skellehe

I would vote for a farm. Maybe it's just me but a fish hatchery doesn't sound like something interesting to go and see (a landmark) nor like something I'd like to live near (a park).

Mike Davis took the train south with a new Simnation Town Charter in his hand. he was let off at a small whistle stop after a conductor of the train promised this was the land he was allotted. Coincidentally, Davis should have gone the next map over to build his town. Luckily, no one back in the capital ever bothered to notice. On the back of a napkin, Davis sketches the basic plan for his town. Very soon, other disillusioned Harrison citizens as well as the usual squatters and drifters start to fill up his town. Vowing to top Harrison in all aspect of city life, but most importantly the really noticeable ones, Davis builds a baseball diamond which he names after himself in the center of town and starts to scout and recruit the best baseball talent for many miles around. Stories abound of Davis riding trains for 18 days in a row to find the stars for his team. Some baseball fans in Harrison claim Davis repeatedly raids the sandlots of their town for good players. No one can prove these stories though. While Davis is off obsessing about beating Harrison, the town starts to grow quite well since it is left to its own devices. A developer even builds a row of townhomes in the center of the city which at this point stick out just a bit. The residents of town are especially proud to watch the building of a large church, St. Peter's on the edge of town. One night the newly laid out cemetary behind the church is suddenly filled with tombstones! No one can say how this happened, but they do comment quite often about how nice it looks. Upon returning to his town from a lengthy scouting trip, Davis is amazed at how well his town has grown. Using town money, he builds himself a large estate on the edge of town. Sent by his son-in-law to spy out Kinsella, Zebulon Banks took this snapshot of the new town. -- Notes -- Thanks to BarbyW for help with the Sweet Lilanie farm problem. Also, my apologies for posting earlier in the 'wrong' forum.

Zebulon Banks forgot to send out his most recent view of the town from his balloon.

Many things have been happening including the birth of three towns around Harrison. However, Colonel Carlin's father-in-law, Zebulon Banks, only likes taking pictures of Harrison. We'll have to wait for somone to build an airport to get some other pictures of the towns. In town, many things have been happening. The location near the Salato Central line proved to be a wise move by the Colonel. Most citizens tend to give more credit to Mr. Worthington, Carlin's advisor. Pressure from growing residential areas made the first freight depot inadequate. The town council, which meets in the top floor of Burgiss' Pub, decided it was time to demolish the depot and construct a larger freight station further out. A quick snap shot of the demolition After the construction of the SC Railroad freight station, some industry started to appear nearby. As the center of town grows more prosperous, Rick Edwards, owner of the Edwards Organic Food Stand, starts to feel pressure from other businessmen to move to allow more 'respectable' business to use the lot. Edwards is especially insulted by the campaigning of Washland owner, Big Jim McBrien. However, in the end Edwards concedes and moves out toward the main roads. Colonel Carlin, in a move of great nobility, decides as a concession to name the road after Edwards to ease the pain. Here's the new location. After Mr. Edwards leaves, the empty lot is bought by a new arrival, Dr. Seymour Feinstein who builds a small clinic on the site. Most citizens are happy to have modern medicine arriving in Harrison. Big Jim McBrien tries to raise a stink since he is a firm believer in castor oil as a cure for all ailments, but no one listens this time. As the town grows, more families take up residence. To eliminate children running wild all day long, the town council upon the initiative of Ms. Fran Tyler builds the first school in Harrison. With all these great developments, the citizens decide to award Colonel Carlin. One evening in Burgiss' Pub, local farmer Mike Davis points out how little Carlin actually does, but he is quickly hushed. The residents take up a collection and build a statue to Colonel Carlin on the Common. After droves of people come out to see the unveiling, Mike Davis decides he is fed up with Harrison, sells his farm and takes the first train across the Salato vowing to build a town that is run with at least a degree of common sense and awareness.....

Pierre Dubois LeCitron and his wife Louisa built a large lemon farm on the eastern edge of Harrison. Louisa quickly gets bored of sitting all day in her country home, so she nags Pierre to build her a lemon stand. They build it near the Nursery Supply to hit the thirsty farm worker market. As his lemon farm booms, LeCitron turns to the cleaning product business building himself a factory near the rail line. After only a few years, the town of Harrison from the hot air balloon of Colonel Carlin's father-in-law. Prominent even from this distance is the Methodist Church, Carlin's house near the river and the newly built passenger station. ----- Note ----- In case anyone is interested, the map is the Harrisburg map from mallowtheclouds pack of maps. I guess I wasn't too original in my name, huh.

Despite Colonel Carlin's pompous style of administration, the town grows very quickly due to fertile farm land in the area. The sudden growth does lead to a few small problems early on. People begin to complain about freight traffic leading out toward the Salato Central depot north of town. To end the endless complaints of the citizenry, Carlin designates streets in the center of town as off-limits to trucks. After this declaration, he is forced to listen to complaints of truckers who now have to take a more round about route to the depot. Meanwhile, Carlin's wife, Elizabeth, pressures the colonel to build a fire station on the town common. After witnessing a flour mill go up in flames during her childhood, she has always been obsessed with fire safety. Most of the citizens of Harrison have no idea what the concept of fire safety is though. Probably this will lead to some unfortunate occurrence later on. As the town grows, the town common becomes a natural meeting place for people. An intrepid businessman, Jim Burgiss, builds a pub on the corner by the common itself. Methodist minister, Rev. Albert Davis, tries to discourage people from freqenting the pub, but fails miserably and Burgiss becomes a prominent member of the community. Next door, a Wilson's Farm is built much to the delight of the fire fighters who like to stop in for cheap snack cakes and Cokes.

