Calder City

[psander5 195]

Introduction

Welcome to Calder City, my first CJ!

I won't give much of a history for this CJ now, as it is intended to one day be incorporated into the nation of New Gelderland (currently under development).  I decided to begin this CJ as a training/taster project to learn the ropes so all pionters and suggestions are welcome.

Ok, down to it.

Calder City is a proposed 'newtown' comissioned to take the increased population and business of a larger conurbation to the west (the capital of New Gelderland).  The development of a major world port to the east of the capital and to the south of Calder City meant that the construction of a whole new city was necessary.

Built on the plains of the Calder River basin, and along the lake-studded main course of the river, the city is intended to be 'a new urban utopia' govenmentally assigned subtitle

The View:

Infrastructure: Construction on the main roadways and railways is well underway.  This image shows the extents of the city proper with all the main transport routes in place.  The industry to the south is the Calder City Project Industrial Estate.

The Downtown/CBD loop, showing the location of the two city centre train stations

The first Borough of Calderfields.  Built mainly to accomodate the pioneers of Calder City; the first inhabitants

Calderfields station and Highstreet.  This image is doctored!!!  Spot the photoshopping and win a named civic feature!!  Wow! Exciting!  I took this picture twice. but didn't like something in the latest version so I swapped it with something in the earlier pic.  The photoshopping isn't seamless so there are visual clues there (but not so obvious I hope!)

A lazy sunday afternoon in Calderfields.  Construction is on hold for the day, so the roadbuilders relax by playing a friendly game of football.

Working through the night at the industrial estate to fabricate all those structural steels and unpack all the shiny new roadsigns for Calder City.

There you go.  I hope you'll join me for the official naming ceremony in the central square in x days time, once construction is complete!

Future updates will be more 'jazzed up', as I get used to the process... I hope

[Schulmanator 5,787]

You have a nice start to your CJ here. I look forward to seeing more. And, welcome to the world of CJs!

[luker91 0]

great looking cj....can't wait to see the cbd develop!

is this the photoshopped part?

[Explodingsims 3]

I think the doctored part is the pink topped building on the left, with half a tree sticking out of it.

This is some good work you have going on here. I love the soccer fields, looks very nice. Good Job!

[anarchy0029 2]

Looks like a homely town. I'd move there. Good start of the CJ. Hope to see more.

[cityhawk 12]

Nice network and nice town so far! Welcome to the world of CJs!

[panthersimcity4 162]

That looks nice! The color enhancing REALLY does alot to the pictures. You should definetally keep it up.

[Twenty20 28]

Good start, your city looks very nice, and excellent overview !

[dfnva 34]

I like how you planned your downtown roads with the frontage/access roads along side the one avenue. I would use on-slope puzzle pieces, however, when the roads/avenues cross the highways.

-Dan

[psander5 195]

Update 1.1

Replies:

Schulmanator: Thanks for the welcome.  Much appreciated.  I hope you enjoy what's to come

Luker91:  Correct!!  First guess! Well, you're 50% right anyway.  The building to the right of your guess is also a replacement.  Originally those spots were occupied by two of the buildings opposite, but I didn't like the way it looked.  I guess I need to spend more time on Photoshop.  I'll have something in your name in update 1.2!  I look forward to the CBD as well!

Explodingsims: see above... not this time !  I didn't notice that tree.  It must be a simple graphics glitch!  Thanks!  I like the way the soccer fields looked opposite all those bungalows.

anarchy0029: Thanks.  I think i'd prefer most sim cities than the real alternative... they're a lot cleaner!

cityhawk: Thanks.  I usually think of roads as more of an afterthought, but for Calder City I thought i'd try something different.  I'm enjoying it so far.

panthersimcity4: Thanks, I will.  All I do is up the brightness and contrast by 20 each (Photoshop).  That's all they seem to need to lighen them up nicely.

Twenty20: Thankyou.  I think i'll put together an animation showing the city expansion/development using the overview pictures... a sort of timelapse video.  That's when I learn how!

dfnva: As you'll see below, I took your advice.  I had already tried to make a level overpass junction but couldn't make it work.  Your comment made me think it must be possible (and relativley easy).  Those are one way roads straddling the avenue.  I hope they'll enable me to control traffic flow a bit better.  It's a bit of an experiment.  They're also intended to be a visual alternative to the highways.  Thanks for your comment.

