Kiwiwriter

I am building a region from the original Maxisland, and my daughter and her pals have cities in it, too. So far, I have three cities, North, Central, and South Bronx, named for where my father's family lived. The names should be self-explanatory...they are basically stacked, top, center, bottom. I have designed them pretty much according to standard grid-irons...I'm a big fan of Hausmannization, I guess. This city is a replacement for East Passaic, which kept locking up and kicking me out. By then, North and South Bronx were finished, so I had to replace East Passaic, which was an economic connection for the region...exporting power and water, while providing jobs for both cities. To the west is Hoon Hay, a New Zealand-style city, named for a neighborhood in my beloved Christchurch. To the east is Mayor Tutorial. I downloaded a bunch of mods from this site, and one of them seems to be boosting my tax collection, so I started off with connecting highways and avenues. The highways and avenues all connect off-map. I'm having both log-in and photo trouble with the program, so we'll have to wait for the photos. In the interim, the population is about 7,000, and the city has a country club, a resort hotel, a cemetery, a church, and a lot of high-value residential. More later as I can figure this technology out!

Just found this discussion group of the forum...sounds like the place for me. When not playing SC4, writing free-lance articles, and caring for my family, I am a Public Information Officer for Newark, NJ, the third-oldest city in the United States and the largest in New Jersey, with a population of 475,000. I write the mayor's speeches...and sometimes he even uses them. I also do press releases for the city, and liaise directly with engineering, Neighborhood and Recreational Services, as well as the police, and work on major events, like the groundbreaking for the New Jersey Devils Arena in September. For me, it's interesting to see how SC4 models real cities and vice versa, as well as the differences between real cities and SC4. There are plenty and they are manifold, but I find the similarities fascinating, and the differences nothing to complain about, but to remark upon. So let me look through here before I start shooting my mouth off about Newark vs. SimCity 4. And a Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans in the group.

Date: 11/23/2005 2:21:45 AM Author: frndofyaweh So you are the one, I told the geneology story to?! Interesting final point, Kiwiwriter. Wish I could say the same about printing newspapers. Please! Do not run yet. I am a pressman, not a reporter. I just make the ink look nice and register pages. I enjoy writing, but I do agree with you about agendas; I will never make a good cutthroat reporter, Thank God. Also see your point on City councils. We had a tough time with our last council, not only, did they not agree, but making meetings into a grudge fest, became a top priority. citizens finally had enough. This years elections, saw some new faces. What I see in your descriptions of real city life and issues is; many ideas for new BAT projects. I am not sure anyone has modeled, even the first salt truck or water shed. quote> Sorry about the double-postings earlier, I was answering each note to me in turn. I'll be more careful in future. I don't beat up newspaper folks...I used to be one myself...for 10 years. It was interesting work. A young man's game at some levels. I found SC4 has a snapshot program, so I'll use that as soon as I can. Salt trucks and watersheds...yes, they aren't there in SC4. Watershed is really the term for a land that has the reservoir on it. In our case, we own a vast swatch of high ground in the Watchung mountains near Pequannock, where our water comes from. It also hosts our day camp, as I mentioned. Salt trucks...very serious stuff in city management. In Newark, the Assistant Business Administrator is in charge of snow removal operations. We open the Emergency Operations Center, and muster the sanitation division and its trucks and salt-spreaders. Having done this for decades on end, we pretty much know which streets require massive salt-spreading and snow-plowing. We have to prioritize, with emergency response centers first, primary roads second, and so on. We also have to repeatedly salt and plow hills and curved roads to prevent accidents. The county plows county roads in Newark (most of the major streets, which helps us) and the state and feds address their highways. NJ Transit takes care of the City Subway, Penn Station, the train tracks, and their properties. The Port Authority takes care of the airport and seaport. And so on. It's interesting stuff, so I'll probably just open up a thread on Differences between SC4 and Real Cities. There are actually a lot more similarities than you might imagine.

