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Showing results for tags 'west coast'.
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Hello wonderful people, Ive never gotten as far west as LA. Been to Vegas! I image the landscape in Southern California is different. Im also guessing its different in the summer than the winter. I was wondering what Terrain Mods people out there would say is the most accurate. I looked through Corie's terrain shoppe and there are so many that are close to what I imagine id say. The one I have now is just too bright green and cartoony looking. For trees im using Girraffe. Although I think that's running on a seasonal mod. Idk Anyway... yeah leave your suggestions on the TERRAIN! We can go into the trees later.
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Hey Its been a while. Some of you might remember me from years ago, but I see tons of new faces in the community. It feels nice to be playing this game again, and to see the plethora of new mods I missed while I was away. I started SC4 back up a few months ago and after playing for a few months Im in a place where im content starting another CJ to show off the region I've been working on. Its not too special, Im trying to keep it simple especially regarding mods. There are many regions like it but this one is mine. Its a big region and there's plenty to show off. I am also playing the game. Theres eyecandy obviously but for most updates I will not be getting carried away with photoshop and flora like I used to. Zots and zones may be visible and abandoned buildings stay in screenshots because not all places are great to live in Monterey. Basically how Ill go about this cj is Ill show you random areas or areas Im developing, and if anything looks interesting to anyone I can make an update on a specific area if anyone asks. Anyways; Welcome to Monterey Bay. Somewhere on the west coast of North America this bay was originally home to many farming, logging, and mining communities constructed by an influx of pioneers into the region mostly in the late 1800's. There was some oil, some gold, but the region remained relatively dry during the gold then oil rush days which explains its quiet valleys and low population. Other industries in the area include fishing, limestone, cattle ranching in the low open plains, limestone quarries, as well as a handful of lead and silver mines. While not the largest urban areas on the west coast Monterey County has made a name for itself as being a beautiful retreat destination in the 1900's. Its beaches aren't as pristine as those further south and its not as we as areas further north, but the snow-capped peaks that shine on the various towns in this community remain white for 10 months of the year. The Summers are mild, the spring and fall cool, and the pacific winds help keep the lowlands free from snowfall until you reach the highlands miles inland. First lets visit the seat of the county which shares the same name of Monterey Monterey started as a humble farming community but grew fast. Around the early 1900's everything slowed down as people didnt realize there was much gold in these hills, but it still was a destination many settlers and immigrants ended their long journeys at. The Warf-on-the-River was the central point of the city. Fishermen all around the bay would come right here to sell their catch daily for anyone who managed to earn some meager money by farming or ranching in the valley. At the same time a grand city hall was constructed. It was for a time that Monterey was being considered as the new state capitol, but many long debates and votes and ravings landed that to a more central area further south and inland. While its arguable less bureaucrats and politicians are good for a city, Monterey and the greater bay area didnt need all that to grow into a prospering region. The city grew fast. The industrial revolution passed. Mass transit moved more people around than ever, and more and more people moved to Monterey in the waning days of the oil booms. By the 1950's Monterey cemented itself as 'The' city of the bay area. Despite having lower population than the Tri-Cities, as the locals call them, on the peninsula to the southeast, Monterey developed with people in mind and had better planning and mass-transit than the Tri-Cities as you will be shown in later entries. The city grew and grew. The rich moved in And the poor moved in. They started building up. The Warf-on-the-River is still here Overall Monterey started and exists today as most other cities. It was never a boom town, was never an industrial centerfold, and never even had much interest militarily over WW2. It does have a small air force and military base being a metropolitan area on the west coast, but the Monterey Bay area remains for now just a fertile scenic valley, with nothing too special going on. Until next time!