Now here's a small update:

Expansion us now underway into Calder City proper.  The plan is to develop the residential communuties and industrial areas around the CBD loop first.  There will probably be a lot of re-development as I try to balance the job demand for the commercial district.

It's worth mentioning that i'll be relying on a lot of Maxis to begin with.  When the CBD begins to grow i'll start introducing some of the custom content (mainly il Tonkso's bats at the moment...they're all great)

Sprowston:  The first of the city districts, Sprowston sits to the north of the future CBD, and enjoys excellent transportation links with the ring road making it's southern fringe, and the north highway cutting through it's centre.

CBD and Sprowston

Sprowston Homes.  You will see at the bottom of this pic that the first R$$$ condo has been built! Quite unexpected.  If i were to toggle 'tastyzots' though, you'd see that there are no local jobs for them yet!

Arnhem Industrial Estate currently employs the majority of Sprowston's residents.  In this pic yo can see low wealth comercial buildings.  Proof that I have some way to go before realising the metropolis dream!

Thanks for taking the time to look.  Again, any comments and suggestions (and maybe a few criticisms ) will be welcomed.

The next update will come tomorrow I hope, with more scattered development. 

 

[anarchy0029 2]

Nice update of your city. Looking forward for more.

[Abc987 3]

I love it! I really, really love it! I'm so glad you started a CJ, because I noticed you've started becoming active on the forums and I just loved your personality. Your cities reflect you, if I daresay so myself. You should be proud: This is an absolutely wonderful first CJ! I can't wait to see New Gelderland in a few weeks/months!

Jason

[rushman5 33]

Quick thinking with the Tastyzots, keep it up and remember along with tastyzots, keep that grid off!!!

[sealorama 0]

very nice

[bbfan02 23]

Wow, great start! I like the highway system and avenue!

-bbfan02-

[jacqulina 162]

great start and intro my friend,allready looking great keep up the great work

[edmonton_stinks 5]

I like your concept of the "planned city." It's looking great!

[psander5 195]

Update 1.2

Replies:

anarchy0029: Thanks.  I plan to show a few more of these small updates showing the development around the CBD before producing a full update.

jrhnemo: Wow! Fine complements indeed!  New Gelderland is a whole nation concept.  Calder City and its surrounding area is just a small part of that nation.  I'll be giving hints as to what New Gelderland is like as this CJ progresses.  Hope you enjoy the rest.  P.S. What's happening in Collanden!?

rushman5: Ha ha.  Tastyzots is useful for taking pictures (sometimes it's good to sweep things under the rug), but I always forget to turn it back on again... then I wonder why my houses are deteriorating!

sealorama: Thank you.  Was this your first post? Welcome.  I hope to see you around some more.

bbfan02: Thanks.  I've only been using sunken networks for a few months.  I was a little slow on the uptake.  I also just got around to installing the retaining walls (yesterday!!).  This is the first time I've tried to build in this way.  I don't think I can go back now!

jacqulina: Thank you,  i'll try!

edmonton_stinks: Thanks.  I thought that, after years of fighting it, i'd try and embrace the simcity system of building.  It's hard to make the cities evolve from the ground up like they do in real life (in England at least).  I'm looking forward to the final picture.

Welcome to Whitwood:

Whitwood will be the largest (in area) of the newtowns that will eventually make up the main population belt of Calder City. Whitwood is named after the birthplace of the first president of the unified and independent nation of New Gelderland, that being Whitwood, West Yorkshire (England).

Whitwood in relation to Calder City, and the view so far:

Whitwood centre:

Whitwood industrial estate is the major employment for the area.  Just as in Calderfields, most of the industry is governed by aim of the growth of the city itself. 

The first 'city park' of Calder City is Luker Park.  Located at the heart of the north Whitwood area, the park also incorporates the Luker Park Stadium, home to Whitwood Rovers Football club, who play in the New Gelderland Southern Division, the second tier of the Gelderland Leagues.  They were given special entry into this league in order to give Calder city an immediate sporting heritage.  The NGFA plan allows for further expansion of the leagues as the population throughout the whole of New Gelderland increases, allowing for the prospect of further Calder City representation. 

And here's a small piece of information regarding New Gelderland's history:

New Gelderland, first discovered and named by Dutch explorers in 1746, was settled by both Dutch and British Colonists.  The British occupied the southern portion of the Island nation, while the Dutch occupied the Northern portion.  This division has been peaceful since the 1803 treaty of New Rotterdam which opened new trade links.  After Union and independence from the parent nations in 1921, freedom of trade and movement began. 

