Carson Bay

[zzsim 3]

Overview of Downtown:

Downtown at Night:

*curses embankment waterfront glitch for ruining a beautiful nightshot *

City Hall:

Waterfront:

Universtiy District:

Downtwon Interchange:

I 24 Downtown Approach:

I 324 "Southside Highway"

Central Bussiness District:

Entertainment District:

Baseball Stadium & Coastal District:

David B. Carson Bay Bridge:

Well that's it for my preview, more information, including city history/background, region shots as well as further developement will come once I get back from my trip next Saturday.

Thanks for looking !

Edit:  To avoid any "Where did you get that baseball stadium?" posts, it is available in the North American Stadiums thread in the BAT Open Discussion forum and is made by teemu_om.  Link: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=37&threadid=79043&STARTPAGE=17

[zzsim 3]

Introduction:

Region Name:  Carson Bay

Major Cities:  Carson Bay, Wilmington, Sumpter Valley

Location:  The region of Carson Bay is located on the Atlantic Coast of the United States in a fictional part of North Carolina.

Population (Regional): Approximatly 1.5 million (when completed)

Population by City:

Carson Bay: 500,000

Wilmington: 150,000

Sumpter Valley: 30,000

The rest of the population resides in the region's numerous suburbs.

Size: 18 X 20 Kilometers

Founder: David B. Carson, 1942

History:

The city of Carson Bay was founded by David B. Carson in 1942.  Originaly founded as a small farming town located on top of the recently drained Greenland Swamp, Carson Bay thrived in its early years thanks to highly fertile and cheap land.  By 1950, the city had already reached a population of 10,000, and had developed into a prosperous shipping center thanks to its sea side location along the Intercoastal Waterway as well as its railroad connection.  Carson Bay's neighbor, Wilmington, was formed in 1956 with the opening of the University of East North Carolina, and quickly became the region's cultural center.  

With the construction of I 65 as the state's main north-south highway, in 1960, Carson Bay grew to a population of 50,000, with Wilmington at 20,000.  Throughout the sixties, farming remained the regions main industry along with fishing and shipping, though the area was quickly losing available land.  By 1970, growth came to a stand still, and the region slumped into an economic depression.

With Carson Bay facing a bleak future, it was clear that industry needed to expand.  To accomplish this the Port of Carson Bay was constructed to replace the city's long outdated and insufficent port facilities.  Designed to be the South East's highest capacity port, it was built on approximatly 9 square kilometers of land.  During the construction period between 1972 and 1978, Carson Bay's population soared to 100,000 with a regional population of 175,000, thanks to an influx of workers responsible for constructing the port and all necessary infrastructure including new highways (I 265), an airport and several freight rail lines.

Between 1980 and 1990 the region's population expanded to nearly 500,000 people, with nearly a quarter of a million living inside Carson Bay's city limits.  However it would be the period from 1990 to 2005, that would be considered the most prosperous era in Carson Bay's short history thanks to the administration of David B. Carson's grandson, William S. Carson, who took the city from a mid sized industrial city to a world class bussiness and trading center.  During this time, the city's skyline exploded with new construction, several new highways were built to handle the population growth, and the Carson Bay Internation Airport was finished.  After nearly four complete terms in office as the city's mayor, William S. Carson completed the city's five decade long transformation from a small farming village to a modern metropolis.  However in 2005, after 15 years of battling the economic forces, it would be the forces of nature that would truly test his administration...

[zzsim 3]

Region Shot:

Table of Contents:

   Page 1:  Preview, Introduction, Region Shot, Up

Page 2: Update 2, Update 2.1, Update 2.2, Update 2.3

Page 3: Update 3.0, Update 3.0 Corrections & Explanations

                                                  

[tomdapom 79]

Not meaning to be harsh, but your downtown is lacking depth. I think you need to rethink some of the buildings and replace with older. Of course, I think this is the hardest thing on SimCity, I am no-where near where I want to be with my downtown. But that aside, I love your waterfront, I think it is the most realistic I have seen in a downtown on a CJ! Those interchanges are amazing as well! I think you can make your downtown buildings more realistic, just keep on trying and it will come.

This comment may seem negative, but I think this CJ could become wonderful if the downtown is executed well.

