thecitiescenter

Very nice!  Excellent detail, and beautiful pictures! 

Absolutely stunning!  Amazing lighting/effect work on the photos, and I love the traffic, crowds and activity in each pic.  The gas station in the median is especially cool, and all the photos really capture the essence of Rio!   Looking forward to your next entry!

Thanks Schriefer! 

Before we continue on our journey, here are a few bonus shots of Portland International Airport (PDX). The first picture is a historical photo, circa 2004, of a Northwest Airlines DC-10, preparing to depart to Tokyo/Narita Airport in Japan, and a Lufthansa A340-300, which had just arrived from Frankfurt, Germany. Both Lufthansa and Northwest no longer serve PDX. Lufthansa ended PDX service in September, 2009 due to lack of ridership and competition from Northwest Airlines' flight to Amsterdam. Northwest Airlines, on the other hand, no longer exists as an airline, having merged with Delta Airlines several years ago. Fortunately for Portland, Delta has continued to operate PDX-NRT on Boeing 767-300ER aircraft (after the Port of Portland offered to subsidize the route), and PDX-AMS on both Boeing 767-300ER and A330-300 aircraft. The Amsterdam flight is often full during the summer months, as many Oregonian Sims enjoy traveling to Europe for leisure. The next photo is a present-day shot of the PDX Cargo Center. The Cargo Center is located on the south side of the airport, directly opposite Runway 10R/28L from passenger concourses A and C. Current cargo service at PDX includes ABX Air flights to/from Seattle, FedEx flights to/from Anchorage, Indianapolis, Memphis and Oakland and UPS flights to/from Chicago-Rockford, Louisville, Ontario, CA and Spokane, WA. PDX is also home to the Portland Air National Guard Base. The Portland ANGB is located directly east of the PDX Cargo Center, and directly south of passenger Concourse A (opposite Runway 10R/28L). The base is home to the Oregon Air National Guard's 142nd Fighter Wing, the 125th Special Tactics Squadron, the 366th OL-A Communications Squadron, the 123rd Weather Flight and the Air Force Reserve 304th Rescue Squadron. The 142nd Fighter Wing is tasked with supporting global drug interdiction, USAFE air defense, and has participated in operations such as Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Now that we've seen some of the non-commercial passenger related operations at PDX, it's time to continue on our tour. Our final destination will be Portland's downtown (also known as City Center). For those of you who plan to take the MAX Light Rail, you will need to purchase a ticket prior to boarding the train. Tickets are $2.50 per adult. Your ticket acts as proof of payment, and you may be required to show it if random ticket checks are conducted. MAX tickets are good for 2 hour time frames, you can hop on and off as much as you want within the 2 hour time period, and tickets are not destination specific (so you can go to as many destinations as you like, regardless of distance from your point of origin). It is OK if the ticket expires before you reach your destination, as long as you got on the train prior to the expiration time. MAX trains consist of one or two cars. There are no trains with three or more cars (we'll get to the reason for that a little later). MAX tickets are also good for all bus lines operated by Tri-Met (the primary transit agency in the Portland metropolitan area), as well as buses operated by C-Tran (the primary transit agency in Vancouver, Washington - which is located just across the Columbia River from Portland). Full day passes (good until 2:30 am next day), and 30-day passes are also available. Below is a photo of a MAX Red Line train leaving the Airport station. For those of you who decided to rent a car, you will follow NE Airport Way to exit the airport, then proceed to Interstate 205 south. Follow the signs for "Portland". Note that the speed limit on NE Airport Way is currently set to 10 mph near the airport terminal, and 40 mph as you get farther away from the terminal building. Be cautious as the Port of Portland Police have been known to heavily patrol this stretch of roadway, happily handing out costly tickets and surly lectures to Sims who are in a hurry to get to and from the airport, or not paying attention when driving. They usually like to ticket you for any speed greater than 5 mph above the posted speed limit. Also beware of the "red light cameras" on intersections along this roadway. Unlike most states, it is illegal to enter an intersection in Oregon when the light is yellow. As you proceed down NE Airport Way, or the MAX Red Line, you will notice Runway 10L/28R, as well as Alamo Rental Cars and the PDX long term parking lot to the left. Also in the distance is the Columbia River, which separates the states of Oregon and Washington. The Columbia River is a favorite of local Sims for boating and sailing, as well as other water sports. Immediately adjacent to the Columbia River is NE Marine Drive (on the top in the picture below). Sims who are aviation enthusiasts are known to park their cars along this road for plane spotting, as it provides great views of planes taking off and landing on Runway 10L/28R. NE Marine Drive is also a favorite during the 4th of July (Independence Day) Holiday, as it provides a good place to park and watch the fireworks from across the river in Washington State. If you're on the MAX, the