-
Announcement
-
Simtropolis Returns! 05/26/2026
See here for details about our site recovery efforts.
-
Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'glenvale'.
Found 13 results
-
Entry 26 - A Subway Called Chirpy (5E130)
Linoa06 posted a City Journal entry in Skylines of Cathnoquey
Hiya everyone! Somehow the mayor managed to survive elections and remain major, and that may have to do with...a new metro line! Today we're going to the Eastern areas of Glenvale - the towns of Baxford, Brook Hill, and Canal City. You've probably never heard of them because I've never featured them yet - but there's a LOT of people there, and some of the loveliest areas in town. For instance, take Canal City. Its name is derived from the canals that crisscross what used to be an industrial area that was dismantled starting in the 70s. The canals were essentially a massive port which became obsolete when the Port of Glenvale opened with its giant industrial wards. The area gentrified, and warehouses were replaced by condos and lovely little shops and even office space...but also low-wealth housing projects. All surrounded by pre-existing suburbia. Today Canal City boasts one of Glenvale's highest land values. In fact, there are motions in City Hall to expand on the canal system to connect with more parts of town. That is, with a lot of locks, as Glenvale is definitely not all flat land. Today, however, canals are contained to the neighborhood - but far more efficient and modern mass transit now links Canal City to the CBD. Gone is the slow 6 to Brook Hill - the future of commuting for Eastern Glenvale is on rails! ..okay maybe not high speed rails, as this train is actually coming from the nearby depot and will soon run a service on the East Coast Main Line. The new metro line - dubbed Line B - begins in Brook Hill, about 5 km from the CBD. A shuttle bus goes to the nearby Glenvale Regional Airport - but we'll talk about airports in a different entry. Trains here are bound for Convention Center at least until the next expansion - so let's follow the line! The route is operated by ten Lint 41 double units, all painted in Chirper's color scheme. Why so? Well, Chirper Inc. actually funded about thirty percent of the line's construction. Unlike the first metro line, these trains are not fully driverless at all. The major stated that the benefits of automation were not worth the loss of potential job creation. Not everyone agrees. The tracks weave around housing projects and runs parallel to the A45 road (which, as with all A roads, is a federal highway). This highway was refurbished a few years ago, and this interchange links with the main avenue leading to the Regional Airport. The next station is Canal City - Nakamura St. That station was built in Akaviri style, but it's actually a relatively small station serving the upper parts of Canal City - mostly poorer housing districts. Just one minute later, metro trains pull into Canal City - Woodley Street. This is the bigger station serving Canal City and is also built in Akaviri style. The upper level of the station houses the operation center for Line B, as the tracks leading to the depot branch out just east of the station. Mind the gap! A train pulls into Woodley Street station during morning rush hour. The station acts as a bus hub, and passengers are funnelled from local buses into the metro system from here. Bus and metro tickets are separate but regular commuters can use their MetroCard across the entirety of the bus and metro network, and even city taxis! The train leaves the station, then turns southwards to cross the A45 roadway. The roadway is one of the most modern roadways in Glenvale, though so far it only stretches as far as Meadowfair. Later it is slated to meet up with the freeways - but local groups oppose any destruction caused by building the roadway further into town. Parallel to the A45 city officials laid out a cycle path, so that cyclists can safely go straight from their homes into the suburbs into the outer downtown area. The next station is North Baxford, about 7 minutes away from Brook Hill. It is designed in the same style as the terminus at Brook Hill, though with more shops around. Baxford is still a very suburban area though. The train line weaves westwards again, towards downtown, and passes the Baxford University Hospital. Finally the route reaches the outer parts of the downtown core. Thirteen minutes in, and you're already at Westbrook Square station, on the outer edge of Meadowfair. This station is, in fact, the first elevated station we call at - and also the shortest. It just about accommodates the typical 2-unit (4-car) set! From now on, the line enters the city itself - on elevated rails! The line races along Downey Avenue, but not quite. The line was built in the middle of the block column to minimize disruptions to the businesses and buildings along the busy avenue. In fact there was very little demolition as the viaduct is built on an earlier landscaped slope that was mostly not built up anyway. The trains are barely visible from Downey Avenue or the adjacent parallel street. Sixteen minutes in the trip and we arrive at Meadowfair station, though it technically is actually located on the border with the Orchard Park district. The tracks then squeeze between two buildings on either side of the station, before turning at a 45 degree angle over Downey Avenue (in the background). The tracks need to keep parallel to the avenue but on the other side of it to cross the M1 freeway artery. Finally the line crosses over the freeway. The road is already sunken quite deep (about 15 meters) but the train tracks need to be even higher to reach the next elevated station. Finally, twenty minutes into the trip, the train stops in the first CBD station, Bloomdew Circle. The station name itself is an artefact of road construction that was eventually shelved, as the intersection was initially slated to become a roundabout. That did not happen. Most elevated stations in the CBD are built to the same design, with a station and small parking lot and elevator AND stairs access to the platforms. Just like in Meadowfair, the train line runs behind the buildings along the avenue, once again hidden from view - it also helps mitigate noise pollution, or so the city council claims. Finally, we reach Union Station and the city bus terminal at Union Square / Concord Plaza. This is also where we meet up with Metro Line A, and a new exit to the underground station was built in the lobby of the elevated stop. It also helps transfers to the bus terminal or mainline station as people can transfer through underground passageways and the underground station lobby instead of crossing the busy road. The area of Concord Square itself was reduced by a third to make way for the station building. Initially, that station was supposed to be the terminus for Line B - but a last-minute change prompted more construction westwards, especially as the land ahead is all parking spaces or plazas. Instead the tracks carry on downwards, slowly at first over the road, then slightly steeper... Finally, past the road the line dives down entirely underground - though just below street level. In the tunnel, a small but steep spur line connects Metro Line B to Metro Line A, which runs parallel to it but at a greater depth (about 4 m lower) on the other side of the avenue. Metro Line B eventually emerges at its current terminus : Convention Center station. It is a sunken station, though not entirely underground, and is also a transfer point for Metro Line A. The station is only sunken and not completely underground because the Line A tracks, after exiting their own underground station, cross the Line B tracks just a few meters below them. It would have been far too costly and difficult to rebuild the entire area, as opposed to building this sunken station. In time, there are plans to stretch the B line underground towards Burbank and the South Beach area, though for now the tracks and tunnel end here. And so trains reverse here and go all the way back to Brook Hill. With this new subway line, Glenvale and its urban area are better connected, though at the minor cost of a 1 percent rise in commercial and industrial taxes. At least taxpayers aren't moaning as much this time. Here's an updated bus and subway map for downtown Glenvale. Line B is shown from Westbrook Square to Convention Center - the suburban areas of Brook Hill, Canal CIty and Baxford are still not shown on the main bus map. However, here's the full subway network map, showing every station on the network along with two planned expansions, such as Line B extending to Burbank and the Line A city loop - though the city loop is not even funded yet, so very unlikely to meet the deadline at all. Interestingly there is no Chirpy logo on the map, though there is a free wifi service on the entire network to everyone with a Chirper handle! #CoolOrWhat? And finally, a stylised map of the Glenvale metro area - it's actually not very developed, maybe 2.000.000 inhabitants max, but there you go! That's it for today! I'm going to take a break from Glenvale so next entry we're going in the Euro/Dunmer part of Cathnoquey, to visit a completely new town! Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to your feedback! -
Hiya everyone! Today I got to set up different commercial specialisations around Glenvale, so let's dive in our shiny (almost) brand new districts! The Marigold Tower is finally lit up! In the background, a new tower was erected : the Grand Hotel tower. Tourists can stay here if they have the coin... Let's go on the other side of the Burbank Bridge today. The South Beach waterfront area is full of hotels, with a lovely view on the beach and the sea. The entire area is known for its vibrant nightlife, complete with midnight basketball games! However it's mostly full of tourists, who enjoy the smooth sandy beach. One of the best known nightclubs in the city is the Celsius - in fact they're a chain of nightclubs spread across the entire nation. Every VIP in the state has been there at least ten times, and the fashionable TMZEEE tabloid has set up its HQ just next door! The waterfront was recently redeveloped, too. A new ferry terminal was built in South Beach to replace the old terminal, which was far too remote. The beach was recently cleaned up and also redeveloped. For instance, a cycle path was built on the beach itself, as well as a little embankment to prevent flooding during storms and high tides. From the gleaming city to the beach in just two minutes - who could say no to that? The waterfront isn't the only place where you can have fun at night. The CBD has its fair share of entertainment going on, too! Restaurants, nightclubs, pubs, neko cafes and more await you in the streets of downtown Glenvale. Admittedly, not everyone buys into the city nightlife experience. For some people, a good evening out is spent with friends, fishing and watching the city from afar. For others, though, the Marigold Tower is like a beacon of fun and wealth in an increasingly cluttered landscape. Taller towers are springing up across the city. However it is unfair to say the Greens are all about consumerism : the building code has been tightened to be more environmentally friendly, and many of these hotels have solar panels to fight their carbon footprint. Isn't Glenvale busy? Most hotel rooms are soundproofed, though, and what a view they offer! It only really