Cape May, NJ ... A look ahead

[alt+tab 2]

Wow, what a nice journal!

[The_Dalai_Llama 15]

Wow!  The Jersey Shore has changed since I've been there.

 

No skyscraper jungle, great use of custom BAT buildings, excellent map, not really griddy, just great.  I see you've mastered the dagonal grid, too.  I'm hoping to see more.

[Jetty Jockey 186]

Date:7/18/2004 1:19:00 AM
Author:The_Dalai_Llama

Wow!  The Jersey Shore has changed since I've been there.

 

No skyscraper jungle, great use of custom BAT buildings, excellent map, not really griddy, just great.  I see you've mastered the dagonal grid, too.  I'm hoping to see more.

quote>

The Sim region has over 3X the population (so far) of the real one. I've tried to maintain the existing road network ( as supplied by my trusty Cape May County street map) but it's beginning to cause a few AI traffic issues in places.  No skyscrapers yet, but I'm hopeful . Still trying to figure out what my cities need. 

[Jetty Jockey 186]

13 November, 40

 

Investors Take Stock in Jersey Shore

 

WILDWOOD (SP)  In an attempt to lure big time corporations to the area, the mayor is pleased to announce the opening of the Wildwood Stock Exchange. Environmentalists are highly critical of the move, since the mayor wooed investors with an all-you-can eat buffet featuring several endangered area species including the rare llama shark and piping plover.  When asked to comment, the mayor replied The piping plover was especially good - tasted like chicken

Beachwalk construction commences

WILDWOOD (SP)  Extending along the beachfront from Morey's Pier, the Wildwood Beachwalk offers vacationing sims a place to stroll and take in a gorgeous ocean view. It is to be constructed by Bauer Outdoor Design, the same company responsible for the Washington Street Mall upgrade in Cape May. The Beachwalk is to run from Convention Hall northward along the beach to North Wildwood.

Tenors Sing Praises Of New Concert Hall

WILDWOOD (SP) Now that the city has dug itself out of the financial hole it found itself in during its early years, more funds have become available for construction and maintainence of reward buildings granted for the mayor's community service. Located at the intersection of Atlantic and Glenwood Avenues, the Wildwood Music Hall offers a venue for area music lovers. The first performance featured the mayor's favorite opera - Quadrophenia, performed by The Who.

Wildwood, year 50

Now that Wildwood has put its fiscal house in order, the city is in a good position to move forward over the next 50 years. The city is turning a profit of nearly $1800 /month . The most notable improvement is that mass transit is now adding to the budget surplus rather than draining funds away. Pollution from traffic is the major concern here, and will hopefully be adressed in the coming years.

A closer look

• A big thank-you goes out to those of you who voted for Cape May in the summer edition of the Most Camera Friendly City contest. It was encouraging to see that my little cities actually got some recognition, considering the mind-blowing work submitted by others in the contest.

[Jetty Jockey 186]

A quick update.

 

Erma, NJ at 50

 

Population has remained fairly stable for the past twenty years. Residents have been moving out of single family homes into condos, probably to be nearer to more convenient transit options , notably the busses running along US 9 and Seashore Road.

Development around new Cape May Seashore lines station located at Week's Landing Road and US Highway 9. A highway interchange at the junction of Breakwater Road and Route 9 speeds traffic westward. (The mayor, who has been known to take to the streets in UDI missions has developed a strong dislike for stop lights at heavily travelled avenue intersections.)

City growth encroaching on agricultural lands

ERMA (SP) As more and more farms are becoming surrounded by denser development, the mayor is engaged in a delicate balancing act trying to maintain the city's farmland amidst urban growth. The mayor has established areas of low income housing for immigrant farmworkers. The population in these areas is fairly transient, with prospering sims moving on to better housing and oppurtunities, and new hopefuls moving in, trying to achieve thier Simerican Dream.

 

 

 

[+Guest]

Your recent update is nice.

[Jetty Jockey 186]

Date:7/23/2004 10:10:01 PM
Author:tHe Dark_Child

Your recent update is nice.

quote>

Thanks, DC. I'm a little reluctant to overdevelop Erma. It's my home town and I kinda like it the way it is.

[Superstar 69]

looks great, really good city

[subedei 3]

Looks great so far. Keep up the good work.  

 

 

Subedei

[Jetty Jockey 186]

Today's update will feature the center of 5 Mile Beach Island at year 50. This will include the downtown areas of Wildwood, and the cities West Wildwood, Shawcrest, and Wildwood Crest. Also included is the Sunset Lake section of Wildwood Crest.

 

 

A more detailed region map is coming soon !

 

 

Wildwood (downtown), year 50

 

Prosperity has come to the downtown section of Wildwood. The population has tripled over the past twenty years, making it one of the faster growth cities in the region.The mayor is cutting the energy budget close here and in many other cities, to keep the city budgets from spending too much and to lessen pressure on the FMB fusion plant.