first stop along the way is the Mt. Hood Station, located at the corner of NE Airport Way and NE 82nd Avenue, not too far from the airport terminal. You may notice that there is plenty of bicycle storage available at the station. Portland is a very bicycle friendly city, and the city government actively encourages Sims to use their bikes. A few years ago, this entire area was nothing but open grassland. Since then, development has really taken off, despite being of the suburban "big box" variety. There is a Holiday Inn Express immediately adjacent to Mt Hood Station, a Target and a couple small retail shops. Just about a thousand feet from Mt Hood Station is the next stop, Cascade Station. Similar to Mt Hood Station, Cascade Station is surrounded by recently developed big box retail and office space. There is a small park located just north of the station. Some of the retail here include Best Buy, TJ Maxx, Staples and DSW Shoes. There is also a Hyatt Place hotel, which is the only Hyatt branded hotel currently operating in the State of Oregon. Cascade Station is also adjacent to Oregon's only IKEA... You may be wondering why there's so much big box retail near the airport. One reason is that there was lots of open space here before, and therefore, lots of build-able land. However, the primary reason is the proximity to Washington State, which is just across the river. Washington State has a sales tax, and Oregon does not. So lots of Sims from Washington State looking to save a few bucks on stuff such as do-it-yourself "furniture" with odd Swedish names and not-so-good picture-like instructions, or electronics with bad return policies, take the short hop across the Interstate 205 bridge to shop here. if you're driving, here's where you will get onto Interstate 205. Since we are going to downtown Portland, you will want to go southbound. If you accidentally go northbound, you will find that you are crossing the Columbia River on the I-205 Bridge and will end up in Washington state. Note that in Oregon, most Sims will refer to interstates as I-xxx, as in "eye-xxx" where xxx is the number designation of the route. For example, Sims here will refer to Interstate 205 as "eye-205". In this area, Interstate 205 features 3 general purpose lanes in each direction. The speed limit is 55 mph. The roadway is made of asphalt, as are most Oregon freeways and highways. This makes for good traction due to the abundance of rain here. The next stop along our journey is the Parkrose Transit Center, located less than a mile from the Cascade Station. If you're driving, and want to see the transit center, you can take Exit 23 "Bypass US-30/Sandy Blvd". The Parkrose Transit Center serves the Parkrose and Sumner neighborhoods. It is primarily a park & ride facility for local Sims. From here, Sims can take the MAX light rail, as well as various Tri-Met and C-Tran bus routes. The transit center is also served by the I-205 Multiuse Path, a north-south bicycle and pedestrian pathway that parallels the MAX tracks and I-205. From here, we continue southbound toward our destination. As we leave the Parkrose Transit Center, we will pass by Rocky Butte. Both MAX passengers and drivers along I-205 will be able to see it on the right-hand side when traveling southbound. Rocky Butte is an extinct volcanic cinder cone butte, and is a designated natural area. It is also home to the Portland Bible College and City Christian School/Church. Portland Bible College is a small, four-year bible college offering degrees in theology and church ministry. It is a private college with about 200 students currently enrolled and was founded in 1967. As we pass Rocky Butte, we will come to the junction of I-205 and I-84 (known locally as the "Banfield Freeway"). For those who are driving, you will want to take Exit 24A, I-84/US-30 West "Portland". For those on the MAX Red Line, we will continue southbound past I-84, then loop back around. In this area, the MAX tracks transition from ground-level to elevated, as it crosses I-84. If you look to your left, you will see that the I-205 Multiuse Pathway continues in a southbound direction, paralleling the MAX Red Line, heavy-rail tracks used by Amtrak and freight rail lines, and I-84. The next stop on the MAX Red Line is the Gateway Transit Center, located about a mile south of the Parkrose Transit Center. The Gateway Transit Center serves multiple Tri-Met bus lines, and the MAX Red, Blue and Green lines. Here passengers can transfer to both bus lines and other MAX lines. The Blue line is an east-west line connecting the western suburb of Hillsboro and the eastern suburb of Gresham. The Green line is a north-south line connecting downtown Portland with the southeast suburb of Clackamas. For our tour, we will stay on the Red Line, which loops around at Gateway Transit Center, as the route switches from a southbound to westbound direction. The Gateway Transit Center is centrally located near the junction of I-205 and I-84, and is surrounded by office space, retail and residential land uses, as well as the Providence Medical Group-Gateway Hospital and various supporting clinics and doctor's offices. As we leave the Gateway Transit Center, the train will head north slightly, then switch onto the westbound track to continue toward downtown Portland. We have about 5 miles to go before we reach downtown, but still plenty of stops and sights to see in between. Stay tuned!

