L.A. My Way

[peakman2 0]

I love that avenue that goes through a bunch of tunnels. It just gives that part of the city a really cool look. Great update!

[jmusshorn 7]

Absolutely beautiful! The avenue system, along with the well placed access to the freeway system makes this journal really stand out! Keep up your great work!

 

Who knows, this could come to be as good as SCR!

 

~J

[jacqulina 162]

fantasti work,great avenue system,great pics,love the view pics

[djrules5454 5]

Date: 6/30/2005 10:23:01 PM Author: RoddyC

you just have to click the button for the custom highway interchange, and then press the TAB key to cycle through the different options.

quote>

Thanks!  I didn't know that avenue interchanges were in the highway interchange menu.  Anyway, I am looking for your next update!

[palmgurl 1]

i like the lake in your region! keep up the good job!

[hmabmsusa 0]

I love u'r city and the way its set up but can u tell me where u got the walls stuff on the slopes, did u download it at simtropolis or where the stuff thats around the highway and the by the houses? and i also want to no where u got the underground highway from? thankz if u can tell me (please) and good luck with u'r wonderful city!!!

[+Guest]

]I love this CJ. The tunnels, the trees, everything! Can't wait to see some skyscraper action!

hmabmsusa, I think he got them from
http://www.sc4pegasus.com

[RoddyC 0]

Hey folks, how is everyone doing? This isn't going to be an update, but rather an apology for a lack of updates. I was hoping to update yesterday but work didn't leave me with enough time. I have about 15 minutes right now (before work) to say some words, and hopefully a full update will follow tonight.

First, I have to thank you all for the wonderful comments. That makes it all worthwhile and then some.

 

jmusshorn: I don't expect my CJ to be anywhere near the level of SCR. Jeroni is truly the CJ master. I hope my CJ will be around for as long as his though.

 

hmabmsusa: Everything was downloaded here at ST. I believe the residential walls are from jeronij and the highway walls are from marrast. Do a search on the STEX for their names.

 

As for the underground highway, this is a little trick that has been around for a long time. You have to create a land-bridge, build the tunnel under the land, and then sink the land using the God-mode tools. I don't know who originally discovered this, but I've been doing it in my cities since Rush Hour was released. If necessary, I can provide a tutorial.

 

Anyway I have to go now. Look for an update tonight.

[homer2 3]

I like this CJ. very good work.
But somethimes I think there are too much wall on a hill (like 02.05). I know how difficult it is to build at a hill. You did a very exellent work. Keep it up

[RoddyC 0]

Thank you, homer2, for your kind words. By the way, I like your avatar.

 

So I said I would update sooner, but it's better late than never, right? Work has been taking up a lot of time, but updates should be more regular in the coming days.

 

Anyway, enough talk. Time for the update.

 

Los Angeles

Update 07

 

Regional population: 73,614

Santa Monica: 36,880

 

This update will once again focus on the city of Santa Monica. As you can see from the numbers, much growth has occured in this city. In fact Santa Monica now has the highest population in the region.

 

First, let's take a look at the region view. Very little has changed since last time, but I like to start an update with the region view so you can follow the gradual progress.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_07_01.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

And the transit view. Not much is new here either. If you look closely at Santa Monica, you will see the newly extended rail line in the city. This line is heavily used - I'll let you see it up-close later in the update.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_07_02.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

Now let's get down to the city level. This is an overview of the Southern side of the Los Angeles River. Most of the new development has taken place here, since there is no more empty land on the North side. The most obvious change is the addition of the high-rise tenements - no city is complete without them. We'll take a closer look at those later too.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_07_03.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

And in this shot we see the other main area of development - the South entrance to the main underwater tunnel. Land value here is pretty high, but that didn't prevent a few low-wealth towers from being constructed. I chose not to demolish them since they are beautiful in a weird way.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_07_04.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

A closer look shows some of the mansions that have sprung up in this area. Ocean views have a way of attracting rich people.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_07_05.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

In the following shot, some of you may notice the real-life connection. I said this CJ was not intended to reflect the real city of L.A., but the terrain in this corner of my city was very similar to that of the real Santa Monica. Basically the avenue running North-to-South will be my Pacific Coast Highway, so I created a ramp up the cliffside to reflect the real-life California Incline (a ramp connecting Ocean Avenue with Pacific Coast Highway). Aside from that, the city is entirely my own.