As a result of this history, most of the placenames in New Gelderland (and therefore Calder City) are references to this past.

Coming up next... Druten.

[Abc987 3]

Looking fantastic, once again!

About Collanden, an update will come (somewhat) soon. See, I changed the region Collanden is in, so it's been taking a while to build it up to the point where I can show it off to everyone. I've also been busy creating a union (The IFN), so that has held me back a bit.

Hope to see more soon!

[panthersimcity4 162]

A very charming city! Looks like your CBD area is starting to get developed too. Nice work!

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Nice work. You have a great mix of built and open spaces.

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Planned cities are uncommon, though there are a few in the world (Brasilia), that are mostly capital cities built by the government.

Your city is looking great! I love the park.

[psander5 195]

Update 1.3

Replies:

jhrnemo: Thanks once again!  More is here... although I will have to slow down a bit!  I have a real job after all.  It's good to hear that Collanden is coming back soon.

panthersimcity4: 'charming' is a very charming word.  Thanks.  I'm glad you like it so far.   Look below for the first look at the CBD!

Schulmanator:  Thankyou.  I'm not sure how long those spaces will stay 'open'.  Most new built urban areas have lots of parks though, so i'll try to keep some of them.  I do intend to keep a lot of the area by the river clear of development.

edmonton_stinks:  I didn't realise Brasillia was a planned city.  I'll have to get Wikipedia and Google Earth out!  Have you ever heard o Milton Keynes, UK?  That's a planned city too.  Not quite as grand though.  China is building whole new cities all the time now also. Thanks for the complements.

Welcome to Druten:

Druten is the latest new town of Calder City and is named after the town in the Gelderland region of the Netherlands... for no particular reason.

Here's how the city looks so far:

Druten is home to a large sporting complex, and a large shopping mall, the major employer for the area.  There is also a small, hi-tech industrial park to the east (not pictured).  The train station and adjoining park form the centre of Druten.  Druten is home to Calder City's first High school and museum, and also has it's own small hospital.

Here's a treat... a first look at the development of the CBD! 

As the population of Calder City reached 30,000, the doors of the city hall were opened for the first time.  Calder City was officially granted city status on 23rd March (sim)1982, the public ceremony was held in the central square.  The President of New Gelderland marched cerimoniously from the monument to the doors of the city hall where he handed the keys to the new mayor and declared Calder City incorporated. 

The first highrise in the city centre opened a week later and would for the next 20 years, be home to the Calder City Planning office.  After this lease expires, the building of  the city is expected to be complete, and the planning offices will take their permanant place in the City Hall, which is currently being used to only 5% of it's capacity.

That's it for now.  The next update might take a couple of days, by when I intend to show the district of Little Helsinki.  After that, Update 2.0 should be next, and with that string of updates will come banners, maps flags and histories, as well as lots of shiny new CBD developments!

and here's a cheeky region shot to show how i'm 'cheating'  my demand!  The city to the south is mainly residential.  It's giving me lots of commercial demand to help build Calder City in the way i want to.  I'll eventually turn it into suburbs, and move the excess pop into new apartments in Calder City proper.   I intend to delete this after a short amount of time... unless it meets with opposition lol!  This is a temporary insight into the ugly side of my development! Don't worry though.  There will be real region shots soon!  I love a good region shot!

You can also see the airport under construction... but that's another story (see Introduction!)

 

[briantwigley 0]

This looks really good! My surname is calder

[jacqulina 162]

excellent industrial my friend very nice work and pics

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Nice work! I'm all for demolishing the suburban highrises eventually, but maybe you could keep a couple, as many suburbs include both houses and condos.

[ilikehotdogsalot 308]

Wow, already an excellent start! I agree that the color on the picture really adds something, they look really fantastic I like your theme of planning and explaining what you want to do for the future, it's very interesting, and I've yet to get around doing something like that. Very neat stuff

[penguin007 27]

Awesome start here. I like your urban planning. Although I would actaully look to get more custom content I like it as it is and the underpasses look ok but I would get marrast's underpasses off the LEX which look much better

Will

[rugar12 0]

Very nice job so far. I especially like the way you designed your residential areas.

[BC_Rich_Warlock 1]

great cj so far just a few questions if you dont mind, where did you get those highway curves, the capitol like building and rail terminal in the 2nd to last pic and where does everybody get the terminals to make all these gret custom airports.

other than that very nice work keep it up bud.