gets quieter far into the night, as partygoers wait for a night bus to take them home. It's a great thing buses run 24/7 in Glenvale - but many remember a time where they stopped running at 7pm. The nightclub fever is mostly limited to the southern part of the city center. In other parts of the CBD, nights are a lot quieter, much to the relief of local residents. As Glenvale becomes more of a touristic destination, the city council has decided to completely overhaul Concord Square, with basins on two sides. Also note the new bus lanes. This overhaul did come with extra billboards and advertising, though.. The City Hall plaza was also rebuilt and now features a forest of metal cubes, meant to represent the transition between modern men and nature.. or maybe a wishful Minecraft update. More billboards, more hotels..Somebody who lived here ten years ago would probably have trouble recognising the area today! The sun comes up over residental areas of Glenvale. This is Edenvale, with Willow Glen in the background. Partygoers are going to sleep, while other residents of Edenvale wake up, prep the kids for school, get ready for work... It almost feels like two opposite worlds clashing yet cohabiting together. The CBD is not the only area of town with higher density buildings though. Willow Glen in particular is home to many housing projects and business parks. While these two worlds seem diametrically opposed, they share the same transport network - Edenvale is really maybe 15 minutes away from the city centre. Except during rush hour. Or you could take the metro! Most higher-density areas are linked by subway, and there is a new line in the works! The metro station at Willow Glen is linked with the Willow Glen Bus Hub, where many long-distance and city buses call at. By metro, it takes 20 minutes to go from Willow Glen into town; by bus, it takes half an hour. Many buses act as feeders, though, rather than linking the CBD to the suburbs directly. No matter how you do it, it means you can enjoy an evening out in the city centre after work before coming home. The public transport network is very efficient. Finally, let's look at a new development in the outlying islands! A new airport was opened! Glenvale/Kingscote Airport (GKA) is meant to replace the older airport. With eight gates and two runways, the airport is eventually slated to replace the nearby South Kingscote Airport, which will need to close as the costs of refurbishing it are, in fact, bigger than those of just building a new airport with modern amenities. However it's probably not a perfect solution : it is not yet opened for business, and so far there is no public transport link to it, short of taxis. The runways are also shorter (1300 meters), which prevents bigger planes from landing in normal conditions. In time, though, it is expected to handle smaller regional passenger planes. There's also the issue of pollution, which the Greens in power have yet to address... The older airport will probably focus more on cargo with the regional airplanes gone, but it will also handle the international traffic, and at such is undergoing renovations too. With the new GKA airport acting as a hub to all of the regional airlines and the older GCA airport handling cargo and international traffic, Glenvale might well become an air transport hub in short order, especially if the current hub at Albany closes. How far we've gone! A moribund manufacture-heavy city slowly turns into a thriving financial city and touristic hub and gains 100.000 inhabitants over 15 years. For the Green major, though, things don't look so easy. Some voters think she's acted contrary to the values her party stands for in the name of progress and glory, what with promoting air transport, tourism and unchecked consumerism. She's becoming popular again but the Greens are disowning her. What if she truly was the... life of the party? That's all for today! Next time we're building an entire new subway line - or more accurately an overground metro line! Thanks for reading and see you next time! Do feel free to leave some feedback!
-
Hiya, and welcome back to Glenvale! Dawn is breaking upon Glenvale, but for the city council, this year will be very busy. The City Council has led major efforts to clean up parks across town after it was revealed every single one was constantly littered. Flytipping is now a jailable offence. The Haaler River flows across Glenvale. It goes south, then back north on the other side of the Glenvale Bay, and is a major river in Kingscote. As for Burbank Bridge, it's over fifty years old by now - well beyond its lifespan. It needs to be rebuilt, and so is being disassembled, bit by bit. The project is controversial. In the short term, it involves the destruction of an entire housing estate, not to mention the severing of a major road link. In the long term, there are concerns about a rise in the local council and city taxes. Finally, environmentalists claim the project will have a negative impact on the environment - ironically the Green party is in power, and pushing for construction of the new bridge. The reconstruction of the Burbank Bridge also involves the construction of a dam. It should generate enough electricity to shut down one nuclear reactor. The dam will also help redefining the banks of the river, including massive land claims downstream and the creation and landscaping of a small lake in the middle of town. Here's the dam being built... The dam means water levels will rise by about 9 meters. Some neighbourhoods, especially near Forest Hills, need to be flooded, causing more people to require rehoming. The one bridge still operational has to cope with twice as much traffic as usual, and a single accident can block the entirety of traffic going in one direction - such as here, where the southbound lanes are all but empty when they should already be jammed. At the end of the year, both the dam and new Burbank Bridge are finally complete. The new bridge has 40% more capacity than the old one, and the dam also provides an extra roadway between north and south Glenvale. However millions were lost when a wind farm on the south bank of the river was partially submerged after a storm. To political commentators, this picture shows the irony of a Green Party drowning out its own policies in a bid to redevelop the city. Other see the effects of Green Party policies on itself. The fact is, the creation of the dam ruined the City Beach, and because of budget overruns residents were left with a muddy waterfront. The approval ratings are at their lowest, and the major struggles with constant criticism. The improved transit times between the north and south sides of Glenvale can barely offset the major's terrible rating. This is especially true amongst the 1200 people that have to be rehomed after their housing estate needed to be destroyed to make way for the new bridge, or those whose homes were flooded. Maybe another project can help with the major's disastrous tenure. Do you see it - that big tower in the background. The other big project of the year is a massive redevelopment of the Stark Tower complex. For years, Glenvale had little in the way of a skyline. Of course, buildings like the Stark Tower were known landmarks, but they were barely visible even from Rochdale, let alone the rest of the area. Glenvale needs something iconic - something that would thrust it to world city status. The old plaza was destroyed. Along with undeveloped land, a new tower was built : thus, the Marigold Tower was created. The name itself was chosen to resemble another famous tower in Tamriel, the Imperial City Whitegold Tower. Amazing artwork of the Whitegold Tower in the Imperial City in the early decades of the Fifth Era, about 80-100 years ago. This artwork was meant to be the inspiration behind the new picture, but the final project was deeply modified. (Picture by Lelek1980, not myself) This is what the Marigold Tower finally ended up looking like. There's a massive restaurant and a few condos on top! While it looks very different from the Whitegold Tower, it is the tallest building in Glenvale - and the five tallest in all of Cathnoquey. The plaza has been entirely rebuilt, too, in order to meet up with the Concord Plaza and form one single landscaped area. It does seem to work. Predictably, everyone is moaning. Too expensive, too ugly, too ambitious : the city council is spending money on frivolities while unemployment is on the rise again. Yet the new tower unmistakably redefines the cityscape, and Glenvale was ranked 7th out of 100 in the authoritative Tamrielic Sights to See classment, published yearly in the Imperial Times magazine. A boost for the economy and for tourism. Same view a few hours later. From the right of the picture to the left : the twin Commerce Towers, the City Hall / Civic Center tower, the Marigold Tower, the Stark Tower, the Cookie Inc. Tower. In the bottom right, the Chirper Inc HQ can be seen. View of the city at night. The Marigold Tower will soon be completed and lit up too. The Briar Lodge lighthouse and the new Marigold Tower in the background. The toll gate on the M1 motorway has been completed! This seems to be a success, and now the city council wants to build more across town - but will the opposition let them? Meanwhile the State of Kingscote has decided to split its legislative and executive branches. While its executive will stay in Albany, the State Congress has been moved to a new building in Glenvale. For the state government, this is meant to reduce corruption in the capital Albany, as well as to promote Glenvale across the nation - and all of Tamriel. Yet for some people in Glenvale, life hasn't really gotten easier. The Bluerise Tower might have been replaced by a zoo but what good is it if the poorest classes can't afford to visit it? The Library Tower now stands as the second-tallest building in Glenvale, but what is it, if not a symbol of capitalism? Many in the city feel betrayed by a Green Party they thought would change things for the better, but who have only clumsily carried out a policy of massive consumerism. Though many would also disagree, and point out the major is inexperienced yet traffic and environmental issues in the city have improved. And indeed, despite unemployment rising though by just 1% against a national average of 3%, median income has also increased throughout the city and many city services are now either free to the poorest through heavy subsidies, mostly from trade taxes. In the 3rd year of the major's first mandate, things finally begin to look bright. As soon as unemployment falls again, the major's ratings should go right back up. Well, hopefully. Election's in two years now. And as part of the celebrations for the city's 160th anniversary, a new ATC tower was built for Glenvale Airport, which is slated to undergo major reconstruction in the coming years. Manufacture in Glenvale is all but gone, but it is being replaced by an economy based on tourism, services and finances. It's been hard work for many years, but it seems that it's finally paying off for the inhabitants as a whole - even if it ruins some people's political careers. People may moan and decisions may be clumsily made, but there's some hope really. Hope that Glenvale becomes one of the nation's biggest cities and one known the world over to boot. Dawn has broken, hail the new day. Hope you liked this entry, please lease some feedback and see you next time!