Harrison... Some time ago, the government of Simnation decided to build a new railroad through the Salato river valley. The engineers utilized Ramona's Isle at the midpoint of the bridge since they did not trust their engineering abilities enough to build a really loooonnng bridge. Soon after, Colonel Byron Carlin IV obtained a charter from the goverment to establish a new town. He chose to build the town on the bluffs overlooking the Salato. He and his close advisor, Montrell Worthington, designed the town to sit around a town common. More to come very shortly! --------- Notes --------- Similar to my city journal, Memphis, TN, I use a ton of BATs especially the BSC farming lots. However, I removed most of the 1x1 farms because I like the farms with buildings better than the small ones. I don't use cheat mods, but I do have the bridge height mod, the query upgrade mod, parks with jobs, no one way arrows and the Prevent IR mod. The only 'cheat' I do is to go back to God Mode to put in trees to fill out the area instead of having barren land.

Now, back to the happenings in Memphis itself. The town has grown well thanks to the establishment of the two major avenues through town, Route 213 and Route 19. Due to the growth, the Southern-Central Railroad has built its new line through the Memphis area. Above: The rail road cuts through some of the empty land in town to avoid too much interference to established homes or businesses. The engineers decided to build a tunnel under 213 to keep from stalling traffic when trains pass through. Above: In the marshlands, the town constructed a tower for residents to climb to take in the breathtaking view of the city as well as try to spot wildlife. Local businessman, Sylvester McBrien claims to have spotted an elephant, but this claim is not commonly believed by the residents of Memphis. Above: Slightly to the north of the freight station, more industry has been built up around the Wastetech plant. Above: The SC Rail freight station. This is in the previously undeveloped southeastern part of the town. The farm supply company moved its business from the center of town to the outskirts. Some industry has sprung up around the freight station as well. Above: North of the marshlands, more land has been brought into cultivation as well as more residential areas built. The Franciscans built a monastery next to the Anne's Creek. Weekend retreats have become quite popular with people in the region. That's it for now. Coming soon should be a view of the whole city of Memphis as well as some shots of the smaller towns along the roads.

Many things have been happening in and around the town of Memphis. First we'll look at the region wide view of the growth. Above: Two neighboring towns have been founded Above: Further growth along the two major roads through the region. Now, a look at what's happening in the neighboring towns. Above: This is a view of Templeton which is situated to the north of Memphis. It's just a small sleepy little town. The residents tend to go to Memphis for any diversions. A few stores are present here to provide the basics. Above: Here is an early shot of Shelby situated east along newly designated Route 19. The first residents of the town quickly acted to build an 'old' church as well as a Taco Bell. Above: A reverse shot of Shelby after much development. The new Southen-Central Railroad has a small freight depot built on the edge of town.

Alright, now for the city itself. Early on I want to create a solid farming community, so I have decided to try using blobs of cultivated land separated by wide greenbelts of trees. Instead of using many power lines, houses and shops on the main roads will connect power. Above: The center of town at the crossroads of the Marshallville (north-south) and Shelby (east-west) roads. The local organic hawkers have set up their stand right at the intersection for the best exposure. The Garden Supply and Farm Supply centers sit toward the edge of the 'downtown' area. The 1st Presbyterian Church of Memphis was built early on to give the people some entertainment on their day off from farm work. Above: To the south of the downtown, the Lutherans built their church right on the main road. The farmer's market and some larger stores stand at this intersection. Above: To the east of town, on the way out to Shelby, the large Farmer's Co-op dominates the roadside and the WasteTech plant sits off on a side road for trash disposal. Above: On the northern edge of town, some marsh lands act as a barrier for development. These lands provide a habitat for local wildlife as well as a potential site for recreational areas for citizens as the town grows larger. To come: Development is planned in Memphis along the Marshallville road toward the town line. After a couple years, a feud in the local churches has caused some families to leave town to start farming the surrounding lands. Look for the birth of Shelby and Marshallville in the near future. Comments and pointers and snide remarks are of course welcome!

I've lurked for a long time here at Simtropolis and finally decided to put up a CJ. Actually, it will be more of a photoessay as I develop this region as I won't really be creating a story. A few notes before the pictures: - The region was from the Map Squad compilation of 20 or so maps. I live in Memphis so I chose the Memphis map, but I am not going to try to recreate the city. - I like rural regions best. I plan to try to develop out in several directions from my starting city long before I really start to build up. If you like blocks of skyscrapers, then you'll be disappointed here. - I don't use cheat mods, but I do have the bridge height mod, the query upgrade mod, parks with jobs, no one way arrows and the Prevent IR mod. - I am using a ton of BATs. Many many thanks to the good folks at the BSC and CSX. The farming BATs will be prominent early on. Here's the region. I picked this site because it is basically where the downtown area of Memphis actually is.