Simoleman

Greekman, this is great stuff. I am a particular fan of good commentary that goes with nice pics. Two thoughts: 1) The real-ife Government of Greece should probably hire you to help dig out of its current economic shambles. 2) Should a playground really be located next to the railroad tracks? Maybe I just didn't see the fence.

ELECTION DAY IN YORK: HOW WILL YOU VOTE? From The Worthington Post It being the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, this is Election Day in York Region. (Pictured: The Conagra Firehouse, one of 106 polling places.) Elections are usually relatively placid affairs in York, and what controversial issues there might be are normally localized. The Regional Government traditionally has exercised little control over its independent-minded cities. What political parties there are have been relatively small and ever-changing. Lawmakers generally organize themselves in coalitions based on issues of the day rather than party or faction. But over the last decade or so, that has begun to change. There is a growing debate over whether there should be a more organized, centrally-controlled regional approach to development, particularly as regards transportation infrastructure. YorkFirst says yes, claiming such an approach will result in a stronger economy and more efficient transportation flow. Integra says no, that the economy is doing quite well as it is and that the independence of York’s localities should be preserved. The parties also differ on other issues, with YorkFirst espousing a philosophy somewhat comparable to that of America’s liberal Democrats and Integra that of America’s conservative Republicans. The governorship and all regional legislative seats, as well as most mayorships and city/town council seats, are up for election today. Public opinion polls indicate a close race between Gilbert Girrard (YorkFirst) and Hale Iskoff (Integra) for the governorship. Electoral Process: With each locality having slightly different voter eligibility laws and procedures, York’s regional election system is based on the U.S. Electoral College approach. Each locality has 1 electoral vote for each of its representatives in the Volkshaus and 2 electoral votes for each of its 2 senators. Each locality is represented by 1 volksman for every 22,115 citizens, with 1 additional rep for every number of citizens between 22,115 and 44,230. (Thus, even the smallest towns are represented by 1 volksman.) The most populated city, Worthington (506,000), has 25 electoral votes. Several cities and towns have but 3 or 4. STAY TUNED FOR THE ELECTION RESULTS… TO BE POSTED TOMORROW. AND REMEMBER TO VOTE!

[quote name='GreekMan' timestamp='1320716775'] nice start. you should add some custom content from the STEX [/quote] Thank you, sir. ... While I can't yet compete with you Simexperts, the good news is I HAVE downloaded and used custom content in other parts of my region, which will be available for viewing eventually. Downtown Worthington is an old, old (pre-download) section, and I don't tend to wreck stuff that's working. I have to laugh: For some reason, Arby's pop up almost everywhere I zone commercial -- far more than rivals Boston Chicken, Wendy's etc. I swear, the restaurants are like the brooms that multiply and take over in The Sourcerer's Apprentice. Which is why I thought it appropriate that the company be headquartered here.

We apologize for our inexperience in navigating the Simtropolis website. We'll learn eventually. In the meantime... The screen shot/thumbnail pictures you see are of: 1) Sunrise over Landekopf, the first settlement in York. The historic Town Hall and Mayor's Residence are near the center of the picture. 2) The Capitol Building and Governor's Mansion in the heart of York, the regional capital city of Worthington. With more than 500,000 residents, the city is by far the largest in York.

Given the information provided in your party manifestos, there appears to be no ideological party "home" for me -- just like in real life! I'd like to know more about their specific economic policies. But it's a relief to consider real issues, however pretend they may be, instead of the noise that passes for politics sometimes in the good ol' USA -- e.g. whether Rick Perry had a few drinks before giving a speech in New Hampshire or where Barack Obama was born. Ugh. ANYWAY... for whatever it's worth, I cast my vote for the center-right party.

Great stuff! I like playing politics with this, too. ... Looking forward to the party platforms!

How do you get create (and I'm not sure how to describe it) the squared off edges where land meets water? The terra forming tool just changes the grade. Thanks. Long live Licenta!

Correction -- for the record, Waynewood's population is 15,000 -- with ever more resident demand. But Waynewood's Town Council wants to preserve its very suburban character.