-
Heya, and welcome to this first After Dark update for Glenvale. I was quite pleased to see the city has survived the many updates that followed so let's embark on a neon tour of our city! Ah, Coal Hill High... This school was rated best high school in Kingscote for 5E131. The Green Party, which won the council election eventually, held its victory conference here. The school campus is also praised. It was built both as a campus for the schools around it and as a park for Glenvale residents of Lakeview to enjoy. But today, the star of the show is elsewhere. Today, we're not going to explore Glenvale by day. Instead, we're going to wait until night time. It is 8.30pm, and the city has just lit up. One after the other neon street lights pop up across town, drawing orange lines across the darkness. Buildings light up, and traffic becomes scarcer as everyone has commuted home. A SKRC train to Albany carries late commuters back home. Commuter trains run until 10.30 pm. The city centre does feel quieter at night, with everyone gone back home. Servers at Chirper HQ are most buzzing in the evening, when most people unwind in their homes and reshare chirps and other social media bits for the world to see. The Stark Tower dutifully watches over the city as it slowly falls asleep. But do cities truly ever sleep? The bus drivers in Glenvale would surely disagree. For them, the night shift begins. Eight night bus lines criss-cross the city, picking up late-night commuters and party-goers alike. In the summer months, evenings are also when it is most comfortable to come out for a drink or a visit to the theatre. Concord Plaza is a great place to meet up before shuffling on a shuttle bus to the nightclubs. Many of the taller buildings remain all lit up at night, though they are exceptions. The Concord Tower, to the left of the picture, shines over the plaza like a beacon. Money never sleeps, after all, and even though most bankers have gone back to their cosy estates, their servers remain up, scanning the markets and waiting for the next day. However, the red Cookie Inc. Tower remains dark at night to save energy. As for the Bluerise Tower, in the background, well...its owners have gone bankrupt, and the tower is due for demolition. A line 3B bus driver enjoys the light traffic on Federal Avenue. During the day, it is almost entirely jammed. At night, the police has to go to great lengths to prevent illegal drag races on the perfectly straight road. But there are only so many police officers, and the night is the perfect cover for unsavoury people of all backgrounds to indulge in crime. This does not worry the passengers on the SS Titus II. Tomorrow, they'll be at sea, even further south, far away from the cares of the world. Night is also a great time for shipping. With roads completely emptied of commuters, trucks can deliver goods quicker than during the day. It does get lonely, though, doesn't it? Even Downey Avenue, which strikes diagonally across the otherwise straight grid of the industrial wards, is quiet and peaceful at this time of night... Burbank Bridge flies over the Briar Lodge neighbourhood. Traffic is very light on the bridge, mostly because most people who use it live in Glenvale or nearby anyway. Soon, the bridge will be destroyed and rebuilt with a much more efficient design - and, it is feared, toll gates. The subway runs until 1am. Even late at night, there are still a fair deal of people around the train station. Most districts become quiet at night. Not Meadowfair. The university district buzzes with activity at night. Nightclubs are open and usually packed, and so are cabarets, cinema, restaurants and theatres. The district feels alive, with traffic rushing by, taxis and limos stopping. Bathed in neon lights, people are dancing, laughing, singing, some of them more than a little tipsy. Every night, there is a long procession of cars exiting the M102 spur motorway at a tiny exit in Southhill. The southernmost part of the highway is usually closed at night because of resident complaints about trucks taking shortcuts in suburban, residential areas on their way to the industrial wards. Doesn't stop some trucks from trying anyway. The Greens have won the election and are planning to put tolls to restrict access to the CBD, further alarming some residents at the possibility of increased traffic in their neighbourhoods. Perhaps the Greens should try to get over their opposition to nuclear power first. A law passed just a few weeks after their accession to City Hall and saw nuclear power plants shut, leading to rolling blackouts at night when solar power plants do not function. Needless to say, it only took two days to overturn the law. Political media described the events as the Green Electricity Bill Fiasco, and the opposition jumped on the opportunity to point out their inexperience in office. On the outskirts of the city, the last train of the day rolls along the tracks. It leaves Glenvale at 11.58pm and is bound for Amesbury Central, calling at Albany and Wesmoor. If you want to go into Glenvale later, roads are the only way. A toll gate is being built at the entrance of Glenvale on the M1. The price is only 0.75 cent (about 3 Septims) though, which is actually quite affordable yet will help in highway maintenance. The CityPass also allows drivers to pass the gate without stopping at all! They just reduce their speed and their electronic units automatically pay for them. However, the higher price of CityPass units means it is mostly useful for regular commuters in and out of Glenvale. In the background, one of the city's two nuclear power plants glow, but parks remain dark green patches of wild land within the concrete fabric of city life. Aperture Park and the Scientific Enrichment Center are also popular late-night venues. The Center holds its famous Late Night Science events on weekends and exhibits some of its technology then, such as the Great Orrery, which makes use of the stars in the sky. Some people take advantage of the lower attendance in the evenings, much to the delight of local restaurants that can stay open longer. There are several other dark patches of land in the CBD - most of it awaiting development. The CO tower (formerly the Mithril Tower before its reconstruction) looks slightly out of place, doesn't it? It's all lit blue and red, as opposed to the more typical yellow and orange glow of nearby buildings and streets. Then again, Glenvale does have quite a few atypical buildings which define its skyline, however low-rise it really is. The Stark Tower is only 50 floors high, after all - 220 meters only! The cranes in the harbor might not be as high, but they do also define the skyline of southern Glenvale and they are the first sight any ship coming into port might see. The old City Hall, refurbished as the Kingscote Historical Museum, is undergoing renovations too - soon it will be lit up brightly red in the skies of Cathnoquey. A view from above reveals the grid pattern of the CBD, with the major streets lit orange, and just how much land is about to be built-up. The sun finally rises, and the city comes back to life as partygoers return to their homes. A new day awaits! And now for more maps! This is an updated map of the SKRC Commuter system. The terrain around Glenvale, formerly very schematic, has been redrawn more accurately in response to travellers' confusion. Night network! 15 min headway is really for "peak time" though, in effect it's more like 20-30 minutes. This is it, hope you enjoyed this update and night-time Glenvale! Hope to see you next time
-
Entry 22 - Those Who Stand for Nothing (5E130)
Linoa06 posted a City Journal entry in Skylines of Cathnoquey
Heya everyone! This year, Glenvale ties for fastest growth with Amesbury. With local elections ahead, let's take a quick look at the city, shall we? An Intercity train races across town, headed for the Capitol. The sun shines, general aviation buzzes overhead, it's a warm spring day... It is a normal day in Glenvale. Beyond the University that's also opening this year, the city's ambitions are towards better park-and-ride facilities and increasing frequency on some of the heaviest bus lines. But do the elites really care? The subway is all nice and good, but trams would have been cheaper, and taxes wouldn't have risen so sharply. 