Chromatinfish 123

As you know, I have been working on my new project- Parisidia for some time now. The build is still far from done, but I thought I would show some progress. Parisidia is an island city in the far Northwest of the country of Moneyland, at the border between the provinces of Olson and Greenland. Parisidia Island is an island in the middle of the Rapid River, which stretches 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the Southern Mountains to the city of Sandy Shores just a few miles northwest of Parisidia. This is the current state of Parisidia. As you can see, far west and north need the most development in terms of suburban sprawl and small communities while the east still needs some more suburban sprawl. The central downtown is architecturally similar to Paris, and the Conifer Park (the park with all of the trees and winding roads) is in the middle of downtown. Note that north downtown is still a WIP. To the right of Downtown is La Leguna, a safe haven for companies and skyscrapers that have been ousted from downtown by the strict building requirements. North of La Leguna are planned to be small communities, which are also still WIP. Today, we will focus on the West Side of Parisidia, in the cities of Ashlyn and Seeberg as well as some of the suburban communities in the North (which have already been built). We will Journey along the Ashlyn Industrial Expressway, the highway that starts at the docks and ends up north. The Ashlyn Expressway was built in 1960, as part of the freeway boom. The freeways was to be signed I-553 for the duration of the route that would cross the north fork of the Rapid River and end in the docks. However, the Rapid River north fork bridge was never built for the Ashlyn Expwy due to protests and traffic statistics, which showed that the bridge would be underused severely. This map shows the Ashlyn Expressway in Red, along with the major districts on the route. Brown=CBD/Downtown (North WIP) White= Westbury Green= Beacon Heights (WIP) Orange=Ashlyn Yellow=Seeberg (Major WIP) Blue= Docks Today the Ashlyn Expressway is used mainly by trucks from the docks and industrial factories of Ashlyn. The expressway is actually severely underused by commuters due to its bad placement. Most commuters in the northern suburbs prefer to either take the metro to go into the city center and the east side, or the tram to go south into Ashlyn and Riverside. The Ashlyn Expressway is the only elevated expressway in the entirety of the island. Most expressways were built several years earlier in 1950, with much more consideration of the environmental and social impacts caused by the highways (an example would be the ML-25A, which runs East to West near the southern shore from Des Locartes Village to West Point (currently WIP). The Ashlyn Expressway begins here, at the docks of Ashlyn. Trucks use this expressway during peak hours but the road is almost deserted today. The expressway bends around industrial storage and warehouses in the area. Warehouses in this area are mostly for temporary storage, before they are moved to the industry in the north. Looking Downwards at Industry (Sorry for low quality, but game runs very badly on my computer) The Spaghetti Bowl is the interchange between Ashlyn Industrial Expressway and ML-25A. Past the interchange, looking north. The expressway runs through a heavily industrialized area. The Metro can be seen going over the expressway. A view of the Expressway crossing the metro depot. As the city retired old metro trains, they were stationed here and left to rot until Ashlyn City Council decides what to do with them. The interchange between National Boulevard and the Expressway. Due to the depot, a partial cloverleaf intersection had to be made, unfortunately leading to tons of real estate being wasted. After the National Boulevard Interchange, the Metro Line runs parallel to the expressway. On the right side, neighborhoods such as these have started to revitalize Ashlyn. Unfortunately for the expressway, most residents of neighborhoods like these prefer to use public transport instead of the roads. Another picture of the metro station. The freeway runs to the right of the large warehouse-turned-loft buildings on the right hand side. When the Parisidia County decided to replace all the old New Flyer XD 40 Buses with the new model XE-40s and XE-60s, most of the bus infrastructure, like the trains, were left here, in the depot next to the highway. On the right side of the interchange, we have the city of Seeberg, mostly low-income houses and public housing is situated here. Seeberg was the old workers town for the industry in Ashlyn, but after industry demand dropped in Ashlyn, Seeberg was left with the population moving out. Looking East on National Boulevard. The 1:2 Eiffel Tower replica on the left was made in 1953, to continue the tradition of building a replica Eiffel