been made, making driving just that much easier.  That will be the focus for Part Four, starting... now!  

This railroad crossing didn't help the already heavy traffic on this major artery.  Cars and trucks would get backed up pretty far every time a train passed by.

Finally, a overpass was built, eliminating the pain of having to wait for a train.

Farther down the road, and right next to the first apartment lofts, more improvements have taken place.  A small stretch (but still useful) part of the road was upgraded to an avenue, while the one-way road was extended all the way to an industrial area featured in Parts 2 and 3.  Levels of traffic still remain heavy, but it's better then the mess it was before.

A Eckerds drugstore and a gas station.café are located in a pretty convenient area.  Business is booming for both retail locations.

While it isn't the best view in town, the residents of these apartments don't mind having the industries of the Port of Destiny Bay right outside their windows.

Plenty of parks and stunning views of the sea are available to residents.

Unfortunately, not all congested areas had improvements.  This area is the prime example of that.  With only one lane to hold traffic from two feeder routes, there is absolutely no end to the chaos here.

Lots of parking is provided for the residents of these blocks of apartments.  The next three pics are of those parking structures/lots, as well as the city library, and of course, the apartments!

[jacqulina 162]

hiya kyle,beautifull work and pics,wonderfull job with the railroad its excellent

[gabry85 2]

YES! Lots of green areas around midrises, exactly my planning style for apartments! Bravo!

Huge update incoming? Strike One, Home Run!

[Benedict 3,119]

Great update, I really like the little park with the sculpture in it.

[dfnva 34]

Nice looking area. I particularly like the apartments/condos and the library. The apartments here match the area well like the apartments in the previous update in a more blue-collar area.

Dan

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Looks good... and I like those triangular parks. From whence dost they cometh?

[ky72x 13]

Thank you for the replies, everyone!

Just replying to Schulmanator's question... Those parks are by prepo, and can be found right here.

- Kyle

[Zelgadis 638]

Oh, nice triangle parks. Now where have I seen those before?

ISF

[mancoolman 3]

Great what do you do to your pictures to make them so rich? It looks great.

[Jillybean86 38]

The great thing about those traffic pictures is that your city looks very much alive. Some CJs have zero cars on the roads, but having pictures of them waiting for a train, using an overpass, merging onto a road, driving into the parking ramp, etc...it definitely sets yours apart from others. I particularly like the L-shaped group of condos and road, with the green space and trees inside the triangle formed by the diagonal avenue. I hope you keep the trees there and don't develop where the trees are, because it looks great, and is very realistic. Keep up the good work!

[seemurray2 21]

Your cj is awesome, sorry I haven't visited in a while!  I love all of the lofts grouped together, and all the parks and plazas surrounding them are a nice touch! 

[JasonB52 5]

Well done! I love how grand the scale is in this city!

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Sweet! That seems a lot like a "gentrified" neighbourhood, sort of a former industrial slum where there are heaps of new condos being built.

[jutrock 4]

awesome work!!!

[ky72x 13]

jacqulina: Thanks, Jacky!

Deever: Hehe, go figure.  Regarding your comments, I really didn't plan to have a residential development in this area at first.  So that curving highway was more of a coincidence than a well-though out plan.  Glad you liked the traffic too, it's really at it's worst in Destiny Bay.  Thanks for the comment!

jacqulina (x2): I'm glad you liked it!  The only thing bad about the rail is the ugly texture it creates along diagonal networks.  I just may end up downloading a different texture mod that doesn;t make those horrid dirt patches.  Thank you for another comment!

gabry85: Thanks, I suppose great minds build alike.  I wanted to try something a bit different with this neighborhood, so I made the road loop around and have trees/park space all in the middle of it.  As for the coming update... it's the mosaic that's relatively large.

Benedict: I use those parks (by prepo) way too much.  But what can I say?  They are just awesome!  Thanks for commenting.

dfnva: Thank you, Dan!  Like the diagonal parks, I use those lofts like crazy.  You already mentioned the reason for that: they blend in with just about any area, and unlike Maxis apartments, can be bunched together in large blocks thanks to their color variations.

Schulmanator: Thanks, hope you're enjoying the parks!

zelgadis: Hmm, in your CJ?  On second thought, maybe not.

mancoolman: Glad you liked my editing!  I use the program IrfanView for it.

Jill Jacobs: Thank you!  I really like to have levels of traffic in my cities that represent the actual volume(s) well.  In Destiny Bay's case, it's pretty heavy, as you've noticed!  The latest NAM allowed me to do that, and hopefully it'll have the same options for traffic in future versions.  Without traffic, cities are pretty boring, even if it's a rural area - in my experience, rural roads have plenty of cars, too!  

The shape of the loft development really resulted from the limitations on the side next to the port, and also from my worries of an overused road.  I also wanted to use a different design than a regular grid or generic blocks.  And don;t worry, I will definitely keep those trees there.  Thanks again for the long and detailed comment, I really appreciate it!   

seemurray2: No problem, Chris.  Glad you liked the update, and I'm happy that you noticed all those things about the area.  It shows that you looked at the whole update pretty thoroughly, and that's good!  The diagonal parks helped out immensely here.  Thank you for commenting!

JasonB52: Thanks, Jason!  

edmonton_stinks: Thank you!  Yes, it would appear that way.  If DB were an actual city, than that would most likely be the case.  But for the SC version, those residential developments sprouted from one thing, and one thing only: trees.

