Acacia: City between Bays (update 13: Historic Old Town)

[Libertyville 164]

I've been playing a new city, Acacia, named after the Acacia trees I chose as the main theme trees of the city.
Acacia is uniquely located between two bays, with four external links and plenty of seaport connections.

City Type: Port city; large metropolitan

Density: Medium-high

Geographic features: Coast, waterfront, beaches, rivers, gentle hills

Population: 200,000+

Transportation infrastructure: Heavily mass rapid transit, multiple rail/air/sea links

Economy: Diversified in financial services, oil and refinery, ore, forestry, light agriculture, light industries, commerce, education, and tourism.

Let's take a look at the beautiful region view:

 

[Linoa06 1,374]

Interesting first entry :>

[Libertyville 164]

Acacia is many things, like my other city (Hong Kong), it is a big metropolis with land scarcity. But Unlike Hong Kong, Acacia is a city with lush greenery, a sense of open space, and higher quality of life. Hong Kong's green hills are plenty, but the greenery is separate from the urban areas. But in Acacia, my goal is to cultivate a city with greenery everywhere.

The challenge is to create this kind of city while pursuing the goals of a large population (currently at 150,000 but aiming for a lot more) and a significant industrial, commercial, and employment presence.

In the upcoming posts, you will see how Acacia is coming to maturity and how various strategies are used to make it happen.

First, let's take a look at the freeway going to the international airport, AKA the "hospitality highway."

The "hospitality highway" is often the first impression visitors have of the city. In promoting the city, I strive to give visitors a "nature blast" as they approach the exciting city center. Not only are there lush greenery on the sides, there is a generous divider in the middle of landscaped gardens and greenery. It is such that your views are trees and not the oncoming traffic in the other direction. It is such that the neighborhoods the highway passes through are "hidden" behind the greenery, as if you are in a nature park. Taller trees are used between the curb and the nearby neighborhoods so that at ground-level, one doesn't easily see buildings. I must note that Acacia trees provide beautiful and natural shades. The umbrella-looking tree is the most common road-side tree you see in Acacia.

And someone is getting a ticket. "Sir, may I ask you to step out of your car, please?"

[Libertyville 164]

Hello. Acacia looks fancy at night:

Isn't this better than Fluxburgh?

The Acacia downtown sits on the peninsula at the river bend by the sea.

At the bay front, the Acacia Eye has opened, welcoming visitors, particularly those off the cruise ship from the cruise terminal nearby. The bummer is the ferris wheel doesn't lite up at night.

[Libertyville 164]

Let's walk around the downtown waterfront. One of the oldest landmarks of Downtown Acacia is the Fresno Hotel. Opened in the late 19th century, the Fresno Hotel was once the tallest building in the city (imagine that). Its elegant colonial charm speaks to the rise of this great city as a hub of trade, commerce, and later, knowledge. Today, on the Downtown peninsula, everything else has been replaced by modern skyscrapers. But the Fresno Hotel sits at the majestic tip of "the peninsula" and at the bend of the Acacia River, proudly presenting the city's past and present and looking forward to the city's prosperous future. We carefully preserved the Fresno Hotel as a piece of the city's heritage and public memory.

The back of the Fresno Hotel.

Acacia is known for and named after the Acacia trees that line up its many streets. At the downtown waterfront promenade, Acacia trees provide natural beauty and shelter.

[Libertyville 164]

Today, I'm updating the Ferris Wheel area, the Acacia Flyer.

[Libertyville 164]

[Libertyville 164]

The big Thanksgiving update!

Acacia is growing. Residents are moving into "satellite towns" that ring the city core and are connected by transit. 

I'm showing one satellite town Foothill. Satellite towns like Foothill are centered around MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), metro subway, and buses. They are designed to be self-containing towns with a variety of residential choices, commercial, and offices. Note that in Acacia, the public transit system is complex and advanced. Its multi-layered transit system includes Rail (between the city and external), MRT (connecting major centers), Metro Subway (frequent stops), BRT (buses that stop at major centers), buses, and trolleys/trams. 