12% council tax rate city-wide! Yet life carries on, and amidst nuclear fears the very first Nuclear Vault in Kingscote was opened by Fault-Tec in the heart of Glenvale - as an exhibit, they say. Meanwhile, the seas are rising, and nobody seems to care. Does anybody ever care? They should - local elections are looming. Probably not for the passengers of the luxurious cruise ship SS Galaxy, who sail the southern Kingscote seas, and delight at every sight. South, endless seas. North...endless concrete. You'd think a city so proud of its environment would do something about climate change. You'd wish they had proper guidelines when the volcanos the city straddles awaken once again. The drought might have come and gone across the state, but the government is more intent on building yet more roads. Do you feel it? There's some sweet unrest in Glenvale, ushered in cafes, in meetings. At the Edenvale District Hall, local council members are worried about the change. Their party, the Progressive Party of Cathnoquey, is slowing down. Once the party of change, now that of complacency. They took the Federals by surprise in Glenvale, but they only won by a margin, mostly thanks to the Aldmeri Standoff. And with minor parties gaining more and more momentum, the elites running Glenvale know their time is at an end. Economic recovery, yes, but when? For the manufactories that kept closing, it looked more like disaster than anything, fueling the hatred of the National Party; for environmentalists, Green was the new red. And if Glenvale was undergoing recovery, then were did the money go? It can't have possibly all gone into the new subway and freeway. Hospitals such as the Falsworth Hospital are all at capacity, with little federal relief. And you can feed the populace Quiddich matches all you want, even have the Glenvale Gliders come out on top of the Quiddich Premier League if you like, it can't smother out completely the worries of an entire people. When does it all break down? Latest polls reported by the Glenvale Herald put the Greens on top of both county and local elections, with a 20% lead on the PPC. Perhaps it would prove to be a victory for commuters. The Greens have pledged better transportation and construction of bike and bus lanes, in due time. Some parts of town are awfully jammed, and bikes would probably quicken commuting times for a lot of Glenvale residents. Not to mention that some of the infrastructure is ageing, and shows signs of weaknesses. They will have to be replaced in time - for the main parties, shutting down the major bridges in town would amount to political suicide. But what if it's what the people want? Glenvale relies on its freeway network more than other cities in the state, after all. Collapsing bridges wouldn't be good for business. And if the Greens won't necessarily have it easy, they're also drawing a lot more attention than four years ago. Those are shaky days ahead for the political elite of Glenvale and its surrounding towns. In the streets, many want to believe things will get better. Now, even some high-profile businesses endorse the Greens openly - including Chirper, Inc. The PPC has trouble adjusting to this scenario, so they lowered transport fares, hoping to ease up the pressure. Then again, perhaps the only solution for the PPC is to take a lift down from their patios and offices and expensive downtown flats - and into the streets and lives of ordinary residents. With local Greens leader Jane Haaleri planning to shut down a nuclear plant and set up toll booths and a "congestion zone" in the heart of the city, though, both the PPC and Liberals can hope to score political points. Meanwhile, the Whiterun-born Liberals leader, a charismatic Nord called Antony Bittneld, has decided to regain Glenvale for his party and is about to hold his presidential bid in the city Convention Center - well ahead of his rivals - in order to swing the election his way. Only two months to the local election, and the Liberals have gained massive ground - but they're still trailing the Greens, whose leader has been described as "possibly the first Dunmer to win City Hall". In fact, if she wins, Glenvale would become the biggest city in the nation headed by a Dunmer. Even in this day and age, Cathnoquey still has several issues regarding race. The Aldmer and people of Akaviri descent (the Tang Mo and Ka-Po-Tun, who are ironically closer to humanity than elves are) are the usual suspects because of geopolitical tensions. Dark Elves and the beastkin also face undue racial discrimination despite many laws written to tackle the issue. A Dunmer at the head of one of the country's biggest cities would be a major victory for civil rights activists. Will the Greens vision of a tram and bike friendly city - and of a progressive one - prevail, or will the Liberals appeal to "common sense" and strong economic growth through less taxes on businesses and residents alike? And will the incumbent Progressives manage to survive the death blow that's coming to them, in Glenvale and nation-wide? The Nationals are out after their far-right movement was found guilty of burning down the homes of local Khajiit and Bosmer businessmen - banned from all state elections for six years. Too much freedom of speech kills freedom of speech, Judge Carson said as he made his way out of the Court of Commons amidst both praise and outcry from other activists. And then there is the local oddball - this election sees Mai'q the Liar, son of Mai'q the Liar, grandson of Mai'q the Liar (and so on), self-proclaimed "most honest politician" in Glenvale, who campaigns not as himself but as his Shiba Inu dog... Yet, on the sandy shores of Glenvale, many people care little about politics and just try to catch the last warm rays of the year. Don't they know the results of the election - the future of their city - rest on their shoulders? Nothing is to be taken for granted in Glenvale. The wind blows, the hills overlook the city, traffic rushes along the narrow streets in the final week to the election...It's a normal day in Glenvale to fall for anything. That's it for today, thanks for reading! Please leave feedback as always, and see you next time! =) -
It's graduation day as Glenvale celebrates its 20.000th student (now 8% of the city's whole population), but the university of Glenvale is already at capacity. As part of its economy redevelopment, Glenvale is gambling on higher education to attract capital. The Aperture Center is one such high-tech academy. Yet St Alessia Glenvale University is outdated. It was built in 5E98, back when Glenvale was more than struggling, to replace an even older building. But now, most of the university needs to move. It is decided that underdeveloped land in Meadowfair will host a far bigger campus for more than 10 thousand students to use. The new university is to be dubbed Glenvale/South Kingscote New University. It takes little over a year to rehabilitate an older building, known as Meadowfair Hall, and destroy houses to build the university around it. New University sits in the middle of Avalon Avenue, served by the busiest bus line in the network, in a neighbourhood known for its nightclub and youth. The multi-million project also involved extensive redevelopment of the entire Meadowfair area. Akaviri Hall holds the administrative areas of the university, as well as the Law and Liberal Arts departments. It is also home to the cafeterias and restaurants of the university. The Dunmeri Institute of Science has ambition to become a leader in biotechnology. Its innovative design sinks the building into the ground - nine floors of this building are actually underground, where the complex sprawls. Students walk along Avalon Avenue just two months after the Grand Opening. Other buildings include the Central Library (on the right) and the Scientific Institute of Chemistry and Biology. Further in the background, one can find Bede Hall on the campus - one of the many accomodation sites for students all over the country. The streets around the university campus are full of cheap shops, takeaways and book stores. The Departments of Business and Sociology did not move from the Old University, but each have half of it to expand. The Old University was renamed St Alessia Institute of Business and Economics, and St Alessia University Department of Sociology. The Kingscote Institute of Magitech sits across the street, as a cooperative venture between the Mages Guild and the University of Glenvale. The Kingscote Anime League is planning to use the university campus for a one-week long festival dubbed LAcon, and a couple of music festivals are also planned here. There are also a few fields for playing various sports, though there is yet to be a University team to participate in sports leagues. A new train station was built especially to serve the University. Regional trains call here on their way to the state capital, Albany. It sits at the edge of the built-up area, though. No crammed buildings or crowded skyline - and a massive parking lot in front of the station to boot. A 4-car train bound for Beacon Falls is calling at Glenvale University. The university complex is just as readily accessible by car, however. Most of Meadowfair remains a medium-density district, however, and the building of the University has led to several refurbishment projects for some of the area's oldest buildings. Carny Hall is one of many small accomodation units sprinkled across town. Those units welcome students year-round and have been built with easy transportation in mind - a ride on line 8, for instance, only takes 10 minutes from here to the university and 20 to downtown. Though not every train stops at the station, it only takes 45 minutes from here to Albany, which may be interesting to many students. All in all, one year after inauguration, the positive effects of the University have spread all across Meadowfair and Glenvale as a whole! They even have a new paper, released by the university itself : the Glenvale Express. It remains to be seen whether smaller houses will be able to hold the tide against increasing high-density development though... Yet for Glenvale as a whole, the massive new University complex is a much-needed breather as manufacturing industries have hit an all-time low. It also might become the state's most populous city that way! Here's the SKRC System Map. Glenvale University station has been marked on it. For the SKRC network, this also meant the Albany-bound half of New Hall station could be shut down as transfers were now to be done at the much bigger University station. New subway map, with a few corrections from the earlier update. Updated city transit map with the new logo. Lines 1a and 1b have new loops to beat traffic jams, more stops have been added to some lines, and line 17 was stretched out to Miller's Ferry. Line 10 also goes slightly further into the Forest Hill neighbourhood. And that's it for today, hope you enjoyed! Next week we're taking a stroll across some parts of the city. Until then, thanks for reading =)