 

 

 

And now we travel across to the West side of the city. Let's take a closer look at these newly-built low-wealth projects.

 

 

 

Zoomed in and rotated, to help appreciate the size of these things. And just in case anyone was wondering, I downloaded the blue building, the yellow building, and the condos all from the STEX.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_07_08.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

In the next picture, we see a NAM overpass and a very long train. With all the poor people in town, the mass-transit system gets a lot of usage.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_07_09.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

And below is one of the longest trains I've ever seen. Trains like this are a common occurance in Santa Monica, with over 6000 Sims riding the rails to work each day. Also note the increasing density of this area around the tunnel. Still no skyscrapers yet, but there has been a lot of progress since the last update.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_07_10.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

Another place of interest. I just thought this area looked pretty cool.

 

 

 

The final shot revisits the North shore area from the last update. I posted the zoning layout last time, but now you get to see what developed. Since bare land is now hard to find, I expect a lot of this area to be rezoned for higher density buildings.

 

 

 

And that pretty much concludes this installment. Big things are planned for Santa Monica, so check back soon for another update. I also intend to terraform some more of the region, so that will probably be in the next update too.

 

Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the great feedback!

[jacqulina 162]

excellent region and transit view,great pics very nice details looking good

[RoddyC 0]

Ouch, only one comment? I don't know if it's because my update sucked or because this thread fell off the first page so quickly. I sometimes wish Simtropolis wasn't so successful - then my CJ would get more time in the spotlight.

 

By the way, thank you jacqulina. I can always count on you to read my updates.

 

Anyway, it's all good. So long as I continue to work on my cities, I will continue to post updates here. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to have a CJ.

 

So yeah, time for that update.

 

 

Los Angeles

Update 08

 

I did a decent amount of work today on Santa Monica, but I'm saving those pictures for later tonight. This update is just a quickie to show off the latest terraforming of the Los Angeles region. I spent several hours terraforming each city tile by hand, and I think the result is pretty good.

 

First, the Eastern half of the region.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_08_01.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

And then we move to the West.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_08_02.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

To finish this short update, here is the latest transit map. There has been no change to the transportation network, but with the newly terraformed terrain it is now easier to plan future routes.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_08_03.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

Obviously there are still tiles which have not been terraformed yet. The region is about 60% formed.

 

That's all for now, but I will update tonight with some impressive (in my opinion) new pictures from Santa Monica.

[flanig407 0]

I absolutely love what you've down with the mountain roads in glendale.  I will most definetly continue to follow this CJ.  Great job man.

[RoddyC 0]

A little late, but here is the full update I promised yesterday.

 

 

Los Angeles

Update 09

 

Regional population: 109,150

Santa Monica: 72,443

 

Santa Monica has seen a lot of development in the last couple of days. The city is now about 90% complete.

 

Although the region view remains unchanged, it's a good place to start. You can clearly notice some of the new high-rise buildings in Santa Monica.

 

 

 

And the standard transit view. No change here.

 

 

 

Next we see an overview of the South side of Santa Monica. Lots of new high-rise buildings. You can also see the new and improved causeway - too bad about the graphical bug at this zoom level.

 

 

 

Further to the West, we see a lot of residential housing projects. Like I've said before, I believe in a good mix of low, medium and high wealth. The poor people have to live somewhere.

 

 

 

In the next picture, I have zoomed in closer so you can see how the causeway is supposed to look. It looks great at the closest 4 zoom levels. And if you're wondering what happened... well... um... global warming caused the water levels to rise, so this piece of land became an island.