Tom

[Schulmanator 5,787]

You've got a nice start going here!

[AceofSpades 1]

I think it looks nice I like it. good work

[waldner 0]

Awesome!!!!

[penguin007 27]

Good start like the highway junctions very creative

Will

[zzsim 3]

Replies:

tomdapom:  Thanks for the advice, critism is always appreciated.  Thinking back on it, I really didn't put nearly as much thought into building style as I did the rest of the components of my city (looking at my screenshots, I already want to put an axe to that large blue skyscaper next to my stadium).  There is a reason most of the builidings appear so modern, relating to the region/city's history that I have not discussed yet, but even then more diverstiy is definetly needed.  Don't be surprised to see some of my own downtown renovations in the future !

Schulmanator: Thanks for the encouragement !

AceofSpades: Thanks, glad you like it!

waldner: Thankyou!

penguin007: Thanks, this city actually started out as an experiment for highway construction!  One of my main focuses is trying to get around the annoying limitations of SC4's highways, and I'm happy with what I've come up with so far.

Again, thanks everyone for the comments!  Like I said in my opening, I'm going to be gone for about a week, but when I get back, I should have a proper introduction and history for my city.

[gml_josea 2]

In my opinion the downtown looks good, the buildings are great. What I honestly didn't like all those 'complex' highway interchanges, there's nothing in real life that looks like that; if I was driving there, I bet it would feel like being in a rollercoaster. Two suggestions: make the interchanges a bit simpler, or better, fill up all that green space with a massive skyscrapper jungle!

Good start btw.

[Jman47 0]

Good start, personally i like the interchanges and the downtown looks pretty good as well.

[Ntq€310 1]

downtown looks good, but i love cityhall with the canal infront of it, and the interchanges look good too, keep it up

[SpecialEddie 3]

Ha! Even after more than a year, I still remember you were Oasis-The Wild West's first commenter. 

Now let's get to the point: Downtown--looks great. Excellent spacing in between skyscrapers. Loving that city hall, as well. The transportation system is top notch as well, but add traffic! The roads are looking lonely. 

That baseball stadium is great, too. That reminds me. I have to go find that North American Stadiums thread and download it. 

The interchanges are so smooth, too! It flows nicely. And the university district is well laid-out. 

See you later.

[crazyarchitect 7]

Looking nice so far, your downtown is nice, but like tomdapom said, it could use a little bit of depth, but other wise I like it so far, so keep up the good work.

Edit: I love that you you are using Minute Maid Park, it fits well in your downtown

[zzsim 3]

Well I was planning on doing the introduction today since I got back from my trip, but I think that I am going to save that for later and focus on reworking some parts of my downtown.  However I will post a region shot along with some basic information within the next day or two.  

Replies:

gml_josea:  But I like roller coasters !  I both agree and disagree with your comments about the interchange.  While you are right that you woudln't see any inchanges that look exactly like that in real life, it is the closest I can come to mimicking their design with the limits of SC4.  Since I can't build triple stack interchanges or massive flyovers, I am not able to construct something like you would see in Houston or Dallas, but at the very least they are much closer to the real thing than the game's default T inchanges and cloverleafs.

Jman47: Thanks, I'm glad you like it so far!

Ntq$310: Thank you, I spent a lot of time trying to create a city hall that would truly be the downtown's focal point, and I am happy with the results.

SpecialEddie: I remember your cj Oasis, and still think that it is the best recreation of the Wild West in SC4 to date!  Since I haven't been very active on this site for the past year I still have your old cj linked in my signature.  I guess I'll have to check out your new one some time !

As far as this cj, I'm glad you like the look of my downtown!  I also agree that the city looks kind of lifeless without any traffic, but that will change once I start getting some more people to move in.  Thanks for stopping by!

crazyarchitect: Thanks for the comment, Minute Maid Park is truly a fantastic BAT, and I also think that it adds greatly to my city.  As far as the downtown, I have a few ideas to improve it, including adding some diagonal buildings as well as some older ones.  I should have an update showcasing the improvements tomorrow.

[waway625 72]

hi, may i ask what is the names of these BATs in encircled and where if they are available at STEX? thanks

[simoplis_mayor 3]

very nice

waway625: search NDEX you should find them.

