Bocksburg

[Damastius 5]

Hello, this is my first update on Bocksburg.

The History of Bocksburg

As the industrial revolution was spreading through Europe like a wildfire, it didn't reach the town of Bocksburg, up in the Alps. In 1900 it had a population of 1700 people, in 1950 it only housed 250 people more. Although it's a small town it's pretty densed all over. The ground is very expensive in the area because it's a reservate. In the beginning, Bocksburg's mainly profit sources were the farms. But now offices are starting taking it over. Also the farmland is becoming smaller because Bocksburg is finally starting to grow again.

This is Bocksburg.

When you look from above you can see the typical European-like streets.

This is Bocksburg's main street.

And here's a typical view of one of the appartements in Bocksburg

This was the introduction to Bocksburg. More pictures + information will follow.

Hope you like this kind of building style, I myself find it very cosy.

Damastius

[mentarman 14]

Very interesting and different from a lot of the other journals here so far. Thanks for sharing and good luck with your journal.

[Stef42 0]

Those building give a old look, very well made

[johannesut 1]

Nice story... I love this european city style, with this spectacular landscape around... So sweet, im looking forward for your next update Damastius

[Damastius 5]

Thanks for the positive replies, Mentarman, Stef and Johannesut!

Update 2 : Cutting down the forests

The year 1973.

Bocksburg is in need of space to expand the farmlands and build new houses. Therefore it's cutting down some parts of the surrounding Bock Forests. The timber will be sold to manufacture companies.

In the forests on the east side of the city, it's going fast. An industry field has been set up in the middle of the forest and is cutting like never before. 20 Square metres per hour is being cut down. With so many timber, there was a lack of space to store the 'brown gold'. So storagebuildings were build further down the mainstreet.

The dense forsts around Bocksburg can be very profitable..

So the city is cutting them down, to sell the timber and use the space for farmland.

There is only one site yet, but two others are planned.

The wood is stored in big storage buildings, and will be exported within a week.

Some random town pictures, about the poorer parts of town and the centre.

Bocksburg has bought a piece of farmland from a local farmer and this is a map of what will be build in the area:

Bocksburg will not expand the town fast; mainly the farmlands.

This was update 2 of the European town of Bocksburg, hope you have enjoyed it!

Damastius

[Stef42 0]

Nice, creating a nice story (about the timber) is quite unique here.

[johannesut 1]

Of course we enjoyed it. By the way, you did some great work, not only in the town creation, but also in the story ... "Something happens in a small peaceful low density town somewhere in the middle of nowhere ..

(Great Landscape around!)

[jazyje 1]

I like it a lot!!! I'm glad you followed my lead of doing more than 1 CJ at a time!!

BTW, where did you find that lumber yard?

[Damastius 5]

Thanks for the kind comments!!! I'm currently expanding the forests and building new lumber yards.

@Jazye: It's actually just a low or medium density heavy industry building

[Jaybyrd05 3]

Looks awesome Damastius!! I really like the way you are developing out very naturally into the countryside.

[jazyje 1]

Sweet city, the poorest part of Bocksburg do not look that poor to me though!!! Looks like a pretty wealthy town!!!

[patriotizzy 0]

Really interesting. Will keep an eye out for this one.

[Damastius 5]

@Jazye : next time I'll write "poorest"

@ The rest: thanks!! Maybe tomorrow I'll post a new update.

[Damastius 5]

Update 3: Mapping the forests

The year 1975.

Bocksburg is still cutting. It needs space for farmland and expansion of the city itself. But the citizens don't want all the forests to be gone, which is not far away. Bocksburg has mapped the forests in the area, and has given the places were they are and were they are not allowed to cut down the forests.

The two new lumber yards.

At the newest - and biggest - lumberyard they have found a small oil well. It will have enough oil for Bocksburg to be self-sufficient for the next 20 years! In these factories the oild is being burned.

It seems that forests are only a barricade in Bocksburg's eyes.

A view from the North-East part of the forest.

Bocksburg itself has expanded. Here are shots from the new part:

Also, Middle Plaza has been layed. There are plans for future appartements around Middle Plaza.

This is the map of the forests as they are now. It shows the cutting areas of Bocksburg.