 

 

Virtually all of the single family dwellings have been replaced by condos and apartment buildings. The Wildwood Convention Hall has expanded its facilities to extend south to Rio Grande Avenue. This matches up with Convention Hall in the main section of Wildwood ( see above), and on the region map, it looks like one big center. Intercoastal Water Taxi service shuttle  commuters to industrial jobs on Shaw Island, Shawcrest, and West Wildwood.

West Wildwood, year 50

Now that most of the polluting industry is switching over to hi tech, the city is becoming more attractive to residential growth. Route 47 (Delsea Drive) enters the city via the George Redding Bridge ( lower left), then turns into downtown Wildwood, where it is called Rio Grande Avenue. Commercial areas have built up along the Glenwood Avenue Causeway on the north shore of Post Creek Basin. Commuting sims love the water taxi and ferry service, and it is a popular way for tourists to get around the region while doing a little sightseeing.

Shawcrest, year 50

Little has changed here in the past 20 years.  There's been an increase in the quanity and quality of  commercial development along Route 47. Note the city budget is fairly balanced.

Shawcrest Industrial Park

Placing a water taxi station at the western end of the Glenwood Avenue Bridge has yeilded a suprising amount of commuters. The mayor has taken advantage of this by expanding the industrial area south of the Glenwood Avenue causeway. Over 500 sims/day use this station ! A mix of tech and manufacturing jobs isn't harming the environment too much.

Sunset Lake section of Wildwood Crest, year 50

The Shaw Island Causeway gives an added link between Five Mile Beach Island and the mainland. 

Shaw Island is unprotected wetlands,  open to exploitation. The mayor has developed this into a non polluting hi tech industrial area after raising the land a few meters to minimize flood damage. As in Shawcrest, the water taxi and passenger ferry service is taking a welcome bite out  of  land traffic.

Wildwood Crest , year 50

An affluent area of the island, Wildwood Crest is enjoying the same building boom as other cities on Five Mile Beach Island. Beachfront and bayfront condos have sprung up where once were only single family homes. Ferry and water taxi transport helps get commuters to jobs in neighbor cities and brings in some workers for industry in the NW and SW corners.

.

North end of Wildwood Crest

Traffic is a concern, particularly on non highway, non-avenue connections to Wildwood and Jarvis Sound. It may look ugly in the traffic view, but until it causes abandonments it's a problem I can live with. Educational opportunities abound here, with a fully funded system turning out trained workers for the city's hi tech industry. 

Wildwood Crest at night. The glow of the city's lights can be seen on the horizon from over thirty miles offshore.

Compared to the pics from year 15 ( pp 2-3 in the journal) my cities have grown , but not too quickly. Previous experiences have shown me that boom towns often go bust, so I've adopted a plan of slower, more patient growth. (Not using cheats or mods slows things down too, I suppose) . So far, I'm pretty pleased with results.As always , questions, comments and suggestions are welcome and encouraged!

 

[+Guest]

Well I'll be amazed, the view of wildwood looks nice.

[simwario 95]

Another nice City Journal. I like those diagonal grid of streets in your
city, that looks good.

[comdude21 6]

This cj is turning into one of my favorite, if not my favorite current cj.  As a lifetime New Jerseyan its really cool to see a realistic NJ-based journal. And your SimCity version of Cape May is very realistic and accurate, especially your transportation networks. This region, along with the real-life Jersey Shore are what inspired my new Ocean Point region. Great job.

[Jetty Jockey 186]

The mayor finally turns his attention to long neglected areas of Middle Township

 

Introducing ..... Dias Creek in Middle Township

Dias Creek is another Cape May County farming community experiencing a boom in residential growth. The city draws power from the South Cape fusion plant in Villas and sends its garbage to the Middle Township Municipal Utilities Authority northwest of Burleigh. Opinion polls are generally good to excellent. The budget is balanced with one of the lower tax rates in the region.

Development along Dias Creek Road

The road network in this part of the region extends radially from Cape May Court House. Dias Creek Road (center) has been upgraded to an avenue to move traffic better between western sections of Middle Township and Route 47 (upper left) and Cape May Court House (off map, east). Hand Avenue ( top) and Springer's Mill Road ( lower left) also provides additional routes to CMCH.

Sims love the relaxed pace of country livin'

Many of the regions's better off Sims have built homes here and commute to jobs in neighboring towns. Small estates are popping up along Springer's Mill Road ( right).

[subedei 3]

I like how this region is spread out and not overly cluttered. Keep up the great work on this one.

 

 

Subedei

[Jetty Jockey 186]

Just west of Dias Creek ( see above) is Pierce's Point, another Delsea Drive farming community

 

 

Opinion polls here are fair to good, and I'm noticing that these little farming towns are great little money makers. As in Dias Creek, the city draws power from the South Cape Fusion plant in Villas and sends its garbage to the Middle Township MUA .

