Cobalt Springs

[seemurray2 21]

Okay, so there's not much really to say - This is my 4th city journal, I haven't played the game in a couple of months, so I am a bit more refreshed now.  Feel free to post comments good or bad at anytime, or if you just come to lurk that is fine with me.  I don't really have a story behind this one as of right now...  this is a fictional city at the base of mountains surrounded by lakes and rivers, so I guess  I will just start you off with something small...

Thanks for looking...    C

[Benedict 3,119]

Excellent opening post. And I really like the name of your CJ, has a great ring to it.

[jacqulina 162]

hiya chris hows you my friend,i see you are doing awesome work still,this is an amazing start to your new cj,beautifull work so far,and beautifull pics especially the night shots

take care its great to see you back

[topcliff 1]

Yay! First post! Okay, I'm liking this a lot. Time for constructive criticism:

1. I've noticed you have a LOT of freeways. I know it's efficient, but if you're going for uber-realism, try cutting down on them.

2. You do great, and I mean great, American cities. But one thing lacks for me: the typical suburban home. Those UK style ones are awesome, but I highly recommend NDEX's homes.

3. That is a great hospital, but it's too high-rise urban-ish for those burbs. I recommend SG's Suburban Hospital he did a while back.

Lastly, I'm not flaming in any manner of the word. Great CJ, look forward to more. TopCliff

[Za 164]

Cool. Me likes! I agree with TopCliff though, there are a bit many freeways; then again, maybe you'll start a new trend.

[AceofSpades 1]

Great looking city. I like the way the homes are layed out.

[Schulmanator 5,815]

Glad to see you back. Looks like a fun start to your city.

[frogface 354]

I like the look of this one so far! low rise and not too big

[manman99 2]

very b-e-a-uuutiful city, nice work!!! And that is usually how the cookie crumbles!

manman99

[gshmails 536]

Ha, that is one of the best placed McDonald's I have seen!  The interchange picture is quite nice as well.  Great job so far! 

[seemurray2 21]

In this update I will be showing you some close up shots in various parts of the city so far, so you can kind of start getting a sense of things to come.

Replies - 

Benedict - Thanks, and first to comment... woohoo!

jacqulina - Doing great Jacky, thank you for the great compliments - see ya!

topcliff - Hey, thanks for posting some constructive criticism, let me address your concerns:

1.  That pic of the interchange is misleading, it is actually only two freeways and downtown is just on the other side of it.. but you're right it would be too many for a suburb.

2.  I also use NDEX's mcmansions, but not as much because they are harder to grow(for me at least) and they take up too much space and I can't get the look I am trying to get.  I don't think the UK homes are too far off from homes you might see in the US.  The main thing is getting the Mcmansions to grow much more easier, if I could I would use them more often.

3.  I agree that hospital is too high rise for suburbs, but the area in the pic is actually midtown, and when you see downtown it fits in nicely.

I know you are not flaming and I thank you for the suggestions!

Za - Thank you, glad you like!

AceofSpades - thanks alot!

Schulmanator - Thanks!

frogface - Thank you, most of my cj will be that way with the exception of downtown.(which I try to make not too big also).  Thank you for commenting!

manman99 - Thanks!  And that's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh ...  uh huh.

gshmails - Thanks, glad you like the interchange pic!

Now for some pics...

Pic 1.1 -   This pic was taken just north of downtown...

Pic 1.2 - An intersection just as you enter downtown.  The white building in the foreground is the headquarters for Madison Hotels. 

Pic 1.3 - The tunnel entrance to the Hershey Highway cuts down the middle of Hiney Park...

Pic 1.4 - Here you can see Cobalt Springs County Courthouse, those without a lisp just refer to it as CSCC...

Pic 1.5 - A night pic of CSCC... you might also take notice of paddleboat pond, we will be seeing Motorboat Lake later...

Pic 1.6 - Rowhomes in the Pearl District... some overlooking Pearl Necklace Park...

Pic 1.7 - Night pic...

Pic 1.8 - This Whataburger has won the award for dirtiest restrooms two years in a row...

Pic 1.9 - at ni-zight!

Pic 1.10 - A view of Johnson Avenue, one of the longest in the city...

Pic 1.11 - In the middle you can see Grafitti Tunnel, no one knows how it got that name... but police did catch Will Smith spraypainting "Baybee" real big on the walls...

Thanks for looking...  C

[Amerikaner 42]

Ohh my that is a lovely city you have built there, im lovin all those tunnels and how they look, AWESOME lol thats a pretty cool whataburger, i like where you placed it

[waldner 0]

Awesome!! nice work!

[granto93 4]

lol, dirty washrooms and will smith! who couldnt like this CJ ....seriously, goos work. i like those rowhomes and stuff, looks good where you put that path in the middle of the roads. the courthouse is nice aswell. thank god i dont have a lisp *phew*

[penguin007 27]

Nce city youv've got here. i really like the intersection of the hihghways. great improviasation

Will

[jacqulina 162]

hiya chris glad your ok,im not using them dirty washrooms lol when i visit your city.excellent work you have done my friend,i love the paths and walkways they fit in so good to what you have built,everything looks fantastic so far,excellent work and pics especially the night shots.

take care

[Schulmanator 5,815]

Nice update. The pix are good-- what bldg is the courthouse?