Great stuff! I wonder -- did you advisors pop up at any point and say you were courting disaster by creating too suburban a city? Mine did. But I went ahead with Waynewood (population 5,000, almost entirely single homes). It's even more suburban than Bartlett, and it's thriving. Of course, I don't think mine would be possible without some big ol' neighbors where the jobs are. Anyway, I like yer town.

Very, very nice. Proof that it's not all about skyscrapers.

Yes, I meant St. Basil's -- I stand corrected. (Didn't know that stuff about Ivan the T.) ... But in SimMorgantown, it's The People's Cathedral, which is what really counts. I think it's gaudy, but to each his own. ... BTW, if there were a communist option, I think maybe the people of my on-the-brink city of Expindustria might go for it. The place is looking kinda like Detroit.

Okay, so you can't do communisum -- real-world Soviet-style or otherwise. But you can do socialism, to whatever degree you'd like. And I'm having fun doing just that. A handful of the 19 cities in my York Region are experiments in radicalization. If this kind of thing interests you, read on.... The City of Liberty (population 65,000) has, as its name suggests, a libertarian bent. (The Statue of Liberty is, of course, its central landmark.) All of its elementary and secondary schools are private. (I still haven't found a download for privatize hosptials -- can anybody help me there? I thus pretend that SimNation requires that all healthcare be public.) Taxes are relatively low -- and going down. The city fathers have a virtually ironclad aversion to exercising eminent domain to rezone or to tear down any private entity, unless it's an abandoned building. (The only exception was a farm that was polluting the water something awful.) In fact, when the leaders wanted to build a Jefferson Memorial, the idea was shelved because they could find no appropriate place to put it. Along thoroughfares like Goldwater Avenue and Reagan Way is a wide variety of mostly big businesses and residences. The town is fairly wealthy. It works. The City of Enterprise (population 115,000) is an even more radical small-government experiment. Frankly, I didn't really expect it to work. Government services are minimal. There are few ordinances, either those rewarding folks or restricting their behavior. Zoning is even more haphazard than it is in Liberty. (I think that actually helps because it reduces commute times, which is key in a city that big with no public transportation at all.) The tax rate on commerce is 2%. No tax rate on any entity is above 6%. Even before I discovered ploppable private schools, the city was still working (though not as well), I think because if you tax something that minimally, it trumps everything else. It becomes a matter of, to paraphrase James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams, building it and they will come. On the other side of the coin, the next-door City of Morgantown (population 30,000, so named because a socialist friend of mine is from Morgantown, WV) is an experiment in bigger-government socialism. The tax rate on low-income individuals and residents is 5-something-% and going down. The rate on wealthy entities is 12%, but it really doesnt matter because they're collecting $0 on that score. There are no wealthy entities in Morgantown. I guess it's hard to compete with a next-door town offering much lower rates. So the middle class shoulders the lion's share of the burden. (A popup noted that Morgantown was receiving acclaim as a place that was friendly to lower-income people.) There are many ordinances, both rewarding and restricting behavior. All the schools are public, and there are plenty of them, and there are plenty of other government entities and amenities. Pollution isn't a problem here, as virtually all of the industry is education-lovin' high tech. (Of course, it isn't a problem next door either, as Enterprise is a business-oriented city, not an industrial one.) Citizens ride on RPT (Rosa Parks Transit) buses down the Albert S. Gore Greenway, past St. Sophia's Cathedral (aka the Kremlin, renamed in this case The People's Cathedral) to and from work. On weekends, they may take in a soccer game at AFL-CIO Stadium. (Note: The only reason for the population disparity between Enterprise and Morgantown is the latter's aversion to over-building, for environemntal reasons.) There is good demand for more housing in all three of these cities. *** Someone in this thread wrote something to the effect that Sim City is a design-and-build game, not a government-and-politics game. But I would say that it's both, which is the beauty of it. This is all tons of fun, and the hours never go so quickly as when I'm working on making York Region bigger and better. Well, gotta run. Hopefully, there won't be too much traffic on the way home to Worthington (regional capital) tonight. Thanks for reading! BDW