Tower for every city that was named "Paris". Although Parisidia really isn't Paris, it was close enough that the Lucky Penny Casino hired a contractor to build a replica. Past the seedier south side of town, we can finally see some greener pastures. The expressway cuts through the northern suburbs of Parisidia. Beacon Heights, on the top left, is known for its "liquid grid"- a grid pattern where roads bend and curve to create a sense of small-scale communities that cul-de-sacs promote. Near Beacon Heights is the suburb of Westbury, a historical town that retains its past charm. As seen with the signs on the spaghetti bowl interchange, Ashlyn Industrial Expressway is signed NR-210 throughout its entire route. NR stands for National Route, which designates a less-important route than the ML (Moneyland) Routes, like the A and B roads in England). The Future of the Expressway is uncertain. While the south portion of the 210 to the docks will almost certainly be preserved, the north portion from Ashlyn to the northern suburbs is currently controversial. Demonstrations and protest have been common to remove the expressway, mainly due to it being an eyesore and not very heavily used at all. As mentioned above, people in the suburbs just tend to take the excellent and reliable public transport more than use the expressway. Perhaps if the proposed bridge across the North Branch was built, the road would be actually more heavily traveled upon than the road right now in its unfinished and almost useless state. As you can see from the picture below the freeway really starts and ends in the middle of nowhere. Update May 16th 2018- The Council has seriously proposed an extension of the Ashlyn Industrial Expressway across the North Branch of the river and signing the route as I-161 as a divergence from I-61 above, mostly to take away traffic from the I-61/ML-25 bridge. The photo above currently shows the freeways going in and around Parisidia Island. The green and brown routes are I-61 and I-53, respectively while the Light Blue route is ML-25. As you can see, both I-61 and I-53 do not currently enter the island at all, instead terminating at either end of the island. The Yellow route is the ML-25A, the main connector highway from east to west. The solid red line is the Ashlyn Industrial Expressway currently, while the dotted red line is the city's proposal to extend the expressway so that drivers on I-61 coming from the north can easily get into the city of Ashlyn without either resorting to surface roads like National Boulevard or having to take a large detour on ML-25, then taking going on ML-25A, and finally taking the Ashlyn Expressway. This photo explains the concerns quite well. The Red shows the current route of a commuter that wants to take only freeways from I-61 to the northern suburbs. The green shows a commuter who prefers to take the shortest route from I-61 to the northern suburbs using surface roads (the surface roads have a speed limit of only around 25 mph and have multiple traffic lights on the route). However, the blue route shows the route that a commuter will be able to take using the new Ashlyn Industrial Expressway expansion. In addition, this photo also shows the uselessness of the Expressway in its current state for commuters especially from the north. In its current state it is much more practical to just take surface roads through downtown instead of trying to zigzag your way around the city to get onto the expressway. Should the extension be built or should the entire north highway just b demolished to make way for a surface street solution?

Hello to all, As you know I have been a bit dormant for the past, I don't know, 8 months (!)... That's because my previous save file of my city, Province, eventually got too big for my potato computer to handle and eventually I gave up trying to load it. For the past 8 months I have been trying out different games, a particular MMO combat game and small indie games usually. I never really felt like going back to Skylines... Until a few days ago. I started watching some youtube videos of fantastic builds, mainly by Infrastructurist. His videos have been an inspiration to me and now I have Skylines downloaded again on my PC, and a new idea to go along with it. When I start to feel like my city is taking shape, new entries will start. My new city's name is going to be Parisidia. Île de Parisidia, to be exact. It's going to be a city in the far northwest of Moneyland, close to the countries of France and England, hence the French influences in this city. I invision it as a bit of a clash of cultures, with the CBD and historical downtown composed of ornate French architecture, but as you go out of the the city center, more industry and american suburbs take shape. A bit of a blend between Paris and New York, but a smaller scale. That's all I can give for now. See you again when the time comes.