Bathrooms-- lol!! The worst I ever swa was in a McD's in Venice... the stench was overpowering... and there were blue light bulbs in the fixtures... as if the blue light somehow cleansed the filth!

[topcliff 1]

Wow . . . dirtiest bathrooms? So that's where their chocolate Frosteez come from . . . TopCliff

[AceofSpades 1]

Woah this looks amazing I love the detail and the zoomed focus shots. Keep it going man

[seemurray2 21]

Here is a small update showing a few downtown pics!

Amerikaner - Thanks, very glad you like it!

waldner - thank you!

granto93 - Thanks, I'm glad I don't have a lisp either, I'm a bit of a perfectionisss ...  perfectionis - t.

penguin007 - Thanks Will!

jacqulina - Thank you Jacky!  Don't worry, I won't make you use the Whataburger restrooms if you don't want to...  you can use the Denny's restrooms!  lol

Schulmanator - Thanks - the courthouse is actually called Mitsubishi Bank, I got it from the Japanese Bat gallery.  I think blue light is supposed to calm your stomach and help ease nausea, but they still have to clean those things.  They are going to start another plague! lol

topcliff - Hehehe... I didn't know Whataburger had frosteez!

AceofSpades - Thanks alot dude!

Here are a few pics, it isn't finished though:

Thanks -  C

[topcliff 1]

This looks incredible! Good use of SafeCo. there instead of that Maxis monstrosity! I like downtown, but yet again I'm constructive. I recommend adding more urban infill i.e. some more midrises, like Spa's buildings instead of those parking lots. It would really make the city look denser! Lastly, I personally don't like King's Cross because it is of lower quality and it just doesn't blend with its surroundings. Other than that, you're good to go! TopCliff

[waldner 0]

Very beautiful downtown!!

[GreekMan 246]

WOW nice downtown!

where did you get the ballpark?

[Schulmanator 5,815]

Nice work! Downtown is shining like a jewel. :-)

[gml_josea 2]

I loved the pictures, it looks great as of now. However, there are some stuff that I feel didn't look right.

First of all, in the 5th picture in your first post, those two T interchanges look somewhat...weird, or more exactly, uneeded; in my opinion, it would have been better to get a cloverleaf there, you would save a lot of space btw.

Then the Update 2, well, it isn't finishes yet, but all those skyscrappers in reality would be surrounded by many more buildings instead of that large amount of trees and green space, in my opinion, smaller towers would give a nice look of small peaceful city. But if you're going for a big city, maybe it is starting well.

-gml_josea

[jacqulina 162]

wow thats a beautifull downtown you have built my friend,excellent work and pics,wonderfull details,great night shots,thankyou i think dennys will be great lol

[Evil_Someone 1]

great pics, nice trees and downtown is looking amazing

[AceofSpades 1]

Wow! This looks amazing man. The night shots are incredible! Cant wait to see more!

[sEAhAwk fAn121 0]

very very cool! i love the downtown its very... nice!

[seemurray2 21]

Replies:

topcliff - Thanks, I do plan on replacing one of those surface parking lots with some small mid-rise buildings.  I think King's Cross is a good looking BAT, but if you know of one that would fit in better I am open for suggestions!  Thanks again for the tips!

waldner - thanks again!

GreekMan - Thank you, I believe you can find a link to download that in the North American Stadiums thread.  

Schulmanator - Thanks master of the Supreme Wirdle!

gml_josea - Thank you.  I did that highway interchange like that because I already have cloverleaf interchanges in the city and I wanted to make something different.  There are some citys that have a compact downtown with a few pretty tall buildings and big park areas such as Pittsburgh - which is what I was sort of modeling this downtown after!  Thank you for the comments/criticism though!

jacqulina - Thanks again, Jacky!  

Evil_Someone - Thanks, glad you like it!

AceofSpades - Thanks - glad you are enjoying it!

sEAhAwk fAn121 - Thanks seahawk!  Hey, is your avatar from a building in KC?

Okay, here are some more downtown pics for you:

Pic 3.1 - View of downtown from the northwest:

Pic 3.2 - Travelers on the downtown interchange are treated to great views of both Veteran's Park and Schitt Creek, named after the explorer who discovered this area, Henry "the bull" Schitt: 

Pic 3.3 - A delightful view of Veteran's Park and the commemorative statue which reads:  "Dedicated to all the brave men and women who have proudly served this country, and to everyone else: kiss my shiny white-marble butt.":

Pic 3.4 - Two residential towers overlooking Ocean Spray plaza:

Pic 3.5 - North view of downtown showing part of the entertainment district at the bottom of the pic:

Pic 3.6 - Night pic of downtown from the northeast:

Pic 3.7 - And during the day:  On a sidenote - all sports venues and team names will be announced at a later date:

Pic 3.8 - Shows part of the eastern edge of downtown:

Pic 3.9 - South downtown showing the ill-fated Frank Stallone train station:

Pic 3.10 - Bartlett Square, which was named after the first mayor of Cobalt Springs - Steve Grabowsky - so no one knows why it is called Bartlett Square:

Pic 3.11 - This is the most accident prone part of downtown because the traffic switches from right side to left side driving:   (or I didn't catch that before I posted, Oops!)

Pic 3.12 - The shiny blue tower in the center is called Shiny Blue Tower, the architect doesn't have a very good imagination:

Pic 3.13 - A night pic showing the fireworks display at the culmination of "Fireworks Awareness Week": 

Thanks for looking!   C