City Design Concept -

[DuskTrooper 314]

Hmm... Mockingbird station would be cool in SC.....

 

BTW, here are some pics from Houston, which has new urban groth, thnks to the Light rail, and other things.   Houston is starting to emerge as an urban destination.

 

 

Mostly lofts and such so far.....

 

 

 

The catalyst for this is the new light rail system, which is a huge sucess so far.

[simulcra 0]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/23/2004 6:42:53 PM[/quoteDATE]

EchoOfGecko[/quoteAUTHOR]

I have mixed feelings about new urbanism and the restrictive urban growth boundary. On one hand, I'm a big proponent of the traffic and environmental benefits it has, but as someone looking to be a first time home owner, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find affordable housing that meets my needs. It would sure be a shame to be forced out of my long time neighborhood because of the nearly overwhelming influx of growth. [/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Arguably, new urbanism and smart growth should help housing to be more affordable,
since affordable housing is increasingly a big concept.

Unfortunately, increased house prices is inevitable no matter what growth standards
are enforced (and there haven't been any convincing correlations between an urban
growth boundary with increased home prices, since the most significant example,
Portland, has also experienced tremendous growth, and tremendous growth results
in booming house prices, growth boundary or not).

There are too many governmental regulations/subsidies that make it dirt cheap to build
out on the fringes as oppossed to existing areas, so unfortunately, this means for the
average joe that the affordable house will be on the fringes of suburbia and the like.

[RANT]Pro-suburban people tend to argue that it is the natural will of the people and
of the market forces that promote suburbia, and therefore planners are opposing the people
by trying to curb sprawl. In reality, the US government subsidizes highways, loans,
development, etc. which promote suburban development while more inner developments and
infrastructure are sometimes hindered by bureacracy and lack of funding (like for mass
transit). There is no market force here, it is a market bias.[/RANT]

[smartpig 0]

Pictures of the High Five, circa March 2003, can be found at http://www.houstonfreeways.com/modern/dfw_high_five_2003-12.aspx. Note the color scheme and the Texas stars cast into the concrete piers.

[DuskTrooper 314]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/25/2004 7:30:12 PM[/quoteDATE]

smartpig[/quoteAUTHOR]

Pictures of the High Five, circa March 2003, can be found at http://www.houstonfreeways.com/modern/dfw_high_five_2003-12.aspx. Note the color scheme and the Texas stars cast into the concrete piers.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Yeah, there are alot of unique things they are doing with freeways these days.  In my area,  Southwest of Houston, US 59 has some interesting elements- Brown stone ashlar walls ( WAAAY Better than concrete or pebble walls )  Uniquely painted and shaped concrete railings aand colums, etched columns, decorative cast stone obelisks at onramps, underpasses and overpasses, trees ppanted everywhere, etc.  It looks really nice, just like the one on the high 5.  Also, there are some new urban villages under construction in the area, which is set to become Houston's version of Plano, as a light rail /commuter rail system is planned for the area, too.

Here are pics of the urban village, currently under construction.

http://www.sugarlandtownsquare.com/images/7scape.jpg width=450>

 

http://www.sugarlandtownsquare.com/images/thesite2.gif width=600 useMap=#Map border=0>

 

http://www.sugarlandtownsquare.com/images/residence_body.jpg width=576>

 

http://www.sugarlandtownsquare.com/images/marriott.gif width=504>

[smartpig 0]

I like the urban villages a lot better than the freeways!

Hey, thanks for this great thread. I've got a friend from Houston who'll be interested in these pics.

I live in Atlanta, where things like this ought to be happening, but aren't really. Densification is occurring, but it isn't very transit oriented, and our rail system is suffering from high fares, low ridership and neglect.

[DuskTrooper 314]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/25/2004 8:21:19 PM[/quoteDATE]

smartpig[/quoteAUTHOR]

I like the urban villages a lot better than the freeways! Hey, thanks for this great thread. I've got a friend from Houston who'll be interested in these pics. I live in Atlanta, where things like this ought to be happening, but aren't really. Densification is occurring, but it isn't very transit oriented, and our rail system is suffering from high fares, low ridership and neglect.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

 

BTW, this is actually in one of the Suburban areas, called Sugarland ( named after the former  sugar factory ) which is essentially set to become Houston's version of Plano.