Whoops! Yep Dawson City is really in Yukon Territory. Gotta brush up on geography! And that town of yours looks very neat.

Cool! I really wanted to base Base Camp Village around Dawson City in (British Columbia, I think?) with the dirt roads and low-roofed houses with a tiny downtown.

Welcome back to Province! Today, however, will be something different. While I was headed to Province from Chav'villa a group of tourists wanted to take me on a circle tour through the mountains instead of going via Highway Of The Mountains (designated Moneyland Highway-100 or ML-100 for short). I initially refused, but seeing that I could get my hands on some great pictures I decided to go with them in the end. (All captions are BELOW the pictures) The group that I was to meet told me to meet them at the corner of Saint Andreas and Stadium Avenues in Abalazone Park. Not exactly the best-looking place in the world, so I was a bit paranoid. However, it turns out they were nice folk after all. After all, if it turned into a kidnapping wouldn't I have just put "JOURNALIST KIDNAPPED!" as the title instead? Huh? While we drove southbound Saint Andreas Avenue, above our heads we saw the Red Line Province Metro making its journey. The Metro trains were initially built by the National Rail Co., headquartered in Abalazone Park back in the 1960s. NRC later went bankrupt along with almost every other company HQed in Province in the 1990s. To the right of the train is a freight train inbound to the Brotherhood Ave. Freight-house. Driving forward on Saint Andreas past the Brotherhood Ave. intersection, we find ourselves at "Tunnel Junction" as the locals say it. To the right is the Wotton High district, full of british-style streets and terraced housing. However, we go left, into the tunnel underneath ML-100. The ML-100 is known as Highway of the Mountains in Province and carries more than 100,000 cars daily from the suburbs to the CBD and Province Strip. Unfortunately, it is due for an upgrade as it only has 4 lanes and is frequently congested. A closer look at the tunnel. The Ste. Andreas Tunnel was constructed in 1989 as a way for traffic to get across ML-100 without an overpass, which would've been stupidly high (around 35 meters). Before 1989, the freeway didn't exist, as ML-100 was actually designated through Sainte Andreas Avenue and Morgan Street. However, the Bill of1988 passed by the federal government required the hold of Jiff to construct ML-100 as a freeway through their state. Today, ML-100 spans from the East-to-West coast as a completely divided freeway from Greenland to Chav'villa Holds. As we emerged from the other side of the tunnel, I leaned out of the side to take this photo of the city. Welcome to the countryside of Jiff Hold! Sure looks different from the city. We are at the foot of Mount Province. A few moments later the paved road turns into a dirt one. Now we're talking. v This section of land is going to eventually be transformed into farmland by 2041. However for now it's just a gently rolling plain. The building on the top right is the Overlook Hotel, which is where we'll eventually come to. Looking back again. We eventually come to a crossroad.The tourists don't know which way to go, so we decide just to go right and see what's there. Welcome to Audrey! Population: 0! Hmm... not what we were expecting. Audrey was a small village constructed in 1765 after travelers from the U.S. settled in the area. However, extreme coldness, lack of food, along with the unforgiving wildlife soon killed off all 25 settlers. Fast forward to 1895- Province had been established for around 35 years. The city voted to pass the Law of Trash, or legally called Bill XIV. The Law of Trash basically turned Audrey into purely a landfill/incineration site. There were 2 incinerators and 6 landfills to start off with, however as the population exploded in 1950 the landfills were converted into incinerators. In 1960 and 1963 two Nuclear Power Plants were added to the site. After realizing our mistake we did a U-turn and turned onto the other road, Mountain Rim Rd.. This hill pictured is called Grabbage Hill- named after James C. Grabbage, the original founder of Audrey in 1756. Ironically, Grabbage is only a letter swap and a letter removal away from Garbage. Jokes aside, Grabbage Hill has a gradient of 45%- so naturally even our 4x4 Ford Raptor struggled to get up this monstrous hill. People normally do not take Saint Andreas up due to these extreme gradients. Continuing on, we see our first glimpses of an actual forest. While Jiff in general has a generally taiga climate, forests are not too common. In fact, more than 65% of the hold is unforested. Trees brush up against our truck as we continue to struggle up this road... And we have our first glimpse of the city from a height! Province