City Journal: Recreation of Atlanta

[marv3fan 0]

Hey guys.

So I've been in love with SC for years. My main thing that keeps drawing me back to the game, and I'm sure I'm not alone (*cough*edmonton*cough* ) is the possibility of recreating a city. Well, with Rush Hour the game focuses on transportation. I live in Atlanta. Atlanta is like no other city in the world when it comes to trnasportation. We have one of the, if not the, worst traffic problems in the country. We have the busiest airport in the world. We also have a mass transit system (MARTA) that could be interesting to translate. So so far I've taken the Atlanta map from rebel13, and I've lined it up in GoogleEarth to kind of give me some direction. The geography of Atlanta may make this project difficult. Atlanta is a hilly city, and you've got the Chattahoochee River that makes up some of the borders of Fulton County. The map from rebel13 is extremely suburb oriented. Most of Douglas and Dekalb counties are covered, about 90% of each. Atlanta is covered, but Hapeville and College Park are not. In fact, the Airport is also just off the map. I will have to maybe make another region so I can put on the rest of Fulton county and Henry county. All of Gwinnett is on the map, as is all of Forsyth. As you'll see, most of Atlanta's population lives in it's suburbs. About 10% lives in the city of Atlanta. This is why the trnasportation system is so important. So like I said, this is more of a transportation project for myself. I will, though, work on buildings as well. I'm particularly interested in the sports arenas. Philips Arena is beautiful. The Georgia Dome will be a fun BAT project.

Sorry if I didn't make the description right, but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. I will either be starting in Alpharetta (where I live) or in Atlanta.

Tim

[jmjselect 0]

I live in gwinnett,

atlantians have the longest travel time, i think LA has the worst traffic and we are up there too. and yeah its because atl is spread out.


can't wait dude, i'm looking foward to the grady curve, that'll be interesting.

[SYM Productions 7]

Ooh... a new re-creation!  Good luck with it!

- CDI_spy

[Chicagolife 0]

hey i live in Clayton County the hampton area,

but any ways i cant wait to see how the airport comes out and Marta.

GOOD LUCK

[ten1902 4]

if your computer can handle it, i suggest making a huge region, ranging from douglasville on the west to stone mountain in the east, and alpharetta in the north to maybe jonesboro in the south...i know this will be a huge ingame region, but if u want a realistic recreation of ATL then u gotta include all these areas...maybe you can skimp a little in the west, but douglassville lines up almost perfectly with cobb/paulding county line, so i think that would be a good place to end

btw i lived in vinings and worked in buckhead and sandy springs for about 7 years, so if u need any help or ideas around there i can certainly help

[Superchan 23]

sounds great.

[cnystrom1 1]

great i wanted someone to try atlanta... but i couldnt i live nowhere near there, and i have no knowledge of almost anything but the massive sprawl of atlanta

[Brianga26 7]

hey I live in Cobb County.. you know.. the long white mile.. (75 is the worse traffic anywhere in the city). I am looking forward to your CJ. Keep me updated, and let me know if you need any help

[jmjselect 0]

I thought 400 was? I remember a while ago they were doing construction on that near where it ends on either 85 or 75 or whichever hw and they cutoff all lanes except one. that had to of sucked

[ten1902 4]

Date: 1/31/2006 6:52:30 PM Author: Brianga26 hey I live in Cobb County.. you know.. the long white mile.. (75 is the worse traffic anywhere in the city)

i gotta respectfully disagree with you...85 is a whole lot worse, from spaghetti junction all the way up to jimmy carter is the worst afternoon traffic, people from Gwinnett just CANNOT DRIVE!!!!

 

[pnorrell 4]

Great - I'm from Carrollton originally. Another example of Atlanta's urban sprawl. When I was a kid, it would have been generous to consider it part of metro Atlanta (we liked to, but it's 45 miles away and closer to the Alabama line) but over the past 20 years a larger and larger percentage of the population commutes to Atlanta to work every day. It's now a local phone call and Carrollton's part of an 18-county local calling area that comprises two area codes. It used to be the largest in the country and I would guess it still is.

You know you can expand existing regions by editing the .bmp - you could add as much of the suburbs as you want, but you'd have to hand-terraform them...

[Cody02 0]

This sounds great, all though I'm not from Atlanta. But I am from Memphis, so it would be cool to see a recreation of a city in the south. I can't wait to see all the suburbs, freeways and mass transit. I like transportation CJ's and realistic ones, I hope you try for some good realism. Can't wait for the first update, if I like it I'll stay with this CJ!

 

~Cody02~

[dev 47]

I'm only 2 hours away from Atlanta...love the city, it's great! I would LOVE to see this in SimCity...it would be awesome...

At one point jbizzle was creating Turner Field, which would have been cool, but he dropped the project...

Anyways, I wish you well, and really hope to see this!

Remember there are a few NDEX buildings that are based on Atlanta buildings...you can't miss them on the STEX. There is also a MARTA skin for the Elevated Rail I believe...

[MiniMark 7]

Alright another re-creation. I just Love how people take the time and make these so realistic. (hats off to you TJD for making Edmonton). From the Olympics, to Coca-Cola to the Thrashers to the Braves to the Hawks and the Falcons I cant wait to see work on this project! By the way welcome to Simtropolis

[Simian30125 0]

The recreation of Atlanta will be very cool. I live in Cedartown out near the Alabama border and now we're starting to get the sprawl from Atlanta and Rome lol. Good luck.

[mindmercury 0]

I live in Stone Mountain, 20 miles from downtown.  I'm really excited to see a recreation of the ATL area and good luck!  The streets here really make no sense but atleast the trees make it pretty.