-
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Glenvale! After the Aldmeri attacks, everyone thought the next majoral election would trigger debates on terrorism or immigration, and that the current major would be fired from City Hall. This was not the case, however, and one major advantage going for the ruling PCC party is something just as basic : its economy. Unemployment is finally falling city-wide (from 12% to 7%), thanks to an influx of young, educated people, and most importantly, the Major greatly overhauled the city's basic transportation network. Never were the streets of Glenvale so quiet. Well, maybe because this particular street is but a backroad, but even five years ago, every rush hour it would actually be full of traffic. In 5E126, construction began for a fully automated light metro. In effect, many of the city's bus lines were congested, and the nearby city of Rochdale got swallowed in Glenvale's growth. Improving Glenvale-Rochdale commutes became a priority : together, the two cities are home to over 400.000 inhabitants. However, the first project to be completed was the complete refurbishment of the South Glenvale Bridge (also called the Burbank Bridge). This road connects north and south Glenvale and is also important as it carries the A45, which connects the suburban Seahaven coast to the city. The bridge is a major landmark, too, as it is actually elevated through the whole neighbourhood of Burbank, and is one of two road bridges crossing the Haaler river. Critics point out that the bridge has no median, though, which in turn requires lower speed limits. Many other avenues in the city are separated, though, which improves traffic flow. An increasing number of avenues are lined with trees, which supporters say reduces noise and embellishes the city. Well, it kind of does! The most prestigious gateway into the city is the train station (here seen behind the building). Its brick tower is known the country over. At one point it was the town's highest building, though obviously it has been some time since its height was surpassed. The train station has six tracks, and serves as a terminus of the SARC community network which serves south Kingscote. The three left tracks tend to be reserved for longer distance trains, such as those to the capital. There is also a bus station nearby, which is the terminus for most bus services across Glenvale. Here's an older long-distance train to Wellsborough. Glenvale is the terminus of the East Coast Main Line that runs from the capital through Cramption, Amesbury, Wesmoor and Albany. Another such long distance train (on the left), along with a newer panoramic express train to Ashford via Wellsborough. The train tracks run through eastern Glenvale at ground level. Not all level crossings are separated too, and with one train every 20 minutes on average the matter becomes pressing. One of the first causes of death on the railways occurs on railway crossings after all. Then you have the idiots who rush to cheat the signals and barriers, too.. Another (protected) level crossing... Buses from the station cross short and long distances alike. This is a city bus on line 20 to Lichfield via Rochdale. Most buses tend to serve Glenvale only though. Many different buses can be seen on this picture! The canopy of the bus station is remarkably huge too, and painted in the former colours of the Board of Transportation buses - white and red. Older buses are still painted white and red, newer buses though are painted the colour of the usual lines, a process made easier thanks to each color group of lines having its own depot. Cargo trains do not operate from Union Station; they have a purpose-built cargo facility in the south reaches of the town, in the Industrial Wards. The new subway connects Glenvale with Rochdale. It starts at Union Station then goes roughly westwards (which is why some of the tunnel had to be rebuilt after sinking in during the Aldmeri attacks). Most of the stations have modern, but low-key entrances, powered by Dwemer inspired solar panels on top. A branch also serves the airport, which is finally properly connected to the CBD and train station. A plane taxis to the terminal after landing... Some stations have different designs though. Willow Glen station, built by the nearby business park, is the largest of them. Its design was later used for the main subway station in Amesbury. The station at Trillby is the only overground station of the whole metro line. It connects with lines 14, 20 and 21, and is a major hub in the suburban Western part of the city. The line ends in Rochdale, just a few blocks away from the beach. Rochdale is now ever closer to Glenvale. The CBD can be seen in the horizon. Roads are just as important to the city, however. This is the northern part of the A45 as it weaves through the suburbs of Devonia and Brook Hills. And this is a road that connects northern Glenvale with Rochdale. It's a 1x1 rural highway, though that is more than enough. We've already seen the major M1 motorway that crosses through town, but the last big project we're covering today is the upgrade of a road to freeway status to connect Rochdale. The new motorway uses sound-proof barriers as a test prject. if successful, the barriers will be deployed to most freeways in Glenvale. Here is the train station at Falsbourne/Trillby next to the new motorway. There has been very little demolition in that it was only the upgrade of an existing road, which is probably why it was approved by the city council in the first place. Towards Rochdale, the metro line stays at surface level for about two kilometers between the two parts of the expressway before sinking into the ground to serve its final stations in Rochdale itself. Falsbourne Hospital did need to be rebuilt, though, and is now the largest hospital in the city, and has its own freeway connection. In Trillby, the highway dives underground under Market Street. All these roadworks, though, have increased car ownership throughout the city. This is a parking in north Willow Glen, within a brand new high-rise housing projects, Fairbranch Meadows. Some of the destruction brought about by the terrorist attacks can still be seen, however. The dam is not yet repaired, which floods the entire valley, including some streets down of that cliff. Meanwhile, the City Board of Transportation has moved into this building in downtown Glenvale, where it can oversee all of the network's operations. They all said Glenvale will never become prosperous again, but thanks to all this money invested in road and rail infrastructure, as well as all the incentives to grow industry in the area, maybe Glenvale is on the road to recovery. It did halve unemployment in three years and managed to gain about 20.000 inhabitants too, after all. Sunnier says ahead as the city switches to the lane of newfound prosperity, or is the economy just driven by a speculative bubble waiting to explode? Only the coming years will tell, but it's a much welcomed breather regardless. Here's the updated bus map. Since the last entries, there have been some obvious changes, the most notable of which is probably the new subway line (in green and yellow). Lines 9 and 12X have vanished (as they have been made redundant) while line 3b and 19 were extended to Willow Glen. Line 11 is now run together with line 16. Line 13 no longer serves Union Station and instead serves the suburbs under the Burbank Bridge, too. Lines 20 and 21 were created to finally serve Trillby and Falsworth/Falsbourne (Falsworth is the correct name for the town itself, but the string of villages south of the town were commonly grouped together as "Falsbourne" and are now growing into the old city, hence the subway station name. As for line 14, which serves Rochdale exclusively, it finally appears on the map after being extended to Falsbourne/Trillby station. Also, parks and other wilderness areas are now marked on the map. This is mostly obvious on this map. The white areas are mostly built-up, while the green ones aren't. Many of them are nature reserves, though, which will surely hamper further build-up. This map also features the subway line along with the major roads and the city freeway network, which might not be so free soon anymore, as the Council wants to put turnpikes on them. It is obvious that Rochdale has not yet grown into Glenvale's outer suburbs, though. Finally, here is a schematic map of the new subway line (here called S), with all the bus connections. Most stations have at least one bus interchange, except Clark Street. That's it for today, hope you liked this update :3 Not sure what I'm doing next, but oh well, adventure! Do leave feedback, it's most welcomed as usual
-
From the album Weekly Challenge C:S #1 - Street View
Elevated railways..from street level! Glenvale's major rail line crosses over Commerce Avenue in downtown Glenvale. This train runs a commuter service to the state capital, Albany, about 70 miles away.© Linoa06
-
From the album Weekly Challenge #19 - Sports Complexes
Glenvale's Tigers Stadium was built in the middle of a park. Some say the trees help mitigate noise and isolate the stadium from quiet residential areas, but others would sooner cut the trees down to replace them by beautiful parking lots... (I always wanted a legitimate reason to say that)© Linoa06
-
Entry 19 - The Aldmeri Standoff (5E127)
Linoa06 posted a City Journal entry in Skylines of Cathnoquey
Hello and welcome back to Glenvale. In 5E126 - and the Cathnoquey Army was sent to Tamriel to fight off the Aldmeri Dominion from re-establishing a foothold in Tamriel. The Dominion was a terrorist group, who believed in the supremacy of Elvenkind. They were backed by the Thalmor government of Summerset Island, who declared war on its former holdings of Valenwood and Elswery, today four independent nations. The Pan-Tamriel Military Alliance quickly came to fight the Thalmor as the nations of Valenwood fell. In 5E127, General Tullius, born in Glenvale, led a contingent of the Cathnoquey Army to defend the Elsweyr city of Alabaster. His victory, and the destruction of most of the Thalmor fleet, marked the eventual decline of the Thalmor offensive... By early summer they were almost entirely retreating from Tamriel. Does it really matter to the people of Glenvale? For most, this is just background noise and international news headlines, with perhaps a bit of pride in the General. In 5E127, though, the real news is the construction of a subway network - the first fully automatic network in Cathnoquey, to boot. At least, until a fateful morning, in early Last Seed.. On 2nd, Last Seed, the entire district of Richmond, as well as critical infrastructure such as the Federal Avenue tunnel and M102 freeway was flooded in a matter of minutes. Most of the water seemed to flow from the nearby Glenvale Basin. However, strangely enough, there was no rain that day, or anything that could explain a flash flood. Initially it was believed to be a dam failure, as Glenvale Basin was created by this dam, which powers about 15% of the city. However, a flood would occur downstream, not upstream. Initial rescue workers came on the scene at 12:06. At 12:08 PM, rescue workers watched, horrified, as a ball of water was levitated from the basin - and smashed southwards on the city. Witnesses reported a group of men on the top of one of the nearby high-rises. The second wave was much stronger - and in a flash it raced across the Lakeside district. Traffic desperately tried to evade the waves - and the debris that's sure to follow. Stanton Hospital ended up with 1.2m of water flooding its basement, and was put out of order. Media drones were scrambled within minutes. The damage was extensive - and the waters are not receding just yet, leaving 65% of the city without power, The dam floodgates were immediately released. People ended up trapped in buildings, and more critically, in the cars and streets that were suddenly flooded. More rescue teams rushed to the scene, but because the Federal Avenue tunnel was flooded, they were forced to stop and continue on foot to rescue anyone trapped inside the tunnel or on the nearby motorway. All major hospitals became crowded, the mobile phone network went down, and all federal and business buildings were evacuated. At 1:00 PM, more than 500 rescue workers were on the scene. At 1:02 PM, as witness reports of operatives with magical powers emerged, a state of emergency was declared. While Glenvale hosted a Mages' Guild, magic remained relatively uncommon in this part of the world, and in fact, in most non-Elven territories. The train station and airport were shut down and roadblocks were established on the M1 motorway. At 1:10 PM, one hour after the initial flash floods in Richmond and a few miles away, water levels began swelling near the City Beach. In the 120s, the river, and in fact most of the province, were undergoing heavy droughts - yet the river, that day, was more than 10 feet above its maximum level. However, the damage seems to have been limited to one street. Confusion and fear took hold of Glenvale. The military was swiftly deployed under federal orders and the city ended up completely locked down. At 1:20 PM, finally, the waters started to recede into the basin. It would take days for the water to fully recede, and many basements and tunnels, including the subway under construction, required pumping. The death toll was a shock to the nation. 152 people are estimated to have perished in the initial floods, including 12 rescue workers. 76 people went missing, and bodies were recovered over the next few days. Because the first wave was the weakest, many people managed to run away or reach high ground, greatly improving their chances of survival. Most of the dead were people trapped in their cars in the Federal Avenue Tunnel. There were 698 wounded and one man undergoing surgery at the flooded Stanton Hospital had to be evacuated to another hospital. But even within hours of the flood, one thing became gradually clear : Glenvale had witnessed the worst terrorist attack in many years. That evening's TV shows would all only talk about that. Investigators quickly determined that the water swelling witnessed at the Basin was not a dam problem. In Nirn, you have to remember that while magic has gone steadily out, there are still mages and sorcerers - especially Elven ones. While they make up a very small portion of Cathnoquey's population, magitek is somewhat common and Glenvale itself is known as a center of magical learning. One very common use of magic is in blitzball. This underwater sport is played in magically erected spheres of water, held over the stadium, guaranteeing spectacular views. Their first clue is that some of the equipment or spells used in Blitzball might have been used to generate the quick and devastating swelling of the water, using the massive Basin as a source. Professor Baelith Dralor, a Dunmer magister working in the Mages Guild, claims that the spell was a combined Alteration and Mysticism spell, perhaps even Levitation, an art long thought to be lost. This means that whomever casted it must have been a very powerful magister - and very likely an Elven one. But who could be so powerful - and informed - to cast such a devastating spell? One day later, a Chirper tweet linked the attacks to Glenvale to the Reborn Dawn, a far-right Aldmer group known for its pro-Dominion, pro-Elven views. They were believed to be fully capable of doing the sort of damage inflicted in Glenvale. This was later followed by another Chirp, which claimed to put a price on the head of Glenvale's General Tullius with the caption : "no man-held country is safe from the Hand of the Dominion." Because the Dominion denied all involvement, investigators are cautious. To most media and to the general population, the link is confirmed - the Reborn Dawn is behind the attack on Glenvale. Most importantly... where are the perpetrators? Life in Glenvale came to a standstill. People avoided travelling, and this was not made easier by the lock-down and patrols along the city's highways. But there was no sign of the perpetrators anywhere. Three days later, though, as extensive searches looked for the fugitive mage or mages, a breakthrough occurs at Redwood Academy. The headmaster testified that, shortly before the attacks, two strange Altmer came to his school to ask for specifications, especially concerning the Glenvale Basin. Redwood Academy is a small college, yet many engineers came from its halls, including the initial builders of the Basin. Investigators traced back one of the Altmer to a farm run by a woman called Faiana Alkinori-Korthaer. This farm complex was known for its vertical farms and its innovative use of magic in harvesting. Files, such as blueprints of the Dam or precise elevation data in the city, as well as spell specifications of the kind that would have caused the disaster, were seized from her offices. Needless to say, she was arrested. However, the other Elf remained at large. It was determined it could well be her husband, a known political agitator called Solildil Korthaer. The search intensified.. Later that day, police reports that an Elf had barricated himself inside a house in Evergreen Mills surfaced. Police and military were fast to come on the scene, and confronted the rogue elf. Along with specially trained battlemages, Solildil Korthaer put up a fierce fight. It took half an hour to finally put him down, though he died from his injuries very soon after. The following day, Faiana Alkinori-Korthaer admitted to her crimes, which she said were motivated by Cathnoquey engagement in Tamriel wars. She was an ardent Dominion believer, who resented all non-Elves and, seeing as the Dominion wars in Tamriel went poorly, decided to seek revenge. Her words to the media were : "Wish we'd come up with a more lasting spell." Elven populations in Glenvale began fearing for their safety after the incident, and reports of more violence were recorded that night... Yet, for Glenvale as a whole, the Aldmeri Standoff is over. For the families of the wounded and deceased, and everyone affected by the attack, the struggle is really just beginning. Slowly, life continues and the city returns to normal, but is there really a return to the old normal after such an event? Thanks for reading! Next time we will try and see more of the transportation system, unless we go on holidays somewhere, I don't know! I welcome your feedback as usual, and hope you enjoyed this (probably slightly different) update. -
Entry 18 - Into the Madding Crowd (5E126)
Linoa06 posted a City Journal entry in Skylines of Cathnoquey
Hello there! After a good month's absence, Glenvale is back. Today we are going to tour some of the city's more suburban areas. Glenvale is so much more than its downtown core. Working and middle classes meddle together, and real estate is experiencing a surge. This all hides severe inequalities, where the poor stay poor and the middle class barely thrives. Along Ashford Avenue, high-rises pile up like a tentacle that sprawls outwards from downtown - but most of it is low-wealth residential projects where workers are crammed under the watchful eyes of the big corporations downtown.. Nothing is all bad in Glenvale. Thanks to its extensive freeway network, the city is actually quite well served, though traffic does not always flow smoothly. Here, the major freeway M1 meets spur freeway M101, which links the airport to the industrial wards. In Lakeside, Glenvale Basin is crucial to the whole south half of the Kingscote province, and its many water treatment plants purify the water of the whole city. There is also a dam to retain some of the waters that are emptied into the Basin. Even without freeways, the road network is good enough. This is Stanton Avenue, a one-way road and one of the major east-west routes into town. Though, during evening rush hour, it tends to be quieter. In the suburbs, it is not uncommon to find bigger parks and sports facilities. This football field in Mulbury, just by the beach, is home to one of the most successful junior teams of the season! This stadium, also in the suburbs, is being prepared for a blitzball match. Soon a sphere of water will magically rise in the middle of the arena, hours before the match begins! Blitzball is a popular sport, and Glenvale isn't too bad at it, though they tend to stay in the middle of the results table. The suburbs of Trillby and Falsworth are newer and were built in the plains west of Glenvale itself. To the far right of the picture, we can see the town of Rochdale. While not part of Glenvale, many people commute back and forth and slowly but surely, suburbs are expanding, linking the two urban areas together. Glenvale is surrounded by forests, and exports a lot of wood. Most plantations are further than the suburbs even, in the less populated areas; however traffic easily clogs up, to the dismay of many suburbanites. Falsworth is also home to Falsworth Kingdom's Hospital. It is also known for being run by Glenvale University, and a lot of research occurs there. And every evening, a long line of trucks loaded with wood slowly makes way across the city...Good thing the road is isolated from the suburbs with trees. Tamriel keeps up a fleet of Concordes Mk II. Imperial Airlines run business class services between the Imperial City and other cities in Nirn. Near the airport, the community of Long Beach lazily sprawls along pristine beaches... Long Beach is served by the M1, which goes on to link many low-lying islands south of Glenvale. That taxi is going to have some trouble... The freeway network was to be far bigger, but due to riots and a lack of funding, many plans were shelved. The bridge to Evergreen Hills was cancelled, leaving this junction as the only part of a much higher freeway that never was. It's probably better though. Would this serene garden be as quiet and safe if the road in front of it was constantly jammed by people trying to reach the highway? Would children still be able to step out of their houses and run to one of the nicest beaches in the country? Not to mention noise abatement - the runway nearby already generates enough noise of its own. Traffic in suburban Glenvale remains a city-wide problem though. In the northern suburbs, the baseball stadium generates massive backups and the small size of its parking means many people park in local, residential streets, putting the management at odds with most residents. It is pretty understandable for residents to be upset - twice a week, this quiet street becomes full of parked vehicles and traffic - not to mention the drunk and noisy supporters that come with every match and gathering. At least suburbs in the south are quieter. Maybe that is precisely why the land value there has skyrocketed since a few years... Or maybe it's just the beach. In Glenvale, one can work in a very busy office tower by day and by 6pm be lazily tanning on warm sand. Well, by 7pm, depending on traffic on the Memorial Bridge, but well, who wouldn't pay more for that? There is, however, the constant lingering complaint that the water is not as clear as the city officials would like people to believe. Glenvale is also home to a harbour and its industrial wards are full of heavy industry. And the future is not as welcoming for those who work here. As the economy booms and collapses, officials in Glenvale watch the success of smaller towns, such as Amesbury, while their own industry decays steadily. Glenvale is a heavy producer of steel and other manufactured goods, and its nuclear power plant sells electricity to the whole province. However, its economy is steadily shifting to business and corporate finances - offices - which worries the working classes in the town. Strikes and restructuration plans are not uncommon at all in Glenvale. The end result is that while the city transitions between economic models, 15 to 20 percent of the population is in fact workless, and barely survives on the meager benefits granted by the province's conservative government. The city of long beaches and warm, sunny days is also one of idleness where the working classes, more than anyone, struggle to survive on a day to day basis, and those lucky enough to have a job desperately cling to it. There's still hope, though, as exports go up and the new city council unveiled radical policies to redynamize the industrial wards, including tax cuts and subsidies. For now, though, it's just that : hope. But hope is what drives people to achieve great things, in Glenvale and elsewhere. After 25 years with a relatively unefficient city council, the new PCC government seems very eager to change things around. Will this spell sunnier days for the sunny city? In the days of boomtowns like Amesbury, will the old guard of Glenvale be able to reconcile two polar opposites, fix its budget, and invest in the future? And while there will be the need for further reforms in transportation and infrastructure, the city can stay confident that it will grow steadily, once again.. Next goal : 300.000 inhabitants. That's only 20.000 to go! That's it for today! I intend to post more again, I just had a good month's holidays =) Quite excited about the day/night system to be fair! Next entry we will work on the city's infrastructure...subway maybe? Or maybe a Rochdale based entry? We'll see! Until then, here are some updated maps. Thanks for reading, and see you next time! Updated city street map : I added the new districts of Baxford, Falworth and Trillby. The bus network also underwent a few changes. Line 20 is a new line that links Lichfield, Rochdale with Glenvale, including the district of Falsworth. Line 21 reinforces Line 5 through town. Lines 9 and 13 were also swapped between the airport and Willow Glen. Finally, the updated country map! You can see the major federal roads : the freeway M roads, and the A roads. In effect many A roads are almost at freeway standards, but not quite. Not shown are the provincial roads (B roads, or P roads in Humberland) that are managed by each province, and even under that, county roads (C roads, though not always signed) managed by counties. That's it for now! Enjoy -