 

BTW, yeah, I heard that Atlanta is #1 in the US for sprawl.

[simulcra 0]

ostensibly, i think phoenix has that dubious honor, but
honestly i think los angeles has the greatest amount of sprawl.

[UrbanLegend 63]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/25/2004 7:30:12 PM[/quoteDATE]

Pro-suburban people tend to argue that it is the natural will of the people and
of the market forces that promote suburbia, and therefore planners are opposing the people
by trying to curb sprawl. In reality, the US government subsidizes highways, loans,
development, etc. which promote suburban development while more inner developments and
infrastructure are sometimes hindered by bureacracy and lack of funding (like for mass
transit). There is no market force here, it is a market bias.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Will of the people? People are idiots. If it were up to the people, we would all live in giant McMansions on 4 acre plots, drive SUV the size of a house three blocks to work, eat cheesburgers and watch TV all day and still look like Brad Pitt/Jennifer Aniston.

That's why I don't listen to my Sims. More schools and zoos!? More green areas? Screw you!! You live where I tell you to live! You consider yourself LUCK that I grace your city with a hospital! I didn't shell out $45 to be bossed around by virtual people dammit!!

[+Guest]

New Urbanism: Torbay in the southwest of England uses this to its full potential.
This town consists of 200,000 residents living in low-rise, high density housing, with extremely mixed zoning. We have high volumes of traffic and no congestion. It works well, and looks good. I walk practically everywhere, its a good system and I endorse it.

Read through newurbanism.org , it also includes a helpful 42 page PDF

[heraldiii 13]

just drove on the newly opened 635-E to 75-S ramp (part of the dallas high-five project) yesterday. not a moment too soon either, as the temporary ramp was dangerous as you-know-what. the new ramp is about a mile and a quarter long (or so it seemed)!

[mcwesty2000 0]

 

This is the recently re-developed dockside in Glasgow (sorry the pics not good quality!), its one of Europes largest regeneration schemes. It is to become when completed an example of a sustainable living environment. It will eventually consist of mixes of residences, retail, and is home to the Scottish Exibition and Conference Centre (SECC), a Science Museum, and is to be home to the new BBC Scotland Headquarters. Its linked by rail and has good motorway links. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mcwesty2000 0]

Glasgows also in the forefront of new urbanism. Heres the Homes for the Future in Glasgow, an experiment in new urban living. It was created by 5 different developers working together, I still dunno if I like them but I think theyre interesting non the less, a mixture of flats, penthouses and terraced homes created on a former industrial site.

 

 

 

[DuskTrooper 314]

Also, dont forget one of the best urban projects of all- The Canary Wharf in London.

[mcwesty2000 0]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/26/2004 8:01:49 AM[/quoteDATE]

DuskTrooper[/quoteAUTHOR]

Also, dont forget one of the best urban projects of all- The Canary Wharf in London.

[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Oh yes, Canary Wharf is REALLY cool. I totally agree, u got any pics?

 

The Greenwich Millenium Village is cool too.

[friedbrice 0]

Awesome thread!

 

All this thread needs are some in-game screen shots rivaling the great shots in the 1x1 housing thread.

 

On the subject of transportation mods, I saw a custom lot that was a passenger rail station built on top of the rails instead of next to them. I don't know if it has parking or not (probably not) but it seems like it'd be great for running a line down the middle of two one-way streets.

[cammo2003 20]

Some interesting info here... Good thread people, keep it up...

 

I don't have any examples myself as Sydney is one of those cities that just keeps growing. And growing. And growing. And... ah, you get the idea. It's quite a suburban-oriented city, with 4 million people, Sydney already has suburbs stretching up to 80km (!) inland.

 

Everybody here wants their own house it seems, so I think this will continue for some time yet - who knows how big this city will be in 30 years time?!?

