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About this City Journal

This City Journal features a full history of the nation this region exists in, with economic, social, and political context also given. l will follow the development of the eastern...

Entries in this City Journal

Retep Molinari
You're going to help me pick tram skins! With a nation-wide light rail expansion, new rolling stock was needed, perticulliary for those cities without existing systems. The government put out a bid for light rail vehicles that matched the following criteria: Low-floor design Can operate as a subway, surface light rail, or elevated rail. Can operate smoothly at speeds up to 60 MPH These specifications were all about making a unified system, long-term cost savings in manufacturing costs, and efficient...
Retep Molinari
As you may have been reading, Balboa led the reunification of all of Syldav Island in 2000. This has resulted in a major construction effort, as outlined here. Sounds great and all, but, uh, how is all of that getting paid for? Here is the immediate plan: Consolidate Military Armies are expensive. Four of them are really expensive. The first move was to consolidate the militaries of Balboa and Syldav and largely disband the militaries of Peotav and Bordav. Many of the no longer needed military men and...
Retep Molinari
A few readers have requested a tour through East Port, and I have not forgotten. Please enjoy! East Port is located to the north-east of Balboa City, and due east from Taraville. It has about 410,000 residents. For full resolution on all pics: Right click image + "View image." Very worth it!! See how many of the landmarks in this post your can spot in this city-wide view! City Hall was built in the 1950s, before downtown was very large at all. The heart of downtown East Port. The city has a strong...
Retep Molinari
Two new redevelopment projects have gone a long way in helping Balboa City rebuild over the past decade. Here are some more of the changes the city experienced. For full resolution on all pics: Right click image + "View image." Very worth it!! The central hospital, built in 1910, was in sore need of expansion. But with local transit routes maxed out, a new option was needed. Room was found within the Western neighborhood Plan to build a brand new hospital.Easily accessible by mss transit, the new hospital...
Retep Molinari
Between 2001-2010, Balboa City underwent two massive redevelopment projects: the Eastern and Western Neighborhood Plans. Each of these areas were massive, if underused, industrial areas. For full resolution on all pics: Right click image + "View image." Very worth it!! In this photo of Balboa City, you can see the finished Western Neighborhood Plan, which Includes most of the land located to the left near the seaport. Between the neighborhood's decline in the 1980s and 2002, a few smaller attempts at...
Retep Molinari
Between 2001-2010, Balboa City underwent two massive redevelopment projects: the Eastern and Western Neighborhood Plans. Each of these areas were massive, if underused, industrial areas. Redevelopment on the eastern side of the city had been discussed for years. With with many well used buildings mixed with the underused ones, it was difficult to create a comprehensive plan. In the fall of 2001, riots stemming from the Balboa-led unification of Syldav (read your history) resulted in the razing of much of...
Retep Molinari
A few quick pics from the northern part of Balboa City. For full resolution on all pics: Right click image + "View image." Very worth it!! First, this is the train station at the tip of the National College for the Humanities, which among other things has the most prestigious history department in Balboa. This is a large park that keeps the neighborhood's 70,000 residents happy and healthy!
Retep Molinari
Eastern Balboa's One Year Anniversary One year ago to the day, after playing Sim City since 1992, I finally took my work public in a Simtropolis City Journal. It has been an absolute joy showcasing my work. Today is the anniversary of beginning my flagship City Journal, Easter Balboa. (right-click, view image for beautiful 1920x1080 resolution) Journal Highlights Over the past year, Eastern Balboa has been very successful, sustaining high readership and ratings: Placement in Simtroplis' Top 12 Journalers...
Retep Molinari
If you type in "historic streetcar" into google image search, the following image from my CJ appears: I just gotta say that I feel very cool right now. If you want to see this image in its original contect, click here or follow the link below. https://www.simtropolis.com/cityjournals/?p=view&id=429&page=18
Retep Molinari
The north-east end of East Port was once the filthy oil power plant that fueled the city located next to a city dump. Once a nuclear power plant was built across the river, the polluting plants were torn down and the garbage was moved elsewhere or burned. Over the years, the land sat empty. The challenge was significant. The area's proximity to the bridge link between Mario City and East Port made any sort of residential or commercial development impractical because of the traffic difficulties....
Retep Molinari
Mario City is my favorite! Plus, I have a a new 23 inch (!) monitor, so I can see my cities as never before. I can't share the full experience with you, but I'll show some new pics of the smallest big city in Balboa! Edit: I just realized that you can see these images in all it's glory: For full-size view: Right-Click+"View image" First, we can see the downtown core, with the rail depot in the center. To the left is the main library, with the entertainment center to the right. The city's main...
Retep Molinari
When building the new capital complex in Taraville, great attention was paid to protecting the island's security. As the following picture shows, the narrow water ways could prove difficult to defend. It was decided to build a cost guard facility on the eastern edge of island, near the train terminal. Construction soon began... As the facility was built, crews worked 24/6 on the access roads. There could be no disruption of rail or road service. The completed facility. To make room for the boats, the...