is already at an elevation of 5,600 feet, so the air is getting thin around here. We hand around chapstick because we've never been so high. Here, the GPS approximates around 6,300 feet in elevation. The Atlantic Ocean only about 40 miles north of Province, so as expected there is a massive, 3,000 foot cliff drop-off into the sea. These gargantuan cliffs are extremely secluded, as no roads go near them and the only known settlement there was Jaquesville back in the 1700s. The people there vanished without a trace 20 years later and it is still a mystery today. It wouldn't be a road in Jiff without a steep incline and a pickup going down it on the other side... Another look at Province from here, elevation around 6,600 feet. You can clearly see the suburbs on the left, the CBD and Revolution District in the center, Abalazone Park on the right with the stadium, and the Province Strip with all the hotels and skyscrapers on the far right. On the far left you can see Christchurch, a small farming town and a suburb of Province. After driving a few miles or so, we finally come to the Stocking Bridge, a wooden bridge built on the side of Mt. Province. After concluding that an at-ground design for the road was impossible, engineers designed one of the most iconic bridges in Province. After driving for some time on the bridge we can have the best look at Province we have seen yet. After driving the 500 feet long Stocking Bridge we encounter Stocking Cut, one of the most challenging climbs for our trusty truck. Another view of the Stocking Cut to show the 500 feet long 40% gradient hill. After climbing the huge cut and driving for several more miles, we encounter a scenery change. Gone are the pine trees that we saw earlier. Instead, we are greeted by a barren tundra. Temperatures at this altitude, 7,900 feet above sea level, are shockingly cold this far north. In the summer, temperatures are normally around 48 degrees fahrenheit (8 degrees celsius), while temperatures in the winter usually reach a bone-crackling -5 degrees fahrenheit (-20.5 degrees celsius). This constant frigid weather along with unique composition of the soil stops all vegetation from growing. The summit of Mt.Province is around 8,100 feet high, just a few miles down the road. Welcome to Summit Camp Village! The "village" only has two buildings- a Shell gas station and the Overlook Hotel. The Overlook Hotel is a 5-star rated hotel that offers breathtaking views -- for a price... Conveniently there is a parking lot next to the breathtaking viewpoint- and a guardrail! Whew, wish there were at least some on Mountain Rim Road... Looking over the south side of Mt. Province. As you can see, the land is largely untouched. This is actually one of the few places you can catch a glimpse of "Hidden Valley", a completely uninhabited area between Mt. Province and Mt. Monroe, the biggest mountain in the Monroe Mountain Range. Another look at the Overlook Hotel. Although we didn't necessarily want to spend a night there, we decided to ask the staff there to look at the view, who were kind enough to lead us to a suite with a giant window. Needless to say, it would be fantastic to come here at night and watch the city light up. Leaving the hotel, we decide to continue up the road to the summit. Strangely enough, there is no sign or even flag to signal the top of Mt. Province. The road is extremely desolate here between Summit Village and Base Camp Village, our next destination. The only building we see on the 5 mile trek is this giant incinerator. This building is the Skagate Incinerator, built in 1913 by the town of Skagate. Skagate later changed name to Base Camp Village, due to it being a base camp for trekkers hiking to the summit. In 1793 the first person ever to ascend Mt. Province was James G. Skagate, for whom the town was named after. The Skagate Incinerator is still operational today, although safety concerns have been raised. After driving for around 15 minutes (seemed like an eternity when all you see is desolate plain and a dirt road with very little traffic) we finally arrive at Base Camp Village, Population 2,235! Downtown Base Camp Village on Mountain Rim Rd. Despite being at the top of the world, literally, Base Camp Village is no utopia. Most people who live here are undereducated and the real estate business here is not great. In fact, the average salary here is only around 32,000MD (or around $16,000). James Skagate Elementary, the only school within 10 miles from here. We come up to the only traffic light for about 10 miles- the intersection between Mountain Rim Rd. and the Skagate Hwy. We will turn left onto the Skagate Highway in order to get back to Province. However, first we check out some of the residential housing in Base Camp Village. We turned right at the light to get to the