MORAINE

[Raysfan16 5]

<strong><img alt="" src="http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4396/bannerfi.jpg" />

Hi everyone. My name is Dion Brock. I have lived in the city of Moraine for all my life in a well-to-do neighborhood just southeast of downtown. I am currently 29 years old and plan on running for Mayor in the upcoming election. Follow my story of my experiences with the city's rise and fall.

<img alt="" src="http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9135/stumorainee.jpg" />

Please excuse the low-quality image. There might be criminals on Simtropolis.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to my city.

<img alt="" src="http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/446/history.jpg" /></strong>

<div style="text-align: center"><strong>I was born in 1980. The city was still much better off than it is here in late 2009. The downtown building stock was still there, the environment was still here and there, and the suburban communities weren't 110% unsustainable.

My first memories of the city were when I was 5 years old.

I will never forget the time my father and I were returning to Moraine on a flight and looked out the window at the gleaming city. From there, the plane was low enough to clearly see details, like the skyline and the cars zooming by on the highway.

<img alt="" width="800" height="600" src="http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/2964/firstnightregionview.jpg" /></strong></div>

<div style="text-align: center"><strong>When I was little, I also always used to ask my grandmother what the city was like. I was fascinated to hear her stories from the 1930s and 1940s when the city was thriving.

In the '30s and '40s, downtown was THE epicenter. It was THE place to be.

Every person (that is, every person with an intent on style and quality) would shop downtown and not worry about being caught in the dark for there were many pedestrians and ample lighting and ways to get home.

My grandmother was one of those people, and so were many other grandmothers and people who lived in that time.

However, today is much different.

Today, no grandmother wouldn't be caught dead walking around in downtown after the sun went down for the exact fear of being caught dead downtown the next morning.

<span style="font-size: medium">I intend to change this.

<font size="2">Gone will be the emphasis on suburbs.

Gone will be the paving over of once-majestic buildings.

Coming to a town near you, new buildings will rise, as majestic as the ones they replaced.

Coming to a town near you, I will implement mass transit and new developments to make this great city compact, walkable, and sustainable.

<span style="font-size: large"><span style="color: #003366">Are you ready?</span></span>

</font></span></strong></div>

  Edited December 30, 2011 by Raysfan16  

[Raysfan16 5]

A few notes on this CJ

Cheats, Plopping, and Stuff like That

This region is at least 95 percent grown. To simulate suburban realism, I had to plop the big-box stores, restaraunts, and office parks. However, the central city tile with downtown and the urban neighborhoods have very few plopped RCI buildings, if any. I plopped two skyscrapers in downtown, but they are landmark lots. Overall, I think I struck a balance between plopping what I need and growing my city like it would naturally.

I use no "real" cheats. I use zoneria to help the aesthetics of my snapshots, and I use the God Mode 'cheat'. My NAM difficulty is a bit too generous, but oh well. I can fix that next time.

For the most part, the city was built like it was changing through history. I haven't shown you guys a daytime region view yet because I didn't develop my outskirts "chronologically", but the road layout, the freeways(they were integrated into the existing built-out tile like in real life), and the urban decay took place over time. I even had a downtown port where the empty piers are now, but I got too carried away to take pictures of it, so I guess I'm sorry.

Inspirations

Journals

Digby by lewellan222-Digby will remain a classic. Its focus on the small yet entertaining details will remain a mainstay in my journals.

NATURAL GROWTH by CSGDesign-Well, it's already had billions of remakes by journalers for a good reason. It's spot on with its development trends realism. While Moraine followed "Boston" fairly closely with its development pattern, I'm now doing an all-out natural technique in my rural areas. Thanks CSG!

Nyhaven by woodb3kmaster- Nyhaven is just a behemoth of a city, and its innovative transit techniques and update quality hopefully will have its place in Moraine too.

Eureka by louisville327- How is this fourth on the list? It too was inspired by Digby and truly told a story of a growing city. I recieved many ideas from Eureka that will maybe take root in Moraine, just in a different form.

Adventures in New Urbanism by louisville327- I think this influenced me more than Eureka. His real-life case studies(especially the Home Depot one) is what really brought me in favor of New Urbanism.

Winchester and the Massopax Piedmont by dfnva- Winchester's nearly professional update quality and ultimate roadgeekery definitely inspired me for some update ideas. In a time where I was losing faith in ST's ability to create innovative, quality journals, Winchester always restored my hope.