Retep Molinari
I haven't done many true urban projects lately. What's up with that? Not tons of custom content in this update: just playing with trains. Since the initial tram system was laid in 1907, Taraville has grown into a major city. Since 2000, it has been the capital of the newly united Syldav Union. (Did you miss that saga? You can catch up here.) The corridor shown below has been a source of problems for years. The trams are greatly slowed from climbing the hill and the three curves(two of 90 degrees)....
Retep Molinari
It's Christmas morning in Balboa... A mostly secular nation, Christmas is still celebrated as a winter gathering of family and friends. I never showed many photos from the finished capital built in Taraville. So, as an Xmas gift to all, here is a look: The entire complex (save the President's Mansion to the upper left) The President's Mansion & Grounds. Called the "Great North-Eastern Railway" for a reason: The station was built to connect the capital to new territories in the north and along the east...
Retep Molinari
It's time for a nice, holiday weekened activity! Scavenger Hunt! Aright, lets see if the community here can find everything! (The answers are all in the CJ!) Ready? What city/town uses desalinization plants for its water needs? What city has the region's only 10-platform rail station? What is the name of the primary government facility? (hint: it's in Taraville) Where is this picture from? What city built the first cable-stayed bridge on Syldav Island? (hint: it's in the Eastern Balboa region) What is...
Retep Molinari
Hello! After posting the poll question about East Port's nuke plants, I realized that I haven't shown much from the big city to the east in a while. It's suburb, Mario City, has taken much of the lime light. So I thought I'd share some more photos. By the way, November has been my busiest month, with this being the 7th update so far (making 1 every 3 days!). I've just been excited; what can I say? Anyway, on to the photos! The football statidum is still here, though with much more development around it....
Retep Molinari
Interactive vote! Since the reunification in 2000, the island has embarked on a major civic building campaign. The most famous example of this was the building of a new government complex in Taraville that could handle the new load of work. So, the vote is down below, but first here is some background! The next challenge was to build a transit infrastructure that would physically tie the four sperate regions together How could all of these projects be affordable? It turned out that the reunification had...
Retep Molinari
Last time, you saw that Taraville was selected as the new seat of government for Balboa and Syldav Island. Let's see how the construction is going. (Some photos of the finished product can be found here) I hope you like it The House of Government, which holds the offices of the President and the unicameral congress. Beside it are the departments of Housing, Health, Education, and Social Services. To the south is the Department of Defense and Internal Security. You can see below the transit layouts and that...
Retep Molinari
If you followed all of the events from 1998-2000 (part 1, part 2), you know that Balboa has taken control of all of Syldav Island. This massive accomplishment posed a new questions. Primarily, how would Balboa's government adjust to the new responsibilities? The first order of business was to establish a new capital for the whole island. But many--especially in Syldav--rejected the idea of centralized authority based in Balboa. This proved problematic, as each of the first three options posted real...
Retep Molinari
Eastern Neighborhood Plan-- Balboa City Even in political turmoil, cities keep going. The eastern side of Balboa City had few developments over the years. Besides an ugly industrial sector built in the 1950s and freeways that crossed the river to near by towns, there was lots of open space. In 1996, the Eastern Neighborhood Plan was finalized. The area was to be a mix of homes and jobs with a "transit first" network built in. "Transit first" was the motto of the Eastern Neighborhood Plan. With the western...
Retep Molinari
I hope that you are up on your reading! This gets long, but I am having a blast writing this up! In this section, we will go all the way to the reunification of Syldav Island (Woah, hotness! Where are we going? Wooo!) I dare any other CJer to get into this level of detail! 1995-1997... In 1995, President Samuel McColley appointed his cousin Ted McColley to serve as Balboa's interim President. A competent leader, Ted was never much of a political "leader." Samuel McColley hoped that within a couple of...
Retep Molinari
I know everyone still wants to know what's going down in Teraville, and I promise we're getting there. But first, her's a breakdown of how we got where we are today. Around 1900.. If you've read your history, and you should, you know that in 1898, the region of Balboa, now including most of the southern portion of the Island of Syldav, split to form the Democratic Republic of Balboa. Balboa was designed as the first capitalist democracy on Syldav Island, though democracy was at first limited. The...
Retep Molinari
10,000! I remeber being thrilled when I got over 100 for my first post--I had no idea I'd get so much airtime here. Thank you all! I pride myself that all of my posts have new pics and context, rather than posting empty pages with light updates to bump up my CJ. Everyone's intrest makes me keep clickin on the maps! I had 10 unanswered posts, so I thought I'd take care of them here. Then, since the Mario City Transit was so popular, thought I'd grab a couple new photos for you all! To the comments! From...
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