What is the best way to make a sucessful transport system with grids?

[ScarcticCG 3]

I've been pllaying SC4 for a long time now, but still can't get gridwork right. I don't ;ive in a big city so I just can't visualise what it must look like to have city blocks grided up. And it gets even harder when I have to put down highways'. I like to build my cities with a degree of realism, but it's impossible for me because I don't know how far out of the city centre I should put it!

And then there's avenues'. I've only been on an avenue once before, so I have no idea when your meant to put them down.

So, how do you do it? Any and all advice wanted! Either that or I will be restrained to building rural forever!

[CTMandR 9]

I'm not exactly an expert at making grids either, but try having two avenues interesect in the middle of where your downtown will be, this will be our 'main streets'. from the interesection of our avenues, build a square grid outward. However, you want the grid to stop when you get to houses or small condos. Depending on the size of the city, you'll want the center grid to be larger or smaller. Usually, I start out with real small grids, about 4 or 5 blocks. As my city expands, I slowly make the rural lanes into grid patterns. It demolishes some buildings, but its for realism. Personally, I don't use avenues as much, so i'm not as experienced with them.

Hope that exhausting explanation gave you some insight!

[The Baptist 1]

Cheltenham got the M5 running just outside it? You are located not far from Bristol, Birmingham and London? I suggest you check maps for these cities.

For tips and inspiration visit the CJ`s (City Journals). I`ve learned a lot from reading these.

[ScarcticCG 3]

Originally posted by: The Baptist

Cheltenham got the M5 running just outside it? You are located not far from Bristol, Birmingham and London? I suggest you check maps for these cities.quote>

Actually, London is on the opposite side of the country to Cheltenham, and the M5 doesn't run through Cheltenham like it would a big city. And regardless, Birgingham and Bristol weren't designed like big cities (because of the industrial revolution).

I probably should have mentioned that I have looked at the road designs of lots of big cities (New York, London, Chicago etc.), but I still struggle when it comes to laying out the designs' I have in my head. For example, the last city I tried to build with grids was fairley sucessful, but when it came to placing more avenues down, the whole thing got royally buggered. I'd hate to imagine what would happen when I tried to put down highways!

[bigthing 35]

London has the M25 running in a circle around the city, that then connects to the other motorways running away from it. The streets in London are narrow and most of the time a car park (or near enough). Since the traffic simulators don't use a ring road (the M25) my best bet is to still have one for realism, but have most of the residential on the outside of the circle and commercial in the center, this means that the sims will have to pass the motorway and probably go on it to get to their destination. As of the grid i would use a few main avenues and a alternating OWR system. It might also be a good idea to have trams running down the avenues too. A good subway/bus system, and simulator Z. That should near enough get rid of all traffic problems and BONUS; it looks quite realistic.

[The Baptist 1]

Originally posted by: ScarcticCG

Actually, London is on the opposite side of the country to Cheltenham, and the M5 doesn't run through Cheltenham like it would a big city. And regardless, Birgingham and Bristol weren't designed like big cities (because of the industrial revolution).quote>

I know, but it is still just a two hour drive on the M4 to London.

Didn`t know about Birmingham and Bristol. Thought them to be designed more modern.

I`ll be quiet from now on

Good luck with Cheltenham FC vs Accrington today.

[John Kirby 1]

Charlotte North Carolina has a large highway that circles it and several other highways feed into it. Inside is some suburban development but it then turns to grid with highway circling the main downtown inside the larger loop.

[SC4BOY 21]

Truthfully you need to decide what you need.. "loops" such as many cities have work very poorly in SC4 due to the way SC4 simulator tends to choose paths.. I suggest you decide.. do you want to MODEL a city or do you want to make a well functioning SC4 city.. they aren't the same thing