residential housing. Another picture of the housing, And yet another one. We loop back around to the light again, this time on Mountain Rim Rd. First, we make a pit-stop though. This is the Skagate Church, the highest church in all of Jiff. By the way, Base Camp Village (at 8,000 feet above sea level) is also the 4th highest community and 2nd highest incorporated community in Jiff. Looking back at Base Camp Village while we escape via the Skagate Hwy. this road is much more traveled by since it has less steep gradients. Travelin' through more desolate treeless land. We are finally descending back to Province-level (which is what the locals here call 5,600 feet, or the elevation the CBD of Province). ...And more Hmm...A postal truck.... interesting. The MLPS (Moneyland Postal Service) only started to serve Base Camp Village in 2007. *It's getting late here, so I'm going to have to cut this off. I've been working on this post an hour at a time today whenever I wasn't playing C:S so I'm ready to take a break* To be continued tomorrow...

Thanks! The metro lines are still in development but will be presented when finished.

You might have asked, if Province was that neglected and awful, why would it be increasing in population? After all, Detroit decreased in population immensely after the motor boom. The truth is, Province did have a massive drop in population in the 70's after the rail industry collapsed. Previously at around 350,000 metro population, the area decrease significantly in population down to the 92,000 today. However, its lowest point was in 1996 at just over 50,000 metro population. So why did it rebound in the 2000s? Well, first off, districts like the Revolution District were designated, along with heritage sites preserving important buildings. This meant that buildings about to go under the axe were later preserved, like the remains of the original town hall, burned in a fire in 1906: The National Park association in Moneyland helps provide funds in order to maintain these buildings. In addition to the old town hall, the Revolution District is home to some of the most beautiful architecture in all of Northwestern Moneyland. This building in the western portion of the Revolution District is Revolution Hall, one of the oldest buildings ever built and the building for which the Revolution District is named after. Built in 1856, the building underwent a massive renovation in 1950. The building was used for a courtroom until the population of Province got too big to support it. Today it is a popular tourist attraction for guided tours. It is also the National Park HQ for Jiff Hold. This is Morgan Hall, or better known as the Morgan Aquarium. This building was originally designed to be a massive auditorium in 1890, but later was changed into an aquarium after Camp Abalazone and the Province Strip opened in 1960, allowing for much bigger venues. In 1913, Claude Debussy traveled to Moneyland to deliver one of the most famous concerts in Province. The Steinway piano he played on is still on display at Revolution Hall after being moved in 1961. At the far west of the Revolution District, we have the Church of St. Andreas. This church is situated at the intersection between Morgan Street and Sainte Andreas Avenue, one of the most famous intersections in Province. Morgan Street is a main thoroughfare that goes all the way from the ML-175 freeway in Empire Bluffs to Brotherhood Avenue a block further east from this intersection. Sainte Andreas is a small farm road down south up in the Monroe Mountain Ranges until it makes its way north to Province Strip. The Monroe Mountain Ranges are home to some very special small villages that are worth their own entry. As for the Church of St. Andreas herself, she has stood there since 1859, without much renovation. As such, the church is not in the best condition today, however Province is still arguing with the Federal Government to get funding. Here is the intersection between Morgan Street and Brotherhood Avenue East. This marks the end of Morgan Street. Brotherhood Avenue East is one of very few in the entirety of Province that is paved with gray tarmac instead of black that is found commonplace. Funnily enough, the final block of Morgan also has gray tarmac on it. * Brotherhood Avenue is another famous east-west thoroughfare in Province. Going from the ghetto-like neighborhoods of Fleetus Meadow (will cover later) to the wealthy Province Strip, then all through the eastern suburbs as a divided 4-lane highway with Michigan Lefts, it is the longest single named road in all of Province. *I know you are dying for a map, Cimtographer to the rescue coming soon! All Righty. Another short entry here, but will go faster later. It's getting late here, and we'll be ready for an *original* adventure next time! Tschüss!