Date: 11/22/2005 10:01:23 AM Author: frndofyaweh KiwiWriter: After reading your bio, I am anxious to say hello to you! HELLO Kiwi! I too, Practice my writing skills on-line. Although my editing leaves a bit to be desired, I do enjoy a proper conversation, now and again. Oh, the pressure you must endure. Me? I would most likely cry all over the condolences, before the mayor could have a look. If I were one of those children; I would take comfort in knowing, my parent protected and served and risked all, to make my world a better place to grow up. A rather harsh statement, but at least, something significant to hold to. Anyways, welcome to ST, KiwiWriter! I am glad to see a familiar person, charactistically speaking. quote> Thanks for the note. I have the competitive edge in typing of my father teaching me to do 110 words per minute when I was a kid. I had to. The condolence letters are usually sent to widows and adult children of old folks, often cops and firefighters, who have died peacefully in their 80s, thank goodness, and are more tributes to lives spent in service to their city than mourning over tragedy. However, I am required to write letters to parents of kids killed in fires, homicides, accidents, and other tragedies, and I have written every letter from the Mayor to the families of Newark residents killed in Iraq. It is hard to write those letters...especially the ones to the families of cops and firefighters killed in the line of duty. The job alternates between high pressure (eight assignments and a speech at once) and days with very little to do. It's not a happy medium...it's feast or famine. Like most jobs, it's 90 percent routine. You write the same releases and letters over and over again, and do the same events, and tell people for the 800th time the phone number for birth certificates...usually after hearing, This problem is complicated, so I have to start from the beginning...first there were the dinosaurs... and half an hour later, after hearing the caller's family history from medieval Spain to the present, he or she says, So I need my birth certificate. At that point, I only need to say the following, 733-6510. Have a good day. That keeps me from strangling the caller. The 10 percent that is not is often very interesting...breaking ground for a new hockey arena...launching our new police aviation division...hosting the Newarks of the World reunion...handling press conferences for the torture and starvation of three brothers back in 2003...meeting Samuel Jackson and Ron Howard as they shoot movies in City Hall. It makes up for the routine. But I do recommend the job. It has one advantage over the civilian world. You're not helping make a profit for some already wealthy man. You're working to bring a better life -- even in a small way -- to your neighbors and fellow residents. You're achieving the mission. That's a great emotional reward.