[Dsrwhat316 12]

now that's quite a mosaic!

those lofts have a special place in auburn valley, eh? and if i'm seeing things correctly, you have some custom lots there? you know i like to see a lot of that!

your port is looking great, too. i'll have to re-do my port one day using all the new port BATs. a fine update; see ya next week!

~ Dan

[mancoolman 3]

great mosaic and it is pretty big great job

[Criquette 0]

Hey Kyle! Great mosaic! And i love these residential areas in your last update - reminds me some Dusktrooper's CJ style Port area is good looking too.

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Have fun!

Great job on the mosaic. You always seem to outdo yourself mosaic-wise. You've also made Destiny Bay seem a lot bigger in your updates. I had no idea all that stuff was so close together.

[etherian 4]

Excellent Mosaic! Especially the port - looking out for more.

[ky72x 13]

Dsrwhat316: Yeah, but not as impressive as some of the mega/insane/huge ones you've done before for Aurora.  Of course DT's lofts have a very special place in AV, we've went over this subject before.  Yes, I do make some custom lots but they're nothing compared to yours.  Mainly, they're just 1x1 filler lots, like the container ones you see around the port in Part 1 and my last mosaic.  Thanks for the nice comment, Dan!

mancoolman: Thank you for once again commenting!

Criquette: Glad you liked it!  Really?  Hmm, I wonder why.  Like I've said to Dan, I love using his lofts.  They are relatively easy to grow and look good anywhere.  As for the port, if it wasn't for Soulstealer's awesome lots, Destiny Bay probably wouldn't have ever been shown.  Thanks for commenting!

edmonton_stinks: I sure did!  Hehe, I probably will continue the tradition of mosaics throughout every single update here.  It's not too hard to make them, and since single pictures can't really show much of an area close-up, giving viewers a chance to see the showcased sections all together in one large picture is very important to me.  I'm very happy that everyone really likes them.  Just wait until you see the whole city, you'd be surprised to see how much industrial development dominates the city!  Thank you for the comment! 

etherian: Thanks, man.  Here's more, I hope that you like it!

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The last feature update for Destiny Bay has arrived... welcome to Part 5.  Like all of my other series, you can expect a couple of updates after this: A mosaic one, and another one showing some parts of the city that have either had changes or were not shown in these five parts, as well as large overview pics.  

For now, here's the main downtown area of the city.  Featuring many Spa-made W2W buildings, it;s quite similar to Jackson Park's Main Street.  At the same time, it's unique in many ways.  But I won't spoil them, you just have to see for yourself.

The main road connecting Downtown to the residential area showcased last update is of course, clogged with traffic.  A couple of nice houses overlook the sea and are surrounded by the region's main tree, the Shore Pine.  A tennis court with an entrance to a trail path is also pictured. 

One side of the downtown strip houses the larger commercial buildings that provide many jobs and service residents and tourists alike.

The other side has smaller buildings, but they too, function the same as the buildings across.

Behind the rows of stores and offices, a church and part of the high school (the pool and extra parking) sit among the abundant trees.

[Dsrwhat316 12]

stop; i'm not worthy of such praise !

Destin Bay has a quaint little main street there. finally, i see someone using one of SG's pools! i have them myself, but hardly ever use them.

i like the Lot of the Volkswagen dealership; it's giving me some ideas! everything's looking good; looking forward to seeing the mosaics!

~ Dan

[edmonton_stinks 5]

The Spa's are still great and I love that high school. I suppose it's good to have a non-industrial update.

[ky72x 13]

Hmm, pretty slow around here lately.

But thanks to Dan and ES for commenting, replies will come on Friday!

Decided I might as well split the mosaics into two separate updates.  One today, the second on the original date, Friday.  

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Thanks for visiting Auburn Valley!

- Kyle

[anarchy0029 2]

Wow, what a great journal you have displayed.

[Zelgadis 638]

Good again! Your placement of the little fountains and such is quite perfect. A bit too many night shots for my taste though. I might be jealous though, since I can't do that.

ISF

[ky72x 13]

Dsrwhat316: Fine then.  No more praise for you! 

Thanks!  Don't get too used to these smaller towns, though.  I'll be moving on to Kenwood, which is much more urban, and after that, probably Auburn Bay or another large city.  I use the pools quite often, as there aren't really any other ones on the STEX.  As for the VW dealership, you should credit Heblem, his works are awesome!

edmonton_stinks: Spa rules, man.  So does that high school, it's a pretty nice size, too.  What about Part 4?  Wasn't that pretty devoid of industrial?   Anyway, thank you for the comment!

anarchy0029: Thanks!

zelgadis: Thank you for the comment, Ian.  Although the diagonal parks are really good, I still wish that there was a larger variety to choose from, like 15 or so.  That would be great.  Then again, I say that about a lot of things, and besides, it's much better than nothing.  Hehe, that's probably why.  Nah, you're probably right.  I'll try to do more daytime mosaics in future series.

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Part Five mosaic number 2, enjoy.

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Final Destiny Bay update bows on Sunday.

Thank you for visiting Auburn Valley!  Comments much appreciated.

- Kyle

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Hey! I saw Vandy on one of those trucks!

[Schulmanator 5,787]

What a great town! You have a fine mix of suburban buildings placed in just the right way.

Henry the Octopus gives this 8 thumbs up!

I love MosaicFest '08 and can't wait to see more!

[Explodingsims 3]

Great CJ, very nice work on the Diagonals.

Also, nice railways!