[darren 7]

theres alot of work going on in and around london, heathrow airport (shares the tittle of busiest airport in the world along side with chicago)
the new terminal 5 at heathrow will have the largest roof structure in the world (covering over 50 football pitches)
Air Traffic at Heathrow, is expected to grow by an extra 30 million each year as a result of the expansion, the nearby motorway the m25 (busiest in europe) is already getting widened for the second time in about 10 years
click HERE for a web pg about the work

[+Guest]

Slighbtly off topic, how the hell can heathrow expand? It' tiny as it is, as far as international airports go, and there is too much developement around it.

[mcwesty2000 0]

Date: 4/27/2004 5:27:43 AM

Author: ATPjohn

Slighbtly off topic, how the hell can heathrow expand? It' tiny as it is, as far as international airports go, and there is too much developement around it.

I agree,how does Heathrows expansion relate to new Urbanism?

Heres another example of new urbanism being created in England. This is from a developers website I found.

I know New Towns arent a new idea (given the New Towns Act was put in place in 1946) and all the former new towns in the UK eg. Stevenage, Milton Keynes, East Kilbride etc. But the concepts of building a modern new town will follow the the aspirations of new urbanism ideology.

SUSTAINABLE NEW TOWNS - CASE STUDIES

We are working with local authorities and local communities to deliver two sustainable new towns, one in Bedfordshire and the other in Cambridgeshire.
Our approach, from a regional perspective to the finest details, helps create and sustain the conditions for economic growth in an area.
Our contribution stimulates economic and social development in the area, adding clear value to regional, sub-regional and local civic aspirations.
Both schemes involve significant sustainability initiatives together with the integration of land use with effective public transport planning on a major scale.
We work closely with local and sub-regional partnerships and contribute to the delivery of the long term visions and strategies for their area.

Elstow, Bedfordshire
A new market town of up to 7,000 homes for Bedfordshire.

Oakington, Cambridge
A new town of up to 10,000 homes for the Cambridge sub-region, served by a new rapid transit system - superCAM.

[Norwegian Neko 12]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/26/2004 3:33:18 AM[/quoteDATE]

UrbanLegend[/quoteAUTHOR]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/25/2004 7:30:12 PM[/quoteDATE]

Pro-suburban people tend to argue that it is the natural will of the people and
of the market forces that promote suburbia, and therefore planners are opposing the people
by trying to curb sprawl. In reality, the US government subsidizes highways, loans,
development, etc. which promote suburban development while more inner developments and
infrastructure are sometimes hindered by bureacracy and lack of funding (like for mass
transit). There is no market force here, it is a market bias.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Will of the people? People are idiots. If it were up to the people, we would all live in giant McMansions on 4 acre plots, drive SUV the size of a house three blocks to work, eat cheesburgers and watch TV all day and still look like Brad Pitt/Jennifer Aniston.

That's why I don't listen to my Sims. More schools and zoos!? More green areas? Screw you!! You live where I tell you to live! You consider yourself LUCK that I grace your city with a hospital! I didn't shell out $45 to be bossed around by virtual people dammit!!





[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

This is seriously one of the most insightful comments I have ever heard on Simtropolis!

[DuskTrooper 314]

Here is a link to The Canary Wharf website:

 

http://www.canarywharf.com/mainFrm1.asp?strSelectedSubmenu=Buildings&strSelectedArea=Estate

[Simguyuk 0]

I heard about a new 18-tower development for London on the news

[mcwesty2000 0]

Date: 4/27/2004 3:44:38 PM

Author: DuskTrooper

Here is a link to The Canary Wharf website:

http://www.canarywharf.com/mainFrm1.asp?strSelectedSubmenu=Buildings&strSelectedArea=Estate

That Canary Wharf Websites sweet!

This is Edinburgh Park's website, its on a similar scale but much lower building densities. Click on site plan. Its pretty sweet.

http://www.edinburghpark.com

[+Guest]

Like I said before.... Torbay is built on New Urbanism. It's only this smart design which has kept the city alive. It's the 2nd tourist attraction, London being the first.

Look at this website . I live in the Torquay bit of it. If you look at the pix, looks great, right?
We have some of the highest house prices, the BEST healthcare and education, and we have low traffic congestion as well as sod-all crime. All this in an isolated (A rail spur, M5 motorway, and airports 20 miles either side in the middle of a sparesly settled peninsula) city of 200,000. New Urbanism works, and there is evidence of this in new and old settlements across the globe.