Foothill currently has a four-track elevated MRT station, integrated with a Metro station and bus stops. 

High-density living is both resource- and land-saving, and high quality. If you question high-density quality, you need to look at Foothill. 

Foothill features different types of high-density housing, from middle-class to luxury. It is divided into districts. Clusters of housing are built by different developers. Skybridges are used to connect areas that are separated by roads and highways. Greenery is planted to create a natural barrier between the highway and the residential community. 

 

Even though no one technically has their own backyard, the town features plenty of parks, playgrounds, trails, and open space. As a big city, Acacia can't afford to have most people living in single-family homes. Instead, we find a way to stack more people into higher-density while creating better quality. 

The Foothill MRT station is brand new. BRT and ordinary buses are just outside the station. The Metro station is across the street. Busy, busy, busy. Since built, this transit center has proven to be highly functional, serving residents from different districts of Foothill. Judging from the pedestrian flow,  I'm satisfied with the good planning. 

Note that "Space Reservation" is a planning philosophy. It means that you reserve space strategically for future development based on anticipated demands. The space around a transit station is especially strategic since it must become a valuable node for people to get to and from. Often, this means that the space around MRTs and Metros is reserved for commercial and office developments. Housing isn't far, but isn't necessarily immediately surrounding the station. The goal is to create a "town center" that is transit-enabled. One can see this as several layers of a ring. At the core, I have the transit center, then the commercial and office layer, and then residential. In the following image, the space outside the MRT is undeveloped, a "temporary park" offers large open space. 

A view toward the MRT elevated tracks. Even as the population increases, Foothill feels very natural. This is accomplished by the planning approach of creating "linkage roads" that have nothing zoned along them. These roads serve as transportation linkages from point a to point b. Stores slow down traffic. In Foothill, cars use linkage roads to quickly go through. Housing and stuff are on smaller roads. So that traffic doesn't block linkage roads. Another beauty of linkage roads is that it creates "green belts" like what you see here. A road clear of everything but trees. Acacia trees are the most common roadside plants. The result is a road for fast traffic and good walking. Additionally, linkage roads have MRT tracks running along them. Yes, the zones are sacrificed to allow MRT tracks, but they are worth it from a traffic perspective. 

Stuff are on the smaller neighborhood streets. You do not have to go far to get groceries and do your daily errands. 

To sum it up, Foothill is an emerging example of a satellite town strategy that puts transit and quality first. 

On different upcoming posts, I will discuss more of my urban planning philosophy in Acacia. 

 

[boformer 3,169]

This is a very impressive city. Especially the screenshots from Oct 31 are very nice.

Can you post a few more aerial shots? Or a Cimtrographer map?

[Libertyville 164]

On 11/26/2016 at 2:36 PM, boformer said:

This is a very impressive city. Especially the screenshots from Oct 31 are very nice.

Can you post a few more aerial shots? Or a Cimtrographer map?

Yes. Here is a the latest regional view at night. The shimmering light of the city and water under moonlight.

Acacia is at 190,000 people. The economy is healthy. All three areas have good demand. The Metro subway system has more than 6,000 people using it. Two airports sit at the far corners of the city. This is a city that's both functional and aesthetic. 

The Downtown Core, which sits at the mouth of the Acacia River. The river bends immediately after it runs inland. This is the historic center of the city. The tip of Downtown is known as Peninsula (hence, the Peninsula metro station). Across the river is the area known as Bend. 

[Libertyville 164]

Meet Empire Square! No visit to Acacia is complete without a visit to Empire Square, the premier shopping and lifestyle district. A labyrinth of streets, majestic hotels, modern lodging choices, and places to shop and eat. 

Currently, two Metro lines intersect at Empire State. The Empire State Metro station serves more than 1,600 riders per week!

