Show us your Downtown!

[JessiLaurn 184]

Switched out the seawalls, and I'm a lot happier with them.  Also scooted the photo a bit further north so you can see what that canal connects to....

 

And for those who enjoy such, a closer night view of the CBD.  Have I mentioned that I love the lighting of the JENXParis Pont Notre Dame Road/GLR bridge?  Well, I do.

 

[JessiLaurn 184]

Meanwhile, over in the incredibly-uninventively named Avignon (what can I say?), we've not so much a single CBD as three.  To the left, on the area bounded by the two rivers, is the old city and its CBD.  Across the way, on what passes for mainland, there's two, both centered on major rail stations:  Simgoober's "Central Station" at the top-centre of the photo, and King's Cross down in the lower right.  Development built up around what was once three separate communities until they merged into a single metropolis, albeit one which still holds distinct neighborhoods.  (A large industrial area is mainly off-camera across the western river from the old city; you can see part of the river port at the upper-left corner, along with a bit of the freight line that tunnels through the bluff to get to it.)

 

Transit engineers favoured subways in the old city, but ran into a problem when commuters necessitated connecting the system to the other boroughs; the river was too deep, and the bluffs on which the city sat too high, to allow for diving under the river without uncomfortably steep slopes.  The solution was to tunnel straight out of the banks to a GLR configuration and bridge the river.  The mainland boroughs largely opted for avenue trams, but the integrated system has worked as a reasonable compromise.

 

 

And yes, the obligatory night view:

[Sabretooth78 808]

 

Water mods are pretty much out for me; I'm on software display, and the good ones tend to require hardware.

 

Hmm, I'm using SHK's HD version of PEG's Brigantine mod, and Pegasus' works in software mode if I'm not mistaken. And I'm sure it's one of the better ones .

 

Agreed - I use the original Brigantine and have no desire to ever move away from it.  Its ability to blend in with the Peg PPond plop water is particularly indispensable.

[iowndiscti 141]

Nice waterfront. The skyline lacks more glass buildings in my opinion though.

 I knew someone would say that. theres a story behind why there are no glass building in Historic Downtown Oaksville. let me explain why.

In the 30's The Arca Administrative region ( the region this  is in) was in the middle of a 8 year drought. water levels had drop to an all time low. about thrice as less as they should have been. In late august a fight at a local highschool football ( the bedford earthworms vs the Oaksville Lumberjacks) game broke out which turned to panic in the neighboorhood. amoung the small riots fire broke out. The city didn't have the resources to put them out and lost 63% of Historic (back then, the only) Downtown, Including the School itself. what you see there is the remains of the fires of 35'.

 

 

The Capital city of Arca was totally behind rebuilding the city as soon as possible. they dedicated all the funds they could and imported materials they could from other countries until the drought was over in 42'. about this time a group made up of old bigwigs and church leaders came into existence. they called themselves A.R.C.A ( Administration of Redundant Civil Aesthetics). they shot down request after request of glass based buildings in downtown due to the fact that they felt like "the historic limestone buildings should be downtown because they tie the area together cohesively and they are paying homage to the pillars of hope that were raised from the 35' fires". the other Architects and engineers felt like they should have glass block building because it brings downtown out of an era of outdated-ness and ties us closer to modern cities, giving us an overall aesthetic boost. The other architects and engineers fought tooth and nail, but were outdone when it came time to put it to a vote because A.R.C.A had more political and social standing.

But the other engineers and Architects weren't over yet.

They found some old documents detailing the area of downtown to be defined as " The swath of land east of the Lachlan Canal, and south of the old Folks bridge".

they decided that they would petition the  capital for a federal grant that allowed them to build west of the Lachlan canal, but south of the old forks bridge. The capital loved the idea of having a city to rival others like Paris, tokyo, and L.A.

The first area that was completed was Lower Glasstowne:

 

before the buildings, this whole area was marsh and Slum projects. they bought the residents out at an average of 61,000 simoleans ( which, would make them middle classed by todays standards).  Due to the fact that Glasstowne was slightly more centrally located than the historic Downtowne it recieved a business bom and had no choice but to expand northernly.:

 

 

 

and finally a picture of the two downtowns co-existing Peacefully :

[jmsepe 2,039]

Now now, you definitely have outdone yourself, great job. Adding history is very creative too! 