[FieryMtns 2]

If I were you, I'd figure out the Interstate system first, especially the strange and curvy route through downtown. Then I would at least get the basic layout of Atlanta's streets. That's going to be a real pain, since Atlanta's roads are hardly a grid, and SC4 only lets you do 45% angles.

I've often thought of recreating Atlanta, but the problem I'm most concerned with is the layout of skyscrapers. SC4 generally wants skyscrapers to be clumped together in one CBD, but Atlanta has clusters of skyscrapers all along Peachtree Street. You're going to have to figure out how to get all the traffic onto Peachtree Street if it's going to look right.

[ten1902 4]

it shouldnt be too much trouble to have all the skyscrapers along peachtree, as there are only a couple in buckhead, mostly mid-rises in midtown.  downtown is actually a grid of about 20 square blocks, so just zone that high density.

 

i know that its currently impossible to make a highway as big as 75/85, but i would just keep the highways seperate and run them side by side.  its not perfect, but if you want as much capacity as in RL then thats the best way to do it.

 

also you should find someone to make the atlanta financial center...if you live in atl or have ever traveled on 400S thru buckhead you know its a very unique building and is an absolute must for any ATL recreation(not to mention how cool it would look in game)

 

[marv3fan 0]

OK, still totally commited to this. I may have to make a new region map, though. I'm still trying to come up with a plan to start as well. I do think the highway system is going to be very tough, especially downtown. I'm confident I'll figure something out. I'm also confident it wont be perfect but it will be the best you can get it. ;P. I'll keep everyone updated, of course. I plan to really start on Monday when I get a long day off of work. The days up until then will be coming up with a plan for the new region. This CJ may be alittle boring while I'm just planning, so I apologize for that. But I know I'll get pictures and all that fun stuff up eventually so sit tight.

Tim

[jgehrts 18]

I was just in Atlanta for the past week. I'll love to see a re-creation of the Centennial Olympic Park ... and the insane traffic. MARTA was interesting to ride from the airport to downtown (stayed at the Hyatt -- I'm sure glad it was paid for!!!!).

[marv3fan 0]

i did a little research with my wife last night for valentines day... got a reservation at the westin on teh 68th floor... we were directly north of i85/75 from wehre its south of the city.. so if we looked otu the west side we could see centennial olympic, philips, the goergia dome (had to stretch for that one), and the geogia aquarium.. if we lokoed out straight youc oudl see where the north/south marta line went underground... you could see the i20/i75-85 cloverleaf.. turner field was right south of us.. teh capital was right there.. we were right above the equitable building and close to the gp building... if we looked out the east side we could see the grady curve in its entirety.. very very cool...

it put me in awe... i cant wait to go back and get a reservation for the tower facing north.. it wasnt too shabby either at $145 for the night... that soudns like a lot but the view in itself was worth $300 for the tiem we got to enjoy it.

[pnorrell 4]

Date: 2/5/2006 1:10:35 AM
Author: marv3fan
i did a little 'research' with my wife last night for valentines day... got a reservation at the westin on teh 68th floor... we were directly north of i85/75 from wehre its south of the city.. so if we looked otu the west side we could see centennial olympic, philips, the goergia dome (had to stretch for that one), and the geogia aquarium.. if we lokoed out straight youc oudl see where the north/south marta line went underground... you could see the i20/i75-85 cloverleaf.. turner field was right south of us.. teh capital was right there.. we were right above the equitable building and close to the gp building... if we looked out the east side we could see the grady curve in its entirety.. very very cool...


it put me in awe... i cant wait to go back and get a reservation for the tower facing north.. it wasnt too shabby either at $145 for the night... that soudns like a lot but the view in itself was worth $300 for the tiem we got to enjoy it.

quote>

Did you eat at the Sundial? I know, I know - cliche... Every tall hotel has a rotating restaurant at the top these days but the views from there are truly spectacular...

[jacqulina 162]

great start looking forward to pics

[jgehrts 18]

Date: 2/5/2006 1:10:35 AM
Author: marv3fan
i did a little 'research' with my wife last night for valentines day... got a reservation at the westin on teh 68th floor...

quote>

The Westin is soooo tall. However, if somebody asks you if you need help finding where you're going -- and they're not in a uniform -- just say no. They'll want money, even if they take you the wrong direction.

There's a steakhouse right by the Westin... I suggest checking it out.

[profecy 2]

good luck, cant wait to see it,  i sister-in-law lives in Atlanta

[kristinaswan 2]

When is this going to get started?  I live in Midtown so I am quite anxious to see it grow!  We do have some amazing architecture here so to see a few buildings from the Atlanta Skyline would be awesome to say the least.  The IBM tower in Vinings (US41&Akers Mill Rd) is one of my favorites....not sure exactly how tall but guessing about 45-50 floors, simple, black glass/steel, and ominous yet elegant looking.  Buckhead has a few exquisite buildings as well.  I can see how the interstates would be a pain to recreate though...downtown connector has limited options for in game play i think.  Hope to see this get going soon.

[Bobo13 0]

I am interested to see this project when it is finished. I live in Cobb county just north of Marietta. I also agree it has the worst traffic in the country. My dad's job requires him to  travel through atlanta everyday, he can easily travel 100 miles in a workday and still be within the atlanta area. He goes crazy when there is traffic. 400 is the worst, Sonny should get rid of the Stinkin' toll booth. I also want to see the bank of america building, it is the tallest. It would also be cool if you put in a BAT of the New Aquarium.

[baabaaloo 0]

all i can say is, good luck on this one.... Off Topic: w00t my first post on the new ST. PARTY!!<img alt="" src="/forum/i/expressions/39.gif" />

[alexr15 2]

I'm from Peachtree City. Can't wait to see the hometown in SC4!

[Micah 16]

Can't wait for the building of Atlanta!