Its close proximity to Downtown and natural beauty makes it one more the most expensive places to live. Condos are going through the roof. 

[Libertyville 164]

I've moved on from a city builder, to city painter, and now closer to a city planner. 

Acacia has grown into a metropolis of 200,000 people, with 6,000 riders in the Metro system, several hundreds using trains (regional and MRT), 4000 riders of buses, and two airports. In this update, I will share much more polished images of the city's overall planning. 

I use the concept of "master plan" to illustrate Acacia's transportation master plan and transit master plan.

 

Transportation master plan December 2016

This master plan demonstrates the city's layout, external gateways, freeway system, container ports, and cruise terminals. 

The city sits between two bays, giving it premier access to water and sea trade. There are two major container ports on each coast. There are also two sets of cruise terminals on both coasts. Downtown sits on the west coast, whereas the later developed east coast has become a center for office and technology jobs. 

Gateways

There are four gateways: Northwest, North, East, and South.

Freeways

There is a consistent naming system for freeways. 

NSF: North South Freeway

NBF: North Bay Freeway

IUF: Inter-Urban Freeway

SWF: Southwest Freeway

SEF: Southeast Freeway

I preserved the general freeway framework of the generic map, but made significant changes. Notably, I build the IUF that runs through the downtown core. Much of it is a massive tunnel, or the Downtown Link. 

Transit Master Plan

This master plan describes Acacia's transit systems. The city's transit is layered by a variety of transit options. They vary by not only geographical location, but speed and frequency of stops. The idea is that the multi-layer system would give people multiple ways to get to places.

Transit encompasses buses, Metro (underground subway), MRT (mass rapid transit), external trains, cruise, and airports.

On the following master plan map, you'll see the colored Metro lines: Line 1 (Red), Line 2 (Green), Line 3 (Yellow), Line 4 (Blue), and Line 5 (Orange)

Line 5 is the "Circle Line" that is partially in operation. The line will take many years to complete, as the city develops. 

The master plan also features MRT lines, in double black lines. One runs from the Municipal Airport (northwest) to the Downtown Station. The other starts at the Downtown Station and heads toward the emerging Northeast suburbs, where there will be a significant number of satellite towns. MRT uses regular rail and it can be on the ground, underground, or elevated. 

The idea of the MRT has several aspects: One, it is to provide a fast rail link over longer distances to the suburbs and satellite towns. Two, it is to provide a faster-than-Metro option, as MRTs have fewer stops. This can be seen as an overlay on top of Metro. MRT tends to connect major centers without too many stops between them.  This layered-approach ensure that residents who live or work in the suburbs can commute between various city centers and suburbs efficiently. More MRTs are under planning. 

[Libertyville 164]

Foothill, the prototype of satellite towns.

Foothill is a prototype of satellite towns around the city. These satellite towns are designed to be self-containing, residential towns, linked by mass rapid transit. As the city grows, the need to provide housing increases the need for developing land and expanding public transit. 

A typical town like Foothill has a town center served by MRT/Metro and buses. The town is laid out by "linkage roads" that have no zoning along them. These roads link nodes and neighborhoods with the town center. Zoning occurs on smaller neighborhood streets off linkage roads. Foothill is divided into eight neighborhoods around the town center. They are thus named N1- N8. They are a walking distance to the town center, so as to cover everyone with transit. Residents can do things on foot, thus reducing motor traffic. 

Linkage roads are perfect green belts, lined up by greenery and free from shops and services. They give the town a natural feel. They speed up traffic. They can be easily expanded since there are nothing built along them (except Fire Department facilities, which have priority access to roads). 

Different neighborhoods have their own architectural styles. Generally, these are high-rise, high-density living, intercepted with landed housing (single family units) here and there. My planning philosophy is such that convenience goes hand in hand with a sense of airiness. I do not want residents to feel enclosed by walls of high rise. Instead, parks and green space are everywhere. 