[mrsmartman 200]

Right then.  Let's try this sharing thing.

 

I'm a dabbler.  Well aware of that.  But I've a few cities with which I'm rather pleased.

 

This is the CBD for San Laredo:

 

 

Yes, I'm one of those fossils still using default Maxis highways.  At any rate, San Laredo has a shipping canal connecting the bay to a river system further inland, and is nestled in the flats adjacent to the foothills.  The CBD is centered on the wonderful "Flinders Street Station" by reddonquixote.

Considering the density around the terminal, I am tempted to suggest selling the air rights above the approaching tracks.

[mrsmartman 200]

 

Nice waterfront. The skyline lacks more glass buildings in my opinion though.

 I knew someone would say that. theres a story behind why there are no glass building in Historic Downtown Oaksville. let me explain why.

In the 30's The Arca Administrative region ( the region this  is in) was in the middle of a 8 year drought. water levels had drop to an all time low. about thrice as less as they should have been. In late august a fight at a local highschool football ( the bedford earthworms vs the Oaksville Lumberjacks) game broke out which turned to panic in the neighboorhood. amoung the small riots fire broke out. The city didn't have the resources to put them out and lost 63% of Historic (back then, the only) Downtown, Including the School itself. what you see there is the remains of the fires of 35'.

 

 

The Capital city of Arca was totally behind rebuilding the city as soon as possible. they dedicated all the funds they could and imported materials they could from other countries until the drought was over in 42'. about this time a group made up of old bigwigs and church leaders came into existence. they called themselves A.R.C.A ( Administration of Redundant Civil Aesthetics). they shot down request after request of glass based buildings in downtown due to the fact that they felt like "the historic limestone buildings should be downtown because they tie the area together cohesively and they are paying homage to the pillars of hope that were raised from the 35' fires". the other Architects and engineers felt like they should have glass block building because it brings downtown out of an era of outdated-ness and ties us closer to modern cities, giving us an overall aesthetic boost. The other architects and engineers fought tooth and nail, but were outdone when it came time to put it to a vote because A.R.C.A had more political and social standing.

But the other engineers and Architects weren't over yet.

They found some old documents detailing the area of downtown to be defined as " The swath of land east of the Lachlan Canal, and south of the old Folks bridge".

they decided that they would petition the  capital for a federal grant that allowed them to build west of the Lachlan canal, but south of the old forks bridge. The capital loved the idea of having a city to rival others like Paris, tokyo, and L.A.

The first area that was completed was Lower Glasstowne:

 

before the buildings, this whole area was marsh and Slum projects. they bought the residents out at an average of 61,000 simoleans ( which, would make them middle classed by todays standards).  Due to the fact that Glasstowne was slightly more centrally located than the historic Downtowne it recieved a business bom and had no choice but to expand northernly.:

 

 

 

and finally a picture of the two downtowns co-existing Peacefully :

 

It will be cool if the avenue along the waterfront could be upgraded to the Embarcadero Freeway, or its underground counterpart, as the artery of the city.

[Chesh 173]

[Infrastructurist 434]

Back again amigos. Downloaded a new region and started from scratch, this time very little use of demand mods, and some more transportation systems. As usual, no plopping has been done.

The city of Providence is the current center city of my region with two cities connecting to it. Region pop soon reaching 200 000. Providence features an extensive highway and rail system. 

 

The passenger rail system works at 120 % of capacity though     This city and region is still very much a WIP, so for now ill have to excuse for building duplicates

 

^ A general overview. The city has two seperate rail systems, one for travellers going to all three neighboring tiles, and an industrial cargo rail system going to two of the three neighboring tiles.

 

 

 

Btw, getting some proper seawalls and make something which mimics harbour piers will be next up 

[Chesh 173]

@nebuchadnezza; love that! keep us updated yeah? i love me some rail congestion

[MushyMushy 3,618]

@Chesh: I like what you did there quite a lot.

 

@nebuchadnezza: It looks pretty awesome, although I'd really (really) recommend you download a mod that changes the passenger train model. The Maxis ones have a hideous paint-job and pretty lame model.