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Welcome Back to my City Journal, "Touring the World"! All Cities shown are inspired by reality, but may have subtle differences with their real-life counterparts. These differences may be due to game constraints... or... just because. For this entry, we'll be returning to the US West Coast! Starting from the north, we return to the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area! Downtown Portland is known for its 200 ft by 200 ft blocks - originally designed to maximize corner units and thus developer profit - today, an unintended side effect has been that the blocks are short, walk-able and pedestrian friendly. This photo shows the area around Broadway and Main Street, including two very interesting buildings, 1000 Broadway (the building with the white dome) and the Portland Building (top right corner), which houses the City of Portland's various bureaucracies guarded by the statue "Portlandia" who stares down at every citizen of Portland who dares enter the building to file a Planning Department permit for their backyard fence remodel or whatever else they need local government for. Another shot of downtown Portland, this one along Burnside Avenue. Included in this photo is the City's (and the State of Oregon's) second tallest building, the US Bancorp Tower, also known locally as "Big Pink". It stands at 43 stories tall. On the 30th floor is one of those fancy restaurants with great views but overpriced food and drinks. Also in the photo is the MAX Light Rail, which serves not only the city of Portland but also surrounding suburbs and the Portland Airport. At the bottom left is the Chinatown Gate, located on 4th Avenue, it provides a cultural icon and entryway into Portland's Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood. In August and September of 2020, vast forest fires raged throughout the western United States. The Portland area wasn't spared. Due to the fires, air quality in the Portland area plummeted to over 450+ AQI (air quality index). At that time, the air quality in Portland was the worst recorded globally. The photo below shows the St. John's Bridge, a suspension bridge located approximately 5 miles north of downtown Portland and crossing the Willamette River shrouded in a thick orange haze. This photo was taken September 15, 2020. Just 10 to 15 miles west of Downtown Portland is Washington County a mix of suburban housing tracts and rural farmland. One of the striking things about the Portland area is how fast you can go from an urban center with skyscrapers to vast open farmland. Much of this farmland is protected by Oregon's strict land use regulations and the Portland area's "Urban Growth Boundary". The photo below shows the rural and privately-owned Twin Oaks Airport in Hillsboro, Oregon, approximately 12 miles south-west of downtown Portland. Eugene, Oregon is located 105 miles south of Portland along Interstate 5. It is the second largest city in Oregon with a population of about 150,000. It is also home to the University of Oregon and the 2020 Pac-12 (football) Champion Ducks. The Ducks play their home games at Autzen Stadium, pictured below, which is located just north of the University of Oregon's main campus area. Travelling further south on Interstate 5, you will find yourself in California and its capitol city, Sacramento. While we won't visit Sacramento itself during this entry (we will in a future entry), lets swing by really quickly to Roseville, California, which is a suburban bedroom community located directly east of Sacramento in Placer County. Roseville's development is typical of inland California, featuring endless tract homes and neighborhoods, churches, parks/open spaces and big box retail. Many people moved into this area in recent decades to escape higher housing prices in cities along coastal California. There is no lack of land in the Roseville area and this housing is much more affordable when compared to the Bay Area or Los Angeles area. A typical home in the neighborhood below sized between 2000 and 4000 square feet could range from $300,000 to $600,000, a steal considering a similar home would easily be over $2,000,000 in the Bay Area. To the west, Oakland, California. Oakland is one of three major cities surrounding San Francisco Bay. It's population is approximately 480,000. It is also home to the second largest container and shipping port in the western United States. Each day thousands of containers are loaded and unloaded. Many consumer products manufactured in Asia and elsewhere and destined for customers in the United States pass through here. From the Port of Oakland, these products are either loaded onto semi-trucks for delivery within the Bay Area region or within California, or, loaded onto freight trains where they head east. In recent decades, downtown Oakland has seen a bit of a revival. Due to the lack of build-able land in the Bay Area, housing prices are exorbitant and always in short supply. Oakland has always been seen as a more affordable alternative when compared to San Francisco while still providing some of the same urban amenities and lifestyle. Taking advantage of this, developers have built "luxury" condos and apartments throughout Downtown Oakland in recent years. Of course, a 800 square foot one bedroom unit on a lower floor will still set you back $850,000+ if purchasing, or at least $3,500 a month in rent. Oakland is home to Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics (A's). The A's play at Oakland Coliseum, an outdated facility