Dubuque, IA by Mr. Beer- Mr. Beer's journals are probably the most realistic pieces of simcity 4 ever seen by mankind. Anyone focused on American Realism has to see his journal.

Sites

Simtropolis.com-duh.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com- It has provided me with some very intersting info about mass transit and sustainability, educated me on jacksonville, and provided some of the most detailed and comprehensive write-outs on urban planning that I have ever seen. (I even kinda sorta took the grandmother caught dead phrase above from there) but I'm sure they could use the advertising enough to not get me arrested. All in all you should visit this site if you are interested in Jacksonville or in urban planning of any sort.

Map

Self-made. I might release it to the STEX sometime.

Map/city inspirations

Map was inspired on Baltimore and the surrounding area. The city was focused around the principles used in, guess what, Jacksonville. It also has been inspired by rotting inner-city cores in cities such as Buffalo, Detroit, and St. Louis.

[b22rian 153]

fantastic grand opening , thanks !!

brian

[Shadow Assassin 336]

This sounds cool.

More pics plz.

[Retep Molinari 68]

Nice! can't wait!

[N106 10]

I'm glad to see your new CJ finally out. I'm looking forward to see what it is.

[DCMetro34 576]

Look like it has a bright future! Nice beginning!

[Hawkeye9 0]

Haha finally!!! Glad to see you decided to start this journal and I cant wait to see it turn into a classic!!! I will be lookin out for more!!!

[redrummage 9]

Can't wait until you officially announce you candidacy for mayor. What platform will you run on?

[deathtopumpkins 43]

Very nice start! Nice, professional quality introduction, and I absolutely adore that shot of the city at night. Impeccable.

And the storyline seems pretty workable too, which is a plus. I'll be following.

[gio10469 24]

this looks like its gonna be a good one =)

[Follarch 326]

My lord, that skyline at night is impressive. Very impressive.

Well done for an introduction to the CJ world. I've seen you around, and now I get to see your magnificent work!

[Mr. Beer 12]

Nice start! I did you make the region picture by night???

Hope to see some wonderful pictures soon!

david

[TmiguelT 10]

One of the most epic introductions i have ever seen so far. Great Story, Great Night Picture and Awesome dreams. I also love how you cited your inspirations .

I'm really looking forward to see more of this great city and you (as a mayor).

[Muck308 55]

That night shot is top notch. Well done!

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Coolness!

I look forward to seeing what you have for us.

[GreekMan 246]

YESSS I AM READY!

now

1. where are some of my Cjs? I thought I was an inspirational cjers for you! nah just kidding! great to tell everyone the inspirational cjs. I really like that

2. The picture is AMAZING! how did you do that night pic?

great start rays!

[DHNola 0]

Awesome...I was wondering if this concept had been done and I look forward to reading more. Pure Awesomeness! Are you going to use CNU policies such as smart code?

[chrissc94 1]

This CJ sounds great and realistic. It immediately reminds me of formerly majestic cities, now decaying, like Detroit or St. Louis. I can't wait until the first update!

[dfnva 34]

Wow, this looks great, definitely a fascinating subject... urban decay/renewal... to focus on in a CJ. I've always been fascinated by urban decay and how the cyclical the whole thing is... first people settle the central city, then they move out to the 'burbs and the city gets run down, then they move further out and the inner 'burbs get run down, and eventually there is a renaissance and renewed interest in the downtown. I'm eager to see how you deal with these issues and show the discrepancy between life in Moraine and in the suburbs.

The regional view is quite fantastic and realistic looking.

I'm humbled that Winchester was an influence, seeing it listed with truly great CJ's such as Digby and Dubuque, elevates it almost to something more than it actually is, haha.

-Dan

[kage99 1]

Cool night shot.  Can't wait to see this city.

[mayorbk 66]

Great start, cant wait for more!

[Kryptowhite 9]

that teaser turned me on. I'm actually pretty interested in seeing what your city looks like [and completely serious, a lot of times i just lie and tell people stuff like that to make them feel good]. I'm curious to see if it's really as large/extensive/quality as i think it is looking at that teaser. Also looking forward to your story, since I know you have a lot of good city planning ideas from all your rants about surface parking lots and doorknobs and what not.

[Petrovar Ambassador 15]

nice start, hoping to see in-game pics!

[Sambucy85 1]

Excellent start ! Can hardly wait for the next installment   

[Raysfan16 5]

Wow, lots and lots of replies! Thanks for your support guys!

b22rian, welcome to Moraine! Congrats on being the first replyer and I hope you come back again and again to see what I have in store. Thanks for the kind comments. And thanks for devoting 1/44 of your posts in Moraine.