I don't know how regeneration got into this topic, but the harbour and marina area is being regenerated, we've already has a modern bridge installed, and the WW2 ship launches are being repaired to name but a few.

[mcwesty2000 0]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/28/2004 7:38:27 AM[/quoteDATE]

ATPjohn[/quoteAUTHOR]

Like I said before.... Torbay is built on New Urbanism. It's only this smart design which has kept the city alive. It's the 2nd tourist attraction, London being the first. Look at this website . I live in the Torquay bit of it. If you look at the pix, looks great, right? We have some of the highest house prices, the BEST healthcare and education, and we have low traffic congestion as well as sod-all crime. All this in an isolated (A rail spur, M5 motorway, and airports 20 miles either side in the middle of a sparesly settled peninsula) city of 200,000. New Urbanism works, and there is evidence of this in new and old settlements across the globe. I don't know how regeneration got into this topic, but the harbour and marina area is being regenerated, we've already has a modern bridge installed, and the WW2 ship launches are being repaired to name but a few.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

I'd never heard of Torbay before you mentioned it, ill take your advice and look into it tho.

I think regeneration has alot to do with New Urbanistic concepts. If you look at all the recently re-generated areas they follow the ideallisms of the new urbanistic movement.

[chrominance 0]

A bit new here, and unsure of etiquette, so if it's a big faux pas to bring up old threads, go easy on me with the whip!

I live in what many people here (southern Ontario, Canada) would call a new urbanism neighbourhood. Many of the hallmarks are here: close proximity to commercial services, mixed-density zoning, provisions for small neighbourhood schools and services. And for all the ink spilled about new urbanism, it's still basically a suburb where the lots are smaller and the garages are in the back, connected by alleys where once there were driveways.

This may not be the way new urbanism is supposed to be implemented, or even the way it's been done in other areas, but there is little functional difference in the communities bred in new urbanism developments and regular suburban subdivisions. There are rows of townhouses instead of semi-detached homes, and there's minimal frontage to connect them to the street. Presumably this is done so that neighbours will actually talk to each other; if this is the case, then new urbanism has failed miserably. Everyone is just as isolated as ever, and it's still easy to go a month without ever seeing your neighbours. Turns out new plans aren't the only thing we need; people need to actually live as though they didn't live in a suburb as well. And of course, new urbanism developments can do nothing when the surrounding area and road networks were built at a time when urban sprawl was the name of the game, meaning that if you want to go anywhere outside your neighbourhood, walking and mass transit aren't very good options.

Bringing this back to SimCity, and what I'd like to see done in the future to encourage different styles of planning than the standard Radiant City plan:

More zoning options. As stated before, there really isn't any way to stimulate mixed-use development. You'll find lots of places in Toronto, especially along some downtown streets (Queen Street comes to mind if you're familiar with the area), where retail storefronts will occupy the street level of a multi-storey building, with apartments above. Imagine some of the commute times for some of these buildings! (Of course, not every shopkeep lives above his store, but still...) Also, this would tie in to the earlier discussion of redevelopment and reclaiming of old abandoned industrial areas for residential / commercial use. That feature in itself would be great, although building a population model that would reflect that sort of migration could be quite difficult.

Greater emphasis on pedestrian travel. This might be something that ties into wealth level; I, a recent grad with tons of student debt, will walk, bike or take the bus before considering buying a vehicle, whereas someone much older and richer would tend towards the opposite. I don't think this is reflected in SimCity to the same degree as, say, R$$$ being far less likely to take the bus than R$. In any case, though, I read a comment on the boards once joking that we should do away with the No Car zot: Sims should walk more anyways. Indeed they should. A sim will only walk six to eight cells down the street on average before giving up and taking a car instead? How lazy are we? Finally, there are few ways for mayors to encourage pedestrian travel. How about dedicated walkways we can use as shortcuts for our environmentally-conscious sims, as hinted at above? This can be done to a point now, by enabling pedestrian traffic through parks and plazas, but since you can't connect traffic-enabled lots together, this is of limited usefulness. Or what about modelling the large amounts of pedestrian traffic you'll often see around big commercial centers? If you're downtown and have a lot of shopping to do, you're not going to get in your car every time you go to another store.

