Arcadia Metro I - Winchester/New Arcadia
Replies
@Ln X: Thank you! Yeah, this was all mostly built before I discovered the existence of proper diagonal fillers and whatnot. I'll likely revisit some of my older areas in the future and give em a good ole facelift. As for multi-tile mosaics, I definitely have some planned for the future. Just need to get my photo editing skills up to snuff and they'll be good to go!
@Themistokles: I live for the region shots
. Thanks for the comment!
@kschmidt: Thanks! I try to take advantage of space when filling up flat land.
@korver: Thanks a lot! Gotta hand it to blunder - his Cascadia controller is godly!
@philforhockey51, @Dreadnought, @raynev1: Thank you very much!
Cities of the Avalon Valley
Welcome to 2015 and the Avalon Valley! This section of the region is part of the Arcadia Metropolitan Region which covers several large cities alongside the Avalon River. As the region develops, this area will eventually be consumed by the even greater Avalon Metro Area. I started building this area towards the end of 2014 into mid 2015, so some of you may find screenshots here that you might've seen before. Without further ado...
1. An overview of the valley. The cities we'll be exploring today include Winchester & New Arcadia.

Winchester
Winchester was built towards the latter end of 2014 into 2015. This city started off as a bedroom community for New Arcadia but eventually developed into a rather major hub itself. Starting from here I started experimenting with new styles from lurking SC4D and from those that I acquired during my return to ST.
Population: 150,000
2. An overview of the city of Winchester, from north looking south.

3. The administrative sector, which lies in the southwestern corner of the city. A curious mix of different government buildings and assorted services.

4. Busy industrial sector located fairly close to the administrative area. This was my first time playing around with any semblance of a rail network with these rail yards.

5. The largest park in the city, located fairly close to downtown.

6. The primary downtown core. My original goal was to have a largely medium-density dominated skyline. However, my skyscraper happy self always manages to find a way...

7. A closer look at downtown. Downtown is dominated by many different architectural styles. With few exceptions, all of the skyscrapers were grown without much pruning.

8. The secondary downtown core towards the northeast. Originally a suburban office center that gradually expanded into several high rises.

9a. BEFORE: The highlight of the city is the primary interchange in the heart of the city known colloquially as the 'Chester, which connects downtown with the A-10 and A-215 freeways. The original route was often congested and was in need of an upgrade.*
* to be honest, no one uses the road so I used traffic generators instead GG ![]()

9b. AFTER: The upgrade was done with an increase in capacity and beautification of the surrounding area. Engineers also managed to devise an ingenious method to relocate the St.Paul Cathedral in order to make way for a new avenue underpass.

10. A bonus full mosaic of the interchange and surrounding area from the NAM showcase challenge a while back. A decorative W which symbolizes the city lies between the A-10 west to downtown connector loop. Despite all the improvements, planners and engineers alike once again forgot to build a north -> west connector... ![]()
11. Another angle of the beast.

12. A small patch of nature between the A-215 northbound connector and A-10. A dirt path snakes under A-10 towards the St. Paul Cathedral.

13. A jumble of highway ramps on A-215. No one seems to be using the fast lane at all.

14. A new substation marks the first exit of the northbound spur route A-215.

New Arcadia
Due east of Winchester is the city of New Arcadia, the largest city of the Avalon Valley Metropolitan Area. Like Winchester, this city was developed largely in the early portions of 2015 where I started experimenting heavily with different styles. As such, you may find this city to be well... a mess. ![]()
Population: 460,000
15. An overview of the city.

16. A power corridor with an incorrectly aligned pylon. As long as it works right?
17. Industry along the highway near the local airport.
18. Some gridbusting suburban areas.
19. Projects located near downtown.
20. Stadium and convention center near downtown. I think I'm finally in a good state to attempt some re-lots of these in the future.

21. Interchanges abound! New Arcadia features several major highway junctions. This T-junction connects the A-10 with local bypass route A-310.

22. A-310 goes from southbound to eastbound at the Twister. An unsigned southbound route and a local avenue meet here as well. My ST return screenshot!
23a. BEFORE: Yet another junction that was met with upgrades. This short highway stub connects a downtown parkway with the A-310.

23b. AFTER: With NAM 33 Pre came L1 and wider flyover support. Some MMP and mast lighting improvements were also added to spice up the boring original. Eventually those lights will be torn down in favor of shorter ones.

24a. BEFORE: Downtown at night in its first iteration before I turned into a skyscraper nut:

24b. AFTER: Post-skyscraper frenzy. Regardless, being able to have such a sheer amount of unique BATs grow is certainly mesmerizing to watch. The night shots are definitely worth sacrificing some realism for that supertall concrete jungle.

25. A final daytime overview of New Arcadia.
For Next Time
We'll move eastwards towards the original city of Arcadia and surrounding suburban communities.
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