Shadow_Assassin, you're darn right this is cool! Sorry that I only have one city pic, but it's pretty comprehensive so I hope I appease your Moraine hunger. Thanks for stopping by.

Retep Molinari, welcome to Moraine! You won't be waiting much longer, just scroll down, comment, come back a couple days later, and scroll down more.

Hey, welcome back, N106. I'm glad to see my journal out too. I hope you come back to see what it is, like you did in Loretto Valley so regularly.

DCMetro34, thanks for dropping by! Looks like I've hooked another chat member. The future is already here, man. Thanks for the kind comments and I hope you pop by here again!

Hey Hawk, looks like I got another regular back in here. I know the wait has been real long, but hey, glad you were waiting so eagerly that you managed to reply so fast. Keep coming back, you're always welcome here.

Whats up, redrummage? I haven't really thought about the political aspects. I'm a democrat in real life, so I might just do that. Keep stopping by!

Welcome to Moraine, DTP. Thanks for the kind comments! I'm glad you like my night shot and professional intro, which is what I tried at. You BETTER be following this....

Hey, gio10469. I agree. Thanks for stopping by, come back soon!

Welcome, Archean. Thanks for your kind comments! I hope you drop in here often, especially to see that same skyline in the daytime!

Hey, Mr. Beer! I didn't make the picture by night, I took a daytime one and photoshopped it. Don't worry, you're still the only one who uses ridiculously hard procedures for their CJ. Stop by soon, I look forward to seeing you in here often!

Hey, TmiguelT. I like that word-epic is nice. Thanks for your nice comments, I appreciate them. Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome, Muck308. Thanks for your comment, glad you like the night shot. Stop by again!

Schulmanator, it's always a welcome sight to see replies from you. Keep dropping by, you certainly don't want to miss what I've got..

Hey, Greekenstein! Glad you're as pumped up as me for the CJ.To answer #1, honestly your style is just differnt. For example, GTR was/is a great CJ too, but it's just too darn massive and vertical-oriented to be relevant in my cj. For #2, it was photoshop. I don't know how I'm gonna tell about it. I got it from Defecto in the Show us your(something)... thread and PM'ed him about it. Thanks for always being a supporter of my cjs and keep coming back!

Welcome, DHNola! I don't think this has really been thorougly covered. Thanks for the comments, and I honestly don't know what smart code is... I hope you can offer more comments and discussions, or even drop by! Whatever is fine, you're welcome here.

Hey, chrissc94. I remember you from the Valley. Thanks for the comments, and I did get inspiration from decaying cities.

Welcome, Dan! I agree that this is very fascinating. Way to completely ruin my entire CJ storyline.... Thanks for the comments, and I'm not lying about Winchester. I know you're busy with RL, but remember to keep this as a top priority! Thanks for your ongoing support in all of my cities.

Greetings, kage99! I hope you stop by more to see the city. You won't be disappointed.

Hey, mayorbk! Thanks for your generic comment and I hope you can stop by more to see what is in store. How are the Blues doing this year? All I know is GO LIGHTNING!

Welcome, Kryptowhite. Thanks for your comment. I hope you stop by again to hear surface parking rants #2 and doorknobs rant #2.

Hey, Petrovar Ambassador. I'm glad you're still around since the Skagit County days to leave kind comments on here. Keep coming back!

Last but not least, hello Sambucy85! Well, here is the next installment! Come back soon!

Dang. That was the most replies to any CJ update I've ever made(by 8 comments or something like that)

Thanks again for the support!

Now on to the update.

I messed up on the mosaic. Suck it up.

[chrissc94 1]

Great overview of the city! It is realistic how the highways cut through the urban center. The roadways, along with surface parking, had devastating effects on a city center, which you portrayed in Moraine. Also, I like how you can spot empty places where homes/businesses used to be within the middle of the city, 'urban prairie' as its called. It's fascinating and realistic how you added these elements to the city, and as always, I can't wait until the next update.

[jacqulina 162]

great looking city my friend

[redrummage 9]

Nice original sim city overview shot!

[Raysfan16 5]

Welcome back, chrissc94. Glad to see you back in here again. Glad you're enjoying the CJ and it's realism, you're in for a treat on this one!

Hello, jacqulina. Thanks for the kind comments. I hope you stop by again!

Thanks for stopping by, redrummage. Glad you like the overview of the city, and as always, hope to see you back!