But the workers at the lumber yards are complaining about the infrastructure in the forests. They can't get to the sites they have to be, because it's to densed! More info about it in Update 4:

[Herdervriend 46]

I love this stuff...Making it realistic by telling a story about wood in it, that is great Give me spirit to start playing again

[johannesut 1]

Another great update dude! ... I'd really like to live in this small town....... Awesome job!

[janpeter 0]

i like small towns, i live in hilversum 84000inhabitants, bocksburg gives me thge feeling thath i feel here at home, wonderful job

(english sucks XD)

[Damastius 5]

Thanks for the comments. Glad you people are interested in this other kind of building a city!

Update 4: Adding infrastructure and getting rich

1978
Bocksburg is getting richer every day. Wood really adds some money to the budget and Bocksburg is getting more and more national. The count of last week let us know that the town now has 14782 citizens.
But Bocksburg wants to plan for new profit sources, for when the forests will be cut down, in about 20 years. These are Bocksburg's plans:

Developing Tourism - It wants to attract more tourists by building more hotels and give the town a more good image to the rest of Europe. It also is renovating old buildings, and it already has repaved the roads in the centre parts. It has plenty of parks and relaxation activities.






Better roads -  It's planning to build better quality roads to the outside world, to make export more easy.

Invest in food industry - 85% of the woods will be replaced by farms, which will be a essential profit source in the future.

Back to the woodcutting.
Bocksburg has improved the infrastructure at the lumberyards. Roads have been widened and new roads have been layed because the forests are retreating fast and the workers otherwise would have been driving very long through the swampy 'trunk forests'.
At the biggest lumber yard two administrative offices have been build to take care of the massive amount of paperwork, including contracts and taxes.




It's busy at the biggest lumber yard.


This is the second lumber yard. It still has some forest to cut down.


But the first lumber yard hasn't. There are farms and the south and west side.
Two pictures to compare:

A couple of years ago:

Now:


While they are cutting the forests down like the devil is chasing them at the North-East side, the South-East side stays unharmd. Bocksburg is going to use it as a forest for all kinds of activities in the future.


Some pictures of the expansion of the town itself:



As so far update 4, hope you enjoyed this update and the story.

In update 5 we will continue on the expansion of the farmlands and the tourism developements.

Goodbye! Damastius.






 

[Stef42 0]

Very well done, let's see how the city will end up

[jazyje 1]

wOW -- AN AMAZING update!!!

[F9T 0]

Looks like Europe, so realistic, great job

[Damastius 5]

Update 5: Developing tourism and public sites.


The year 1980.

Bocksburg is getting known in Europe. There was a lack of tourists hotels, services and overal, a lack of (souvenir) shops. Retail was a big problem as the first shops were able to handle 10.000 citizens, but not 19.500. So 2 months ago the largest retail area has been build, near to all the hotels so the tourists can get there easily.
Bocksburg has also began improving the road quality. The roads to the outside world are getting a makeover. They expect them to be finished in '81.

But not everywhere it's going well. Woodcutting site #1 can't cut anymore trees down. There are farms all around and the rest of the space is property of site #2 (the biggest site). They are planning to shut it down in about a couple of months.

Tourists are arriving in Bocksburg, so more hotels have been build.



At the new retail site a medical institute has settled down, and it's home to the largest lab of Austria.


The new roads are  "Nice to drive". As a lorrey driver said.


Bocksburg has made a new map containing information about all the current tourist spots.


Woodcutting site #2 is cutting rapidly, while site #1 will be shut down soon.


One of Bocksburg's richest streets.


Bocksburg is hitting the 20.000 mark. It needs to expand. Farms are very profitable, but can be a barricade when you want to expand your town. More info about that in update 9: The farmlands




 

[jazyje 1]

Wow , you never fail to impress me -- is it just me, or have your cities become more attractive and simply all around better in the last few weeks.... Have you taken any CXL courses lately???

[Damastius 5]

Haha, I'm now building slower than before and it works!

[jacqulina 162]

excellent work my friend

[kingdiz_55 12]

This is very nice. It's nice, simple, and clean not to mention realistic.

[Jaybyrd05 3]

I absolutely love the look and feel of this city..... like it belongs perfectly in the European countryside or something. Great work!

[natedoggg 0]

wow man nice roads where di you get those

[Damastius 5]

They are part of the Austria 1975 road textures. You can find them on citiesxs.de

[Stef42 0]

Very nice, keep it up!