Fused Grid

[FishermanIvan 3]

I do this a lot in my suburbs too... It keeps traffic on the main roads and leaves the streets for what they're for... going from a main road to a house.

[Plastic Manc 28]

I like this method as it offers the structure on a larger grid format but offers some variety in the look of your suburbs. I haven't used it yet but it makes for a nice idea in my newest region.

[Twenty_One 0]

How do you guys keep your houses small and similar like the pics posted? I seem to get a huge mix of different styles and wealth levels and it just doesnt look at neat as yours?

[thijskr 1]

low wealth houses tend to make place for medium wealth houses after some time. To ban the huge mansions you can either raise the high wealth residential taxes or use a modification (i believe there is one that bans mansions from appearing)

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

Originally posted by: Twenty_One

How do you guys keep your houses small and similar like the pics posted? I seem to get a huge mix of different styles and wealth levels and it just doesnt look at neat as yours?quote>

In addition to what thijskr said, you can ensure there's no low wealth by making sure your suburbs are in a desirable area, you have excellent civic coverage, and you have LOTS of parks.  Then to avoid high wealth, don't bother with taxes:  zone 1x1 or 1x2 suburb lots.  High wealth won't build on these.

Then, to make all the buildings look alike:  use only one building style from the building style controller.

Happy suburbing!

[sneakeypete 16]

Easy way to do it is to zone only 1 deep, they can't build anything bigger. that's whats been done in the above picture. you need to make sure you don't have any backing onto eachother otherwise they will grow into R$$$

[paulmc 391]

Nice neighborhoods here, I

[Xascul 7]

i don't mind the grid that much myself, especially for really dense areas.  for suburbs i may try out the fused grid and use more cul-de-sacs myself. 

[jose40292 0]

I think you guys are all missing the point. the schmucks from that website will tell you that fused grids are something new and amazing, and are just right for making perfect little single-family-home subdivisions, but they miss the point too. the basic principle of the fused grid is to make it easier to walk than to drive, to encourage the use of public transit by making it more accessible from all directions, and to facilitate higher densities in the future. You cant walk through a cul-de-sac, but you can if there's a park at the end. If you want some examples of what im talking about, take a look at the places that have exemplified the fused grid naturally for many decades, like Amsterdam and South London. The streets are circuitous, but there are always walkways linking different sections together, and flanking them are apartments, not houses. Effective land use increases with higher densities, and so on. So the next time any of you design a neighborhood with a fused grid layout, dont think subdivision, think community.

[smileymk 4]

The city of milton keynes in the uk was built entirely on this principle in the 1960's. Its a very effective way of maintaining fast transportation speeds for through traffic, while preserving quality of life for people living within the grid. Unfortunatly its main drawback is the difficulty it provides to anyone who wants to walk anywhere, a walk to the local shops can take hours (with a bit of imagination) as you have to wind round endless streets rather than cutting back behind your house, simcity shows this rather well.

Unfortunatly i dont have any screenshots atm though

I live in Milton Keynes, and whilst the grid system here certainly is excellent, it doesn't make walking at all difficult like you suggested. The town has an extensive network of cycle paths ('redways') and little pathways providing back routes and neat little shortcuts for pedestrians which cover the entire town. You can use the Ped Mall pieces in the NAM to recreate this.

And the walk to the shop for me takes 7-8 minutes, as I can make use of this redway system and these little shortcuts. That's not long - certainly not hours! Especially since my local shop is in the next estate.

Regards,

Chris

[Liquid Symphony 2]

The picture of the suburbs with residential, industrial and commercial is amazing.

What add-on do I need to get the road roundabouts and even the street roundabouts?

Regards, Luke

[Gringamuyloca 47]

The picture of the suburbs with residential, industrial and commercial is amazing.

What add-on do I need to get the road roundabouts and even the street roundabouts?

Regards, Luke

You'll need the NAM (Network Addon Mod)... download here - LINK - Be sure to read the read me.

If you have more questions don't hesitate to start your own thread... you'll find we like to help around here.

[firebreaker2262 0]

todd, i waswondering what were the sizes of your grids? 25 by 25? 

 

could you tell me what the smallest of those where? 5x5? or something larger?

[Superbacon 380]

This is a pretty old thread... are the folks who posted here around anymore? At all?

[Patricius Maximus 236]

This is a pretty old thread... are the folks who posted here around anymore? At all?

 

I can't speak for the others, but I'm still around, and 5 years later I'm still utilizing the fused grid.

[joshsam 3]

I've been alway doing this cul de sac type of suburb for ages. Evern since i bought the game in 2005.

These pictures here are I think 4 or even 5 years old now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also went to extremes like this:

 

 

[CT14 2,486]

Working on a new city based around the Fused Grid, BigFlats. Here's a walkthrough of how I build a neighborhood grid. The main departure from the standard plan here is that I have 100% full permeability for the pedestrians (Sims seem to prefer it) and no medium-density buildings in this first grid.

 

Looking back, starting with a 'low wealth high population' grid would have been smarter. I'm about to go broke unless I can put up some cheap apartments fast in the next grid!

 

Starting layout with Ped Mall Connectors and basic grid:

 

 

Parks, walls and ped malls installed:

 

Zoned and utilities installed. These Sims have big enough backyards to put wind power in!

 

 

A year into the city, starting to build farms out:

 

[flatron 83]

interesting, but you should have put the commercial zoning along the pedestrian streets. Mixed-Use zoning saves your sims a lot of travel time

[CT14 2,486]

The fused grid design specifically puts commercial strips in between the residential grids. The outer area of a fused grid, zoned for medium or high-density housing, often faces a commercial strip directly. I'll get a picture of this, my second grid is more traditionally set up this way with higher density housing to the outside.

 

My goal is indeed a short walk (high 'walkability') for my Sims. In the past designs like this gave about a 2 minute walking commute time and a majority of commuters pedestrians.

[CT14 2,486]

High/medium density fused grid:

 

And some pedestrian traffic action:

 

This design really shines in higher population cities with high rise commercial towers in between the grids. Herds of Sims will walk from the fused grids to the nearby office towers at that point.