spacedragonblue

Well, mine was based on a pre-built, real-world place, hahaha. Thanks for the comments, that was the first map I've ever made I actually liked. First time using the GIMP, great program once you get the hang of it. I like maps that are to scale, even if they're a little ungainly, because they become your mental map of a place (see: NYC).

A metro for the Hamptons, Long Island, NY [Oversized image resized. Maximum image size 800x600 - porter]

Bento is a smallish-sized town that has recently chosen to open a small tram system rather than expand its roads. Oh, and amazing maps guys! I wish I could do stuff like that

Is there any way to have subways pop up in the regional traffic view? I've yet to find a mod that does so.

It looks like you have a lot of open space around the edges-maybe put down a monorail?

How mixed-use are your neighborhoods? Having commercial and residential mixed will greatly increase the number of pedestrians.

Is a railway the only mass transit you have for such a big city? Have you put in subway/elevated rail/glr/monorail along the most congested routes? If you have subways, sometimes laying down two tracks can ease congestion on them.

I'm a New Yorker, and I would have to disagree with Rockstone about being the cleanest large city. Still, we still are cleaner than SoCal and the rust belt, and projects like Million Trees NYC and a push for green building means we're slowly climbing up the rankings when it comes to cleanliness.

As a New Yorker, my least favorite building here, and pretty much anywhere, is 375 Pearl Street (AKA the Verizon Building near the Brooklyn bridge). It's plain ugly and sticks out light a sore thumb from the neighborhood surrounding it. The contrast with the beauty of the Brooklyn Bridge is terrible. Thankfully, its due to have a total facade overhaul shortly that will at least diminish its blight on our skyline.

I agree the second ave. subway is desperately needed. Luckily, the city is planning several bus rapid transit corridors (the first one opens this summer in the bronx), and the 2nd and 4th routes to be completed will be 1st/2nd ave. and 5/madison ave, so that might take some pressure off the lexington ave. line.

Timberland?

After the Simnation rail system collapsed, Seaside County bought up some of the old lines and built a system running from small town to small town. Usage more than doubles in the summer when tourists flock to the beaches and quaint Main Streets.

My first attempt at a map.

TheSixCents: The ground is very hard in NY too-Manhattan Schist makes a wonderful bedrock for skyscrapers but is also very hard to excavate, but we managed to build a subway system anyway. Giorgos69: I was just in Athens 2 weeks ago and I completely agree. All the apartment buildings look like they were built by the same 3rd rate architect in the 50s. The subway helps a little, but the Plaka would be nicer without the train rumbling right through the middle of it.

In my hometown of NYC, specifically around my neighborhood on the upper east side: 1. Completion of the long overdue 2nd Ave subway to finally provide subway service to the far East side and relieve congestion on the horribly overcrowded Lexington Ave. lines. 2. Get a city law passed offering incentives for buildings to add rooftop gardens, thus reducing the urban heat shield and stormwater runoff, cleaning the air and absorbing some CO2. 3. Better use of the waterfront on the East River. While the Hudson river has a wonderful park with a bicycle path and recreational facilities running from 59th st., access to the East River is broken up, often looks shabby and does little if anything to block out some of the noise from the cars whizzing past on the neighboring FDR Drive. 4. I'd demolish almost everything on Roosevelt Island and rebuild with buildings that don't look like the brown and gray soviet apartment blocks currently there. That much ugly close together makes for a crummy view.

As a proud New Yorker, I vastly prefer the city over the suburbs-in SC and real life. Cities do not have to be cold, ugly or smelly. They are inherently more environmentally friendly due to mass transit options. Furthermore, I disagree with 99% of my country and side with Europe when it comes to walkability. The cities I have been to that I would like to live in were all places in which you don't have to be stuck in traffic for an hour to do your shopping. I'd take Vancouver or NY over LA or Houston any day. That doesn't mean I don't love open space. Nothing is better for contrast and relaxation than a weekend in the county-but we'd have a lot more of it if we all ditched the car and moved downtown.

I really, really want to go to Japan someday-it seems like a really neat place and the food is amazing. The Tokyo skyline seems pretty nice to me-though, as a New Yorker, it is obviously not my favorite. Did anyone see the movie Babel? There was a great shot at the very end of the movie where they zoom out from the characters standing on the balcony to show all these buildings in Tokyo-simply beautiful. I think that was in the Shinjuku neighborhood.

For all the reasons stated, and because it's my hometown, I support NYC. About the neutrality issue: Since the rest of the county has this weird love/hate relationship with us (Manhattan is often referred to as an island of the coast of Europe") and we've been grumbling about succession for a long time now, there'd be no problem with making us an independent city-state.

Perhaps someone could alert whoever has access to the file to make sure there isn't something wrong with it...

I did get 10MB, but when I try to open the compressed folder it says its invalid o'r corrupted. GAAH!

This is the latest reincarnation of a proposal to turn Manhattan's 42nd st. into a pedestrian mall with a light rail running down the middle. I'm sure it'll never happen, but it's a cool idea. Oh, and as someone who lives here in NYC, and has experienced the horror of riding the 4,5 and 6 during rush hour, I'm desperately hoping they'll finish the 2nd ave. subway. Hey...it's only taken them 50 years to get this far.