In the case of Foothill, its town center is multi-transit, with both an MRT station elevated and a Metro station underground. This is in preparation for future expansions of the city northward, for which Foothill will become a transit hub. In addition to small parks, there is a sports park that contains more sports and athletic facilities. In principle, single family landed housing are not zoned near the transit station. This is to ensure the most efficient use of transit for the most residents. Single family dwellers often drive and own garages. Thus, they are less prioritized for public transit. It's no big deal to drive around for a few more minutes to get home. 

The town center is the parcels immediately around the MRT station. They are zoned for commercial and office. The linkage road in the above picture is perfectly shaded and a nice route for residents.

This image shows residents of a nearby neighborhood walking to the town center and train stations. It's working as I intended it to do. I also provide short-distance, "neighborhood buses" that run between the neighborhoods and the MRT station. We'll see if these buses are needed and if traffic gets bad. As you can see, the buildings are placed in clusters at a time, signaling that each is a development that resembles the real world. 

 

[Libertyville 164]

merry christmas, everyone.

in this update, i show you the transformation of the downtown central train station area. this update focuses on the "depot village," a run-down part of downtown that has been transformed into a chic shopping and recreation district. 

The past of the Depot area: A gritty part of downtown, in an area between industry warehouses and the downtown CBD

Future goals: A vibrant shopping and lifestyle district of unique identity. It serves travelers of the train station and business activities in downtown. It injects livelihood into Acacia's downtown CBD. Tourists can walk to this attraction from the train station. 

Depot Village Characteristics:

• Restoration and preservation of existing warehouses and transform them into different use.
• Low-rise shops of uniqueness and tourist value.
• Trendy hotels, plazas, pedestrian walkways, and green public spaces
• Narrow streets, transit-prioritized, pedestrian experience.

Among the skyscrapers of downtown, this area provides the much needed sense of open space and sunlight. 

• 

Marriott Courtyard, with its two wings, just opened in Depot Village. The hotel is seamlessly integrated with the pedestrian shopping area, with connected public space and walkways that feel like a whole different place of its own. 

 

The newly restored warehouses on the right give Depot Village a sense of history. These warehouses have been transformed into yuppy lofts, yoga studios, and peace coffee. 

 

Downtown is a stone's throw away. Residents in the Village have great views of downtown. The night view is especially wonderful.

Don't forget that the Depot Village is truly one of the best places to live. Transit is a few steps out the door, buses, metro, and trains. Downtown, the Acacia River is within walking distance. And the beach on the Southern coast is a short bus ride.

Future plans include more greenery to provide for an enjoyable shopping experience. Shops are partially visible in a well-sheltered area by green tops.

And more about the train station area transformation to come.

Any suggestions?

[Libertyville 164]

Old Town sits at the "bend" of the Acacia River, as it winds from the open sea through the city. This area was chosen as the starting point of the city for its sheltered bays, river ways, and close proximity to the ocean. Old Town has been neglected for many years, but has recently gone through a transformation. Today, it is a booming place of small businesses, boutique shopping, and yuppy living. Its streets are pedestrian friendly, transit-enabled, and full of greenery. The Old Town Canal, used for shipping in the old days, have become a parade of historic buildings and urban landscape. Across from the Old Town is the city's Central Business District, or Downtown, built on a peninsula at the mouth of the river and ocean. 

 

in the following figure, cyclists enjoy the lifestyle and great views.

Sip coffee under lush trees, stroll along the historic canal. What can be better?

Every street has bike lanes.

 

The low-rise Old Town is an oasis in the middle of skyscrapers that were necessary to provide business space.

 

 

Wish you were here!

[whiteshark365 563]

I like the spread out scale of your city, and how you managed to balance your detailing work so it looks realistic, yet not going too far overboard. That's one issue I am having with my city, is I am putting too much detailing into it.

Keep up the awesome work, looking forward to the next entry.

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

Very nice city! I feel bad I wasn't following this earlier. The diversity of the detail in all the areas gives this city such life.