 

 

 

Halfway along the causeway, I built an area where Sims can pull off the road to relax and enjoy the view. (Wow, I just noticed one of the parking lot tiles is facing the wrong way. I'll fix that later)

 

 

 

Below you can see the area of the second underwater tunnel. I think it has been pretty well integrated into the causeway. Also, I'm not crazy about the appearance of the cruise ship port, but there was nowhere else left to put it.

 

 

 

And a closer look at the tunnel entrance.

 

 

 

At the North end of the causeway, we see the bridge connection with the mainland.

 

 

 

Now we revisit the place where that underwater tunnel emerges into the commercial district. This area continues to grow upwards.

 

 

 

With land at a premium, Santa Monica has begun to expand up the hillside.

 

 

 

A pair of medium-wealth residential towers. Beautiful, aren't they? Note the large amount of parking required by these buildings.

 

 

 

And some of the other high-rises in this part of town. As you can probably imagine, the road here gets jammed up at rush hour.

 

 

 

More high-rise buildings.

 

 

 

Once all low-density, even this wealthy area is growing towards the sky.

 

 

 

In the next shot you can see Santa Monica's twin towers. High-rise buildings always look better in pairs. And yes, they grew naturally - I never plop buildings (except civic buildings obviously).

 

 

 

And just to wrap up this update, here is a look at the North-West corner of the city. This area used to be all low-density too, but some rezoning was necessary to handle the demand for new housing.

 

 

 

And that concludes another update. For the next update, I hope to finish up Santa Monica. Still on the agenda is removal of the city's landfill (trash will be exported to Los Angeles) and construction of 2 or 3 solar plants (to replace the current 25-30 windmills). And finally, the new land will be used for residential development. I also plan to start a new city to the South of Santa Monica.

 

So thanks for looking, and come back real soon.

[palmgurl 1]

i like your bridges they look cool! i have a question though. How do you make your trains so long? mines are always like 3-4 boxes that's it? good work on your cj! looks nice i like your land its so beautiful!

[Slowhand 0]

Your updates keep getting better every time . Great job. I wonder what happens next . Keep up the good work.

[RoddyC 0]

Thank you, palmgurl! I'm glad you like my CJ. Regarding the trains, I believe the NAM makes them longer. More specifically, there is an automata file as part of the NAM. It makes vehicles and trains appear in more realistic numbers. Without this file, I think the maximum length of a train is 8 cars or something, but with the NAM I see trains of 20+ cars. My rail usage is now around 7000 Sims.

And thanks Slowhand, I hope you will check back soon to see what happens next.

[toxicpiano 125]

whats wrong with ploppables? they provide REAL control over your city.

[fivedayrental 0]

great region

[MissTonya 2]

Very cute updates you cutie! keep them coming they look great! I just GOTZ to say though. Your Roads are good!!

Yo it's Tonya!

[RoddyC 0]

Thanks for the good comments!

 

toxicpiano, I like to nurture my cities to make them grow. I think it gives a greater sense of achievement when you can watch your city take shape gradually. Being able to plop skyscrapers would be too easy.

 

MissTonya, thank you for the positive feedback... cutie.

 

And now for a quick update...

 

Los Angeles

Update 10

 

Regional population: 109,006

Santa Monica: 72,299

 

I just finished working on the final corner of Santa Monica. Now the entire city tile has been filled. I may return here later, but for now I think this will be the final update for Santa Monica. And since you've already seen most of the city, this update will be short.

 

First, an overview of the new area. Basically I removed the landfill, old water pumps, and windmills. Four new water pumps and a solar plant were constructed in their place, and trash is now being sent to neighbouring Los Angeles. With new land freed up, some low-density housing was constructed. Woodland filled out the rest. For a comparison of what has changed, take a look at 09.04.