Hello and welcome to your tour of An Alternate Universe: A tour of cities around the world (in a slightly different universe from our own). We will be visiting many cities on our tour. In many ways, these cities resemble those of the same name in our own universe. However, there are slight differences. Feel free to point out these differences at any time during your tour, if you notice them . Let the journey begin! Welcome to Portland! We start our tour in Portland, Oregon, USA. Also known as the City of Roses, Portland is the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Oregon, with an estimated population of 609,456 within it's city limits, and approximately 2.3 million within the greater Portland metropolitan area. Air Arrivals If you're arriving by air, you will be flying into Portland International Airport (PDX). PDX airport is located in the northeast quadrant of the city, along the Columbia River, which acts as the natural border between the states of Oregon and Washington. PDX is owned and operated by the Port of Portland. PDX has approximately 50+ gates for commercial aircraft of various sizes. There are two main runways (Runway 10L/28R and Runway 10R/28L). The airport is served by major US-based airlines such as American, Delta, US Airways and United, low-cost carriers such as Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Virgin America, regional carriers such as Horizon Airlines and SeaPort Airlines, specialty airlines such as Hawaiian Air and Canadian carrier Air Canada Jazz. The airport also serves as a hub for Seattle-based Alaska Airlines. PDX has one main terminal and four primary concourses (A, C, D, and E). Your arriving concourse will depend on where you are arriving from, and what airline you are flying. All check-in counters are located in the main terminal, level 2. Baggage claim for all airlines (except non-Canadian international arrivals) are located on level 1 of the main terminal. All flights originating from Canada are treated as domestic arrivals, since passengers pre-clear US Customs & Immigration in Canada. The rental car center is located on level 1 of the short term parking garage located directly across the primary roadway from the main terminal. PDX is a completely smoke-free airport, and there is free WiFi throughout the facility for passengers to use. There is a food court and shops located in the "Oregon Marketplace" in the non-secure area of the main terminal. PDX is unique among airports in that it requires restaurants and food services to charge the same prices as their non-airport locations. Concourse A is served by Alaska Airlines and Alaska's subsidiary regional carrier Horizon Air. Horizon Air is the exclusive carrier for Concourse A, with the majority of these flights arriving/departing from/to airports in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, Nevada, California and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Concourse A features a small waiting area, restrooms, and Laurelwood, a local restaurant and brewery. There are no jetways in Concourse A, and passengers must walk out onto the tarmac to embark/disembark from planes. Arriving passengers can proceed directly to baggage claim in the main terminal building, level 1 to collect their checked baggage. Concourse C is served by Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways and Southwest Airlines. All "C gates" feature jetways. Concourse C features multiple waiting areas, the Alaska Airlines Boardroom, multiple restrooms and multiple shops and restaurants (including "Made In Oregon", Starbucks, Gustav's Pub & Grill, McDonalds, Coffee People, Baskin Robbins and Big Town Hero). Arriving passengers can proceed directly to baggage claim in the main terminal building, level 1, to collect their checked baggage. Concourse C features moving walkways to make the journey a little bit easier on the feet. There is also a secured concourse connector that allows passengers in Concourse A & C to access Concourse D & E without having to go through TSA security screening again. Concourse D is served by Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines and Virgin America. All "D gates" feature jetways. Concourse D features multiple waiting areas, the Delta SkyClub, multiple restrooms and multiple shops and restaurants (including Burgerville, "Made In Oregon", Starbucks, Columbia Sportswear, Coffee People, Rose's Restaurant & Bakery and Rogue Ales Public House). Arriving passengers on domestic flights can proceed directly to baggage claim in the main terminal building, level 1, to collect their checked baggage. Concourse D features moving walkways to make the journey a little bit easier on the feet. There is also a secured concourse