New Valley...In the Beginning

[selekt 0]

 

Hello all, This is my first City Journal and my second city developed in CitiesXL.  I have enjoyed Sim City for many years but I'm really impressed with CitiesXL and I feel that the improved graphics and in-depth dynamics make this game really enjoyable.  Of course, it's too bad that it is incomplete and lacks many features and contains many bugs.  So with all that being said...on with the show. Also, please click through for high-res versions of the images. The village of New Valley was founded in 1833 and saw little growth nor activity for many years.  However, following the discovery of large reserves of off-shore oil the village has recently enjoyed rapid growth as well as the construction of a nearby highway system. Here is an overhead view of the town as it stood for many years. As can be seen, near the top left hand corner of the image, the town sits close to the intersection of two major highways.  The horizontal highway (Hwy 499) was first constructed in the 1950's but once the discovery of oil was made a new highway (Hwy 478) was built to shuttle people and goods into and out of New Valley. Here is a much larger view of the town and surrounding area. The town begins to expand as shown below. Here is a closer view of the growth. At this point the town of New Valley has grown into a city with a population of around 16,000 inhabitants. Now, here are some screenshots of the city from various aspects. City Hall: From the waterfront: Cruisin' around the neighbourhoods: And here are some images at night: There is also a burgeoning industrial and manufacturing centre located north of the city following Hwy 478 N: And finally, a traffic map: That's all for now...see you next time.

[Dustof_DryBones 0]

I love the street views of your village. The amount of trees in it is absolutely gorgeous and allows for so much privacy between your highways and your small villages.! Anyways, keep up the good work.

[Trabbuco 0]

Wooww! My city looks a lot like New Valley. Im going start a CJ soon!

[luddmamm 3]

Great small town feel! keep it up!

[selekt 0]

Thanks everyone!

@Dustof_DryBones: I also like the effect the trees have. The additional trees add realism by blurring the lines between adjacent lots.

@Trabbuco: Start it up!

@luddmamm: Thanks alot!

My next update will discuss the importance of agriculture on the area's economy. Coming soon.

[jazyje 1]

I love the town, I'm just wondering why you need that bridge across the lake -- it doesn't seem like it's really necessary....

[selekt 0]

Along with the discussion of agriculture in the region, I will also cover the significance of the bridge in the next update coming ASAP. In addition, there has been further highway development after construction stalled due to a lack of federal and provincial funding.

[selekt 0]

After further growth, New Valley has almost doubled in population and now has a population of slightly over 30,000 inhabitants.

Here is a screenshot of some of the growth:

As can be seen in the above screenshot the growth has occurred near the bridge.

Also of note is the fact that the Hwy 478 (the horizontal highway) basically ends at Crescent Bridge.  The original plan was to have a tunnel through the mountain and connect to the next city. However, due to a lack of funds from the provincial government, the project was halted and has sat unfinished for quite some time.

Luckily, due to the recent financial growth due to the offshore oilfields, the municipality of New Valley was able to provide sufficient funding to finish the project. The finished project is shown in the following screenshots. Hard to see but it's in the top left hand corner.

The Crescent Bridge mentioned earlier was originally built by the province to act as a bypass from Hwy 499 to Hwy 478 to allow traffic travelling along the highways to avoid passing near the city and the traffic that is associated with urban areas.

Recently, due to a lack of provincial funding, the bridge was sold to a private firm that now manages the bridge and has enacted a toll for use.

Some screenshots of Crescent Bridge:

I also want to highlight the importance of agriculture in the area.

Farming is one of the largest industries in the area.

Here are some shots of the surrounding farmland and the farm villages located in the area.

Due to the signifigance of agriculture a new college was set up in New Valley. The New Valley College of Applied Arts and Technology was recently inaugurated.

This screenshot shows the original campus with the orange roof.

The college was so successful that a second campus was constructed.

The college's olympic sized swimming pool:

That's all for now.

The next update will discuss the recent economic growth in the CBD and the new subdivisions that have been built.

[hotChocolate 95]

You sure have a nice small town going on there!

[-Alex24- 10]

very nice, it remember me on a bf2 map............

[marmeladu 0]

pretty nice city...i'm curious to see how is going to look an agriculture based city when it will reach 200k pop.

[Liszak 48]

Amazing. Simply amazing. Good work. 

[AlexandrosB13 184]

i don t play this game but i can say that it looks pretty good