Date: 11/21/2005 3:24:09 PM Author: SamFlash Welcome to Simtropolis. You'll have a good time here and it will be interesting to hear your commentary on the differences between SC4 and running a real city.  I once spent 3 weeks in New Zealand as part of a television crew.  It is an incrediably beautiful and spotlessly clean country with some very warm and friendly people.  I've always wanted to go back but have never found the time.quote> You're a lucky fellow...what were you doing in New Zealand? Yes, your take on the nation is exact...beautiful, clean, warmest and friendliest people on earth. I only met one jerk in the whole country. Even the Prime Minister goes around with just one bodyguard. One big difference in SC4 and real cities is that you have more power over the city than in real life. In reality, a fractious City Council, with its own agenda, is often in conflict with the mayor, by virtue of its fiduciary authority. Banks are more powerful in real cities than Sim Cities. You also deal with far more interest and lobby groups, as well as an often hostile media, with their own agendas. You also have to provide a lot more services in real life than in SC4. For example, in real life, Newark's Department of Engineering has a motor pool and garage, as well as the traffic and signals shop, which makes and repairs traffic lights and signs (and makes banners for events). These properties take up space in the real Newark. Sanitation has its own motor fleet and repair shops. The Police Department also has more property than in the game...in addition to the Police Academy and firing range, we also have a Communications Center and a Property Building, where we store evidence. The Fire Department also has a separate academy, but I've downloaded that lot from this site. Real cities like Newark have Law Departments, City Clerk's Offices, and other agencies that are not shown directly in the game. SC4 also lacks ordinary weather...no rain, no snow, no hail. In reality, our Sanitation Division has to mobilize regularly in winter to clear the roads, and our Water and Sewer Utilities Department has to clean out gutters and drains to cope with flooding during heavy storms. And heavy rains also knock down tree limbs and short out power lines, as occurred on my block at 4 a.m. one night...that set fire to a tree out front, which was scary. Another important difference is the water supply. Newark has its own watersheds at Pequannock, which are vast reservoirs that supply our city with water. We own the land and run major pipes from Pequannock to the city, which gives us better water than people would expect. In addition, the Pequannock Watershed serves as a day and overnight camp for Newark children (my daughter uses it) in summer, and a fishing area for adults. The day camp is free, but we sell the fishing licenses. The game does not have reservoirs and watersheds of that nature...you have to use pumps and aquifers, or desalinization. Also, day camps and similar recreation programs should be in SC4. Junior Sports simulates our recreation programs, but day camps involve physical property. City government expands out of City Hall once a city hits higher population levels. Our City Hall is a historic building, and will be 100 years old tomorrow. It's a beautiful structure, but we had to build a City Hall Annex in 1921, a separate Police Headquarters, a separate Municipal Court building, a separate Fire Headquarters, and separate structures for the Departments of Finance and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Police/Fire Communications Center. Newark has a population of 475,000. Once you hit such population levels, you should be required or be given as a reward, additional government buildings beyond the Landmark Bureau of Bureaucracies. These would handle various functions. Department of Health and Human Services has a health clinic on-site, which provides flu shots and medical treatment for city folks. It also operates meals-on-wheels programs, senior and children's care programs, and oversees functions like lead abatement. SC4 is a great planning tool and educational tool for learning about how cities function. I've learned a great deal about zoning -- which does not exist in Japan -- from SC4, and I can now see the chop lines on zoning when I travel about New York. You also realize the importance of Hausmannization, 16th Sections, and pre-planning. I always leave gaps in my cities for superhighway constructions, so I don't have to do demolitions later. This as compared with older American and European cities. I urge every SimCity player to get their hands on The Power Broker, by Robert Caro, which is the life of Robert Moses. He's the ultimate SimCity player, having built New York's range of housing projects (also lacking in SC4), parks, and superhighways. That book won the Pulitzer for biography. Moses built the modern New York, but whether he built it the right way is the question of the book. Also read The City in History by Lewis Mumford, the famous architect and social critic. Another missing element from SC4 is the unpleasant one...the deals and corruption that taint many cities in America. Newark has had its share of problems over the years...three former Councilmen and a Mayoral Chief of Staff went to prison in the 1990s, but not as bad as Jersey City, Tammany Hall, and the Daley machine. I guess the shady business deals and the like cover that aspect of urban government. It is possible to create the Jersey City that Frank Hague ruled...heavy on industry, lousy schools, but a rich mayor...but I don't think I'd want to.

Thanks for the warm welcomes. Let me figure out the Simtropolis disk and how to take photos of my cities, and I'll start providing descriptions of their growth. The short version...my favorite element has to be being able to name all features, from streets to large buildings. My daughter insists on an Abington Avenue School, which is hers, and Wallis's House, Vera's House, Chloe's House, Jack's House, and so on, for herself (Wallis) and her friends. I name streets after streets in The Bronx, where my father's family lived for three generations, so the main streets in the North Bronx are Grand Concourse and Jerome Avenue. Third Avenue will run next to the elevated line. By the way, The Bronx has no 1st, 2nd, or any other numbered avenue. Third Avenue does not take the number, except on a subway station at 149th Street. The avenue was named for the 3rd Avenue Elevated that trundled over it from Manhattan, but did not draw the numeral. So the signs read Third Avenue. The el came down on April 29, 1973, so I wonder if future generations will know who Third was. So the expressways will be the Cross Bronx, the Major Deegan, and the Bruckner. Major Deegan, by the way, never saw combat. He was the boss of the American Legion in New York, died in office, so they named the highway after him. Anyone who cares...the numbered streets in The Bronx follow Manhattan...the two cities were united before unification in 1898, and the East-West chop is Jerome Avenue. The longest east-west street is Tremont Avenue. The longest name is the official one: Grand Boulevard and Concourse.