connector that allows passengers in Concourse D & E to access Concourse A & C without having to go through TSA security screening again. At the west end of Concourse D is the Governor Victor G. Atiyeh International Concourse, named after former Oregon Governor Victor G. Atiyeh, also known as "Trader Vic" for his work in launching international tourism and trade initiatives during his tenure as governor. This section of the airport was completed in the early 1990's, originally built to serve as Delta Airlines' Asia Gateway. During the 1990's, there were non-stop international flights on Delta Airlines, serving Portland-Tokyo, Portland-Seoul, Portland-Taipei, Portland-Nagoya and Portland-Fukuoka on Delta's L-1011 and MD-11 aircraft. The flights typically continued on to Delta's main hub in Atlanta, as aircraft in the 1990's could not fly non-stop between Atlanta and Asia, without stopping for fuel. Unfortunately, due to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, new technology eliminating the need to make fuel stops between Atlanta and Asia and complaints about passenger treatment at the immigration facility at PDX, Delta discontinued all non-stop flights from Portland to Asia in 2001. The last flights were Portland-Tokyo and Portland-Nagoya in March of that year. Other than flights to Vancouver, BC, Canada, PDX did not have any international non-stop flights between 2001 and 2003. In 2003, Lufthansa announced that it would begin non-stop service between PDX and its Frankfurt, Germany hub. Shortly after, Northwest Airlines began non-stop flights between PDX and Tokyo/Narita and PDX and Amsterdam. Mexicana Airlines began service between Portland and Guadalajara and Mexico City, Mexico. All three airlines utilized the Victor G. Aityeh International Concourse. Today, there are two international non-stop flights: Portland-Amsterdam (AMS) and Portland-Tokyo/Narita (NRT), both on Delta Airlines. The AMS route is served by A330-300 aircraft during the summer months, and Boeing 767-300ER aircraft during the winter months. The NRT route is served by Boeing 767-300ER aircraft year-round. Passengers arriving on these two flights are immediately routed downstairs to Level 1 of the Victor G. Atiyeh International Concourse, where they proceed to US Immigration passport control. After clearing passport control, international passengers pickup their checked bags at one of two dedicated carousels before proceeding to US Customs. After clearing customs, passengers have two options. Passengers connecting to domestic flights re-check their bags on Level 1, proceed to Level 2 and are re-screened by TSA. Passengers whose final destination is Portland, are routed with their bags, out to the International Arrivals Shuttle Bus Stop. A shuttle takes these passengers to the international arrivals greeting area in the non-secure section of the main terminal. Concourse E is served by United Airlines, United Express and locally-based SeaPort Airlines. Concourse E features multiple waiting areas, restrooms, and Laurelwood Brewery Restaurant.. All Concourse E arriving passengers can proceed directly to baggage claim in the main terminal building, level 1, to collect their checked baggage. Concourse E features moving walkways to make the journey a little bit easier on the feet. There is also a secured concourse connector that allows passengers in Concourse D & E to access Concourse A & C without having to go through TSA security screening again. Most Concourse E gates feature jetways. However, some gates do not, primarily those serving United Express, Air Canada Jazz and SeaPort Airlines. On to the Town... Once you've collected your baggage and made all the necessary restroom stops, you'll want to figure out how to get into town. There are two main options. For those wishing to rent a car, you can proceed across the main roadway from the main terminal to level 1 of the short term parking garage. Here you will find the Rental Car center. PDX is nice in that most rental car facilities are located within walking distance of the airport terminal, so you don't need to hop on a rental car shuttle bus (unless you are renting from Alamo, Budget or Thrifty). For those who wish to take public transit, there is a MAX Light Rail station located on the south side of the main terminal building, adjacent to Concourse A. The MAX Light Rail system has served Portland since 1986. The airport is served by the Red Line, which connects PDX Airport with Downtown (City Center) and the suburb of Beaverton. Next up on the tour will be a ride on the Red Line from PDX Airport to City Center, as well as a driving tour from PDX Airport to City Center (with a couple stops in between). To Be Continued...

