MathNerd05

::bump:: A work in progress. This is the suburb of Desmodecci. As can be seen, it is situated on the peninsula west of Augusta. The area has flourished recently with a major tourism campaign and the legalization of gambling within the city limits. A site for the casino has yet to be determined, although it would surely be incorporated into the boardwalk area. Two closer shots of the boardwalk: As I said, a work in progress. I felt that I should give you all a little somethin' somethin', though. Comments/opinions?

Normally I love being an educator. Except for end of the term. grades, tests, exams, whining students. It sucks. Anyway, I haven't forgotten about you all, I just haven't had time to play, thus no time to post. I'll get back on it soon though, and definetly within a week. Maybe today...

::bump:: Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving week. I'm about to head out of town until late Saturday, so I won't be adding any new posts. Assuming things slow down at work, I'll have some graphs ready for you Mondayas well as a lot of new sprawl. The region has hit 225,000 without any real growth in the core. I'd like it to be around 260,000 before I venture back into downtown Augusta for some expansion. So, Happy Turkey Day!

Triple post, oh well ::bump:: I fixed the pictures in the last two updates but am afraid to do much more today for fear of photobucket deleting my entire account. Anyone have better ideas for image hosting, preferably a place without bandwidth limits?

Just noticed the photo problem. I'll fix this first thing in the morning.

The renovation continues:

Another picture update. This will show continuing work along the new waterfront in Augusta. The area has been rundown for some time but is responding well to the renovations. See for yourself: This is the area when we left it after the Marriot had purchased a parcel and done some considerable work. The city has deicded to expand on this idea a bit. Of course, some demolitions must take place. The cleared area just before the renovation begins. Two high-rises will be alotted in the new area. The land will be worked only slightly and two man-made waterfalls added to the area. A shot of the waterfalls after their completion and the newly finished Bell Tower. This along with Quigly Place mark the two high-rises from Pahse 1 of the Marriott renovation. Finally, a current shot of downtown. You can see the older half of downtown is beginning to become quite dense. Also, what was once the tallest building, the Coca-Cola building, now pales in comparison. Some plans are in the works concerning connecting the small pond by the Opera House to the streams in the renovation. Either that or enlarging the existing pond and allowing it to flow into its own system of waterfalls to be built in phase 3. (The area just above the leftmost set of marinas.) Either is feasible, or not doing it at all. The walking trail will also see a major extension in Phase 3. So, what do you think? The promised graphs should be up tomorrow along with some more suburban pictures.

I forgot to give props to Stardarcy for the urban decay idea. Thanks! @tiki: I like your avatar as well. I'm trying harder than I've ever tried before, and it hurts so good.

Just wanted to let you know that I have greatly enjoyed watching your cj transform from industrial to commercial. Well done indeed, and keep it up!

Justr a quick update. First some pics of the new suburbs: Next, the current sattelite and transit aerials: Experiement: To observe the effects of urban decay on a well-established core. Abstract: I will zone for a few high-density commercial lots in the suburbs, simulating the move of major corporations from an urban core to the 'burbs. A few medium density housing zones will crop up, but mainly the only buildings will be the highrises. These areas will be incorporated into the current traffic system. That is, grids will be used sparingly while the current method of forcing traffic onto main thoroughfares will continue. Also, adequate bus networks will be provided as well as a subway line. Hypothesis: Since there is little or no decay present in the downtown core, this zoning will lead to lower commute times for suburban dwellers while having little or no effect on the core itself. Observation: If I were to systemically go through my downtown and demolish some buildings, both commercial and residential, in an effort to simulate edcay, then the true effects would be seen. However, I am interested to see if the same concept will work with a healthy core. We'll see.

The Gimp is a free photo editor. ( www.gimp.org )

What a fantastic experiment! I've just started a cj about creating realistic cities, and this is definetly something I will play with. I also do not usually have urban decay problems, rather suburban decay, but this is for 2 reasons I imagine. 1.) I let my cities grow slowly and rezone downtown as I go. I usually end up dozing vast areas of the core when traffic becomes too bad. 2.) I leave most of my commercial jobs in the core or along major avenues. This provides some jobs for the suburbs, but not enough. It is a good idea to try zoning for some higher density buildings in the 'burbs. Thanks again for the intrigue!

Makes me feel stupid to learn something I should have known. Thank you for the tip.

Thanks for the comments. @Micah: I didn't really have a hypothesis, I just wanted to hone some skills at realistic zoning. I really had more of an abstract. Something like, A look into the methods and madness of imposing a realistic setting upon a simulation, an exploration of its limitations, and an explanation of teachniques that lend themselves to the creation of a realistic endeavor. How's that work for you?

Welcome to page 2! Grater, I understand that you may hate large cities, but this is one of the most comprehensive experiments yet done. Please keep at it. Also, I have an idea on your question a while back. You wondered why residential high-rises appeared so quickly. Aside from the civic jobs you have also zoned for a large number of high-density zones. I'm sure that some of the demand caps are based on the number of zones present in the city. It makes sense then, to say that you have alleviated these caps and allowed larger buildings to zone. Also, you might consider that a rapid transit network gives some relief to demand as well. Your large bus network may play a role as well. Just some thoughts.