I'll be happy to try, as soon as I can figure out how to create photo images of the cities I've done. In the interim, I can certainly write about them! For the moment: I have three cities, stacked in the original Maxisland, which are South Bronx, Central Bronx, and North Bronx. Central Bronx is a replacement for East Passaic, which jammed up on me. Every time I clicked on it, the computer froze, and dumped me out of SC4. So I gave up and started over, not being happy with a city with a Devil's Tower mesa in the middle of it. The only cheats I use are the Ultimate Power Lot, but that seems to be erratic in supplying water. My design style is pretty simplistic...Baron Von Hausmann was a smart fellow, and staright streets and grids work pretty neatly. I rely on at least two avenues to cross the city as primary traffic-movers, and I've zoned space from the start for future superhighways. I also usually leave empty space when I build grids for what I call 16th Section lands. This is something you might want to add to SimCity terminology, actually. Back when the US gained the territory of the Northwest Ordinance, which is now Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Minnesota, the federal government began a process of blocking off sections of land for sale and grant. The surveys started being done as early as 1781 by Thomas Hutchins, the first Geographer to the United States. Hutchins set out ranges of townships in Ohio, and each township was a 36-section square. The 16th section of each of these squares was reserved to provide funds for the township's schools. The rest were sold or given as plots for veterans of the Continental Army. This system became the standard for the entire United States. During the Civil Rights era, the state of Mississippi required blacks to read and interpret a section of the State Constitution to gain the right to vote. The judges usually hurled some incomprehensible section at these voters. When the federal government sued, they showed the idiocy of the law by putting a janitor on the stand and requiring him to explain the state's Constitution clauses on 16th Section lands. The state's attorneys howled objections. The judge in the case said, No, I'd like to hear this...the State Supreme Court has had some trouble with this clause, and I'd like to hear the witness's opinion. So, when I zone cities, I always leave a 16th section open in the course of development, intending to slap police stations, fire stations, hospitals, schools, parks, playgrounds, and other municipal amenities on that site. It reduces how much demolition I have to do later. Where should I put this particular piece of information where others can see it?

Hi, my name's Dave Lippman, otherwise known as Kiwiwriter for having lived for three years in New Zealand, where I got married, my daughter was born, and had my first home. My day job is to write speeches and press releases for the Mayor of Newark, NJ, so city management isn't just my hobby, it's my job. It's interesting to compare Sim Cities with the real one I work for. Being a native New Yorker, I like cities that have the kinds of buildings I grew up amidst...cast-iron from Soho, art-deco or glass box skyscrapers, rows of brownstones, pre-World War I apartment buildings like the kind you see on Central Park West. I do wish I could run an elevated rail line directly up the avenue, like the old Third Avenue El in Manhattan and The Bronx (my father rode the last train on the former, I caught the finale of the latter), or trolley lines on the streets. Right now I'm working on three connected cities, North Bronx, Central Bronx, and South Bronx, all connected. I've downloaded a lot of lots from Simtropolis, but none of the cheats...I like a challenge, but not a gigantic one. Dealing with the problems of a real city are hard enough. This year I had to write, among other things, the condolence letter from our Mayor to the family of a police officer who was shot in the line of duty. He had two kids. I don't write in e-mail style, because I write for a living, so I treat the English language with respect. If that irritates people, sorry. I won't be here too often, because of my job and many other projects I'm working on...I do free-lance writing, have a family, and also my own web page on World War II, so Sim City has to stand and wait its turn. At least there's no deadline on city-building. Talk to you folks when I get a chance.