Devon

[Amryai200 2]

Hi, and welcome to Devon! Well, I've started a couple city journals before (Amryai, Plymouth, Mitera, and Adobe Springs) but they never really took off usually because I lost interest. Hopefully that won't happen this time, and I'll try to avoid losing interest by posting frequent small updates and not going overboard with photoshop formatting etc, because eventually that just becomes a hassle. This CJ (like millions of others recently, it seems) is somewhat inspired by CSGdesign's "Natural Growth", although perhaps not following his philosophy as faithfully. Basically I'm just trying to make as realistic a city as possible without using cheats. It's also not going to be quite as overflowing with mods as my previous CJs; there will be plenty of custom content but plenty of Maxis stuff too. The city itself is based on Boston, New York City, and San Francisco, and is perhaps closest to the latter in many ways, although I'm going for more of a colonial look with the architecture. Now, on to Devon: Devon was founded in the early 17th century by English pilgrims seeking to escape religious persecution. Landing in what is today New England, they established a small settlement on what came to be known as Pennacook Bay, named after the local Native American tribe.  Although conflicts with the Pennacook happened occasionally, the village prospered over time. Today Devon is a bustling metropolitan area with a population of nearly 100,000. Although initially an industrial port city, Devon has transformed in the last 50 years into a center of commerce. In fact, Devon has become so important to the economy of the region that a Stock Exchange was recently constructed. Naturally, this only enhanced Devon's economy and brought many new major businesses to the area (and a few new high-rise offices, as well!) With all this new activity came increased traffic, and soon Devon was getting a bit crowded. To help fix this, City Hall commissioned a tram car system to be built through the most congested areas of downtown. While the program has not been fully completed, the current rail lines have already helped alleviate road traffic in the area. Along with rail, Devon's air traffic was being taxed by the new growth. While the airplane was still a recent invention, the original Devon Airfield was outmoded, and it was time for something rather more suited for Devon's role as a regional business center. The new Devon Airport was built right next to the old one, which is planned to be deactivated and covered with tree saplings to restore a bit of nature to the area. The new airport immediately saw relatively heavy use, and plans are being drawn up for new commercial and residential areas located adjacent to the new transport hub.

[Mayorm 14]

nice city, i like how you are not overloaded with custom content. Keep it up

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Welcome back! I am glad to see you again and look forward to more of your new CJ.

[SounderBruce 173]

Very nice start! There is something wrong with your new airport, though!

[kccl35 83]

I agree. Also, a stock exchange next to dirty industry?

Keep it up, anyway! 

[Follarch 326]

Nice start.

Good use of the GLR and other custom content, you're on your way.

[zahrul01 0]

I agree that your airport has something wrong. Try using RMIP-2 lots from Volitaire and airport terminals from ACE for some variation

Stock exchange next to dirty industry? Lol. I think thats a metal/oil exchange.

I like your GLR though. Like it how it blends in with the car traffic and see it weave through skyscrapers and industry.

[jacqulina 162]

excellent work great looking farms my friend

[Daan300 255]

Nice start and nice work on the farms! Keep it up.

[Amryai200 2]

Thanks for the comments everyone! There'll be another update shortly (i.e. tonight)

Mayorm: Thanks, there's alot of custom content if you look closely but it's not as overbearing as in some of my earlier CJs.

Schulmanator: Thanks! Hopefully this CJ will last a while, unlike my earlier ones

ComputerGuy890100: Yeah, the custom airport packs I have mess with the Maxis airport, dunno why

kccl35: Devon's downtown is pretty dense and I didn't want to demolish anything there to make way for the stock exchange, so I picked a low-density area at the edge of downtown that also has some leftover dirty industry from back when Devon was a major industrial area. It makes for some interesting contrasts, but the industry is on borrowed time anyway...eventually it'll gentrify!

Archean: Yeah the GLR was a bit of a pain to implement, but I'm still planning on extensions of the network!

zahrul01: I already have the RIMP 2 and other custom airport sets, but I didn't have alot of flat land to build on so I was pretty much stuck with the Maxis airport. When the time comes for an international airport though it'll be all customized

jacqulina: Thanks!

Daan300: Thanks for the kind words Daan. Hopefully I will be able to keep it up (aka not lose interest)

[zahrul01 0]

amryai200: If you donthave enough flat land for your airport try terraforming with street pieces. I think you should be able to do it by looking your previous city journals/mayor diaries.

Cheers guys and good luck on your cj.

I hope you dont lose anymore intrest.

[Amryai200 2]

 I might demolish the current airport and build a new one with the custom lots when it's time for an upgrade, i dunno. we'll see.

---

Now for Update 2: Downtown Devon, Part 1!

But first, a region view:

Just covering the main settlements; there are a few more towns that you can't see here, most notably Exeter and Washington, and we'll see them later.

Downtown Devon, circa 1910. As you can see, it's getting pretty dense; traffic is a bit of a nightmare in places but there's not much room for avenues. There are plans for one of those newfangled underground tram systems but it has yet to be implemented. It would likely be in some way an extension of the street car network, which currently is rather small.

One of Central Devon's most recognizable features are its many rowhouses. Several different styles of rowhouse prevail; these brick and concrete designs are fairly recent and are more common near the industrial Devonport neighborhood.

These older rowhomes are more common on the eastern side of Central Devon.

Other attractions of Central Devon include the 200-year-old Mayor's Estate and surrounding gardens; it's a nice area of tranquility and history amidst a growing sea of modern skyscrapers.

The City Mall is almost as old as the Mayor's Estate; the streetcar line was originally to be built there but the proposal was shot down by more historically-inclined members of City Council.

Finally, no tour of downtown would be complete without City Hall. Seen in the center, City Hall is over 150 years old and adds a sense of grandeur to Devon's center. Also visible is the Central Museum, to the left of City Hall Park, and the County Courthouse above it.

[jacqulina 162]

very nice region view my friend,looking great so far

[i_love_lamp 0]

wow! this is great! I like the region view the best!

[zahrul3 471]

I like your CJ. Try levelling (and terracing) parts of your town where you want to build in a hilly area using street pieces. Look at the omnibook.

[Daan300 255]

Very nice region shot!