surrounded by a huge parking lot. There are ongoing discussions about building a new ballpark for the A's at a waterfront location closer to downtown Oakland. The Coliseum was formerly home to the NFL's Oakland Raiders before they relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. The Coliseum is also located next to the arena formerly known as Oracle Arena. Oracle Arena was home to the NBA's Golden State Warriors prior to their move to new facilities in San Francisco. The Warriors won several NBA championships in this building. Both the Coliseum and the Arena area are served by the Coliseum BART station (BART = Bay Area Rapid Transit) and pictured top right. From here, commuters can catch BART trains to San Francisco, San Jose, the Oakland Airport, Berkeley or other suburban destinations throughout the Bay Area. The freeway pictured at the bottom is Interstate 880 which connects Oakland and San Jose to the south. Rush hour traffic on this freeway is an absolute nightmare due to the amount of commuters and truck traffic coming to/from the Port of Oakland. West of Oakland and across the Bay Bridge is San Francisco, California. One of America's most recognized cities, San Francisco is home to Golden Gate Park, pictured below. Contrary to the name, the park is not located directly adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge, but rather, a few miles south. Similar to Central Park in New York, it provides respite from the urban hustle and bustle. It is also home to the De Young Museum, the California Academy of Sciences (which features an aquarium, a bio-dome and one of the largest green roofs in the country), and the Golden Gate Park Japanese Gardens which are pictured below. Next, we return to Los Angeles. In the hills above downtown LA and adjacent to Elysian Park is Dodger Stadium, home to the 2020 MLB Champion LA Dodgers! Although the ballpark is similar in age to the Oakland Coliseum previously seen, Dodger Stadium retains much of its "retro-charm" and has preserved outfield views of the surrounding hillsides. Finally, we visit Downtown Los Angeles, home to the tallest building on the US West Coast (by spire), Wilshire Grand, on a rare rainy day in LA. Thanks for visiting! You can also follow my CJ's and other content on Instagram.
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- thecitiescenter
- touring the world
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Welcome to my new City Journal! All Cities shown are inspired by reality, but may have subtle differences with their real-life counterparts. These differences may be due to game constraints... or... just because. We'll start off on the US West Coast. Seattle, Washington is the largest city in the US state of Washington. There are over 3 million people living in the Greater Seattle Metropolitan Area, which is known for its naturally beautiful surroundings, rain, coffee and Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks and Costco, all of which are headquartered here. Another major company, Boeing, was founded in Seattle and still has significant operations in the area, though its corporate headquarters was moved to Chicago. Below, is a picture of downtown Seattle during the afternoon commute. Interstate 5 runs through the downtown area and is often congested. There are, however, Express Lanes that run parallel to the general purpose travel lanes. This is, in my opinion, one of the coolest stretches of interstate freeway in the United States as there are multiple tunnels and ramps as well as the close proximity to the Seattle skyline. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport also known as "SeaTac Airport" is the primary commercial passenger airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area and is one of the busiest airports in the world. It serves many US-domestic routes, as well as international routes and non-stop flights to cities in Asia and Europe. It is a hub for Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines and is currently undergoing renovation and expansion. Below is the new skybridge that links the South Satellite terminal (used primarily for international flights) with the Main Terminal, allowing passengers to "walk over" the planes. Portland, Oregon is the largest city in the US state of Oregon. There are approximately 2 million people living in the Portland-Vancouver-Salem Metropolitan Area. Portland is known for rain, coffee, donuts, beer, food carts, biking and outdoor lifestyle. Many Portlanders pride themselves in "Keeping Portland Weird", though the city and region has been one of the fastest growing in the nation in recent years. It is the setting for the comedy television show Portlandia. Downtown Portland, shown below, is known for its small, walk-able blocks each measuring 200 by 200 feet (or 4x4 in SC4) as well as its "park blocks" (entire city blocks dedicated to green space). The tallest building in Oregon, the Wells Fargo Center, pictured below, is 546 feet, 41 stories tall. It has been the tallest building in the state since 1972 and no building is expected to be taller in the foreseeable future, as the City has a strict height limit in the downtown area to protect views of the nearby West Hills and of Mount Hood. The Lloyd District in Portland is home to the Lloyd Center Mall, once billed as America's "largest outdoor mall". It was covered, expanded and renovated into an indoor mall in the early 1990's. In recent years, the mall has become somewhat dilapidated and there are rumors that the site may be used for a Major League Baseball Stadium as part of an effort by Portland to lure a professional baseball team. The Lloyd District is also home to the Oregon Convention Center (pictured below) as well as the Moda Center, home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers basketball team. Fremont, California is a suburban city in Alameda County, California. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area along the Bay's eastern shore (also known as the "East Bay"), approximately 30 miles south of Oakland and 15 miles north of San Jose. Fremont has an estimated population of 238,000 residents. It consists of primarily suburban residential and commercial strip malls and industrial areas. It is also home to the Tesla factory, where the famous electric car maker currently manufactures its Model S, Model X and Model 3 vehicles. The Tesla Factory is located along Interstate 880 and Mission Blvd. and is also located next to the Union Pacific Railroad line and the new BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Silicon Valley Extension. Los Angeles, California perhaps needs no introduction. It is the second largest city in the United States with an estimated population of almost 4 million people within the city limits alone. It is the economic center of the Greater Los Angeles area which has an even greater estimated population of almost 14 million people. Los Angeles County and nearby Orange County are the largest counties by population in the United States and LA ranks 3rd/4th largest GDP (by city) in the world. It's known best for Hollywood, movies, television and celebrities, but it is also incredibly diverse both demographically and socio-economically. Downtown LA, pictured below, is home to many corporate offices and hotels. Historically, it tended to clear out after every one got off work... but in more recent years, there has been a real push to develop more residential and housing in the downtown area. Thanks for visiting! You can also follow my CJ's and other content on Instagram.
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- thecitiescenter
- touring the world
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BAT / Mods for a West Coast/East Asian "Pacificana" Architecture Style?
The Wrench posted a topic in SC4 - Custom Content
So, I decided, after trying futilely trying to build something that I could be satisfied with in Cities: Skylines, I want to go back to SC4. Currently wanted a fusion of American/"Western" and Japanese/"Asian" architecture styles; I'm a sucker for towers like the WTC and the Comcast Innovation Center, but I also like the narrow, densely-packed Japanese streets between the main avenues. I basically know how to obtain the former, but where could I get the latter? Also, are there any inspirations that I can draw inspirations from? Maybe Hong Kong? -
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U.S. Bank Tower, formerly Library Tower and First Interstate Bank World Center, is a 1,018-foot (310.3 m) skyscraper at 633 West Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles, California. It is the third tallest building in California, the second tallest building in LA, the fifteenth tallest in the United States, the third tallest west of the Mississippi River after the Salesforce Tower and the Wilshire Grand Tower, and the 92nd tallest building in the world, after being surpassed by the Wilshire Grand Center. Because local building codes required all high-rise buildings to have a helipad, it was known as the tallest building in the world with a roof-top heliport from its completion in 1989 to 2004 when Taipei 101 opened. It is also the third tallest building in a major active seismic region; its structure was designed to resist an earthquake of 8.3 on the Richter scale. It consists of 73 stories above ground and two parking levels below ground. Construction began in 1987 with completion in 1989. The building was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and cost $350 million to build. It is one of the most recognizable buildings in Los Angeles, and often appears in establishing shots for the city in films and television programs. PLEASE, DELETE OLD VERSION This file Includes: Functional Landmark with 6,000 CO$$$ Jobs To install: Unzip the folder inside and dragg it on C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Plugins- 7 Comments
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- los angeles
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Hey everybody, Please let me introduce you to San Tonias. A current work in progress inspired by south-western US cities. Here's an overview of the city with the current districts: 1. The downtown area is like most US cities dominated by office buildings. The city of ST however has always made a priority of having a lively city center and made an effort of keeping the downtown area a healty mix of offices and services, leisure and housing. 2. Oldtown is the oldest part of the city and the location were ST was established. There's quite a few empty lots and some vacancy but the area is currently gentrifying and drawing a crowd of students. There's also an active nightlife scene in this part of the city. 3. Tempera was an independent town that eventually merged with SA. It now flows over into the neighborhood of Oceanside but still has it's characteristic, laidback atmosphere. 4. Oceanside is the large, westernmost part of SA. The beaches, clubs and hotels attract a lot of tourists. 5. Alamo Hill is an up-class neighborhood just north of Downtown. Home to more then a few happy few.