More street-level options for mass transit. Although I've heard that buses don't actually add to congestion on roads and such, I don't know this for a fact, and it still seems as though a bus on heavily-congested roads will still move slowly, even if they don't contribute to the problem. So why not the addition of things like bus-only lanes? Streetcars with seperate boulevards down the middle of streets? Also, in a number of cities, the most obvious being NYC, taxis are a big part of the transportation network. Not so in SimCity. You could always make it so that sims walking to a busy intersection have a chance of being converted to car traffic (they went to a street corner and hailed a taxi). One-way streets have been added in Rush Hour; what about carpooling lanes? Finally some use for the car-pooling ordinance. Bike-only lanes? Roundabouts? There are many possibilities.

Whenever I build a new city and see the average commute time skyrocket to 80 minutes, a little part of my mass-transit-lovin' self dies. Maxis has been decent at simulating urban gridlock; hopefully they'll give us the tools to try building our cities to avoid it.

[norwoodman 0]

Date: 4/26/2004 12:15:28 PM
Author:

Some interesting info here... Good thread people, keep it up...

I don't have any examples myself as Sydney is one of those cities that just keeps growing. And growing. And growing. And... ah, you get the idea. It's quite a suburban-oriented city, with 4 million people, Sydney already has suburbs stretching up to 80km (!) inland.

Everybody here wants their own house it seems, so I think this will continue for some time yet - who knows how big this city will be in 30 years time?!?

quote>

Actually, Sydney has quite a few of these new urbanisation projects occurring. The main one I can think of is Green Square in Sydney's south. That would be the biggest, though I do not know much else about it. I also know of similar projects that have occurred at Kogarah, and possibly Liverpool.

[senekerk 0]

Being unfamiliar w/ any concept of planning I searched ST and the web yesterday for info (simple) that i could use in building my cities. This article was informative even to me who hasn't a clue how to plan or develop a town not alone a city. Excellent information. Thank you for it.

[mcwesty2000 0]

Date:5/30/2004 3:41:32 AM
Author:chrominance

Greater emphasis on pedestrian travel. This might be something that ties into wealth level; I, a recent grad with tons of student debt, will walk, bike or take the bus before considering buying a vehicle, whereas someone much older and richer would tend towards the opposite. I don't think this is reflected in SimCity to the same degree as, say, R$$$ being far less likely to take the bus than R$. In any case, though, I read a comment on the boards once joking that we should do away with the No Car zot: Sims should walk more anyways. Indeed they should. A sim will only walk six to eight cells down the street on average before giving up and taking a car instead? How lazy are we? Finally, there are few ways for mayors to encourage pedestrian travel. How about dedicated walkways we can use as shortcuts for our environmentally-conscious sims, as hinted at above? This can be done to a point now, by enabling pedestrian traffic through parks and plazas, but since you can't connect traffic-enabled lots together, this is of limited usefulness. Or what about modelling the large amounts of pedestrian traffic you'll often see around big commercial centers? If you're downtown and have a lot of shopping to do, you're not going to get in your car every time you go to another store.

 

I totally agree with this. I wrote an article a few weeks back highlighting the town of Radburn with its separated pedestrian zones from roads.

http://www.radburn.org/geninfo/radburn-intro.html

There should also be cycle ways incorporated into the game, with pedestrian/cycle routes, and footbridges over main roads such as the examples pictured below.

PEDESTRIAN CYCLE FOOTBRIDGE

 

PEDESTRIAN CYCLE ROUTE SEPARATED FROM ROADS

I personally hate it how all buildings in the game must face onto a road before they'll develop. It would be so much better if shops and offices could face onto the plazas and squares, or pedestrianised areas with traffic being directed to car parks located around the centres.

[senekerk 0]

Is this an example of the new urbanism you are talking about? I don't have skyscraper yet. Am I on the right track?