[urielgarcia 344]

Back again amigos. Downloaded a new region and started from scratch, this time very little use of demand mods, and some more transportation systems. As usual, no plopping has been done.

The city of Providence is the current center city of my region with two cities connecting to it. Region pop soon reaching 200 000. Providence features an extensive highway and rail system. 

 

The passenger rail system works at 120 % of capacity though     This city and region is still very much a WIP, so for now ill have to excuse for building duplicates

 

 

^ A general overview. The city has two seperate rail systems, one for travellers going to all three neighboring tiles, and an industrial cargo rail system going to two of the three neighboring tiles.

 

 

 

 

 

Btw, getting some proper seawalls and make something which mimics harbour piers will be next up 

Wow - great city - I love the 1st pic - wonderful and so awesome.  Great work.  Please share more updates.

[Infrastructurist 434]

thanks for the feedback guys!! I got to play around with seawalls alot yesterday in a new city, will hopefully soon have a downtown in that city to show. For now, i will show some updates photos of Providence. The population of the metro area has jumped to +250 k now, with all sorrounding suburbs/sattelite-cities having highway and rail connections to Providence center. 

 

For the first time ever really, i've decided to plop a CBD. So i erased all of the original Provicende cbd and plopped a new one, making sure all but 1 or 2 BATS are functional with jobs. Got an airport and a convention center as well now. The city is really growing into a powerhouse since the region is new and no other city can match it. I might make a contender for it somewhere else in the region

 

I have tried to "roleplay" the CBD plopping as imagining that i as a major gets the final say on approved construction   still doesn't feel as organic as a grown downtown but i will manage for now  :kitty:

 

 

 

 

And compared to the old downtown; 

Close up;

 

And just a shot of the second business district which i have just allowed to grow on its own, i need to name it something to give Providence some more personality- suggestions welcome

[GDK 20]

thanks for the feedback guys!! I got to play around with seawalls alot yesterday in a new city, will hopefully soon have a downtown in that city to show. For now, i will show some updates photos of Providence. The population of the metro area has jumped to +250 k now, with all sorrounding suburbs/sattelite-cities having highway and rail connections to Providence center. 

 

For the first time ever really, i've decided to plop a CBD. So i erased all of the original Provicende cbd and plopped a new one, making sure all but 1 or 2 BATS are functional with jobs. Got an airport and a convention center as well now. The city is really growing into a powerhouse since the region is new and no other city can match it. I might make a contender for it somewhere else in the region

 

I have tried to "roleplay" the CBD plopping as imagining that i as a major gets the final say on approved construction   still doesn't feel as organic as a grown downtown but i will manage for now  :kitty:

 

 

 

 

And compared to the old downtown; 

Close up;

 

And just a shot of the second business district which i have just allowed to grow on its own, i need to name it something to give Providence some more personality- suggestions welcome

Awesome city!!!!!!! I used every demand mod I could find!!!!!

Name suggestion: Periwinkle Point

[herbigharo32 5]

@JessiLaurn,

 

I really like the cliff terrain and radial street layout.  Makes for an interesting mix!

Downtown Shattrath City.  Been working on this city for 6 months now.  Lots to show.  Perhaps I should frequent these threads more often.  Here are my first screen shots.  Of course the first signature skyscraper is from my hometown in Dallas, TX, the Bank Of America plaza.  Where I live, it is called "The green giant".  Enjoy.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/herbigharo32/15007068406/in/photostream/lightbox/

 

When making new screens, most recent will always be on top of list via Flikr.  

[JayJay 3]

 

thanks for the feedback guys!! I got to play around with seawalls alot yesterday in a new city, will hopefully soon have a downtown in that city to show. For now, i will show some updates photos of Providence. The population of the metro area has jumped to +250 k now, with all sorrounding suburbs/sattelite-cities having highway and rail connections to Providence center. 

 

For the first time ever really, i've decided to plop a CBD. So i erased all of the original Provicende cbd and plopped a new one, making sure all but 1 or 2 BATS are functional with jobs. Got an airport and a convention center as well now. The city is really growing into a powerhouse since the region is new and no other city can match it. I might make a contender for it somewhere else in the region

 

I have tried to "roleplay" the CBD plopping as imagining that i as a major gets the final say on approved construction   still doesn't feel as organic as a grown downtown but i will manage for now  :kitty:

 

 

 

 

And compared to the old downtown; 

Close up;

 

And just a shot of the second business district which i have just allowed to grow on its own, i need to name it something to give Providence some more personality- suggestions welcome

Awesome city!!!!!!! I used every demand mod I could find!!!!!