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"There's only three great American cities; New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco, the rest is Cleveland." Welcome than to Cleveland, also called Bristol. Bristol, established in 1797, and incorporated in 1821, founded by a man named Louis Richards as a city in the thin landmass between Washington Bay, and the Pacific Ocean that had a ideal trading river, which he named the Bristol River. By the mid to late 1800s it began to grow into the major city we know today. Today it's a bustling economic center of the pacific coast. Rivaling cities like Los Angeles and Seattle. Though at the cost of large crime rates, and poverty growing in the southern districts. But, Bristol is not is not truly what it seems, infact just in downtown, a past of so violent, that formed its history and how it's seen to the United States, and the world. From the organized crime bosses, corruptions, and scandals, Bristol is formed, but within it all, sits culture, arts, shopping, and the beauty of the city. The beauty of the city, hides within plain site. During the 1960s-1980s period, the city had a boom of high rises, and economic development, but it eventually ended and left us buildings such as the World Trade Center building of Bristol, as seen. Eventually, the city by the late 1990s-early 2010s did the city finally return with a 'mini' boom with buildings like the CenturyLink building being built in the corner of the heart of the CBD. Roadworks of this era, to help reduce traffic turned streets like these, into dead ends, to reduce traffic but it only made it worse. The city is in the process of fixing it, but city council delays is preventing it. Buildings like the Mid-Century Tower, which was built as the city's tallest skyscraper was built during this period, overshadowing the background Westerman Bank Tower. Historical skyscrapers such as the Bristol Utility Company Tower, was overshadowed by newer skyscrapers of the 'mini' boom of construction. Buildings like the Regal Theatre, or the Hotel Huber, refuse to become hidden and remain somewhat, seen within the grand skyline. Though many buildings were torn down, like near the Eastern Company Building, when it came from having neighbors to surrounded by parking lots, saved by historic preservationist. Even then, more historic structures like the Bristol Tribune Tower, were hidden by skyscrapers like the World Trade Center. Though, the boom hasn't covered the past or experience of the city, but made it more noticeable and stand out from the box and glass towers. The infamous Victoria hotel built in the 1950s, which in the 1960s, became part of the Easter Day Massacre when two major organized crime families had a shootout outside, and inside the hotel, killing around fifty-five people, ten being police officers. Today, the Victoria is historical for the Easter Day Massacure, and it's 5 star quality rooms. The historic Macy's store in the western half of the CBD, remains a prominent shopping experience in the city. The historic St. A. Hospital is famous for being born to Bristol Rock Singer, Alex Kalvan who became one of the most prominent 80s rock singers in the United States. Historic storefronts align the city, hardships, but show the proud history of the city of Bristol. Bristol, has more uncovered secrets in downtown, but you can't simply give away everything in the city's welcoming, got to keep the negative ideals, for next time. Till then, Bristol awaits for you, as the sun goes down, Bristol arises.
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