Very nice work! Glad to see a Seattle building! Just curious, are you planning any more Seattle buildings in the future (e.g. is this the beginning of something...?) I'm obviously crossing my fingers for a yes answer, lol.

Thanks RDQ, no worries. JDen: Thanks for your tips. It definitely helped get me on the right path. I tried running SC4DataNode, but it wasnt showing any conflicts or overrides. So I just started manually removing files from my plugins folder and checking the Melbourne Star in LE to see if the image was still there. I finally narrowed it down to a folder of older plugins,like from 2004, and from there, narrowed it down to the Dirty Industry Freight Station, which I downloaded off the STEX back in '04 (). This was the file that was causing the conflict. I removed it and everything seems to be working great now.

Hi Reddonquixote, First of all, just wanted to say your work is absolutely amazing, really appreciate all the hard work you've put in to make all of our cities look so much better. With that said, I also wanted to let you know that I discovered an issue with the Melbourne Star. At the second zoom level, I seem to be seeing a weird image, that shows some sort of logo that has the word "Atlantic" on it and some other random textures. It only happens at hte second zoom level and only when viewing from a certain direction. Otherwise, it does not appear. I am using the Maxis Night version. I've posted a screenshot of the issue on my flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121704708@N08/13461067903/ Let me know if you have any ideas on how to fix. Thanks again!

It's alright. Thanks for all your help, though. Appreciate it.

When you say, "I re-ran the installer without touching the primary or the "z___NAM" folder,", what exactly do you mean? You should have rerun the installer over the original installation, picking all the options you wanted. In such a case, both NAM folders get completely regenerated, and there should be no "0_Standard" folder in the new installation. Also, to get the single solid line Euro textures, then you also need to make sure that the NWM network is completely selected. (This requirement has also been fixed.) Doing so will not have a noticeable impact on your game. Ah, you didn't mention that you had LHD. Unfortunately, this bug is much more extensive for LHD users. I think we can still get you fixed up, though it's a bit of work. You need to extract the files of the installer into a spare directory; most ZIP programs and other extractors will do this. Next, you have to locate the folder "Road Textures\Euro Cosmetic Re-Texture Mod\z_LeftHandDriveSupport" and move all the files in it into your "$z___NAM\Road Textures\Euro Cosmetic Re-Texture Mod\z_LeftHandDriveSupport" folder (which you may have to create). Then you need to locate the file "Road Textures\Euro Cosmetic Re-Texture Mod\RHW\z0_Standard_LeftHandDriveSupport\z2_RHW_P57_EuroTextures_DV_LHD_Support.dat" and move it into the same folder. Once you've done all this, I think all your textures should work properly. This is all fixed on our end, and none of these steps will be necessary in the next release of the NAM. I'm not really sure whats going on because when I re-run the installer, it always installs a new "0_Standard" folder in the same location where I took out the previous one. Seems like the only thing I can get to work is dashed Euro white, otherwise, everything is American texture. I tried to re-install everything with RHD instead of LHD, but still no luck