Name suggestion: Periwinkle Point

 

what tree mod do you use?

[Diego2801 43]

This is my tutorial to create a CBD of two types: 

single Zone 

complex area:

Single Zone:

 

1._ Build a meddium city

2._Download the pluggin SuperDemand (avaible in STEX)

3._Download the money tree  (avaible in STEX)

4._Build a low wealth residence zone in the suburbs

5._In the center, build a high wealth commercial zone.

6._Cheetah Speed ​​put in play and wait ...

 

Complex Area:

 

1._Build a great city

2._Build the High Wealth Commercial Zone in the center

3,_Build one public transport system (in my case I will use monorail)

4,_Build the High Wealth Residence Zone in the arounds

5._Cheetah Speed ​​put in play and wait ...

 

 

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

 

This is my tutorial to create a CBD of two types: 

single Zone 

complex area:

Single Zone:

 

1._ Build a meddium city

2._Download the pluggin SuperDemand (avaible in STEX)

3._Download the money tree  (avaible in STEX)

4._Build a low wealth residence zone in the suburbs

5._In the center, build a high wealth commercial zone.

6._Cheetah Speed ​​put in play and wait ...

 

Complex Area:

 

1._Build a great city

2._Build the High Wealth Commercial Zone in the center

3,_Build one public transport system (in my case I will use monorail)

4,_Build the High Wealth Residence Zone in the arounds

5._Cheetah Speed ​​put in play and wait ...

 

 

Thanks, I guess, but this is where you come to show what you've accomplished and look at what others have accomplished. Not tell people how to accomplish things. Besides, I don't think many peple here use neither the demand mod nor the money tree. 

[JessiLaurn 184]

@JessiLaurn,

 

I really like the cliff terrain and radial street layout.  Makes for an interesting mix!

 

Thank you!

[Infrastructurist 434]

Downtown of my city Dearborn. Cute name, not so cute city. Foundation built on heavy industry which has had to outsource thousands of jobs in the last two decades. Only around 60 % of the downtown office space is occupied, down from 75 % five years ago. 

City council has approved several budget cuts. The school district has been declared the 9th worst in the US. Crime is on the rise, not only in the surburbs but also in the downtown area. 

 

(a building grew in the midst of taking these photos, explaining the variation)  

 

 

 

 

[clhigh7 583]

Downtown of my city Dearborn. Cute name, not so cute city. Foundation built on heavy industry which has had to outsource thousands of jobs in the last two decades. Only around 60 % of the downtown office space is occupied, down from 75 % five years ago. 

City council has approved several budget cuts. The school district has been declared the 9th worst in the US. Crime is on the rise, not only in the surburbs but also in the downtown area. 

 

(a building grew in the midst of taking these photos, explaining the variation)

 

Sounds very Detroit-esque. Hopefully there will be a turnaround in the future. I'm rooting for it  

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

 

Downtown of my city Dearborn. Cute name, not so cute city. Foundation built on heavy industry which has had to outsource thousands of jobs in the last two decades. Only around 60 % of the downtown office space is occupied, down from 75 % five years ago. 

City council has approved several budget cuts. The school district has been declared the 9th worst in the US. Crime is on the rise, not only in the surburbs but also in the downtown area. 

 

(a building grew in the midst of taking these photos, explaining the variation)

 

Sounds very Detroit-esque. Hopefully there will be a turnaround in the future. I'm rooting for it  

 

 

Fun fact: Detroit has a suburb by the name of Dearborn, most known for being the location of Ford Motor Co.'s international headquarters.

[Infrastructurist 434]

 

Downtown of my city Dearborn. Cute name, not so cute city. Foundation built on heavy industry which has had to outsource thousands of jobs in the last two decades. Only around 60 % of the downtown office space is occupied, down from 75 % five years ago. 