 

 

 

A closer look.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_10_02.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

And the view to the North of the last shot.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_10_03.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

And with that, we will be leaving Santa Monica for a while. I hope you all liked following this city's progress, and I hope you like how it turned out.

 

In the next update(s) we'll take a look at a new city in the Los Angeles region.

 

Thanks again for all the positive feedback!

[RoddyC 0]

Latest news: In an attempt to put his CJ back on the front page, Mayor Currie decided to post another update.

 

Just kidding. I started a new city in my Los Angeles region, so I wanted to post the latest region views and talk a little about what the future has in store.

 

Los Angeles

Update 11

 

Regional population: 109,847

Malibu: 841

 

First, a region view showing the location of the new city, Malibu. This first shot was taken prior to any development.

 

 

 

And this shot was also taken before construction began on the city. It gives an idea of the terrain features in this area.

 

 

 

After those pictures were taken, I started to work on laying down a transportation network. I won't show you the current situation up-close, because it's very much a work in progress. I ran out of playing time before I could complete the network. Roads and rail still need to be laid, but here is a preliminary overview showing the new highway system.

 

 

 

The latest addition to L.A.'s freeway system is much more visible in the transit view. You can see where the Pacific Coast Highway (avenue) has been extended from Santa Monica. The freeways in Malibu will have some interesting features, although you can't really see them from this view. A much more extensive view is coming soon.

 

 

 

That's all I have for you right now. Tomorrow I will finish up the transportation network in Malibu and start work on building the city.

 

I've got some big things planned, so be sure to come back tomorrow!

[jacqulina 162]

excellent update,great work so far,great region views,great overviews,sometimes you have to wait for people to respond to your updates,just be cool they will

[newy2 0]

Well done Roddyc on a great cj, terraforming looks amazing Every city is unique wit its hills/transit and tunnelsGreat work, hope to see more updates of L.A.

peace

[RoddyC 0]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the positive comments. Keep that feedback coming!

 

Right now, it's time for the next update...

 

Los Angeles

Update 12

 

Regional population: 120,395

Malibu: 8,146

 

The new city of Malibu has seen some interesting developments since the last installment.

 

I'll start with the region view.

 

 

 

And the transit view.

 

 

 

Now let's get down to the city itself. This first shot centres on the downtown area of the city. Having learned lessons from Santa Monica, I am trying to create a more dense downtown district in the hopes of attracting more skyscrapers. And thanks to regional demand, this city already has more commercial jobs than it has residents. A little over 8000 people live in Malibu, but more than 10,000 work here.

 

With so many out-of-town commuters, an efficient transportation network is critical. I wanted to do something unique. You can see it somewhat in this picture, but a closer look will come later.

 

 

 

First, we move to the East to see the residential area of Malibu. Some standard low-density housing, a few condos, and note the coastal avenue extended from Santa Monica to the North.

 

 

 

Further to the North, we see more of the same. There is a lot of promising empty land here. The city is still young.

 

 

 

Next, we take a closer look at the downtown area. For a city of just 8000 people, I think this is a promising start. Large commercial buildings were able to develop so early because of the demand from Santa Monica. About 6000 Santa Monica residents commute to Malibu via the highway system and the rail line.

 

 

 

Here's a closer look at that highway onramp from the last picture. It's a little different from the standard ramp, but obviously it works the same way. I think it looks pretty cool.

 

 

 

Okay, now it's time to show off the defining feature in this city. In the previous shots, you may have noticed the large hole in the land downtown. Well as you all know, it's not possible to build underground intersections - so this is the next best thing.

 

First, here is a simple diagram of the system.

 

 

 

Basically, the freeway from Santa Monica runs directly under the downtown area of Malibu, where it is intersected by an avenue. To the north, Santa Monica. To the south, access to the rest of the freeway network. To the East, the residential area of Malibu. And to the West, easy access to the downtown core. This crossroads is by far the busiest intersection in the city. For now at least, it works very effectively.

