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8 relots of Jsteed's BATs Jsteed Government Buildings Relots ________________________________ Featured in this set are the works of Latin artist Jsteed who modeled several buildings from Japan. Stats are the same as the game versions. These are additional to game rewards. Only the model files are required. Court House 4x4 Consulado oficial de Nueva York http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=501 Police Station 3x4 Consulado Oficial de Bilnoer http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=484 City College 4x5 JSteed Enterprises Abroad Building http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=238 Bureaucracy 4x3 NTT Docomo Building http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=524 Private School 3x3 JAL Hotel http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=279 City Hall 4x3 Consulado Oficial de Yokohama http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=235 Stock Exchange 4x4 NTT Local HQ http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=489 Disease Research 3x3 Torre Panteos. Banco de Kelpie http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=261 ________________________________ DOS Batch File Open all Files in Multiple Tabs with Default Browser.bat ________________________________ Park Menu vimy_memorial_1x1.SC4Lot ________________________________ Flags (same file) International Day of Peace Prop https://community.simtropolis.com/sc4-maxis-files/ Maxis Plugins Day Of Peace DLC (v1.0) https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=4175 ________________________________ Japanese BAT Gallery I: 03/2007 - 03/2008 (日本のBATギャラリー) https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=699.60 ________________________________ Capital SimCity http://SimCity.capitalsim.net/ CapitalSIMCITY (google translate from Spanish to English) https://SimCity-capitalsim-net.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp ________________________________ Other Relots Tankmank's Consulado Oficial de Kelpie Relot https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/31492-tankmanks-consulado-oficial-de-kelpie-relot/ Consulado Oficial de Kelpie http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=281 Law & Order https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/31333-law-order/ Consulado oficial de Nueva York http://descargas.capitalsim.net/?sitio=csc&descarga=501 -
Government services in one quadrant or spread out?
Thinksamuel posted a topic in SimCity 4 General Discussion
Hi When zoning new districts, would it make sense to keep a central quadrant free in the zone and put all services (schools, hospital, police, ...) there, or is it better to have a buidling in every quadrant of the zone? -
Chapter 15 - University of Izzy
drocca posted a City Journal entry in Izzy City - A Ghost Town Exploration Story
Chapter 15 Melissa was the first to wake up, stirring to life at 8:18 am. She washed and changed her clothes, by which time Megan had woken at 8:39. David awoke at 8:57, and Billy minutes before his alarm had been set, at 9:18. When Billy awoke, he noticed the daylight coming through the windows and looked at his phone, hoping it would be 7 or 8 am. Finding it just eight minutes before his alarm would go off and still tired, Billy started playing with his phone, re-setting the alarm to 9:53. A few minutes later, Billy drifted back to sleep, but awoke once again at 9:35, by which time David was in the shower, when Melissa called out “Time to wake up.” “I’m tired.” said Billy. ‘Do you need some coffee?” asked Melissa. “That would be nice. With milk and cream if you can.” said Billy. Billy heard a Keurig operating, before Melissa brought him a blonde cup of coffee which was warm but not hot. Newly energized, he got out of the bed and, just as David was exiting the bathroom dressed, took his change of clothes, went into the bathroom, and showered, brushed his teeth, and dressed in just 11 minutes. When he finished, he went into room 1017, where Melissa, David, and Megan were gathered. Megan finished getting ready about five minutes after Billy. The explorers made their way downstairs to the cafeteria, where they enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, sausages, and eggs before, at 10:27, leaving the hotel and heading back toward Izzy. “What are we exploring today?” asked David. “There’s a few things I want to get to, but I’m up for ideas. Anything in west Izzy will have to be tomorrow, though.” said Melissa. “Well, finishing the university might be a good start, as much as we can.” said David. “You know those apartments that were sort of a black steel and glass, minimalist design? Those, and that really odd restaurant that looked like it was from a Look-Alikes book. Do you know where I’m talking about? They’re pretty near each other, kind of in southeast Izzy. I’ve wanted to go to those places my whole life.” said Billy. “Those apartments are in pretty bad shape, but we can do that and the restaurant. I used to love that restaurant myself. And we’ll also go in a couple buildings at the university, but we can’t spend all day there,” said Melissa. “The twin towers of Izzy. I know that’ll probably be tomorrow.” said David. “A video game store.” said Billy. “Something outside or in a sturdy building that’s safe.” said Megan. “Well, we’ve done an airport, a school, some varied businesses, a hospital, research center, computer chip factory… I don’t know, maybe a bank or post office or something.” said David. “A movie theater, maybe?” asked Megan. “I would say an office building, but the twin towers of Izzy would be office buildings. I’m with Megan, a movie theater or something like that. Preferably, one as ‘80s-y as possible.” said Billy. “Oh, I can give you ‘80s.” said Melissa. At 11:29 am, the explorers’ second day started when Melissa parked the van at a parking lot across from the university’s student center. The explorers weighed their options. The basketball stadium was missing some windows, covered in a considerable amount of ivy, and was in a very dilapidated condition, but still looked reasonably safe to explore. The student center appeared to be in slightly better condition, though still missing many of its windows. The explorers wanted to get a better feel for the campus before going into the buildings. A 4-story building with a circular footprint, identified by a sign as “Puckett Hall” had a major roof collapse that was obvious from 50 feet away. Another building with a circular footprint, this time a dorm 9 stories tall, still looked as if it would be safe. The conference center was overgrown, had a large hole in the wall on the second floor, about 80% of its windows broken, and cracks in the brick – it was iffy on exploration. It said “V n r fer e” on the top, most of the metal letters having fallen over time. “That used to say Vincent W. Dorfman Conference Center. It was one of the oldest buildings at the university, built in 1943, I think. Some of the copper on those finishes around the windows came from melted down shells recovered from World War II battlefields.” said Melissa. The explorers decided to look at the journalism building first. Letters engraved into the building’s concrete façade said “WHALIN MEDIA BUILDING”. The building was made of concrete, with windows that extended from chest height to the top of each of the building’s 3 floors. The building was grimy, but only a couple of windows were missing, and its concrete structure looked intact. “This building was built in 1973, by which time all new buildings at the university were using laminated glass windows instead of plate glass or tempered glass. I know the standards here required new government buildings to have laminated or tempered glass starting in 1956.” said Billy. “Yeah, and the private buildings started having to have it around maybe 1965 or so, but the older buildings were grandfathered in. I remember there was a big campaign to get your windows replaced by safety glass. We got our windows replaced by tempered glass in 1972 at my childhood home, but I went with laminated glass in my first house I lived in on my own.” said Melissa. “Why would anyone go with tempered glass?” asked Billy. “Tempered is a lot cheaper.” said Melissa. The explorers walked under an overhang supported by four concrete pillars about 2 feet in diameter; the pillars looked intact. A label scar which said “WHALIN MEDIA BUILDING” was on the left wall; the red metal letters, each about 6 inches tall, were scattered on the floor, roughly below where they’d each been. “I never walk under Ls on signs. I’m always worried that they’ll fall and hit me, and they’re sharp and pointy so they’ll cut me up.” said Billy. “Funny you’d mention that.” said Melissa, pointing to the wall directly above the doors going into the building. “Those letters used to be attached up here, above the doors. One day, the L in Building fell off and hit a student in the head. She actually got a head injury.” said Melissa. “Was she okay? When did this happen?” asked Billy. “She ended up fine, missed a couple days of school. This would have been about November or December of 1985, it was cold, and we were getting toward finals, my senior year. I was in the building, someone looked out the window and said, “somebody’s hurt outside”. Me and a few people in the room went to the window and saw a crowd gathered, then we went downstairs and saw her laying on the ground, her head bleeding. By then, there were already a few people helping her, so we just watched for a bit and went back to class. One of my sorority sisters helped her out.” said Melissa. The explorers walked through the doors into the building. They were in an atrium, with skylights illuminating the entire area. Several lounge chairs were along the sides of the atrium. An alcove inside a staircase had a 32-inch Sony TV, while racks containing a variety of local, national, and international newspapers sat next to the staircase. The level of decay was modest, but there was a piece of glass fence railing hanging from the third floor, chipped paint, and many fallen ceiling tiles. Billy grabbed a local newspaper entitled the “Izydorczak Informer” and read a few headlines. They included, “Local Man Has All National Geographic Magazines Ever Printed”, “New Burger Restaurant Opens on Samberg Slopes”, and “Five Fun Things to Do This Spring”. “Well, this is refreshing. Where’s all the negative news?” asked Billy. “We didn’t do a lot of negative news. We were a Messenbaugh Group newspaper, and our motto was that ‘people should come away from reading the news happier than they started out’. We reported on crime if it was nearby, but we didn’t do a play by play of the trial or anything. Those were on obscure cable channels.” said Melissa. Melissa led the explorers into a bagel shop. A sign above the serving counter simply said “L”, but the label scar revealed the original name, Big Apple Bagels. The rest of the letters, this time about two inches tall, were, again, on the ground. As the explorers made their way through the shop, which was about the size of a living room in a large house, the remaining L fell off and bounced off Melissa’s left arm before falling to the ground. “Thanks for shielding me from that L. Are you okay?” said Billy. “Yeah, didn’t hurt.” said Melissa. The restaurant had a mild stench of rotten food. The approximately 20 tables still had all their chairs positioned neatly around them. A standee advertised the “Ocean Special” sandwich, which had lox and smoked salmon cream cheese on an asiago bagel, for $4.99. “Wow, they had the Ocean Special back in 1987. I thought it would be 2000s at the oldest.” said Billy. “I think they’d only been around a few years in 1987.” said Melissa. “At $4.99 back then, they couldn’t have been popular.” said Billy. “You’d be surprised. I had a couple, they were delicious.” said Melissa. “I don’t eat raw fish now; I can’t imagine eating it in the ‘80s.” said Megan. Billy saw the soda machine and wanted to see if it would work after 33 years, so he grabbed a paper cup and pushed the button for Coca-Cola. A small amount of nasty-looking, tar-like substance came out from the spigot. “You know I don’t like it when people mess with stuff.” said Melissa. “I’m sorry, Melissa. Just wanted to see what would come out of a Coke machine after 33 years.” said Billy. Billy went outside, threw the fossilized Coke on the ground, and put the cup back where he’d found it before the explorers climbed the stairs and went to the second floor, entering a hallway adjacent to the atrium. Down the hallway a bit, water dripped through a small gap between the floor above and the wall, forming a puddle on the ground. The masonry core of the wall showed through on a section about four feet wide where the apparent roof leak had worn away the drywall. Melissa decided not to chance walking through the area, as it seemed to be an isolated patch of decay. Instead, she and the explorers turned into a classroom, room 214. The whiteboard said, “Layout 101”. Three rows of tables, each with 7 chairs in them, sat facing the whiteboard. A drop-down screen had an empty Eiki overhead projector facing it, its arm still extended upwards. Other than the March 26, 1987 date written in green marker on the whiteboard, it looked much like a standard classroom setup in 2020. Underneath the date, in red, was a note saying, “Layout Assignment 3 due March 31 for TR classes, April 1 for MW classes”, the whiteboard was empty otherwise. As the explorers began to look around, they began to see outdated objects, some of which were foreign even to Billy, himself a journalism student. At tables lining the back and right side of the room, there were ten Commander devices that looked like typewriters, but had a large LCD screen – about 3 inches by 6 inches – above the keyboard. Billy, Megan, and David took a closer look. There was a slot for a 5 ¼” floppy disk to the side of the LCD screen, but there was paper sticking out of the top of the device, much like a normal typewriter. The bars seen in a normal typewriter weren’t there. Several of the buttons seemed strange – such as a big, red button that said “Enter”. “What is it?” asked Megan. “I think it’s some kind of early laptop combined with a printer, like one of the old Osbornes. But the printer seems integrated, not an add-on device.” said Billy. “My family had something like this when I was a kid, but the screen wasn’t nearly as big. It had one line you could type in and it would print it just like a normal typewriter, but you could spell check what you wrote before printing it.” said David. “That’s an electronic typewriter. Kind of like a computer, but it could only do text, sort of like if your computer today only had Word on it, but even more limited than that. If you wanted to change a font, you had to change out one of these wheels, called a daisy wheel.” said Melissa, holding up a daisy wheel. “We had four different sizes of text we could do, three fonts, so we had to keep twelve different kinds of these wheels around. The typewriter would have to cycle through the wheel, like a rotary phone, and strike the appropriate letter.” “Each letter? Wow, that sounds slow. Also, I would have thought they would have had computers by then.” said Billy. “Truth be told, by 1987 these things were becoming outdated, but they weren’t that slow. A page would take about 3 or 4 minutes to print. We did have computers, but they went to the school newspaper and the higher-level classes first, where the work was more complicated. I remember the day we got Macs in our school paper my junior year. It took a few days to learn, and then things got a lot more efficient and easier. We never stopped praising those Macs.” said Melissa. “How did this class work?” asked Billy. “This was just a 101 class, so things weren’t as complicated, I took it freshman year. First, we wrote out what we wanted to type, so we’d know what sizes and fonts of type to use. Then we’d type out everything of a certain size or font, switch out the daisy wheel, go to the next, usually we kept it to 2 or 3 different sizes and/or fonts. We’d lay it all out on the typewriter so we could cut it all out in one piece with the X-Acto knives. We’d take our printed-off papers and cut out what we wanted in a certain section and glued it on to a thicker piece of paper. We had to be very careful and measure everything, because if we glued something in the wrong spot, you might have to do it all over again, and one project might require 20 pieces. After we were done, we’d photocopy the whole thing. People got in the habit of printing out two copies of everything. You have no idea how easy computers make things nowadays.” said Melissa. “I just gained a ridiculous respect for the older journalists.” said Billy. Melissa showed the explorers the photocopiers and trays containing X-Acto knives and glue. “Did I say something wrong?” asked Billy. “About what?” asked Melissa. “The ‘older journalists’ thing.” said Billy. “Oh, you’re fine.” said Melissa as she chuckled slightly and pat Billy on the back. “Ugh, can’t imagine having to use one of these. Did people get cut?” asked Megan, pointing to a knife. “Actually, I can only remember one time hearing about someone getting cut. It wasn’t bad.” said Melissa. The explorers left the room and went toward the staircase, but a row of bust sculptures caught David’s eye. As the explorers walked over to the bronze sculptures, each of which were on plinths, all were impressed by the level of detail and quality. Billy, however, was interested in it as a chronicle of the university presidents’ history. He slowly panned his camera over each sculpture and made sure to get seven pictures of each sculpture: one of each side of the bust, front and rear of the bust and plinth, and plaque. A plaque on the bottom of the first sculpture said, “William P. McGraw, Founding President of Izydorczak University, served 1939-1947, Born October 6, 1881, Died April 19, 1978. Sculpture Dedicated August 1, 1978.” All five of the sculptures would end up being dedicated on the same date. The second sculpture was for Don James, served 1947-1951, born September 6, 1893, died January 3, 1951. The third was Stephen V. Merheb, served 1951-1957, born June 3, 1894, died October 20, 1986. Robert Radford, served 1957-1972, born December 31, 1912, and Yancey LaCalameto, served since 1972 and born June 14, 1928, were the last two. “Was Yancey LaCalameto still president in 1987 and is he still alive?” asked Billy, as he looked up Robert Radford, finding he’d lived to age 88, dying on March 8, 2001. “As far as I know, yes on both. He was a great president, put a lot into U of Izzy.” said Melissa. After looking at the sculptures for a few minutes, the explorers went up to the third floor. At the top of the stairs, they could see the cause another section of missing drywall and the section of glass fence hanging down next to it, where the attachment points had corroded. There was a pool of water on the ground. Billy walked toward the area, testing the floor with each step, and the other explorers followed. “Be careful. We don’t want what happened to Dirk to happen to you.” said Melissa. “I know.” said Billy. The explorers looked up to find the source of the damage, a crack in one of the skylights that extended all the way through. The damaged section of wall looked damp, but not soaked. The floor underneath the water was bowed down. “Probably only been leaking a couple years. Water does its damage fast. This floor will probably be collapsing by 2025.” said Billy, filming the section. “I’m surprised it’s taken this long.” said Melissa. “Well, they probably designed it really well because they didn’t want to have to constantly maintain it. Triple-paned glass, stuff like that.” said David. Billy looked over at the skylight and saw that some of the glass panels were cracked, but the innermost panels looked to be intact. “Triple-paned glass.” said Billy. The explorers walked away from the roof leak and turned right to go into an inner hallway of the building. Most of the ceiling tiles had fallen and created a mush on the ground, but the floors still felt stable. Billy and David looked into what appeared to be a computer lab, with vintage Mac computers at each desk, before moving on. Billy took a picture of the computer lab. Melissa led the explorers into a pitch-black room. The flashlights illuminated the room, which had black walls, some red-tinted fluorescent lights on the wall, and a table with hundreds of pictures on it. The pictures looked faded and washed out. “Why are there so many pictures?” asked David. “I know this was a film development studio, but this is just packed. Midterms or something?” “It was the weekend before midterms, so a lot of the photojournalism students would have been developing their pictures over the weekend. They’d drop them off Friday and pick them up Monday. Students got their pictures developed for free, so a lot of the students used this.” said Melissa. The explorers all looked at the pictures, which told a story of the last few days in Izzy. Billy made sure to get a picture of anything that looked passable and interesting, including a picture from the center of campus, which included the campus center, the circular dorm, and the very building they were in, amid cherry trees that were just starting to bloom. Another picture showed a man and a woman sitting on a park bench together, gently smiling. Another showed the volcano itself, its top covered in snow. “These are good pictures. Sad that they’re left behind.” said Megan. “I’m preserving them digitally, and besides, I think everyone in these classes automatically passed. So if the pictures’ job was to help their photographer get a good grade, they did it.” said Billy. After Billy finished photographing the salvageable pictures, the explorers left the room. “Next building?” asked Melissa. “Sounds good.” said David. The explorers walked out of the journalism building, and Melissa led them to the old administration building, which was on the other side of the student center. The Radford Administrative Building was bad shape, with most of the windows broken and numerous cracks in its ivy-covered, dirty brick exterior. There were some small holes in the roof. “Does anyone feel comfortable exploring this one?” asked Melissa. “I’m out.” said Megan. Melissa, Billy, and David went in through a door that had been propped open, finding themselves in a narrow hallway with green carpet flooring, faded white painted walls, and a ceiling missing all its tiles. A large picture in a frame had fallen from the wall; Billy looked at the picture, but it was so crumpled, and water damaged that he couldn’t tell what it was. The explorers passed a few offices before getting to a dangling sign, with so many letters missing that it was unintelligible other than one word: “R G STR R” Melissa led the explorers into a large room. There were 15 counters on one side of the room and chairs on the other side, much like a bank lobby. Large binders, each labeled with a subject, sat on end tables adjacent to the chairs. There was a small hole in the ceiling at the far end of the room, and moss growing in a few spots. “This is the registrar’s office, for 95% of the students, it was their only reason to be in this building.” said Melissa. “My dad says that there was a room in the attic with every yearbook ever printed, but the woman who worked up there wasn’t very nice.” said Billy. “We can go up there if it’s still structurally stable. I know what room you’re talking about.” said Melissa. “How’d you all know what professors are good and bad back in those days?” asked Billy. “If you were in the Greek system, which 90 percent of the students were, they had lists of professors that were good and bad, like a Rate My Professor before the internet. Non-Greeks could access these lists too, so no one was left out of the loop.” said Melissa. “What about you, David? How did you register for class?” asked Billy. “They had computer-based registration by then.” said David. Billy found a binder that said, “Elective and Other Classes”. He looked through it, asking “Wonder what interesting classes they offered here?” “I do know they had a major in operatic dancing here. It was the only operatic dancing program in all of Helmintoller.” said Melissa. “Looking in this book, looks like they had a class called ‘The Science of Star Wars”. said Billy. “That one was quite popular, if I remember correctly.” said Melissa. “What about ‘A History of Soviet Cars’? I’d love to have taken that class.” asked Billy. “Never heard of it, but I know that they often tested classes here before launching them at other universities, and the Yugo came out about that time. I can see how that would be interesting”. said Melissa. “They do have a basket weaving class!” said Billy. “They had that at my college too. Got a good laugh about it.” said David. Billy put the binder down and filmed the rest of the room, by which time the explorers were ready to go to another room. “Yearbook room?” asked Billy. “Sounds interesting.” said David. The explorers left the room and went to a nearby stairwell. The stairs were white-tiled, fairly standard college stairs. Melissa stepped on the first step, finding it spongy feeling and a bit unstable. “How are the stairs?” asked Billy. “They’re a bit sketchy. Very borderline. I say we try the stairwell on the other side of the building.” said Melissa. The explorers left the room and followed Melissa down a corridor to the other stairwell. Inside the room, a wall bowing outward didn’t bode well for the trip, and the stairs themselves looked physically worse than the others, with more debris on them and corroded handrails. Melissa carefully stepped on the first step. It felt stable. She tried the next, and it was still stable. “Stay to the right, and if things get too sketchy, we’re going to have to go back down.” said Melissa. When the explorers reached the third floor, they found a hole in the roof, perhaps half a square foot, mere inches from the stairwell. The stairs remained stable. The third floor had a wide hallway, with offices branching off each side. There were no holes in the floor, but there were a few spots where the roof had holes in it and water pooled on the floor. Melissa tested the floor. “It’s marginal, but it looks like we’ll have a path to the yearbook room.” said Melissa. “Can we take some yearbooks home?” asked Billy. “We’ll see.” said Melissa. The explorers carefully crossed the hallway, following Melissa and carefully avoiding the soft spots. They reached a staircase. The stairs were dark green, with a marble finish, and still felt surprisingly stable. Once the explorers reached the top of the stairs, they found a hallway. To the left, the floor looked sketchy; to the right, there was a large hole in the floor underneath a large roof leak. Billy’s heart sank. “I’m out.” said David, who stayed behind on the stairs. Melissa turned to the left and tested the floors, finding them relatively stable; Billy followed, and after seeing them go a few steps safely, David followed. They reached the end of the hallway, which led directly into the yearbook room. Inside the room, there was a desk with a Commander 64K computer on it. There were two chairs, one for a “Wilma Curwen” who worked in the room, and another on the opposite side of the desk. A bookshelf with the yearbooks was beside that chair. The wall behind Wilma’s chair was missing, and part of the roof had collapsed, making Wilma’s chair fall backward where it precariously dangled over the edge. Billy filmed the entire room, making sure to get every yearbook as well as the desk. “Can we take the yearbooks?” asked Billy, only to see Melissa with an armload of them. “Put some of them in my camera bag. I’ll just carry my camera with the loop.” said Billy. Melissa stuffed the 1975-1986 yearbooks in the bag. Billy grabbed the 1963-1974’s, David the 1950-1962’s, and Melissa the 1939-1949’s. All three found it difficult to see, so Melissa held her yearbooks over her head as she crossed the hallway. The explorers then went back down the stairs they came and took a break once they got out of the building, putting the yearbooks on a relatively clean section of ground. “I thought you said we weren’t to steal anything. That’s why Dirk got kicked out.” said David. “This was a special case because these yearbooks are rare and the room they were in was about to totally collapse. It looked like that wall only collapsed in the past few weeks, because these yearbooks are still in reasonably good condition. These yearbooks would have been done for within a few months.” said Melissa. “I say, if there’s room in the van, we take them home.” said Billy. “I say we put them in a more secure building on campus, and then decide what to do from there. They’ll be fine in the journalism building for now.” said Melissa. “Yeah, well I don’t think someone who died in 2004 is going to care about us taking her yearbooks.” said Billy. “Maybe so, but it’s still wrong to steal. Besides, the journalism building is closer, anyway, than the van.” said Melissa. The explorers lugged the yearbooks to the journalism building, where they left them in a first-floor classroom that was still largely intact. “I’ll see about getting these yearbooks out to digitize them.” said Melissa. “Can’t wait.” said Billy. At this point, the explorers had been on campus for over an hour, so they decided to go to the next exploration. On their way out, they found the campus’s oldest building, McGraw Hall. It was a shell, the entire interior collapsed into the basement. “What a shame. They used it for 48 years and it was fine, they leave it abandoned for 33 and it just totally collapses.” said Melissa.-
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Chapter 13 - The Old Sorority House
drocca posted a City Journal entry in Izzy City - A Ghost Town Exploration Story
The explorers regrouped and walked back out to the van. By now, it was 7:02 pm, and the sun, and temperatures, were beginning to go down. “Last exploration of the day.” said Melissa. “What is it?” asked Megan. “My old sorority house.” said Melissa. The van drove through a commercial district before reaching a faded sign that said, “University of Izydorczak”. Behind it were several crumbling brick buildings. Melissa made a left at the sign, drove past some dorms, and was soon on Fraternity and Sorority Row. A few of the houses couldn’t be recognized since none, or not enough, of the Greek lettering remained. Billy pointed out the houses. “That’s Sigma… something, there. That’s Delta Omicron Pi, looks like it’s got a big hole in its roof. There’s Phi Nu, they’re holding up pretty well, but Theta Kappa next door looks to be on its last legs. And there’s…” “Kappa Xi Delta.” said Melissa, parking the van in front of the house. The house appeared to have a leaky roof and a badly weathered brick exterior, though it was in the best shape of the Greek houses seen so far. The sign hanging above the door said, “KAPPA XI DE TA” in bronze letters, about 12 inches tall and 8 inches wide, each.” “I wonder what happened to the L?” asked Billy. “That L’s probably been gone for 25 or 30 years. It fell off not long after it was abandoned.” said Melissa. “Wonder what happened to it? Stolen, perhaps?” asked Megan. Melissa looked up at where the L had been. “Corrosion.” As Melissa, David, Billy, and, surprisingly, Megan, walked into the dilapidated house, Dirk stayed outside, looking at the fallen L, which had landed in the grass. Dirk moved the L, setting it against the house’s brick foundation, and examined it closely. Meanwhile, inside the house, Melissa waxed nostalgic as she showed the group the kitchen that she’d cooked so many meals in decades ago. A roof leak had dissolved much of the sheetrock along one section of a wall and a section of adjoining ceiling, leaving the underlying wood frame and insulation exposed, but the structure was still stable – for now. The sage green paint on the walls had mostly chipped off, leaving the white undersurface exposed, which itself was faded and dirty. Bits of ceiling formed white chunks on the maple-wood floor. Along one wall of the kitchen was a large, white, 1980s fridge, still-intact granite countertops with blonde wood shelves underneath, and an electric range. An oak cutting board, engraved on one corner with the Kappa Xi Delta letters, sat on the countertop next to the range. The adjacent wall to the right had the same countertops, but these had an oven on one end and a dishwasher on the other. There was a microwave and a coffee maker on the right end of the counter. Cabinets that matched the shelves still sat intact above the countertops, even in the vicinity of the roof leak. To the right of that was a wood, Victorian-style pantry shelf. A large archway led into the adjoining dining room. “Even my sorority house isn’t this fancy.” said Megan. “I was the head Kappa Xi Delta chef my junior year, so ’84 to ’85, so I spent a lot of time in this kitchen. I remember the day we brought all these new appliances in. We saved up about $10,000 all fall semester of my junior year to remodel this kitchen. Before that, we had wood paneling on the walls and avocado-green tile floors. If you looked up 1970s kitchen on Google, you’d probably find something similar. They spent an entire winter break remodeling it, and we held a big party the first day our new kitchen was open.” said Melissa. “Did you make your steaks there?” asked Billy. “We bought 200 steaks and 40 bottles of A1 sauce, and people ate every one of them. The whole campus was invited. The party lasted 3 hours and we made about $5,000.” said Melissa. “Wow, I’d say in my 3 years in college, we might have had one event that made that much.” said Megan. Melissa led the group into the dining room. Billy looked at the composite photos on the walls, which showed every member of Kappa Xi Delta in the year in question. Along the wall facing the outside of the house were composites from the years 1956 to 1959, each about 6 feet wide and 4 feet tall. 1958’s composite had fallen, its corkboard back visible on the floor. The opposite wall had 1952 to 1955, and the walls at the ends had 1960 to 1963. A long wooden, glass-topped table, with 14 well-padded wooden dining chairs, sat around it. “When was K-Xi-D founded here, anyway?” asked Billy. “March 11, 1939,” said Melissa. “The first year the university was open.” “When was this house built?” asked Billy. “I think it was built in the late 1920s by one of the first wealthy families in Izzy. They left it when the stock market crashed, and the sorority bought it right after they were founded here.” “I would have never thought it was built in the ‘20s. Was it renovated, fully, at any point?” “Yup, last full renovation was in ’83, just four years before the volcano. So, all this was still, effectively, pretty new when it was abandoned.” “Any information on the other houses?” asked David. “Sorority Row was in the process of being updated in the ‘80s. All 14 of the houses were going to be renovated or the chapter given a new house. I think by the time of the volcano they’d gotten to 5 of them. We were the first to be renovated in ’83. Phi Nu got updated in ’84, and Alpha Alpha Alpha got a totally new house in ’85. Right before the volcano, Delta Omega got a new house in ’86 and Omega Chi got a renovation that same time. They were building a really nice house for Delta Omicron Pi that was going to open fall of ’87, but we all know what happened before that.” said Melissa. The group next went to a room with an L-shaped, overstuffed, white leather couch facing a 32-inch Sony Trinitron tube TV and a Pioneer stereo. A shelving unit with VHS tapes, cassette tapes, and LP records sat next to the TV. Along another wall was a Dostim computer at a wooden desk, and another desk with two lamps, a sculpture of the Kappa Xi Delta letters, and the chapter’s first composite photo from 1939 completed the room. In a similar state of disrepair to the previous rooms, plastic letters that once said “KAPPA XI DELTA” had fallen on to the couch. One of the pillows on the couch had a teddy bear, which had been Kappa Xi Delta’s mascot. Looking at the VHS tapes, Billy and David noticed that none seemed to be official retail releases, just blank tapes with names of movies and shows on them. Some had two movies, sometimes completely unrelated, on them. “A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi. Good taste.” said David. “Some of the few movies I’ve seen in my life. Wonder why these are all recorded blank tapes though? Cheaper? My grandpa said that blank VHS tapes used to be really expensive, I can only imagine the pre-recorded ones.” asked Billy. “New tapes were 50 bucks or more sometimes. We had HBO, they’d get a lot of the good movies, so we’d record them off there, or the regular TV if we were lucky.” said Melissa. Meanwhile, Megan was looking at the first year’s composite. “Did you ever meet any of the founding members of your chapter?” “Most of them, as a matter of fact. This was only a little over 40 years after we were founded, so our founders were still in their 60s. One of them was an advisor for the whole Greek system. They came to chapter meetings and events on campus, so everybody had the chance to meet them. I do the same today.” said Melissa. “What happened to this chapter after the volcano?” asked Megan. “I can answer that. They merged with the SHU chapter.” said Billy. “Yes, we did. Me, and all the other Izzy University members, got automatically welcomed into any K-Xi-D chapters of their choosing, but most of the members went to SHU because it was closest, and SHU took on alumni relations.” said Melissa. Billy finished filming the VHS tape shelf, then filmed the rest of the room, being sure to get a close-up of the 1939 composite. Afterwards, the group went into the chapter room. Amid the crumbling ceiling, warped wood floors, and peeling paint, hundreds of folding chairs sat neatly arranged in seven rows. Billy looked into a glass display case, intact even as the roof above bulged and threatened to come down. A tear came to his eye. Melissa better not see this, he thought. Greek Week Champions 1968. Greek Week Champions 1969. 1970. 1971. Every year through 1986, except for 1975, 1978, 1980 and 1982. Hundreds of award plaques and trophies for sisterhood, academic excellence, and kindest sisters. The oldest award seemed to be a sisterhood award from 1940. Billy’s heart sank as he saw one of those kindest sister awards. For some reason, this artifact inexplicably made him far sadder than it should have. “Melissa M. Mingo, June 5, 1986.” He stood in front of it, hoping Melissa wouldn’t see. “Are you okay?” asked Melissa. “Yeah, it’s just… I saw something sad. You don’t want to see it.” said Billy. “My kindest sister award?” asked Melissa, patting Billy on the shoulder. “It’s fine. They made two copies, and I have the other at my house.” “You deserve it 100 percent.” said Billy. “You’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.” said David. “I agree.” said Megan. All three came over to see the award as Billy finished filming the display case and went to film the rest of the room. After a couple minutes in there, the group gathered, ready to finish their day. “I’m going to take you upstairs. Guys didn’t get to come up here often.” said Melissa. The group went to climb the stairs, but after Megan noticed some slight wobbliness in the stairs, she decided to stay downstairs. Melissa tested the floors with each step; they were still stable. “It’s getting dark, we can only stay up here a few minutes. If you want, we can arrange another visit tomorrow.” said Melissa. “I’m getting kind of tired anyway.” said David. “Me too.” said Billy. In the room, there were three bunk beds, still made. Small, IKEA-style white wooden dressers sat next to each bed. On top of them were various knick-knacks; a picture of a bird, lamps, cups with pens and pencils in them. There was an empty picture frame on one. “Family picture.” said Melissa. “This girl took a family picture with her.” “That’s good.” said Billy. “This one was my bed,” said Melissa, pointing to a top-bunk bed with a white pleated comforter and white pillows with a green conch shell pattern. After the explorers looked around the relatively small room, Melissa opened a closet door. “This was one of my favorite rooms in the whole house, ‘the wall’. People would sign this wall, mostly sisters, but sometimes visitors. I think there’s, um, over 30 years of signatures in here.” said Melissa. Billy and David looked in awe at the walls, which were made of solid wood panels that had, somehow, remained intact. The left and middle walls were covered in signatures; the right wall was about two-thirds full. While David took in the signatures, Billy looked for dates and patterns. The left wall seemed to have the oldest signatures; the oldest one Billy could find was from a Margaret Dawson, apparently a K-Xi-D, dated 9/24/53, near the middle of the wall, which was about 7’ wide. The dates on the signatures got slightly later in a ring around the original. “Do you think they’ll mind if I film their signatures?” asked Billy. “I certainly wouldn’t mind. Go right ahead, it’s been over 30 years.” said Melissa. The earliest signatures – about 1953-1955 – were large, but as the left wall had become about half-full, the signatures shrunk. Between two signatures from 1958 and 1959, Maggie Santos had put her signature in a space less than a half-inch tall. It was undated but was probably from the mid- ‘60s at the earliest. David found Melissa’s signature, on the upper part of the right wall. It said, “Melissa Mingo, Sept. 7, 1983, KΞΔ Room 5 Resident 83-84” “Look over here, I found Melissa’s signature.” said David. “Oh wow, that’s awesome.” said Billy. Then he looked up about a foot. “Dad?” The signature, the very highest one on the right wall, said, “Dave Alexander, 10/12/83 10:17 am, I Love KΞΔ!” “Melissa, you might want to have a look at this. My dad signed the wall in here.” said Billy. Though he’d already filmed the entire walls, he made sure to get a close-up on his dad’s signature. Melissa soon came into the closet as Billy went back into the bedroom. “Did you know my dad, Dave Alexander?” asked Billy. “Yes, I did. He was always so happy and fun to be around. Kind of like you, actually.” said Melissa. “He probably signed the wall up high to be considerate, because he was tall-“ said Billy, before a sudden loud boom echoed through the room. The entire building shook. The explorers could hear popping sounds in the distance. “EARTHQUAKE!” shouted Billy. Then, the shaking stopped. “It’s not an earthquake.” said Billy. The explorers left the room and went down the stairs. The ceiling in the kitchen near the door they’d came in was sagging. Several pieces of ceiling lay freshly fallen. There was a large crack in the wall next to the front door. A hacksaw, that hadn’t been there before, lay in the grass. The second “P” in Kappa and the “A” in Delta were now missing; the letters said “KAP A XI DE T”. There was a large cut underneath all the letters and around them, as well as the beginnings of a cut above the letters. It was obvious that someone had tried to cut the section of wall off that contained the letters. Megan was already outside, and Dirk was nowhere to be seen. By now, it was 7:31 pm, and the daylight was dim. The explorers turned on their flashlights, looking for Dirk. A few minutes later, they found him by the faint beep of his “ghost-catcher”. He was inside the Gamma Gamma Gamma house, next to a broken window. “Dirk! I know you’re in there!” yelled Melissa. “Come out!” “You can’t make me.” said Dirk. “Yeah, well I can leave your butt here if you don’t come out.” said Melissa. “You wouldn’t.” said Dirk. Melissa started to walk toward her van, and motioned Billy and David to walk with her. “You wouldn’t really leave Dirk, would you?” asked Billy. “It’s an empty threat.” whispered Melissa. A few seconds later, Dirk ran up to them, just as they started to turn around. “I’m coming, I’m coming.” he said. “Do you know anything about the damage to the sorority house?” asked Melissa. “Oh, that? That was scrappers.” said Dirk. “Bull. If it were scrappers, why would you try to hide from me?” asked Melissa. “Megan, have you seen anyone else in town?” asked Billy. “Nope.” said Megan. “Well, what’s it matter? No one’s used the house in a **** long time.” said Dirk. “This woman SAVES YOUR LIFE, and this is how you repay her? By causing major damage to a house where she once lived and made lots of memories?” asked Billy. “I would have given you guys some of the money.” said Dirk. “You’re a horrible person! I wouldn’t want any of your money!” said Billy, before beginning to launch into a profanity-filled tirade. As Billy screamed at Dirk, Megan joined in, though she wasn’t quite as upset. David and Melissa watched. “You could have killed us!” yelled Megan. “My hand slipped!” yelled Dirk. Billy got in Dirk’s face. “I want you to apologize to Melissa, right now.” “***** you.” said Dirk. Melissa stepped in. She put her hand on Billy’s arm. “Everything’s going to be okay. Calm down.” She turned her attention to Dirk. “I’m sorry to inform you that you are no longer welcome on this trip, Dirk. Vandalizing and then causing major damage to a building is a gross violation of the urban explorer’s code. Since we are at the end of our day anyway, I will have my husband meet you at the restaurant to take you back to your car.” Melissa texted her husband to meet them at the restaurant, so as not to spoil the surprise for Megan, Billy, and David. -
Chapter 12 - The Library
drocca posted a City Journal entry in Izzy City - A Ghost Town Exploration Story
Chapter 12 Next door to the event center was a large building which had a Romanesque look. Scaffolding surrounded the building, which looked in passable from the outside. “Could be a façade. The place could be wrecked inside.” said Melissa. As the explorers got closer to the building, they saw some fallen bricks laying on the ground. Some of the windows were broken. Megan decided to stay outside. A sign next to the front door said, “REDUCED HOURS, EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 6, 1986: THU-SAT 8 AM – 10 PM, CLOSED MON-WED FOR ONGOING RENOVATION”. “I guess the renovation has lasted 34 years… and counting. The focus has shifted from modernizing it to turning it into a pile of rubble.” said Billy. David opened the 15-foot tall, solid wood door. The explorers followed him into a large atrium. The ceiling was about 35 feet high and made of glass, which lit the interior of the building so that flashlights weren’t needed. To the sides, spiral staircases led up to the second and third floors. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases, still loaded with books, were visible from the front to back of the building on the top two floors. In the center of the atrium, there were rows of red chairs, with wooden end tables next to them, and a circular desk with chairs around its interior. Some of the end tables still had books on them. Although the books looked to still be in place from a distance, the atrium was in terrible condition. Shattered panels of laminated glass from the ceiling covered the floor – this was a “hard hat required” building. The ceilings outside the atrium area had mostly come off, revealing the bare beams under them. There was obvious water damage – the wood floors were buckled and warped, and many of the walls were decayed to their internal beams, the drywall having been eaten away by water. Moss covered parts of the floors, and a greenish grime covered the interior walls. “I wonder how many of these books could be saved?” asked Billy. “None of ‘em.” said Dirk. “Not sure yet, but I’m sure some of them could and some couldn’t, maybe 60 or 70% could be saved.” said David. Melissa led the explorers to a small alcove to the right. The sign, which was missing some letters, said “C ck Che k ut D sk”. One bookshelf had large binders on it, each labeled with a year, from 1951 to 1986. The binder for 1987 was on a desk, next to a telephone, a pen, and a dried-out date stamper still set to “APR 11, 1987”. While David, Dirk and Melissa looked at the 1987 binder, Billy grabbed the 1964 binder off the shelf and looked at it. All wanted to sit in one of the four chairs behind the desk, but all looked too dirty and weak to sit in. Billy flipped through the pages of the binder, which appeared to be about 800 to 1,000 pages. He turned one page at a time until he was more assured of the durability of the binder, then he opened the binder to what appeared to be about 1/3 of the way through, looking for April 28. He landed five days early. “April 23… 24… 25… 27… 28!” mumbled Billy to himself. The pages had 50 lines each, with the title of the book, the due date, and the number and shelf of the book. Each line was numbered; the lines on the page Billy was looking at were numbers 924,551 to 924,600. Most of the books checked out on April 28, 1964 had been nonfiction books that Billy had never heard of. The first entries for the day were a set of 14 books, all about the schwa sound, all with Dewey Decimal classifications of 414, from shelves 502 and 503. All had a check-out time of 8:01 am and a due date of May 12th; they’d all been turned in the day before that. “Uh. I didn’t know there were so many books about ‘uh”. said Billy. “Meliss-uh, somebody was doing some intense research on schwas the day you were born.” Melissa looked at the binder from 1964, while Billy started looking at the binder from 1987 – looking at the last-ever books to be checked out. The last ever book, number 4,518,386, was titled “NYC at 360: A History of New York City, 1624-1984”. It had been checked out at 9:55 pm on March 28, 1987, had a Dewey Decimal classification of 973.92718, and was from shelf number 1,782. Its due date was April 11, and it had never been turned in, for obvious reasons. “Have you ever been to New York City?” asked Billy. “Yes. Beautiful city. I lived there for a while in the ‘90s, as a matter of fact.” said Melissa. “Somebody’s got a book on it forever, no late fees. What was it like living there?” asked Billy. “Very crowded. I moved there in ’93 when I found a job opening at my dream job there. Back then, I was an investment banker, so I took a job at the World Trade Center and moved into a SoHo apartment. At first, all the hustle and bustle, being in the middle of everything, was enjoyable, and working 103 floors up was a nice novelty. After a couple years, it got old having to deal with everything being so crowded all the time. I missed the space and the fresh air of living in a smaller city and not having to pay $2,000 a month just for a one-bedroom apartment. Someone told me ‘you should teach’, so I left New York in June of ’97 and went back to get my PhD.” said Melissa. “When you worked at the towers, were you worried about t-?“ asked Dirk, before Billy cut him off. Don’t want to bring back any potentially traumatic memories, he and David thought. “Terrorism? I never worried about it too much. Two months before I started working there, they put a truck bomb in the basement and tried to knock the towers down. It killed a few people, but it wasn’t the massive catastrophe the terrorists were hoping for. After that they upgraded security in the buildings. We had the occasional evacuation drill but never thought about it on a day-to-day basis.” said Melissa. “Wow. We’re all glad you’re okay.” said David. “How’d you go from being a journalist to an investment banker to a journalism professor?” asked Billy. “I double majored in journalism and business. From my childhood, I was always a good writer, but I also became interested in finance and investing. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to do, so I did both. When I got out of college, I was recruited by the local newspaper, so I did that for a while until the volcano went off. Then, I moved to Helmintoller City and found a job working for a small local newspaper, the Barlow Post, and got an internship at a Silverman Sachs office in 1988. After that, Silverman hired me on. I was putting in 60, 70 hours a week for at Silverman, driving for GT [an Uber-like business active since 1973 in Helmintoller State] in my spare time, and I barely got any sleep. In 1993 I found a job with the same pay, about 60 grand a year, working a regular 40-hour week. I enjoyed it at first but got burned out on both living in New York and the hustle and bustle of the financial sector. A fresh college graduate I was mentoring in 1996 told me I should teach, and I started doing research onto professorships. Left New York in ’97, enrolled at Western Helmintoller University, and got my PhD in 2001, when I started teaching.” said Melissa. The explorers took in what Melissa told them, then soon put the binders back down and walked toward the back of the library, where the card catalog was. “I’ve never seen a card catalog in person. It’s been all computerized my whole life.” said Billy. “They were getting ready to computerize it here, too.” said Melissa, pointing to a moldy, decayed piece of paper which said “NEVER FUMBLE THROUGH CARDS AGAIN. COMPUTER CARD CATALOG COMING AUGUST.” “I wonder if they were already doing the work on digitizing it. A million entries don’t digitize overnight.” said Billy. “Not sure, but I seem to remember seeing a guy on a computer with a rack of cards a couple weeks before the volcano. So, probably.” said Melissa. Billy opened a broken glass door. A computer laid on the ground, next to a desk half-eaten by termites. 3 ½ inch floppy disks laid next to it amid insulation and ceiling tiles. Billy picked up one of the disks, labeled “CARD CATALOG: Disk 13, 218 to 233”. He left the room and showed the disk to the rest. “Looks like it was going to be a 40, 50, maybe 60 disk job. The wonders of computers before the Internet and cheap storage.” said Billy. “Computer town, they looked for an excuse to computerize everything.” said Dirk. “I’d rather deal with 60 floppy disks than this big card catalog. We were all looking forward to the computerized card catalog, or Triple C as we called it.” said Melissa. The explorers then went to look at the thousands of shelves of books, which were all labeled with a number. Shelf 1 was at the far left of the 1st floor, directly to the left of the entrance. The floor-to-ceiling shelf only went from 000.00003 to 000.2816. Every book was still intact on the shelf, covered in a thin layer of dust. The first book was entitled “Computing Theory”. On the other side, the shelves started with shelf 27. Billy turned on his flashlight and walked down the corridor of books. The books on every shelf were still intact. Billy wanted to read some of them, but knew that time was limited, and he didn’t want to be the one who would move the books for the first time in 33 years. “I wonder what the last shelf in this place is?” asked Billy. “I think there were about 15 or 1,600 shelves.” said Melissa. “If we can safely get to it, can I see it?” asked Billy. “Follow me. It would be at the back right corner of the building.” said Melissa. As David and Dirk explored the remainder of the library, Melissa led Billy up a debris-covered staircase, careful to avoid a slippery section of boards, glass and 2x4’s that covered the whole right side of the staircase. The building’s condition was even worse up here. The roof visibly sagged in many areas; in some areas, there was a hole or a separation between roof sections that let in enough light that a flashlight wasn’t necessary. Damp patches on the red-carpet floor showed where was relatively safe to step, and where was dangerous – Melissa deftly stepped around the patches, and Billy followed, occasionally stopping to film a section of books or hallway. They finally reached the back wall of the building. By the Dewey numbers on the books – in the high 980s – Billy could tell that the shelves, 1,708 and so on, were near the end. A few shelves down, a bright light shone through a hole in the building. As they walked by shelf 1,712, the two turned off their flashlights. Shelves 1,715 to 1,717 had all fallen through a hole in the wall that extended from floor to ceiling and was about 12 feet wide. Melissa put one foot on the floor by the hole, declaring it safe, before Billy walked onto it. He filmed the shelves adjacent to the hole and zoomed his camera in on the pile of books and wood scraps that had fallen to the ground. Judging by the lack of vegetation growing atop the books, Billy reasoned that the wall must have collapsed recently – probably in the last year. Moss grew along the sides of the adjacent shelves. Billy and Melissa continued, noticing a crack in the wall above shelves 1,718 to 1,726, and light shining in from behind 1,721, although the shelf was still in place. Finally, they reached the last shelf in the entire library, 1,731. The area in its immediate vicinity was oddly pristine, with the wall, shelf, ceiling, and roof fully intact. Billy looked at the last book, 999.96502, Where in the Universe could Humans Live? “When I was a kid, I would always so straight to the last book in the library and thumb through it. I’ve seen 998’s and a couple 999’s, but never a 999.9 anything.” said Billy. He carefully pulled the book out and turned the first page. Melissa shined her flashlight, allowing Billy to read the book. It had been checked out only twice, on November 5, 1986 and February 10, 1987. The first line in the book, which had a 1986 copyright date, was ominous. “In the future, a major disaster, shifts in the Earth’s natural state, or overpopulation may cause some of us to have to move to another planet.” “Melissa, can you hold this book open like I have it? I want to get a close up of these words.” said Billy. As Melissa held the book open, Billy filmed the words, then turned the pages of the book. The irony was not lost on him when he found a chapter labeled “Supervolcano”. Turning to the chapter, he saw a diagram of the Toba supervolcano, erupting and creating a cloud around the world. “Wow, how ironic that a town that ended with a volcanic eruption, would have the last book in its library feature a supervolcano.” said Billy. He took the book from Melissa’s hands and put it back in its original spot, and they walked back out. Melissa got in touch with David through the walkie-talkie. “Where are you?” she asked. “I’m on the west side of the second floor, near shelf… 927. I don’t know where Dirk is, he started up his ghost scanner and wandered off.” said David. “Wait right there. I’ll be there shortly.” said Melissa. Melissa and Billy met up with David at shelf 927, and they scanned their flashlights but couldn’t see anyone. “DIRK!” they yelled in unison, through the walkie talkies. No answer. Walking toward the south side of the building, they yelled again. “DIRK!” “What do you want?” asked Dirk. “Where are you?” asked David. “Bottom floor, northeast corner. I wouldn’t come out here though, it’s possessed.” said Dirk. “I’m in the Bermuda Triangle, coordinates 56.784 North, 110.82 East” continued Dirk, raising his voice to talk like a ghostly female. The remaining three walked down the stairs and continued toward the front door. “That’s not in the Bermuda Triangle, it’s in Siberia.” said Billy. Billy decided to play a game with the ‘ghost’. “Who are you?” asked Billy. “I am Amelia Earhart… I’m so lonely…” said Dirk. “What ended up happening to you on that flight?” asked Billy. “I crash landed in a sewer and lived there for the rest of my life… I died in, um… 1992, I guess.” said Dirk. “From what?” asked Billy. “Loneliness… no one wants to talk to you when you’re covered in sewage…” said Dirk. “If you’re really Amelia Earhart, what’s your middle name?” asked Billy. “Um…Ethel.” said Dirk. “Okay, Amelia, it’s time to leave this building. Come to the front door.” said Melissa. “I’m talking to Amelia Earhart.” said Dirk, back in his normal voice. “Well, Amelia’s ghost is actually a bit to the east of here. You’ll understand her a lot better if you come with us.” said Billy. Within a minute, Melissa, Billy, and David could see Dirk walking toward them.-
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16th Section, the Northwest Ordinance, and SimCity
Kiwiwriter47 posted a topic in SimCity 4 General Discussion
Being a guy who's heavily into American history, I stumbled on an odd concept called the "16th Section," used in dividing up the new counties and states created by the Northwest Ordinance of the 1780s. That was the federal law that led to the entry of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, as brand-new states, just like the original 14. The Ordinance is the baseline for the admittance of new states. The Ordinance cut up land into parcels for development into counties and ruled that the "16th Section" would not be sold off, but be held back and allocated for government facilities. At that time, that meant County Courthouses, but also Town and City Halls, and, as time passed, Police Headquarters, Fire Headquarters, the City Hall Annex (like we have in Newark), and sundry other departments. When I got into SimCity, I realized that such advanced planning was pretty smart, so I always leave holes in my zoning and road-building to allow for a fairly large chunk of land for those same purposes, calling it the "16th Section." I will leave other areas alone for related topics, like schools and hospitals, as well as police and fire substations. I'm sure everyone on this entire forum does the same thing, but I just wanted to share a tiny thing I've learned and a term I use for this development, or, should I say, "non-development." What do folks around here do to enable construction of government buildings?- 15 Replies
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Chapter 9 - High School Terrarium
drocca posted a City Journal entry in Izzy City - A Ghost Town Exploration Story
Chapter 9 The explorers got back in the van, Megan taking the front passenger seat this time. The van went through a residential area. Most of the houses were structurally compromised in some way; holes in the roof on many, a missing wall here, one house totally collapsed there. Billy had Megan hand him the SD card labeled “4” and put card 3 in the glove box, with the two other used cards. After a drive of about five minutes, the explorers arrived at a two-story high school which said, “C N A ZYD A IG SC O”. The school was medium-sized, probably 500 or 600 students. “Central Izydorczak High School.” said Billy. “This is where I went to high school, class of ’82.” said Melissa. “You don’t have to keep reminding us that you’re old.” said Dirk. Megan decided to stay outside, given the condition of the school. The overall architecture of the school looked 1970s. The school had tan tile walls on the first floor and silver siding on the second floor. All the windows were shattered. “This place seriously looks like Candu High School in Uranium City, Canada.” said Billy. The explorers walked through a broken tempered glass front door. Inside the school’s front hallway, the floors felt stable, but a mush of fallen ceiling tiles covered the floor. The red paint on the cinder-block walls was peeling and faded. The interior smelled of mold. Inside the front office, a dirty sign-in sheet still said March 27, 1987 and the last person to sign in to the school – a boy named Patrick, at 12:29 pm. Elsewhere in the office was a logbook that said, “Detention”. “Hmmm, wonder what Harry Jones did to get the last-ever detention at this school?” asked David. After a short time in the office, the explorers went into Room 103 – a classroom. Much of the plaster had peeled from the walls, revealing the cinder blocks underneath, but the desks were still arranged neatly in five rows of six. There was a map of the United States that had fallen off the wall on the right side of the room laying on the floor. The subject matter on the blackboard revealed that on March 27, 1987, Mr. Donaldson’s 11th grade history class was learning about the Teapot Dome scandal, and that their homework was questions 7-12 on page 226. “Well, if you ever have to take a test on the Teapot Dome scandal… here’s some notes from 1987.” said Billy, filming the blackboard. The teacher’s desk had an Apple II computer, a gradebook, and a teacher’s edition textbook on it. Billy was most interested in the gradebook; David and Dirk looked at the textbook, a blue book that said, “American History”. It was laid out much like a modern textbook, but had no color photographs, and the maps were out of date, showing the Soviet Union. Of course, they had to look at what the doomed assignment had been. Question 7 had been, “What were some of the legislative changes that resulted from the Teapot Dome Scandal?” “I forgot all about the Teapot Dome scandal.” said David. “I remember hearing about it on the Simpsons.” said Billy. “I wonder how many of the students even finished that assignment. I always did my weekend homework on Sunday night.” said Billy. “Sometimes, I did it on Monday morning, in my other classes.” said Melissa. The explorers went down the hall, past a few more history classes, and found a chemistry lab. “This was Mrs. Conley’s class. I never was one for science growing up, but she always found a way to make it interesting. She taught junior level chemistry and was one of the people who inspired me to teach.” said Melissa. The blackboard had a detailed drawing of an alkane, an alkene, and an alkyne structure. The board said, “Remember the Alley rule like the vowels. alkAne = 1, alkEne = 2, alkYne = 3.” Under “Homework” on the board, it said “ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND”. “Mrs. Conley always used mnemonics and little tricks to help you memorize stuff.” said Melissa. A big periodic table, printed on cardboard, probably 4 feet tall by 6 feet wide, still clung to the wall; it only had up to element 109, with elements 104-109 having temporary names. The periodic table had a 1981 copyright date. Desks were arranged in much the same manner as in the history room, but on the left side of the room, there were lab counters, with wooden shelves inside the counters and gas hookups for Bunsen burners. Inside the shelves were all the trappings of a chemistry experiment: test tubes, pipettes, beakers, and the Bunsen burners. Billy and David looked inside one set of shelves, while Melissa and Dirk looked at another set. “Did anyone ever get hurt doing a chemistry experiment?” asked Dirk. “Not that I can recall.” said Melissa. “What was your favorite class in school?” asked Billy. “Probably newspaper class. I always enjoyed getting out in the community and interviewing people.” said Melissa. “I’d love to see that classroom.” said Billy. “Alright, next class.” said Melissa. The teacher’s desk was the last thing the explorers looked at in the room. It had another Apple II computer and a gradebook, with a pile of papers and an EZ Grader next to it. Billy moved a fallen ceiling tile to see the gradebook. Most of the grades looked good – lots of B’s, with quite a few A’s and C’s and few failing grades. “I guess only the smart kids took chemistry.” said Billy. “That, and a good teacher really helps matters too.” said Melissa. Melissa then led the explorers down the hall to a stairwell at the rear of the building. Once they got to the top of the stairs, Melissa looked at the main hallway on the second floor. It was in worse condition than the first floor, with most of the paint missing from the walls and a few small holes in the roof. Insulation showed through in a few places. Moss grew from the floor in a few spots, and there was a small hole, less than a square foot, visible on the right side of the hall about 30 feet away. “Follow me. Floors are a little sketchy.” said Melissa. The rest of the explorers followed Melissa in a single-file line through the hall as she tested the floors before putting her full weight on them. Dirk scanned his EMP meter, but it was empty, yet again. One locker was open, on the right side of the hall about 10 feet from the hole in the floor. “Can we see the locker?” asked David. As Melissa carefully walked toward it, she stepped on a soft patch of floor. She stepped back, sidestepped the patch, and got to the locker, number 423, asking the explorers to look at it one at a time. The binders and other ephemera attracted the most attention. The locker clearly belonged to a teenage girl. There was a faded, peeling River Phoenix photo on the inside of the locker door. The black Trapper Keeper inside the locker held assignments, tests, and various doodlings; although the Trapper Keeper itself was dirty, the items inside were in pristine condition. Two pencils still had their sharp points. An Algebra II test looked like it had been done yesterday, the feminine pencil script still clear, though the date said March 26, 1987. The grade on it was a 97. A biology test had a 94 on it, and several more assignments had A’s on them. Only a music test, dated March 4, 1987, had a mediocre grade – a 74. Melissa made sure the explorers didn’t take anything from the binder and put it back in an orderly manner. “All that studying, that good score, gone to waste. What happened to the grades of people who had to evacuate?” asked Billy. “As I understand it, they just gave everyone a passing grade for the current year in all of their classes and let them go to the next grade. There would have been no way to get the school records until long after the students graduated, with the constant threat of being blown up by a volcano. So, if you were in 10th grade at the time of the volcano, you just went to 11th grade in September of ’87. College was a real mess, certain universities agreed to take certain majors, some students had to take tests to be able to clep out of classes they’d already taken, but what they usually did is just say you didn’t have to take certain classes depending on what grade level you were in. Of course, this varied from major to major and university to university. On top of all that, all the ex-Izzy students got free tuition for a couple years.” said Melissa. “I don’t remember much, I was in kindergarten when the volcano hit, so not much schoolwork left behind to speak of. I just started first grade the next year, like Melissa said.” said David. “Lucky *******”. said Dirk. After looking at the locker, the explorers kept following Melissa. Near the end of the hallway, they turned left into a room, about the size of a normal classroom, with exterior windows. At the head of the room, away from the windows, were two photocopiers. Half of the blackboard had fallen where the wall covering had totally rotted away, revealing insulation and bare cinder blocks. On one side of the room, there was a row of desks, with four Macintosh computers and a printer. There was a large circular table in the middle of the room and filing cabinets on the other side. The filing cabinets had been labeled, but some of the labels had come off; the remaining labels had ranges of 3 years on them, like 1958-1960 and 1973-1975. One of the filing cabinets had fallen over, and papers had spilled out. Luckily, the floors in this room were still stable, though Melissa still tested them all out before calling the rest of the explorers in. The room had transformed into more of an indoor terrarium than a classroom. Moss and small plants covered the entire floor and parts of the desks, photocopiers, and computers. A 6-inch tall flower grew out of the rotting papers that had fell out of the filing cabinet. David and Billy looked at the papers that had fallen from the filing cabinet. A fragment of paper said May 6, 1943. An ad on the same page said, “BUY WAR SAVINGS BONDS”. One of the flower’s roots coiled itself around an article about gasoline rationing. “That’s just sad. This is World War II historical memorabilia.” said David. “So much we have to save in this town.” said Billy. After looking through what they could of the WWII-era newspapers, Billy and David looked over and saw Melissa looking at the newest newspaper in the room, with a print date of March 26, 1987. Dirk was standing nearby, disinterested. “What years did you work on this paper?” asked Billy. “1979 to 1982. Sophomore through senior year, I was editor in chief senior year.” answered Melissa. Billy carefully opened the 1979-1981 cabinet, picking up the first paper in there, the December 3, 1981 issue. For a high school newspaper, it was a serious piece of work, with 8 pages. It looked more like a local newspaper. On the dateline it said, “Editor Melissa M. Mingo”. “Wow, your initials have always been Mmm. That’s awesome.” said Billy. “A guy in high school actually called me Mmm.” said Melissa. The paper had several articles listed on a column on the front page; they included study tips for finals, places to go over Christmas break, a sports schedule, and a write-up about the school arcade. The front page had an article about the school’s football team, the Red Devils, going to the post-season after winning a game 35-28 against East Izydorczak High School the past Saturday, November 28. “Go Red Devils!” said Billy. Melissa repeated the cheer as she came over to look at the paper with Billy. “Go Peles!” said David, referring to his elementary school, Samberg Mountain Elementary School. At the bottom of the page was a reminder, “Wear your seat belts. Do it for those who love you.” “A seat belt saved my mom’s life.” said Billy. “I remember you telling us about that. Glad she’s okay.” said Melissa. Getting to the arcade article, Billy was mesmerized by a large color picture of the arcade, which had black walls with space motifs. Pac-Man, Centipede and Turbo were visible in the photo, Turbo described as having just arrived Tuesday [December 1]. “I bet this was a lot of fun to write.” said Billy. “It was. I had to play all the games; they gave me about 10 bucks in quarters to do that.” said Melissa. “I have to see the arcade.” said Billy. “They took it out a couple years before the volcano. It stopped being profitable.” said Melissa. “Rats.” said Billy. Billy kicked a mat of moss away, revealing a patch of the room’s original red carpet, still in good condition. There wasn’t much left to the room, so Billy and David went over to see the last newspaper ever printed at the school. At the top of the page, it said, “Soccer Season Starts March 31”. “I guess they didn’t have a soccer season.” said David. As the explorers left the room, Melissa’s left foot slipped on a patch of moss, suddenly sliding forward about a foot. Her right leg lifted off the ground, and her body tilted precariously forward as she flailed her arms attempting to regain her balance. Billy and David began to run toward Melissa, but just before they got there, she managed to regain her balance. “Wow. Good recovery.” said Billy. Melissa led the explorers down the hall and into a large room with dozens of circular tables and hundreds of chairs around them. There was some moss and mold in the room, but not nearly to the extent that was in the newspaper room. The ceiling was heavily decayed and discolored but had no visible holes. None of the tables and chairs seemed to have fallen into any holes, but the floor was covered in debris and suspect in the area. Melissa told the explorers to stay near the edges of the room. The explorers went through an archway into the food serving line. The menu on the wall was for the week following the volcano, March 30 to April 3, 1987, and was for burritos or meatloaf Monday, sushi or cheeseburgers Tuesday, cheeseburgers or pizza Wednesday, breakfast or grilled chicken Thursday, and a hot dog bar or salad bar Friday. “Looks like they had good food at this school.” said Dirk. “Too bad none of this ever got made. I wonder if they’d ever had sushi before?” asked Billy. “They had it a couple times when I was there, I remember it would have been during my junior year that they first offered it, I think it was the day after the Super Bowl in 1981. It was nothing fancy, just fish wrapped in rice, like a low-end roll you’d get today. It was 2 dollars; regular lunch was a buck. I did a news story about it; they ran out the first day about halfway through the lunch periods and offered it again a couple days later for the later lunch periods.” said Melissa. “The day after the Super Bowl that year would have been January 26, 1981. They offered sushi a couple times when I was in high school, a few students tried it, it sold decently but not especially well. This was 2013-2014 or so, so it wasn’t the novelty it was in the early ‘80s.” said Billy. “I’m not a big fan of sushi.” said David. “I’ll eat sushi all day. It’s one of those foods people love or hate.” said Billy. The serving line itself was very dirty and moldy; ironically, the cafeteria’s health grade of 99 was clearly visible. In the distance, a hole in the roof shined a light onto a large freezer, which flies buzzed around. The stench of the food was noticeable even 30 feet away. The explorers walked through the line like they would have if they were students, getting to the cash register at the end. The black cash registers had an LED display, looking like a large ‘80s calculator. After looking at the cafeteria, Melissa led the explorers back downstairs, where they decided to look at the gym and then leave. There wasn’t much to the gym: it was a large room, two stories high, in similar condition to the cafeteria. There had been a few pennants on the walls, but they had all fallen over the years. In one area, a piece of metal hung down precariously from the roof. The wood floor of the gym was warped and buckled. The rusting basketball hoops, surprisingly, hadn’t fallen, despite a small hole in the roof near one of the hoops. Billy carefully walked onto the wooden bleachers. The bleachers moved unsettlingly beneath his feet. He quickly left the bleachers for more solid ground and got a wide shot of the gym. The explorers then left the gym and walked out of the school for their next exploration. On the way out, David saw a sign that stated that the school was built in 1976. “This school was built in ’76.” said David. “Wow, same year my high school was built!” said Billy. -
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Modern Bureau of Bureaucracy, by Mattb325. --------------------------------------- This modern Bureau of Bureaucracy is a fictional government building reached by a distinctive semi-circular sunken staircase. The design of the building is intended to be austere and intimidating. The building gouges through the landscape and forces anyone who seeks to enter to descend into the middle of government madness. It is modded (unsurprisingly) as a Bureau of Bureaucracy, and is found in the rewards menu. It sits on a 6x6 lot. Unlike the Maxis counterpart it is available at any time and can be placed more than once. Given that this building takes up more space than the in-game version (and my older version of the Bureau of Bureaucracy), it has enhanced statistics and does not act as a deterrent to nearby residential development which occurs when placing the Maxis version. Like the in-game version this building provides civic jobs, and helps raise demand caps and mayor rating which is vital if you are to continue building a large city. It DOES NOT replace the in game version and both the Maxis and my new version plus my old version can co-exist in the same city if you wish. --------------------------------------- STATS: Plop Cost: §36,000 Bulldoze Cost: §6,920 Monthly Cost: §290 Wealth: Medium Demand Created: Jobs§ 350; Jobs§§ 180; Jobs§§§ 86 Park Effect: 21 over 21 tiles Landmark Effect 80 over 32 tiles Pollution at Centre: 2 (air) /2 (water) /28 (garbage) Pollution Radius: 3/4/0 Power Consumed: 63 Mwh Water Consumed: 63 Gallons Occupant Groups: Reward & DMV (Government Buildings and Landmark Effect budget items) --------------------------------------- NOTE ABOUT DARK NITE vs MAXIS NITE: Select the appropriate file from the download. The file suffixed with 'DN' is for those users with a night-time darkening mod installed. The file suffixed with 'MN' is for users who do not have any such mods installed. If you are unsure whether you have a night-darkening mod installed, then choose the Maxis night version. If you use the dark nite version, you will need a dark nite mod. (http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/23089-simfox-day-and-nite-modd/) --------------------------------------- Dependencies: *BSC Texture Pack - CPVol01.dat (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=101) *BSC MEGA Props - CP Vol01 (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1180) *BSC - VIP Girafe Poplars (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3579) *BSC - VIP Girafe Elms (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3347) --------------------------------------- To install, simply unzip these files into your plugins folder. -
25 Year Update - A Quarter Century Without Government
drocca posted a City Journal entry in What Happens when you Withdraw All Government Services?
Kuzcek has now gone a quarter century without government. Aside from the incremental losses in population, education, and life expectancy and the continual accumulation of garbage, on November 5-6 of Year 64 (remember, the government was shut down on January 1, Year 40) there was a major fire that destroyed over half of the dirty industry section. It will be interesting to see what effect this has on de-population, as a major potential source of jobs that had been stable for the entire previous 25 years was lost in 14 in-game hours. On the plus side, crime has dropped by nearly half since it peaked about 2-4 years after government shutdown! Total Population: 19,609 Residential Breakdown: R$ approx. 15,200 / R$$ approx. 4,100 / R$$$ approx. 240 Commercial Population: 9,270 Commercial Breakdown: CS$ approx. 3,450 / CS$$ approx. 2,450 / CS$$$ approx. 520 / CO$$ approx. 2,600 / CO$$$ approx. 250 Industrial Population: 1,207 Industrial Breakdown: I-D approx. 1,030 / I-HT approx. 180 Crime: 17 per month / no arrests Commute time: 90 minutes Power usage: 9,027 kWh Water usage: 66,216 cu m3 Air Pollution: 61 Garbage: approx. 155,000 tons (about 141,000+ tons in the streets) Education: 70 Life expectancy: 59 years Average income: Approx. $25,500 Budget: $10,362 income / $2,341 expenses Funds: $3,904,955 Mayor Rating: Approx. 30 (4 bars out of 12)-
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10 Years Without Government - A Life of Slow Decay
drocca posted a City Journal entry in What Happens when you Withdraw All Government Services?
After 10 years with no government services (except power and water), Kuzcek has changed remarkably little from where it was five years ago. Still, little by little, things get worse every year. In the last five years, population has dropped by 9 percent, and commercial jobs have taken a 19 percent hit. Crime and commute time have stabilized; education and health continue to deteriorate. Remarkably, there has been only one fire in the past five years, on October 1, Year 49. Also, the number of R$$ Sims has gone up since the 5-year update, though I have a feeling that with a diminishing number of jobs for them and increasing garbage accumulation, this number's going to plummet in the next decade. Total Population: 27,215 Residential Breakdown Today: R$ approx. 19,800 / R$$ approx. 6,800 / R$$$ approx. 620 Commercial Population: 13,911 Commercial Breakdown After: CS$ approx. 3,700 / CS$$ approx. 3,700 / CS$$$ approx. 820 / CO$$ approx. 5,000 / CO$$$ approx. 880 Industrial Population: 2,908 Industrial Breakdown After: I-D approx. 2,300 / I-HT approx. 650 Crime: 26 per month / no arrests Commute time: 96 minutes Power usage: 10,233 kWh Water usage: 68,806 cu m3 Air Pollution: 90-95 Garbage: approx. 62,000 tons (about 48,000+ tons in the streets) Education: 92 Life expectancy: 66 years Average income: Approx. $30,500 Budget: $13,206 income / $2,429 expenses Funds: $2,180,637 Mayor Rating: Approx. 36 (4 bars out of 12) -
I'm doing an experiment where I built up a city of 38,000 with good stats, then... pull the plug and reduce funding for everything to zero except power and water. That means no schools, no hospitals, no police or fire, no road maintenance, no park maintenance, and no trash pickup. The picture is of the city two in game months before "A-Day" - abandonment/anarchy day - January 1 of Year 40. I call the city "Kuzcek" after the town Borat from the titular movie is from.
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Chapter I: The Life in Downtown
Revyzer posted a City Journal entry in Commonwealth of Canderia [SC4]
It's a beautiful fall day, the city thrives, the streets of downtown busy, bells of the churches ring, people walk sidewalks talking on their phones, cars blow their horn, the air smells somewhat delightful. You are in Downtown Canderia, the heart of the city-state. The highrises and historic buildings create the everlasting image for you as you appear around the city, looking at storefronts, and the beauty that sits before you inside such a deep city, with it you visit the museums and get into the history of such a odd place. How could such a small city-state, survive being surrounded by the United States and Canada? Why has it never tried to join Canada, which acts diplomatically like it's sibling, it's brother? This place is rather strange, it shouldn't exist but, yet it does. The national flag of Canderia, which has been in use since 1833, but Canderia itself has been a British colony since 1598, older then Jamestown and other colonies in what would become the United States, it was a hugely important city for the British to keep especially during the Revolution, as it was a firmly British loyal city, defending itself from the Continental Army, it was given the best treatment from Parliament before, during and after the revolution, as it was not considered part of the 13 Colonies but instead as its own separate entity separated from the 13 Colonies. Though the flag itself, represents the War of 1812, when 2,000 American soldiers tried to siege the city from the British, the city only with 150 men, fended off the American forces with help of its heavily not passable Canderia Mountains, it is more of a feat when you realized only 95 of the 150 soldiers, had guns. The historic Canderia Summer Palace, today a museum and no longer used by the Windsor family, but remains a very popular tourist spot for those visiting the Commonwealth. Those this is where today, and since 1887 the Commonwealth has gathered with independence in 1925 it became Parliament Hall, before hand it was the Colonial Palace. It sits on the iconic downtown surrounded by modern and classical highrises, historical buildings, and many parks of the city. The historic Canderia First Bank Building, still in use by CFB today. The historic Customs House & Market Hall near the waterfront This is the historic Royal Hotel, where many world leaders stay at. It is 50% owned by the government, and the other 50% is owned by Canderia Royal Lodging Corporation. The National Hall of Canderia, home to the National Museum and Library, built in 1933, and is a major spot for tourists as it includes war pieces, as well as the stories of those who served in the world wars and old WW1/WW2 Equipment on display in the museum. Then on the opposite end, those who are Anglican can not threat with Saint Andrew's Cathedral, Canderia, in the historic core area of the city. Here is the city's Catholic cathedral, Roman Cathedral of Nativity of Our Lord, built in 1901. Here in downtown, the first picture sits the Debenhams Department store, built in the 1960s, and continues to remain open in downtown as a very high tourist and popular department store. The second photo is the old Staudenmaier Department Store, though the department store itself closed in 1997, the building remains standing flying a Canadian flag as at one time the top floors was used as the Canadian embassy and the flag remains today as a reminder of Canderia's closest ally, Canada. Though today, the largest retailer in Canderia is Kmart. You're thinking "What but Kmart is dying." Yes, in America. In 1993, Kmart's Canderia subsidiary broke off from the company to form the Kmart Corporation (Canderia), and it remains the largest retailer in the country. This is the Kresge Building (the blue building), the headquarters for the Kmart Corporation built for them in 1975, today Kmart Corporation remains far ahead of Walmart who struggles with outdated stores with high pricing, as well as struggling to win over customers with their reputation in America heavily known, Walmart entered Canderia in 1988 and has heavily struggled with it and other retailers in the country. The logo for the Kmart Corporation Debenham's Department store located across the Canderia National Police Headquarters Of course while you're in town why not catch a ballgame at Kmart Field? It's home to the best, and only MLB team in the country! One of two outside of the USA with the Toronto Bluejays! The Canderia Ducks! There is also near it is the famous CCBC (Canderia Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation) Stadium, home of many events and concerts & FC Canderia. Of course near it, is one of the most important and historic universities in the Commonwealth, McPherson Methodist University named after Edward Genes McPherson who in 1798, brought Methodism to the colony, and when the Methodist college was established in 1833, it was named in his honor. Though, those who do not have the desire to learn the Wesleyan way, will often attend National University of Canderia. A much smaller scale university but still a very efficient and highly ranked among universities across North America. The conclusion but not forever, as we will travel out downtown and see suburbia and the great stoutness that this city-state holds outside the downtown.- 5 Comments
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Mayoral Election Pauline Hudson (R - Sabetha) Seen as the frontrunner, Hudson is promising to expand the city's industrial capabilities (including constructing a major airport in the region) Kevin Williams (I - Brownville) Despite being an Independent, Williams is receiving the support of liberal voters. He promises to protect and expand the city's environmental protection areas. City Council (all unchallenged) Ward 1: Shane Brown (R - Cook) Ward 2: Dorothy Goodman (D - Nebraska City) Ward 3: Colleen Vetter (I - Peru) Ward 4: Stephen Alloway (D - Bedford) Ward 5: Pamela Justice (I - Rock Port) Ward 6: Matthew Lee (R - Maryville) Ward 7: Michelle Reed (D - Mound City) Ward 8: Kenneth Rickford (R - Savannah) Ward 9: Tony Fry (R - Falls City) Ward 10: Paul Tyson (R - Pawnee City) Capital Locations (Where should the Capitol Hill complex be constructed?) West Fairfax (link to map) PROS: Ample infrastructure (particularly Interstate-29); near geographic center of region CONS: Limited space for Capitol Hill complex; highway limits aesthetic potential Rulo (link to map) PROS: Aesthetic location on peninsula; ample waterway access; near Falls City CONS: Limited long-term growth (especially with Reservations right across river)
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Are there any video games where you play as the illuminati and take control over the world? Or something similar like the illuminati? Or does such an game not exist?
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From the album Mayon Province !
Mayon Bay City Hall -
Muenchen Academica e Arte ! Brief I encountered some problems with Europa ANNO. Fortunaly I had maid a backup. Progres continues with another CJ of Muenchen. Last CJ we covered the south of the city center. Now we move a little bit north into the educational and cultural heart of muenchen ! We start with the Technische Universitait Muenchen ! Koningplatz another popular land mark ! Main campus, there'r some other faculties else where in Muenchen ! Bayern's government Kanzler at the Hofgarten ! Cultural heart of Muenchen ! Bayerisch National Theather on right top, Kunsthalle Muenchen below, Bavarian State Theather to the left and Staatlige Museum Samlung ! Sankt Anna Parish church ! Maximilian Strasse and surroundings ! Faculty of the Technische Universitait Muenchen ! Last a small overview of part of the largest park in Muenchen ! Last a small overview of part of the largest park in Muenchen Die Englischer Garten ! That's all I wanted to show you this month. Last part there will be as ussual some sportive venue on the agenda ! Hope you enjoyed this CJ and see you back next time !
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Are there any fictional buildings that are of a non-city governmental nature? I am especially looking for buildings such as national/state/provincial/etc. parliament/congress/diet buildings, capitol buildings, and others. However, I could only find some that were replicas of real life buildings. I'd like to give my city a different feel that doesn't just copy real life cities. Are there any fictional government buildings available?
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This tile (or 'Zone' as I call it) is named Veritas and it is the governmental and cultural heart of Ionica. I kind of wanted something that was a fusion of Washington DC, Beijing, Shenzhen, Paris, and London. I don't really want to show any older pics of it because it was kind of embarrassingly bad and that's why I decided to restart. Again I regret not using RHW but I think it's a bit too far along to switch. Veritas is also the location of my Simlympic area. I hope to finish it in time for the summer Olympics. The clock is ticking. What you see below is what I consider to be the top of this tile. It is supposed to be the 'old city' area made up of a strange combination of European and Chicago/NY style buildings. Since I took this picture a few weeks ago the area around it has developed quite a bit. I'm bringing the road in and I've reworked the rails to become an elevated system. I've also placed Xyloxadoria's Cathedral of Learning in front of the park but I need to LE it a bit to make it fit better. This is the central area which is the main governmental district. It's kind of Versailles meets Washington DC...in the future. Not everything you see is final. I've had my eye on that Altar of the Triforce for a while, it isn't quite the way I want it to be yet. I wonder if I can reduce the lot size just a bit, that would help me shape the parks around it better. Here is a reverse angle where you see the Pritzker Pavilion a the rear of the UN building. To the left of the Pavilion is the Center for the Performing Arts and behind it is my version (currently missing trees) of the Louvre Pyramid. Hoping this area's not too grid-y. I might have to change up a couple of things. I'm still testing how buildings around there will look. On the right is Xylo's London Shard, which is home to Ionica's largest architectural firm, and next to it the Children's Palace by dmscopio, which contains contains theaters, a museum, galleries, food courts, and interactive playgrounds. Bellow all of that is Windsail Tower, a place of residence for foreign dignitaries and very important guests. Around it is probably the most epic marina I've ever attempted. I still need to add mmps in the water to make it look more realistic. I probably need to add a bit more depth in some areas too. Here is a mosaic of the Simlypic area. At the top is 'Stargate Park' composed of a variety of elements. If I had to list all them all of I'd be here all day. The area with the empty grey square is going to be the central hub of the games. It is actually the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) from simcity.cn. It is flanked by a sunken and raised stadium, both by dmscopio. This concept is kind of where I got the idea for how to create the Hanging Gardens. Dead center is the Bird's Nest stadium, maybe a bit old and out of style since people are working on the Brazil 2016 stadium now, but it really is quite a beautiful BAT. I still need to do some more LE work to make it conform with the grey paths around it. The four Cobb Altura Towers are supposed to be residences for athletes as well as guests to the games. Need to LE myself a version with the same red brick as the surrounding area. Finally at the end of the canal is the Opera House. Still needs to have a lot of mmps and boats put around it to give it a sense of life and activity. I still need to add lot of parking but I'm not sure how to do it. I'm not a big fan of surface parking, but I might experiment with it a little. We'll see. Here's a closer view of a re-lot of the Jefferson Memorial, a Maxis landmark, And on the other side is my custom lot of scba's Risemdale Baseball Diamond. Here is a closer view of the Cristo Redentor in the canal. I still need to add a few modifications. I think I'm going to add some sunken/underground steps as well as some lights and perhaps some small trees. This is the high capacity ferry port. I need to add some ferries as well as work on the roads around it a bit more. This is the Ionican Islamic cultural center as well as a mosque. Finally we come to the full view of the tile. I'd say it's around 40% complete. I'm slowly working my way inward right now, connecting roads from other tiles as well as still looking for spots to fit those really big landmarks. Comments, suggestions, and questions are always appreciated. Thanks for visiting. DavidDHetzel: Oh man I can't wait for this to develop! Also what parks did you use for the Warm Memorial Park and what is that building you used just above the Indoor arena? Those are the BSC USMSC War Memorial & Mahanakhon Condo, ATEX Tubes. Thanks. Ln X: Your rebuild of Avalon is looking promising. My only suggestion would be to have large areas of mid-rise buildings west of the river, on the southern island and towards the east of Avalon. Lastly the centre of the city tile could use a lot of mid-rise buildings to break up the skyscrapers. Large city tiles have never looked too good when filled to the brim with skyscrapers. Right, that's a good idea. Besides, there are only so many unique skyscrapers with what I consider to be good night lighting and I have to split those between Avalon and Veritas. Thanks for the suggestion. tariely: yep, it's gonna be fun to put (ordinary) people and commerces back in there !:-))) Oh, and What Is the bat with the sphere in pict 2, opposite the Burj Dubai (or whatever megalomaniac tower that is:-))) As Hetzel pointed out, the sphere is the Globe Arena. Not sure where to find it but it probably isn't that hard. Thanks. Terring: Oh boy, that's looks epic! Gold to hear it T. Thanks. citybuilder234:That is a very beautiful and planned city. I love how you make excessive use of the NWM and left turn lanes. That's how I should layout my American cities in SC4, with excessive use of the NWM and left turn lanes in my cities, including my cities of Craterville and Volcanopolis. BTW, where did you get the hyperloop pieces? Those hyperloop pieces are ATEX Tubes, I provided the link in a reply above. However, the pieces aren't the greatest. I didn't commit to using the way I wanted to because I had a lot of problems lining them up and making it look good. Then again maybe someone with more skill could do it. Thanks. slickbg56: Looks great. Always good to see the frame by frame transition of the changes you've made. Well that's a pretty old gif. I wish I kept more pics of the progress. Thanks. Snugies: reminds me of coruscant Thanks, I was partially inspired by it, but my city won't look anywhere near as futuristic. gviper: Loving the progression sequence! This is a massive project and it's looking great so far! Hey gviper, thanks. Belfastsocrates: Absolutely loving the work so far. I really miss this type of grand and expansive city planning, something I can't do with Passau as much, so this is a nice indulgence. Thanks B. Why can't you do something this kind of thing in Passau? gen. Falcon: Very nice and well planned. maybe if you try RHW could look better . i must ask what is SEAWALLS mod ? Yes, I really wish I planned the city using RHW, but I began before really understanding how to use it. The seawalls are Those are JENXPARIS Quais de Seine. Thanks raynev1: Well planned and looking great . Thanks mate. takemethere: I'm really impressed with how you are able to plan the city out beforehand, selectively build it up and executed it all in a (relatively) short amount of time. I'm still building my downtown years after I started, just get sidetrack with too many projects going on at once. Definitely looking forward to seeing the finished product here. Well it wasn't that short of a time. Not sure when I began but it feels like slightly over a year and who knows how long it will take to finish. Sometimes I get really in the flow, but then I go work on other things. Thanks. lucasfg3: Great project! Indeed a project for a better future! Stay tuned, thanks. Tonraq: Nice, although that economic crash is unfortunate. Yeah it was painful, but I like to look at it as a blessing in disguise. Thanks. kingofsimcity: What a grand and colossal city plan! You must have some incredible patience - I probably would've zoned in a few blocks and hit unpause already. I always have a few other tiles on the go to keep me busy when working on a large tile becomes tedious. Thanks. city89: 1 word nice. 2 words: thanks you. tankmank: Hopefully this will be the best version of Avalon. I like what you have planned already. It can be daunting needing to LE many buildings but it is worth it when you show a unique lot that fits into your city better. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the buildings being filled in . Yeah, LE can be particularly annoying because for some reason it won't launch properly after I play SC4. I often have to restart my computer to use it. Thanks.
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Version 1.0
10,635 Downloads
Oran-Nayar-Blinn Research Center, by Mattb325. --------------------------------------- I really like the in-game research center, but I dislike the fact that it generates radiation, reduces residential desirability, lowers your mayor rating and is something of a NIMBY building. It seems like a lot of sacrifice for the benefit of increasing High Tech Industry (IHT) demand and desirability. So, I've made another research facility which has all of the benefits with none of the draw-backs. The Oran-Nayar-Blinn Research facility is a strikingly designed ultra-modern building situated on a leafy 7x7 campus-styled lot. It is just as suited to the middle of an industrial area as it is in a suburban or ex-urban space. In addition to providing your sims with many highly desirable civic jobs, it will help alleviate the IHT demand caps that can hinder city development (by increasing IHT demand by 130,000 places). It has also been modded to provide some residential and commercial cap relief by providing both Park and Landmark effects. All these benefits do have a cost (which is only fair). In addition to the §25K outlay, this will set the city back §250 per month. * It is offered as a reward without needing pre-existing conditions. * It is located in the REWARD Menu. * It can be placed more than once in a city. * It DOES NOT over-write the in-game Advanced Research Center (or any re-lotted versions there-of), so can be used in conjunction with the standard Maxis reward. Placing rewards is an essential part of growing a large city and region, given their cap-busting and desirability increasing effects. --------------------------------------- STATS: Lot size : 7 x 7 Plop Cost: §25,000 Monthly Cost: §250 Budget Item: Government Buildings Occupant Groups: Reward, TV Magnet, YIMBY Demand Created: Jobs§: 0, Jobs§§: 523, Jobs§§§: 274. Landmark Effect: +125 over 37 tiles Park Effect: +15 over 37 tiles Mayor Rating: +30 over 220 tiles Pollution: Air 20 over 2 tiles, Water 30 over 3 tiles, Garbage 60 over 0 tiles Power consumed: 131 MwH Water consumed: 358 Gallons/Month Bulldoze Cost: §10,480 --------------------------------------- NOTE ABOUT DARK NITE vs MAXIS NITE: This download contains TWO model files; one for dark nite users (and other night-time darkening mods, such as Gizmos night-mod) and one for the standard Maxis nite. You must keep only one file - depending on which version you use. If you are unsure whether you have a night-darkening mod installed, then choose the Maxis night version. Regardless of which file you choose to keep, make sure you DO NOT delete the Lot File! If you use the dark nite version, you will need a dark nite mod. Either: (https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/23089-simfox-day-and-nite-modd/) OR (http://gizmo.aplaceforwebsite.com/index.php) --------------------------------------- DEPENDENCIES: To ensure proper functionality, make sure the following files are in your plugins: *BSC BAT Props Mattb325 Vol02.dat (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2383) *BSC MEGA Props - CP Vol01.dat (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1180) *BSC Mega Props - CP Vol02.dat (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2790) *BSC MEGA Props - SG Vol01.dat (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=746) *BSC Texture Pack - Cycledogg V01.dat (https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=101) --------------------------------------- To install, simply unzip the contents of this file into your plugins folder. Thanks, and enjoy!- 3 Comments
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The fine art of herding cats. There are at least four (or more) strong ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Getting any kind of agreement is miraculous. Let us hope that in the next interval both the U.S. and NATO involvements may end.
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GOVERNMENT CHANGES 12TH September 2004 For four years, the people of this region have made a colossal effort to improve their living conditions and future. Improvement plans of public and social services are being developed slowly but firmly. Ses Isles Governor Talking with the oposition leader All this has had a high economic cost, which has involved the absolute emptying of Ses Isles economic reserves. The regional government raised throughout this summer, the best way to increase the resources of the region and the most talked proposal was to increase taxes on those with higher standard of living. Demonstration Against The Rise taxes proposals Obviously, there were many detractors. And last August 23, elections to the regional parliament, gave a loud thud to these projects. The government party, the SISP, has lost much popular support, giving strength to neo-liberal parties such as SIP or PFD. 2004 Ses Isles Parliament Elections Results REGION MAP AND OVERVIEW LINK
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Shelby, Cleveland County Series: Memorial Courthouse
DarthWolffeRex56 posted a file in Civic & Non-RCI
Version 1.0
1,347 Downloads
Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, NC, USA. This city is my hometown and I decided to make a series of lots and what-not to honor it. As a result of the more small and rural cities/towns I am beginning to create I felt a thirst for certain civic buildings with more flavor. Looking at the same old courthouse and city hall, I just felt like they were so scrunched in or made for close together areas. So I made this remodeled lot to appeal to the more artsy eye? Basically the lot fills a 6x6 space. Its outer square is line with tiled cement, or pavement. The outer-inner square is a grass texture. The inner most square is the pavement again for the foundation of the building. The lot is covered with flora. The back of the building has a small parking lot. and the front a fountain. I just modified the Maxis Courthouse. ------------NOTICE------------------ This now includes V2 of the Courthouse. V2 has a statue in front of the building. There are two files you can download if you wish, installation has not changed. Includes V3 no trees. (Just random planters XD) --------------Dependencies------------------------ Maxis Buildings As Props Augustus Caesar Statues Sorry no links. I recommend for the best search if you can't immediately find on STEX, is Google or the Lex(registration required) So far there are NO BROWN BOXES. Please notify me if you have this problem in your city, provide a picture. IMPORTANT NOTICE!: Since this may have the same file ID as the Maxis Courthouse you are to "move, but keep both files" for correct installation. This depends though if you want to keep the older one. Since I plan on making a center in my cities made perfectly for large, beautified buildings Ill only be using this one, but the older is key for areas with smaller buildings.- 13 Comments
- 15 Reviews
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DARKNESS IS LURKING Today's update comes in the form of a news article, outlining the ongoing drama involving the former vice-chair of Holt District reginonal council, and the numerous repercussions his scheme has caused throughout the region. The news article is from the region's largest daily-circulation and online papaer,Holt News. Let's go on and read... PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT COLLAPSES The public confidence in the Holt District regional government has collapsed following an announcement the regional chair, Robert Sims, has stepped aside following the revelations in the region’s former vice-chair testimony in court. While Robert Sims was not said to be involved in any of the illegal activities concerning the Manatee tornado recovery disaster, those close to him said he stepped aside as he “knew nothing of this situation” and that “as regional chair, Robert said it is ultimately his responsibility to know what those below him are doing.” Although it is not likely Robert Sims will face any legal action or criminal charges resulting from the situation, the departure of one of the few politicians the public perceive as “clean” has put a dent in the government’s credibility. A recent poll by Holt News, and statistics firm Dolesaft Polling, found that following the announcement, confidence in the region fell sharply to its lowest level ever recorded. Before news of the scandal ever broke, the government had a 87% confidence rate, which fell to 76% following the news of the situation that unfolded in Manatee. It continued to slide to 64% at the start of the vice-chair’s trial. Following news of Robert Sims’ departure, the confidence rating stood at a mere 24%. This has prompted the provincial government to place the region under its direct control until the next regional election can be held. HOLT DISTRICT REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS BUILDING Minister of Municipal Affairs, Angela Kirk, stated that “given the grave situation in Holt District regarding confidence in the regional government, the provincial government has taken into serious consideration taking over all administrative and council operations of the region, until the next regional and municipal elections are scheduled for later this year.” However, some regional councillors disagree with the province’s view of the situation. A group of several councillors from the region indicated they intend to put forward a motion before regional council which will see a new interim-chair installed until the elections can be held. The group said “this will allow no provincial interference in the day-to-day operations of the government, including the granting of building permits and approval of massive development projects which keep the region moving forward.” The group went on to say that “provincial interference would result in the delay of several major projects throughout the region.” Kirk denied the claims, saying “the province would merely take over in the process of approving these projects and granting the permits” and that the province “does not plan on changing, in any major way, the course Holt District is currently on.” She went on to add that “while all regional operations will, for now, be handled by the province that residents will not see a decline in services.” ORCHIDSEN PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS The in-power provincial Liberal Party, which holds the current 3 provincial seats within Holt District’s boundary, said it will bring forth the motion to take over operations of the Holt District regional government “in the next few days” and a representative for the government said “the language of the motion is in the final steps.” Leaders of the opposition parties all agreed that this may be one of the rare cases where all parties agree. The leader of the provincial Conservative party went on to say “Holt District has proven itself the economic engine of our province in recent years, and we cannot let the actions of some corrupt politicians halt the progress and commercial activity in the region.” Holt News will continue to bring updates as new findings around the situation arrive. OFFICE BUILDING COMPLEX: HOME TO PROVINCIAL LIBERAL PARTY OFFICES AND PROVINCIAL CONSERVATIVE PARTY OFFICES As you can see, we're far from done with the tangled mess left by the former regional vice-chair... far from it... HD.Web | HD.Twitter | BoldNEWHD Simopsis Community | Simopsis Blog
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Mullah Omar of the Taliban: Annual Message The Mullah hasn't been seen in public in years. Believed to be in Pakistan.
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Bolt from the Government Caucus. This is an interesting break in the government's wall of solidarity. The more interesting thing is the set of numbers. Why should the conservatives be interested in protecting people who make up to $444,660 in the government? Wonder who is being let off the hook. For our non-Parliamentary members, this is the ultimate act of defiance for a member of the government bench to sit as an independent. The only worse thing would have been to join one of the opposition parties. This reduces the government majority to even fewer seats, and moves closer to a minority government. I don't think anyone in the U.S. Congress, for example, has ever changed parties or sat as an independent. I am not sure what would happen if some member did that. In the U.S. I think it would be political suicide. Here it is up to the member's constituents whether to re-elect him without a party endorsement. The election will not be held until 2015 unless the government falls. {Note to administrators: I couldn't find the old thread, and this one has a better title. Seem the search engine is absent. Can we continue this one, and let the old one just die?}