[zzsim 3]

Update 1:

Downtown & Region Shots

Edit: A full region view, including the names and locations of the other cities in the region has been posted at the top of the page.

Region Overview:

Region Overview (Transportation):

Downtown (Day):

Can you spot the changes ?

Region (Night):

College District (New):

Entertainment District (New):

Well, that's all for the update.  I've made some improvements in building placement, and added a convention center/hotel north of the stadium.  I'm planning on posting a full region shot tomorrow, and hopefully an introduction.

[tomdapom 79]

Definately an improvement, but not by much. You need WAY more historic buildings, I advise that you tear down some of the towers to make way for them. But I do like the entertainment district, it looks a lot better than what was there before.

These are just ideas, if you don't like them, just ignore them. But, I think is you acknowledge some of them, your downtown will improve a lot.

Tom

[Cockatoo 2,256]

Wow that's one crazy looking highway! Love that waterfront too!

[waway625 72]

OMG, definetely lovin the region transport map just the way i like it..a perfect mix of grids and diagonals..

my concerns are just

1. not much fillers in between buildings (but i guess that part is yet to be done right?)

2. most of the buildings seem plopped? if so, would there be places for residentials to be constructed (growables) in that same area? or are you planning to have the residentials outside the core? either way it looks promising

[jacqulina 162]

wow this is a beautifull start my friend,excellent work all round,pics are amazing especially those night shots,good write up too

[homeandaway 1]

your donwtown looks really stunning indeed! - the selection of buildings all really do blend well together i like it! - cant wait to see it grow and develop!

[Abc987 3]

Great BATs there. Turning out very nicely so far!

[waldner 0]

Wow!

[Godzillaman 21]

Beautiful City! I love the downtown with the NDEX stuff!

[crazyarchitect 7]

very nice improvement to downtown, looking foward to more midrises, and maybe some sprawl

[zzsim 3]

Replies:

waway625 & simoplis_mayor: Yes, those buildings are all NDEX, so you should be able to them on the STEX.  Unfortunatly I downloaded most of my buildings during a long downloading spree, so I don't remember their names or exact creators.  

tomdapom: As is now stated in the region history, the city of Carson Bay wasn't formed until 1942, and didn't really develope into a large city until the 1970's, so that is the reason for the lack of more historical buildings.  My goal when building this downtown was to create something modern, even if it looks too perfectly laid out to be considered realistic.  I appreciate your advice, but at this point, I am satisfied with what I currently have built.

*****atoo-210893: Thanks, I'm glad you like the highways and waterfront!

Edit: I don't know why it blanked out part of you name.

waway625 (2): Thanks, I think the road layout will start to look even more realistic, once I start to develope more of the surrounding nieghborhoods and you can see the scale of the city.

1) Right now, all work in the downtown is done.  Unlike many other SC4 cities out there, I decided to use mainly plazas as fillers versus smaller buildings (though there are still plenty of those scattered about too), since I find that more often than not SC4 downtowns look too cluttered versus those of real life cities.  Once I start showing some more closeups, you will see how much work has been put into the filler spaces in downtown.

2) All of the buildings in downtown are plopped simple because I want my downtown to be filled with non repeating buildings, and plopping buildings gives me the most control over the look of my city.  Most residential areas will be outside of the core, similiar to row house nieghborhoods that I have already built, though some of the downtown skyscrappers, such as the Cobb building are supposed to simulate residential towers.

jacqulina: Wow, I'm glad to see you like my city so far (someone actually read the introduction ).  Thanks for the great comment !

homeandaway: Thanks!  Getting my downtown to blend well has defintely been the hardest part so far, I'm happy to see that you like it!

jrhnemo: Thank you! 

waldner: Thanks!

Godzillaman: Thanks, I don't know where my downtown would be if it weren't for the wonderful work of the talented BATers over at NDEX!

crazyarchitect: Thanks, I'm looking forward to adding some sprawl (if you check out the region map, you will see that there is a ton of room to spread out), and there will certainly be some more midrises in the surrounding nieghborhoods.

[sebbyb07 2]

Thats a very nice downtown. i cant wait for that full region shot.

[jacqulina 162]

yes i read it my friend and im looking forward to your next update