Hello everyone! Today we're taking a tour of the downtown area of our new sunny city! Allons-y! Downtown Glenvale - a collection of buildings neatly arranged in a grid. Well, for the most part. Glenvale is full of buses, though the picture is skewed as we are at the corner of Davies and Walgrove, and this is where most bus lines converge. Concord Square is a park in the middle of town. Tropical plants were added in 5E30, and during the Great War it was used as a rally point for recruiters. However in the 70s it had become derelict, much less the rest of the city at the time. Some people even wanted to simply get rid of the park and replace it with a giant parking lot. Thankfully, those efforts never came true and the park was refurbished in 5E101. Driving on Davies Avenue, three of the city's biggest buildings on different sides of the corner with Downey Avenue. The closest is the Cookie Factory building. Behind it, just opposite Downey, one can find Diamond Tower. Both towers were built in the 80s, resulting in the eviction of three thousand people who lived there. Facing Concord Square, the third building (here on the right hand side) is the great Bluerise Tower. However, the biggest building in the city is by far the Mithril Arch. About sixty floors on two sides, linked together with skybridges (also dubbed skycranes). This building was erected in 5E112, and is now known as the icon of southern Kingscote. Due to the low taxes, many high tech companies have their HQ in this tower and there are restaurants and other facilities within the tower, so that residents do not need to leave the tower at all; however as of 5E122, more than 40% of the building is still empty. Looking at the sky and at the top of the Mithril Arch. Some of the city's older streets and neighbourhoods have been retained, however. This area is located in South Downtown. The city centre is organized in six super-blocks bounded by the major avenues. This is the corner of Federal Avenue and Rowland Avenue - the Mithril Arch can just be seen in the background. This being Fifth Era Nirn, magic has become near extinct. However, there are still a few wizards and the facilities that accomodate them. This is the Mages' Guild, a centre for learning arcane magic, and a dwelling ground for mages of all backgrounds. The only other Mages Guild in Cathnoquey is located in its capital, Wellingborough. Talking of learning..this is Glenvale University. It is tucked away in the further reaches of low-rise downtown. There are plans to move the university grounds to a more suitable, and grander place with campuses and parks...but those plans need money and one thing Glenvale has little of is cash at the moment. The Fortune Cookie tower, overshadowed by the much taller Stark Tower to the left. You can see the sea at the end of that one road! Stark Tower itself is full of financial companies, but the top floors are dedicated to the Blades and their most powerful magisters. There is a lovely balcony on top of the Cookie tower, which is often used for official receptions. A tiny chapel is completely overwhelmed by the bigger high rises all around it. However, its unique architecture means it is protected as a national heritage site, and that it cannot be destroyed. In the southern reaches of the downtown core, the Dragon Memorial stands proud as a memorial to the Cathnoqueyans who died in the Great War against Akavir. Driving eastbound on Davies Avenue, and out of the downtown core. However, higher-rise buildings can be seen for about fifteen more blocks. Commerce Tower is just hidden by closer brownstone buildings.The red facade building to the far-right is in fact part of the Civic Center complex. Glenvale Central Station with its iconic bell tower. The Station has six tracks and is the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line that runs from Wellsborough, Aleswell and the state capital, Albany. Soon enough, Amesbury would become a major station on that line, but it's a few hundred miles north... It is also a terminus of the South Kingscote Regional Commuter system, which took over local services in the area a few years ago. The Central Station is also the city bus network's main hub. Here is a few of the bus station itself. That specific day, line 1B - the second-busiest- was disrupted, leading to a huge queue of waiting passengers. The Commerce Tower as seen from the tracks just ahead of Central Station. A Springdale Line SKRC train leaves Central Station. The R68s are sturdy trains of Breton design, and were in fact built in High Rock, then shipped to Cathnoquey. This particular train is made of 7 coaches. A Chirper Tower on the eastern edge of town - this is one of the principal HQs, though Chirper Inc. prefers its decentralized structure. This is the building that would serve as model for smaller HQs across the country. Next to Chirper Tower, a much bigger stone monolith stands as one of the landmarks of the city. Behind, Chirper Park is a lovely area for Chirper employees and locals alike to enjoy. The downtown core is bounded by highways - this is where M102 separates from the M1 motorway. Glenvale is a city of innovation - the Aperture Enrichment Center is a place for scientists to gather and works together with Glenvale University. Aperture Park - the biggest downtown park in Glenvale - is built around the Enrichment Center, but maintained by the city council. The city motorway system is relatively expensive, but it could have been MUCH bigger. A motorway was supposed to link the southern side of the downtown core together (effectively cutting off downtown from the rest of the city), but after the destruction caused by early works, the project was called off amidst severe civil unrest. Motorways M101 and M102 are the only legacy of this aborted plan. It would have required the destruction of this beautiful city beach, for instance - though the river is awfully low on this shot. Glenvale is enduring an ongoing drought, and water levels are at their lowest ever. And that's it - an overall view of downtown Glenvale looking east. Many buildings are in fact no more than a few stories tall, due to restrictions on height in the building code. And now for maps! Glenvale street map - well, the major streets anyway. Bus services around Glenvale : 22 regular lines criss-cross the city. Game values say 5320 people a week, but that's a simulation value. The thick lines are for lines or parts of lines with more than 600 passengers a game week. I don't know how much it is supposed to represent in real time, however :/ And finally, the South Kingscote Regional Commuter (SKRC) Rail map! There is only one station in the city itself for now, but that might change. More of a regional network anyway (there are 100 miles between Albany and Glenvale). That's it for now! Hope you like this entry and the new city! Thanks for reading, and as usual feedback is appreciated
-
Entry 16 - New Life on a Dusty Trail (5E121)
Linoa06 posted a City Journal entry in Skylines of Cathnoquey
Hello everyone! As I said in the comments of my last entry, my save file for Amesbury is no good as my game horribly lagged down due to mod/update conflicts. I did take the opportunity to clear out my assets list, and now the game works like a charm. Still, it will take some time to restore Amesbury, and during that time I don't want to hold from posting updates. So, we're going to travel south, in a new town, in a new setting! Let's walk back in time - to a time when Amesbury was but a village - to the town of Glenvale, KGT. Glenvale - a town of wild wonders. A city on the verge of greatness, a gleaming, thriving city. A city of wild hopes and ambition, of gambling and loss. A city full of human vitality, an avenue of opportunity. They heralded it as having reached its peak. Little did they know her glory days had just begun. In 5E120, Glendale is home to over 260.000 inhabitants - this makes it the sixth largest city in the country, at a time when Amesbury barely had 20.000 inhabitants. It is located in the southern state of Kingscote, and though it is not the state capital, it acts as the financial centre of the whole state. It is twinned with Anvil, GC, in Cyrodiil. Glendale was built in the early Fifth Era as more and more people joined to live the Cathnoquey Dream. In the fifties, city planners designed an extensive highway system around the town, but due to public outcry at neighbourhoods being torn apart, only a fraction was built. At the time, the city had over 300.000 people - but many left in the sixties and seventies to the north. This is reflected in the architecture - in the foreground, older buildings give way to the gleaming structures built in the 90s. Glendale is a city of innovation and advertising, and many a rocket scientist called Glendale home. It is also a city of tourism. The climate here is very hot and humid, and sunny all year round. Its airport, though, is by many standards obsolete and most traffic usually lands at the far busier airports in Albany. Glenvale is the southernmost city of importance in the whole country, after all. Its pristine beaches are one of the nation's top tourist destinations. And, if you can forget the traffic jams typical of a car-focused city, it's really a pretty nice place to live in! Okay, forget the noxious fumes in the Glenvale Bay area, too. It's not that there's no other form of transport in the city, but commuter rail and bus services are so underfunded, you might as well just take your car to the bus stop, and then straight to work. There are plans for a tramway - many large avenues crisscross the city and many bus lines along them are overloaded, after all. But how do you persuade a city council stuck twenty years in the past? Might change, though.. The election next year does not bode well for the ruling council, especially after financial scandals have forced the major to resign. Meanwhile, life goes on, as it always does.. Tonight, the Glenvale Aurochs are playing the rookie team from Amesbury in the Nation Super Blitzball tournament - thousands are going to attend! And that's it for today! In the coming updates I will expand and develop the city as I did Amesbury, and showcase several other aspects of the town. Until then, hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading my CJ (and carrying it to the top of the BTT list). You guys are awesome!