 

 

Most of the land west of NJ 47 (Delsea Drive) and along both banks of Dias Creek east of the highway is a National Wildlife sanctuary. This area is a prime stopover for migratory waterfowl in the spring and fall.

 

 

Pierce's Point is just a small collection of beachfront homes tucked between the tidal marshes and Delaware Bay. As with most of the other bayfront towns, sunsets over the Delaware Bay are spectacular for those willing to put up with swarms of mosquitos and biting flies.

[ginchael 1]

Still love it! Great work!

[Jetty Jockey 186]

As promised, an updated region pic :

 

 

South end of Cape May County - all cities at year 50

 

Now that the buildings are getting larger and the trees which were planted in the region's early years are filling out, the cities have a lot more definition in the region map. Cities now look like cities instead of the gray and brown smudges they were 35 years ago ( see year 15 region pic , page 1 of CJ).

[+Guest]

So far, the region view is fantastic and it's amazing how much has changed since page one.

[Sim_Idiot 10]

I really like the map your using.  The low sandy areas really add a special touch.

 

 

[Jetty Jockey 186]

Going Retro ......

 

 I had given my copy of SC3K to my nephew and was clearing some hard drive space when I came across some screenshots of Cape May done in that version of Sim City. Since Maxis has been doing a look back, I was thinking I might do the same here. I hope no one minds.

 

 

The city map runs south from the southern end of the Villas and the County Airport industrial complex .

The map is actually an imported SC2K map, and only medium sized in SC3K. A large version of the map including the Wildwoods and the southern end of Middle Township was in the works but was abandoned when SC4 came out.

 

 

Cape May, looking northeast

 

 

Washington Street Mall and Cape May beachfront.

 

The Palazzo Apartments (center) and Hampton Apartments (lower right) are actually fairly representive of Cape May's Victorian architecture.

 

Ferry Terminal at west end of Cape May Canal

 

There were no ferries in that v. of SC, so I used a seaport to simulate ship traffic. SC3K's AI had a better time dealing with the jetties at the west end of the Cape May Canal. They had to be removed in SC4 because shipping kept running aground on them .

 

U.S. Coast Guard Training Center

 

Cape May Point Lighthouse

 

Well, that's enough nostalgia for me.   Coming next... a year 50 update on Villas.

 

 

[Ron Swanson 1]

Great job Jetty! I love watching this region get bigger, it really is a nice journal. You have great road designs and great building placement. And I enjoyed seeing your sc3 city, I loved sc3. Did you ever submit it to sc3000.com? So ya again great job, definatley one of my favorites!

[Jetty Jockey 186]

Date:8/11/2004 2:34:21 PM
Author:Sc4_cewl

Great job Jetty! I love watching this region get bigger, it really is a nice journal. You have great road designs and great building placement. And I enjoyed seeing your sc3 city, I loved sc3. Did you ever submit it to sc3000.com? So ya again great job, definatley one of my favorites!

quote>

Thanks ! I can't take credit for the road design, as most of them come from my trusty Cape May County street map.  My SC3K city was posted to Maxis' SC3K exchange, but had some issues. There was a 12 pic screenshot gallery, but the captions only match the pictures on the first few shots. The city exchange map appears as a mirror image , with the harbor on the west side of the Cape. And, as a final insult, the exchange flagged it as a cheat city, even though no cheats were used! The only explanation I could think of  was that the map I used was imported from SC2K , and perhaps some of the data got garbled in transmission. Still, for its time I guess it wasn't too bad.

    The city/region has a long Sim history, going back to SC2K. It used to be one of my favories in Streets of Sim City . ( for those of you who don't go back that far, Streets is like a first person UDI mission where your vehicle was heavily armed and armored - Sort of like Sim City meets The Road Warrior. I used to love roaring through my city with missles and machine guns blazing...  a great way to beat the summer traffic crunch )

[MrCinatit 30]

huh...something must be wrong with my computer...this journal has been here for three months, and i have just noticed it! i blame the computer, of course, and not myself.

anyway, great job, Jetty Jockey - a very realistic portrayal you have going on there...the flow of the city is just perfect.

and your SimCity 3k classic shot is just that - a classic. amazing how far the game has gone, isn't it? however, this is the first time i've seen an region in the older game as compared to our current version. yeah, looks like just a couple improvements were made

keep up the great work.

[andrew george 0]

Beautiful city, great work! Where did the Wildwood Music Hall come from? Is it downloadable?

 

A

[Jetty Jockey 186]

Date:8/14/2004 4:31:07 PM
Author:andrew george

Beautiful city, great work! Where did the Wildwood Music Hall come from? Is it downloadable?