City council has approved several budget cuts. The school district has been declared the 9th worst in the US. Crime is on the rise, not only in the surburbs but also in the downtown area. 

 

(a building grew in the midst of taking these photos, explaining the variation)

 

Sounds very Detroit-esque. Hopefully there will be a turnaround in the future. I'm rooting for it  

 

 

 

 

 

Downtown of my city Dearborn. Cute name, not so cute city. Foundation built on heavy industry which has had to outsource thousands of jobs in the last two decades. Only around 60 % of the downtown office space is occupied, down from 75 % five years ago. 

City council has approved several budget cuts. The school district has been declared the 9th worst in the US. Crime is on the rise, not only in the surburbs but also in the downtown area. 

 

(a building grew in the midst of taking these photos, explaining the variation)

 

Sounds very Detroit-esque. Hopefully there will be a turnaround in the future. I'm rooting for it  

 

 

Fun fact: Detroit has a suburb by the name of Dearborn, most known for being the location of Ford Motor Co.'s international headquarters.

 

 

 

A fun fact indeed! Rooting for a turnaround eh. I know i wouldn't 

 

 

Btw, is there a thread where the intention is to show all of your city? The "show us your city, maps or transit bla bla" is full of transit maps. No thread for posting a good chunk of pictures from a city, explaining the different hoods and surburbs? Could be cool, because i often want to broarden my range to not just show CBD pics but some of the different neighbourhoods as well   

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

A fun fact indeed! Rooting for a turnaround eh. I know i wouldn't 

 

 

Btw, is there a thread where the intention is to show all of your city? The "show us your city, maps or transit bla bla" is full of transit maps. No thread for posting a good chunk of pictures from a city, explaining the different hoods and surburbs? Could be cool, because i often want to broarden my range to not just show CBD pics but some of the different neighbourhoods as well   

 

There's different threads for all parts of a city, from Suburbs to Ghettos to Seaports.  If you want to show off your whole city, what you want to make is a City Journal.  

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

I also believe there's a "show us your region views" lurking around somewhere on the forums. You could post there.

[Infrastructurist 434]

Still want a city thread haha   

 

Something different from me, while i work on a few cities. The pictures posted below aren't actually from a city i have made personally, but one made of a girl who've been living with me for some of the summer. 

I honestly think its quite good when considering the fact she doesnt have sc4 on her own crap laptop and her total playtime is under 10 hours. She's been watching me play some though. 

 

Her city kinda has 4 business districts so i took a pic of each one of them. I know some buildings might not fit in, she intended to make a euro city at first but i don't have enough plugins to quite achieve that yet, so she just enabled all building styles. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fun little side note; she has no idea how to use computers besides taking notes in class at her university, so i have spent a good time explaining to her why it's not just for basement dwellers to spend hours playing games, and that the gaming industry is so massive there is litterally games for everyone. With Simcity 4 i proved that point     

[mrsmartman 200]

Indeed, the market structure for gaming business is great and diversified, in between oligopoly and monopolistic competition. The variety is wide.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Wait, wait, wait. The last picture the greyish building (between the blue one by scott and the Maxis default one). Is it First National Bank Buidling. Please give me the link because I once started to bat it. 

[Sky Guy 163]

So... after a long hiatus, I have returned to SC. Unfortunately, I am waiting for my old computer which contains my life work  . But in the meantime, I am fiddling around on my old Mac version of the game. I have very few CC (NAM and MMP) so its pretty much vanilla....

 

I present to you: San Palmera downtown. Once under the rule of a greedy man named "Defacto" the city was left in such ruins, the people simply called it "Big City Tutorial" as a lesson to the world of how NOT to build a city. But all that changed when the loving man named Sky Guy    returned and started a major urban renewal project across the city. Although many problems still remain, the city has a bright future ahead of it...  The most current project is a new highway system connecting the city to others across the region...

 

Heres Downtown (forgive the repeated buildings)

Click for full size...(I think)...

Edit: maybe not, but heres the link to the full size: https://s1195.photobucket.com/user/Sky_Guy1/media/SanPalmera.jpg.html

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,196]

Wait, wait, wait. The last picture the greyish building (between the blue one by scott and the Maxis default one). Is it First National Bank Buidling. Please give me the link because I once started to bat it. 

Here's the link: