Turry Metro Region to Scale

[Dannato 4]

JOnnDOugh, comments by lurkers mean a lot to me -- after all, I must confess I'm a lurker myself most of the time!

Superstar, thanks. I wish I had the programs, skills and patience to make graphics as professional as Paul in his Digby journal, but alas, I don't.

Thanks everybody who follows and/or comments this, as well.
Thanks a lot again  to those who nominated me for a Golden Llama award, but please don't read my acceptence speech , it's silly.

 

Welcome to my new home

I got tired of the slow-growing, delapidation-stricken Eastside on the Central Turry map. So I decided to cross the map boundary and build further up the hill. Let me introduce you to my new neighbourhood: Turry Hill.

Picture stitched together with parts of Hottington and Central Turry maps, viewed from south to north. The Zoo and the Golf Course sit on the boundary between two maps (one lot on each map).

This is the old part of Turry Hill with its old Church:

... but I live further uphill. Below you can see the neighbourhood I chose for my new Mayor's Mansion (BSC Mayor's Mansion by Vlaakhas et.al.):

It comes as no surprise the neighbourhood features several expensive hotels. It's a fabulous location on the south-west side of the Hill, offering a gorgeous view all over Central Turry:

I'm not usually inviting journalists to my private mansion, but for Theodore McGinty, I'll make an exception. The official purpose of our meeting is to give him an interview about my plans as mayor. But there's something more important to discuss.

Remember Theodore McGinty, the journalist I stayed with just after my return? We struck a deal, back then...

Theo was in charge of covering up the real Dannato's abduction, killing and the brain transplant story. His job was to mislead the public. Being considered one of the country's most serious and reliable journalists, his accident story would never be questioned, and no one would think of investigating more thoroughly into the matter, thinking Mr McGinty had already done so. In return, I pledged to pay him a 200,000 simoleans each year for the next 10 years (sim's tax money, but pssst!):
After those 10 years, I plan to leave Turry for a new region somewhere else in the SimWorld, while Theo may finally bring out his book about The Real Story of Mayor Dannato and reach ultimate fame as an investigative journalist.

But that's still a long time to go. Today, I need Theo to do something else.

My wife went on a holiday, without me...
I know, says Theo.
How the... ?! Anyway, listen: I want you to keep an eye on my wife during her holiday. Here's your ticket. Fly down there, and document every step she makes, follow her wherever she goes, shoot pictures of people she meets -- especially men, of course. I might use that material one day. I'm sure you will as well.

 

[xiziz 11]

Hey!
First of, Congrats to the Trixie!

Been quite some time since i was last here, but i really did enjoy the read.
The Motorway Construction chapter earlier was really neat, tho on the map(the one with the different proposed routes), i Noticed that there was 3 colored areas that had no explanation to what they were, altough i managed to figure out that the green was forest, Both the Purple and the Beige seemd to be farmlands, any explanation?

Catwick station is really nice. And you really sucseded in building on Turry Hill, i allways find it hard to build on slopes.

Cheers

[andrew george 0]

Superb screenshots as usual here Dannato - Turry continues to really impress me. Your Trixie was thoroughly deserved my friend.

 

A

[Dannato 4]

Thanks for the kind lines, Andrew -- and Xiziz:
The colour key on the image you mentioned is missing because I copied that excerpt from the zoning plan back on page 3:

• Green = protected natural areas, meaning forests or open grassland will pe preserved.
• Beige (actually a transparent layer of pink over green background) = protected rural areas, meaning no significant residential, commercial or industrial development is allowed, only farming and basic infrastructure.
• Purple = Intensified Urbanisation Areas; i.e., areas there new and more dense urban or suburban development is allowed or planned, and farmland will probably dissapear within the next few years.

I find building on slopes difficult also: often streets turn out way too steep, and retention walls look completely odd. I try to avoid them, especially stuff like doors or driveways ending like 2 metres above street level. Outch!  BTW, Xiziz, good job on your avatar!

Project -- Appledore Wood residential development

Let's go back to the northern suburbs, the site of the vastest residential development planned in Turry to date. The new predominantly low-density suburb will rely on its neighbours to provide enough jobs, and one major railway line for the sims to get to there. The most significant chunk of the residential development is on the Appledore map (yellow = maps and boundaries):

Zoning plan please...:

The railway line (white) you can see cutting through Appledore Wood connects West Appledore Station (map to the west) with Catwick and Earlington stations (neighbour to the east) -- both stations serve major commercial and industrial areas, though Earlington provides more jobs than West Appledore. Now we'll need one station on the Appledore map. Where shall it go?

1) At the western end of the wood, near the sports grounds?
2) Further into Appledore Wood, just before the orthagonal railway section turns diagonal?
3) In the middle of Appledore Wood, on a diagonal section?
4) East of the woods, closer to Earlington's industrial area?

I'm practising democracy, so you may vote on the location of the new station. If you have any idea on how to use the zones labelled as undefined, feel free to make a suggestion. Also, you have the right to object and to and/or demand a review of the zoning plan. The Planning Department might modify it if your arguments are well-founded. Give democracy a chance, participate!

[subedei 3]

 A very good update to your CJ. I was curious to what your major employers are in your city? Keep up the good work and I am looking forward to more updates. 

 

 

 

Subedei

[xiziz 11]

Oh, Oh, Oh... Dont you just love when you get somthing to really dig into and think about...

I think its amazing to se how you patch the pictures together, looks really good, there was onw part you could se the black, but it was really minor . Thanx for the zoneing plan Explanation. Renention walls, ugh, Not to mention small homes with 10 storey basments...
Glad to se that someone noticed my Avatar change

Now you gave me somthing to read, so i thought id return the favour.
Happy Reading!

* For the Trainstation, id say #2, and prolning the park to meet the station.
* The North-West Undefined area: Soulth farm sould be Res, the 2 North ones being labled undefined. The Street running through NE-NW should have Res on both sides.
* The Undefined area in the soulth(Between Appeldore and Beetlewood Hill) should be Com or IM
* East undefined(near Earlington), East part should be Shopping Malls, West should be Res, with a Church inbetween the Res & Malls.
* North west undefined, the size of the Commersial Zone would create a lot of trafic and this area would be undesirable to Residents. Id sugest to leave it clear right now, and reevaluating the area when the need for it increases. Though maby removing the farms, since they would disturb the commercial with the smells and the commercial would drive the cattle crazy.

Cheers

[i.ess 0]

I vote for train station #1 site.

[Dannato 4]

Thanks for your suggestions and/or votes, keep them coming, I haven't started building yet.

In fact, I was working on another area, Limebeck, where I plan to start the south-western beltway. After hours of careful work with loads of lovely trails and parks, I was dragging a street over a transit enabled custom farm building. CRASH TO DESKTOP.
Now I know I should always dezone or use the bulldozer for such buildings. And save more often.

But now's too late. I'm feeling so miserable now.
So I urgently need you to provide some comfort. 
You can do so by commenting on the development plan above.

Meanwhile, some figures on Appledore's neighbours:

 

Statistics -- neighbours & jobs

Appledore to date has 44,200 residents and only 11,600 jobs (5000 commercial, 6000 industrial with Ind. Quadrupler mod). This is a huge job deficit, most people are already working on neighbouring city maps:

Mt. Hunkers district (basically = West Appledore) has a population of 11,200 and 9,500 white collar and 6,300 blue collar or farming jobs. That's a job surplus of about 4,500

Earlington (pop: 81,000) has 3,300 excess jobs. This isn't enough for the residents of Appledore, but the commercial zones in Earlington still have potential to grow in density.

Cat Meadows has a growing industrial zone and a job surplus approaching 10,000! However, there's no direct connection between Appledore and Cat Meadows, and I don't plan to build one for now. I want Earlington to benefit from Appledore's job demand. Jobs in Cat Meadows will be needed for future developments further to the north.

Cat Lake district is insignificant: it's only farming villages (pop: 1100). Low-density commerce and some industry may develop south of the M13, but only if neighbour demand makes it necessary.

Buchanan (pop 65,000) has no excess jobs and not much room for further growth either.

[i.ess 0]

Le Maire de Nijni-Novgorod
A
M. le Maire de Turry


Dans la perspective de l'am

[Dannato 4]

i.ess: ***can anyone get me a French translation of the following, please: Thank you for your request. I'll see what I can do for you and ask the editor of this journal if he can publish something about Turry's parks in a future update***.  -- ah, la voil

[Dannato 4]

It's been a while. But my employer has exploited me enough now -- no more overtime. Work less, play more!

Appledore Wood is no longer a wood, but a name of a new suburban ward. Here's the zoning and transit layout.

I've been considering Xiziz' suggestion of a shopping area to the very east, but I decided against: bad accessibility. Instead, I plopped some basic suburban shopping facilities just south of the main area of new development. It's logical: about the centre of the map, reasonably good access thanks to the broad avenue. Thus, more new residents can do their shopping within a walking distance from their homes.

I want to keep Turry's suburban sprawl moderate, regulated and well balanced: enough greenery, good accessibility and road traffic flow control to keep noise and pollution at a minimum, especially within residential areas. The street layout offers hardly any shortcuts to speak of, so I expect most drivers to use the dedicated thoughfares. I also made extensive use of Marrasts' pedestrian paths (not bus enabled), both for shortening pedestrian routes and for aesthetic reasons.

Some parks are unfinished, and I haven't removed all the farms. I might need the money and the jobs in the early stage of development.

Now, time to hit the unpause button... result after a couple of decades in cheetah speed:

This is just the first stage of development. Turry has very high demand for lower-middle class residential areas, so all farms south of the motorway are bound to dissapear - sadly maybe, but there is still the protected green area of Beetlewood Hill to the south-west for leasure activities.

More updates to follow... hopefully more often than in the past few weeks.

[Mexicanboy13r 12]

wow wonderful work you have done!

 I really like how you have your highway!

[ChicAgo333 2]

this looks beautiful, very realistic! great work, keep it up

[xiziz 11]

so finaly we hear from you again. Looks very nice indeed
The roadlayout looks very nice, aswell as the zoning.
howcome the road connetcios to Cat Meadows is closed down(i seem to remember them beeing there b4)

Im very glad you are back updating and hope to se somthing soon again

Cheers Mate

[utora 0]

Dannato, I haven't been around for quite a while now, and I was just skipping through the journal a bit. And it hit me again. You obviously put a lot of effort in it, and as always I'm quite impressed. That Trixie is well deserved I can tell you! (I'll come back later to read the story, just wanted to congratulate you )

[Dannato 4]

Thanks to you all folks!

Xiziz: No, there has never been a road connection from Appledore to Cat Madows (NE). For two reasons:

1) I want to keep the area around Appledore Common quiet and free from traffic. This is the largest open grass area in the nothern suburbs and very important for the life quality in this area.

2) Residents of Appledore can take the metro rail to Earlington or West Appledore -- enough jobs available there. There is also a road to Cat Lake (NW). However, as I expected, there's a congestion problem there, especially due to the two residential towers just north of the sports gound. I probably will have to build an avenue there one day.

 

Above is how the area looks after completion of development on the neigbouring maps of Cat Lake and Cat Meadows.

 

That was just a quickie... I might add more details about this area if I sense the interest is there -- or I might move on to some other area, dunno.

[xiziz 11]

oh, okey, my bad

This looks very nice, Good job with the development there
I just thought id tell you that now

Cheers

[alt+tab 2]

Wow, You know what, Ive never even seen this thread before, And Im amazed that Its Soo realistic! This is a great journal!

[radenskloof 0]

Nice to see you're back.
One of my favourites!

[Sooner&RiceGrad 0]

 

This is simillar to Apex Valley, great. Better than Edmonton, not as good as Apex. Major complement reight there.

[bourneid 13]

sorry to have to do this in your thread Dannato, you know that I am a fan of your CJ, but Sooner&RiceGrad...what is the whole point of your negitivity..I think that people have the right to there opinion and constructive critisicm is a good think...but as I read thought my favorite journals tonight..I keep seeing your name, and not one of your comments have been positive or constructive...this is that 4th journal I have seen you trash and spam about anouther journaL...and I see that dolfan is in on it...

Again I am sorry Dannato, that just erked me to no end. Like I told you here before and in PM, I love what you have done with your journal and its presintation. I have taken a lot of things from here that could help improve my citys. Keep up the great work. Look foward to seeing more from you.

[dscampbell 181]

OOH Donnato once again I'm speachless, my god what a beautiful pease of planning, and it looks so good! I love it that you are not afraid to leave undeveloped area, it looks so much more realistic that way

[Dannato 4]

New Year Special 

 The City of Turry Wishes All of You a Happy New Year! 

[Edit: Firework animations removed to save my own limited free disk space. I gotta keep it under 50 MB. Sorry, come back next new year's eve.]

 

  Plus: New update coming soon...

 

[xiziz 11]

Nice Animated Pictures, Looking Forward for the first Turry update in 2005

Happy New Year Danato, and whatever other person comes across reading this

Cheers all.

[Dannato 4]

Not too bad a start at all

Supervising city planners, dealing with councils, advisors, pressure groups and stuff can be tiresome. After a hard working day I fell deep into the soft back seat of my limo taking me uphill to my mansion. My wife, Laetitia, is still on her holiday, so the mansion was going to be depressingly quiet and empty. That's when I start thinking. Am I really up to this new life as Mayor of Turry? Is Laetitia double-timing me already? What will happen if Dannato's relatives find out, or even the press? With all these things on my mind I suddenly feel the need to talk to someone. Of course it has to be someone who knows...

To get in touch with Monica without attracting public attention, I have to make an appointment at Vu Medical. By the way, Dr. Vu moved his clinic to a (literally) high-end location on Turry Hill, very close to my new mansion. Vu Med now exclusively serves rich folks and VIPs.

The clinic's former site in the University district in East Central has seen quite some changes. In fact I reshaped the University District in a sudden megalomaniac frenzy. The Central University building looks a bit like a German government building, but it is a university, believe me. (Thanks to Erdmoebel for the Reichstag building. It's big though!). Dr. Vu's Clinic used to stand between University Hospital and the Disease Research Centre.

At the same time, some beautification work has been done on the Eastern Lakefront, the area where Turry's most exclusive cultural establishments are. I would have loved to take Monica out to to the city theatre, the opera, or even just to the Bellerive Pavillion by the lake, which hosts a caf

[andrew george 0]

Happy New Year to the residents of Turry, too!

 

I've said it before, great screenshots and nice planning.

 

A

[2ch.net simplayer 180]

I like where the suburbs blend into farms!

[MrCinatit 30]

been quite a while since i have taken a look in here, Diana Dannato...quite impresive, if i must say. looks like you have a very good story line going on (have to take a look into that), but i can see your city building skills and your presentation skills are top knotch. great work.

[K_m_H 0]

woo animation.. cool this region is getting really good now

[Dannato 4]

Oh please, MrCinatit, Master of Story-Telling, don't look too deep into my excuse of a story, I'd die from shame ;-) I just try to throw in some anecdotes from the life of a weird wannabe mayor, and I have no idea where this is going, provided it's ever going anywhere at all. Being a non-native English-speaker with very little imagination kind of makes it hard to write something worth reading. So let's say I'm just practising.

And thanks everybody for dropping by, or -- a line.

Parks Part I

When I got back to my office the next morning, I found that request by a French-speaking Mayor of a Russian-sounding City still on my desk. He asked to see some more of Turry's parks. Although there is a remarkable lack of any remarkable parks in Turry, I'll do my best. Here's Part 1 of my Guide to Turry's Parks.

Bon, monsieur le Maire,