 

A

quote>

It's just a standard issue SC4 reward. I got by completing a UDI mission.

[Jetty Jockey 186]

Villas at year 50

 

 

With a population of 42,431 Villas  is the largest city in the region.  Hampered by an economic crisis shortly after the construction of a second hydrogen fusion plant and a traffic nightmare caused by trying to adopt the historical street network , the city's growth was stunted early on . As development grew in the northern reaches of the region, additional customers have been provided for power deals, and the city is now turning a profit of nearly 70K Simoleons yearly. Opinion polls are showing improvement, notably in the environmental sector.

 

 

The mayor opted for the quick fix, bulldozing streets in mid-block to force area Sims to use improved roads for thier daily commute.

 

 

Center city development continues

 

The city now permits the construction of medium density housing within two blocks of Bayshore Road. When critics claimed this is hardly the shining showcase of the region promised in the mayor's speech at the opening of the South Cape Research Lab, the mayor angrily shot back, saying Great cities are not built overnight. The economic disruption caused by dezoning and rezoning large sections of the city is staggering and until now the city has been unable to shoulder the fiscal burden. Villas has made progress in the past few years and is now poised to make larger leaps forward in the years ahead.

 

 

Even the mayor's harshest critics grudgingly admit that he has made progress, although not at a fast enough pace to satisfy them. Here is another civic reward building, the Lower Township Municipal Courthouse, located on the east side of Bayshore Road, south of Delaware Parkway. Commercial development has boomed in the areas between Schellenger Avenue and Bates Avenue.

 

 

North of Fishing Creek is Sunray Beach and the southern half of Del Haven

 

Technically Middle Township, it had to be included as part of the Villas map. Bayshore Road continues east towards Route 47 in Green Creek. The Sunray Beach fishing pier (top, left) is a reinforced concrete structure that replaces the wooden one that was destroyed by ice several years ago. Fishing Creek runs through one of the few areas of fresh water (non tidal) wetlands in the region and has been granted protected status.

 

 

.Industrial interests seek expansion

 

One proposed step forward is the extension of the Bayshore Line northwards from its Rio Grande line (dashed purple line- purple boxes are proposed stations) to provide better access to industrial areas in the north end of the city and rail connections to cities along the Delaware Bay shoreline. Included in the proposal was the creation of an industrial park along both sides of the new rail line and extending the streets between  E. Hudson Avenue and Weber Avenue eastward to provide road access from the northern end of the city.

 

 

Better transit connections to the Cape May County airport and airport industrial park were also demanded. A third fusion plant is planned adjacent to the existing one near the Cape May Naval Air Station. While accepting the need for improved commuter transit to the city's industrial areas, the mayor is reluctant to zone for more industry until existant unoccupied industrial zones fill up.

 

 

 

 

[Jetty Jockey 186]

 

Today's update focuses on the extreme northern bayshore, introducing the villages of Cook's Beach and Reed's Beach.

 

 

Cook's Beach in Middle Township

 

An unmarked farm road turning west off of NJ Route 47 leads to the tiny bayside village of Cook's Beach . Unlike most other Cape May County communities, Cook's Beach produces its own power, using two wind plants turned by a steady bay breeze. Garbage is shipped to the Middle Township MUA and water is drawn from the well in neighboring Reed's Beach.

 

 

A bayfront pier has been added at the end of Cook's Beach Road to take advantage of fine fishing for flounder, weakfish (sea trout) and croakers. In the mid to late summer, large sharks prowl along the Delaware Bay beaches. (BAT: Pier by Marrast)

 

 

Reed's Beach in Middle Township

 

Just north of Cook's Beach is Reed's Beach, another little bayside village. Power is provided by two wind plants on either bank of Bidwell's Ditch (top). Water is produced locally and is exported to Cook's Beach, Bidwell's Ditch and Goshen. Garbage goes to the Middle Township MUA via Bidwell's Ditch-Dias Creek- Cape May Court House- Mayville. Opinions polls are acceptable, but needing improvement.

 

Reed's Beach bayfront

 

Water taxi connections exist at the mouth of Bidwell's Ditch ( top, left) to Simnation, and to a station a mile upstream on Route 47. Water links to other bayfront towns are planned.

 

 

Reed's Beach lighthouse

 

After a very successfull fishing trip with the mayor, a group of benefactors donated a new lighthouse, placed on the north bank of Bidwell's Ditch. This sparked a number of complaints from sleepless guests of the St. Ritzy hotel, who had that darned light flashing on and off in thier rooms all night. In a prompt settlement, the city provided the St. Ritzy with extra thick curtains for rooms facing north.

 

 

 

A bayfront resort with marina offers tourists all sorts of water activities.

 

 

[+Guest]

Another good job and that cape may from SC3K is giving me flashbacks on SC3KU.

[Dark Avatar 8]

Looking great.Love the Simcity3000 update.