Hi z1, so I tried the instructions that you posted over at SC4D, but still seem to be getting the white dashed lines for roads, and the American RHW. Here's what you posted on SC4D, and the steps I took in red: This turned out to be an installer bug that was created by a change in another part of the installer. The fixed files are too big to attach here, but here's what you can do to get around the bug: Run the installer in the Custom Installation mode. For the Main Road Texture Style, choose one of the top two American-style textures. Ok. Under "Options for American-Style Road Textures", open up the RHW Options and select either of the two options. I see two options, Ontario and Norwegian. I think I chose the Norwegian. Run the installer to completion. Ok. In the folder "z___NAM\Road Textures\Euro Cosmetic Re-Texture Mod\RHW", you will find a folder called "0_Standard". Move this folder and its contents to someplace outside your Plugins folder. I moved the 0_Standard folder to my desktop (out of the plugins folder). Run the installer again, choosing the options you want. I re-ran the installer without touching the primary or the "z___NAM" folder. Move the "0_Standard" folder and its contents back to where you originally got them. At this point, I moved the 0_Standard file that I moved to the desktop in Step 4 back into the "z___NAM" folder, do I replace the 0_Standard folder that is in the "z___NAM" folder from the latest (second) install? Or do I delete this folder and then move the original 0_standard folder here? Do you think this may have something to do with left hand drive? Thanks! The American textures should be gone now.

Hey z1, thanks for the info. It was kinda weird, when I clicked your link yesterday it sent me to some site that was being blocked by my anti-virus software so I got a little scared (adf.ly). This morning, I took a look at the link again, without clicking it, and realised you were trying to link me to sc4D forums... which makes more sense lol. I'll give it a shot in a bit, thanks for your help.

This is a known installer bug. You can find a workaround here. What is that file? Can you be more specific as to how this is going to help the texture issue? I don't like to download and install random executable files onto my computer w/o knowing what exactly they are, for obvious reasons. Thanks.

Hey guys, I'm having some difficulties with the road textures and RHW for NAM 32. For road textures, I chose the Euro with solid white line during installation. However, I am still getting the Euro dashed line version, and at intersections, when I add turn lanes, I get the American version with yellow lines near the intersection only (road remains dashed white line up until just before the intersection turn lane appears). For RHW, I am still getting the American version, even though I chose the UK version. I've tried reinstalling, as well as adding some "zzz" before the NAM folder just to make sure it loads last, but it doesn't seem to solve the issue. Any ideas? Thanks!

I've currently got my NAM set where traffic moves on the left side of the road, but I noticed that the traffic signal heads are still facing the wrong direction, even though the turn lane markings and arrows are facing the correct direction. The signal heads seem to still be facing in the direction as if traffic moves on the right side of the road. It is especailly noticeable at AVE/AVE intersections. Anyone know how to fix it so that the signal heads are facing the correct direction when traffic moves on the left side of the road? Thanks!

Nevermind, found what I was looking for here: Mods - Not sure how to delete original post, but feel free to do so if you feel necessary. Thanks and sorry for the incovenience.

Hi Everyone, Great thread. I'm looking for the mod that either removes the default Maxis highway signs, or reduces the number of times they randomly occur in the game. I thought I had saw something like this a while ago either here on the STEX or over at SC4D, but can't seem to find it any more. Please let me know if you have any info on where I can find this mod. Thanks!!!

Hey guys, can I request some signs? Here's what I'm looking for (in order of priority). Thanks in advance!!!