Well, well, well. Jiff Hold in Moneyland is as rough as it gets. 24% Unemployment Rate, MD50,000 (around $25,000) average salary, and only a handful of metropolises over 100,000 in population. Enter... Province! Currently at a city population of 56,000 but a metro population at around 92,000 and rising, Province is quickly becoming the only city other than Mt. Monroe to pass 100,000 peeps in metro area. This picture was taken by a drone flying above the Abelezone Park District east of Downtown and is one of the most famous pictures of Province today. The picture is not that bad of a representation of Province in general, as it is compared to Detroit a lot. Just like Detroit had a booming car industry that eventually fell, Province in the 60's had an extremely good train industry that produced trains around the world. Still known as Railtown across the world, Province is falling apart in many of its worst districts. Let's hold off on the pictures a little and talk about the geography of Province. Jiff Hold in general is one of the westernmost holds in Moneyland. In fact, the only thing separating it from the Atlantic Ocean and the East Coast of America is 300 miles of the Chav'villa Hold. This is also in Abelezone Park, but looking north on Saint Andreas Avenue instead of south, like the last picture. This is the intersection with Morgan Avenue, a major thoroughfare for the city. On the far right is Province Strip, a place we shall look at in another post (It's largely unfinished development and will be projected to be almost 5 miles in length when finished. Much of the southern suburbs are also largely unfinished, mainly due to the excruciatingly low budget that the city has. Looking south on Linden Lea Boulevard, which is a major thoroughfare in the western part of town. As you can tell, the outskirts of downtown are one of the poorest areas in all of Moneyland (irony, some call it). Intersection between Wilson St. and Linden Lea Blvd. The building on the right is ASDA with a Maplin, as Moneyland has both influence (and shops) from both the U.S. and Europe. Stores from both areas are in Moneyland, from Tesco to Walmart, or Dillards to ASDA. Notice the neglect on the street. Linden Lea south of Wilson is sometimes known by the locals as "Pothole Way." 5-Way Intersection between Linden Lea, South Ave., and Hillside St. As you can see, South Avenue takes over the 6-lane boulevard while Linden Lea shrinks to a 2-lane local road. To the right in the foreground is Linden Park, while in the background is the Hotel Mercure, the only operating hotel in the Linden Lea neighborhood. It has reviews of about 2-stars due to its grimy rooms in need of refurbishment. Looking North on South Avenue, driving away from the lakeshore. The building on the left is the city's Elementary School and Orphanage. Notice the lack of traffic on these roads. Province sure does look like a ghost town sometimes. Blackwell Academy, the world-famous university for the arts, is located on Linden Lea Blvd. Let's take a look inside the actual neighborhood, shall we? Or maybe we shouldn't. The crime rate in Linden Lea is sky high at a 34% chance that you will be a victim of crime. As of right now, 3,450 people live inside the neighborhood; Down from 12,000 in 1950. Hmm... That's it for our first look at Province. I'm quite busy so I'm afraid this first entry will be cut short, but hopefully you enjoyed! Maps and more coming to help understanding the geography better. Next Up: A more in-depth look at Province's neighborhoods.

I'm trying to create something that actually works on a slope and not too unrealistic (grrr... slopes in this game). I think it looks stylish, but a bit ugly and and eyesore, but it will have to do for now. I don't even know what interchange to classify this as... it's probably similar to a stack interchange but with tons of circular ramps. Tons of circles to stop the ramps turning into a stunt-jump as well... Currently making some suburbs off the slopes and this interchange is the first step towards that. Hah, the residents will be pleased having to navigate this horrible monstrosity!