 

And now, here is a closer look at the intersection itself. I surrounded it with park land in an attempt to make it blend in.

 

 

 

The next shot shows the West branch of the tunnel system, where the tunnel emerges into the downtown area. This is the busiest of the four tunnels.

 

 

 

Here is the South tunnel entrance. This freeway interchange gets a decent amount of traffic in all directions. I love to see people using my freeways.

 

 

 

 

Next, we see some condos and some much-needed green space. I'm worried that this may be a little too green though. All that unoccupied land makes me want to build something.

 

 

 

And finally, a nice coastal walkway in the quiet residential part of town.

 

 

 

So Malibu has come a long way, but it still has a long way to go. I hope you all liked this update, and I hope you check back soon to follow the city's progress.

[Pooty 228]

Haha, this is nice! I'm actually starting a new CJ that has to do with Santa Monica and so far it looks like your way is much better than the real way. Great job I love your city layouts!

[____----____ 37]

very cool trans network you have going on here

 

ALek

[simcitymichi 0]

very good city, i like the lots of trees!

[flanig407 0]

I love this CJ.  Keep up the good work.

[RoddyC 0]

Thanks to you guys - aleking, simcitymichi and flanig407. I appreciate the kind comments.

 

And thanks to Pooty. I look forward to seeing your new CJ. Let me know when you get it started.

 

Also, I must apologise for the lack of an update over the last few days. Weekends don't leave me with much free time. I expect it to be like this every week, but don't worry - there will be regular updates on weekdays.

 

Los Angeles

Update 13

 

Regional population: 170,925

Malibu: 58,676

 

I may not have had time to update, but I still had some time to play. As a result, Malibu has seen tremendous growth - from a city of 8000 people to almost 60,000.

 

As usual, we start with the region view. It doesn't look much different from this height, although you can see the way Malibu and Santa Monica now blend together almost seemlessly.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_13_01.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

And the transit view. No major changes have been made to the network.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_13_02.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

Now here is an overview of downtown Malibu. From this height, you can start to appreciate the increased density of the city. Malibu has certainly come a long way since the last update.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//roddyc_la_13_03.jpg align=baseline>

 

 

Closer still, you can see how high-rise buildings have developed around the central park area. No true skyscrapers yet, but we are getting pretty close. I have found it very difficult to form a dense downtown area in this city of parks, trees, and complicated street layouts. I am very pleased with this result so far though.

 

 

 

Now we get down to some of the finer details. This part of town really feels busy. At rush hour, downtown Malibu just comes to life. If you look closely, you can actually see a traffic accident happening in front of the statue. (I didn't notice this until after the picture was uploaded).

 

 

 

And here is Malibu's city hall. This was once a smaller building, but as the size of the city increased, a larger city hall was needed.

 

 

 

I don't want to confuse people, but I rotated the camera for the next couple of shots. I want to show off the true beauty of this downtown area from every angle. Here we are facing East.

 

 

 

And with the camera rotated again, we see the view looking South. The buildings you see below are some of the closest things I have to commercial skyscrapers right now. I don't know the true definition of a skyscraper, but these are at least high-rise towers.

 

 

 

Still facing South, we see some of the high-rise apartments and condos on the outskirts of downtown Malibu. The high-speed rail line cuts Malibu in half. With few crossings, this makes for some interesting traffic bottlenecks.

 

 

 

Next, we return to the regular North-facing view. What you see here is the area to the South of the downtown core. In this area there is a more diverse mix of wealth-levels.

 

 

 

You may remember this next shot from the previous update. The empty park land has remained the same, however there are some new buildings here now.

 

 

 

And finally an overview of Malibu's East side. This area is largely occupied by low-density housing.

 

 

 

And that concludes another update. The next update will also focus on Malibu. Still on the agenda is coastal development, and further increasing the density of the downtown area.

 

I hope you all enjoyed this update. Check back soon!