Hayden Sound, a region by Swamper77

[kwakelaar]

Well my best wishes to Jake and Rachel

You are working with the budget, no BSC funding?

[dedgren]

A really nice and very interesting transportation and development update.  The little added details are great, and keep the reader moving along.

...cycledoggian...

Heh!  I never thought about c.p.'s stuff that way- that's a good one.

Sorry about the lockout - flatulence of an overworked brain as I moved things around.  Doesn't seem to have slowed you down much, though...


David

[Swamper77]

@Heinz: Small towns are easy for me to develop. As for the "speed", I'm just moving posts from another site for now. Once they are all moved, I will post the recent updates I have.

@Kim: Thanks!

Old Rogue: It's interesting to hear that I have a style that has a parallel somewhere else in the real world.

@Thundercrack: Thanks for your comments.

@Kwakelaar: All of the development is done within the game's budget of $100K because I chose the Hard difficulty setting. The BSC Funding Mod wasn't available when I took these pics.

@David: Thanks for your comments, and I won't hold the lockout against you.
I don't have any new developments to show at this time, but I am surveying two new townships that I plan to develop.

Stone Valley:


Stone Valley is just south of the Coastal Heights Township. The northern portion is made up of hills with plains to the south. I'm planning to place another farming community on the valley floor. The coastal hills and Jade Mountain make a nice cradle, channeling all the rain water to the valley floor. The daily fog also helps keep the valley fertile.


The Jade Mountain Loop Highway enters Stone Valley after climbing into the hills on Coastal Heights' southern edge. Once in Stone Valley, the highway wraps around a hill and then heads down to the valley floor. The roadway has been carefully graded to ensure smooth travels.


A close up of the curves before the highway heads to the valley floor.


The highway heads down a carefully graded slope before cutting across the valley floor.
The construction firm, Swamper Roadworks, made the road cut across the valley to avoid cutting into hillsides. The original plans had the highway go straight before making a 90 degree turn towards the western border of this township. Swamper Roadworks decided that the planned route would be too expensive, so they rerouted it at an angle. This also cut down the distance to travel as well.


Here is the last leg of the Jade Mountain Loop Highway as it heads to the next township. The highway is currently made from a series of road and street sections, but will be upgraded in the future as traffic conditions warrant.

Misty Plains:

A view of Misty Plains, looking east.

Misty Plains is bordered by Independence from the north and Stone Valley from the east. The highway currently ends in this township just after the north and east borders. This township features a wide coastal plain that runs nearly the length of the entire coast. The township is frequently enveloped in fog, which reaches into Stone Valley's northern hills. The fog is less dense towards the northwestern portion of the Misty Plains township, so only thin wisps are ever seen in southwestern Independence.

Near the eastern border, I plan to build a small industrial town which will also provide power to Stone Valley. Somewhere along the coast, I will build the downtown area. So Verdant Island will have two "downtowns", one in Independence and one in Misty Plains.

Next time, I will show you how Misty Plains is developing.

-Jan

[dedgren]

Jan- A really nice overview post.  That highway through the woods looks like it would be a great drive.

I'm glad we're over the lockout thing- it would be a shame to see this great MD held up.


David

[jeronij]

Wait, wasnt this MD closed ....    ?¿ 

Great planning Jan, I lke these pictures with 99% of nature and 1% of human creations so well placed 

[HabLeUrG]

wow nice roads and forest 

[Tarkus]

Hi Jan-

This is a nice MD you have going here.  You've really put cycledoggian stuff to good use (I've always enjoyed "adjectivising" things ) and being a total roadgeek, I've enjoyed your recent updates about the highway network.  And congrats on making it into the "Of Special Interest" category!

-Alex (Tarkus)

[threestooges]

Stone Valley sounds like a great spot for farming and what's more, the climate (especially the fog) reminds me somewhat of the central coast's (of California) wine country. With the mountains in the back like that, A vineyard (or group of them) would fit so nicely in the valley area. You've done a great job with the landscaping, so the development has a high bar set for it. I have no doubt you will be able to pass it.

[oldrogue]

I agree with threestooges......very coastal Calif. and the landscaping is topnotch.... am very interested in how it develops..

I play with the 'hard' level also.....usually till I reach a point that the settlement / town / city has reached a right to me feel.... then will switch on the lottery to buy the stuff I just can't resist....

[mattb325]

I am glad to see this MD again and I really like story line the way the development is kept small! 

[thundercrack83]

Stone Valley and Misty Plains look great so far, I can't wait to see some development!

[bat]

wonderful pictures and great roads!

[emilin]

What everyone else said.

And added to that: your style is really unique. There is not much in this journal that can be seen anywhere else, well, not the way you use it, anyway. Great job!

[jeronij]

A great ostentation of imagination 

[Swamper77]

@David: It's a pleasant drive, but you do have to watch out for the occasional animal crossing the roadway.

@Jeronij: Very funny   I leave as many trees as possible when setting up new areas for development. There's more natural elements than man-made ones in my cities at the moment. You'll have to explain what "ostentation" means to me though

@Hableurg: Thanks.

@Tarkus: Thanks for the interest in my MD. I'm currently using the ANT from the NAM as my rural highway system on the well traveled sections. Once you get the RHW stuff finished, I'll consider upgrading to it.

@Three Stooges: Stone Valley will be a farming community when I develop it. I can't promise that there will be any vineyards, though.

@Old Rogue: I work within the budget and haven't triggered the income generating ordinances yet. My income for each town/city comes directly from taxes and neighbor deals. The taxes are at the default of 9.0%.

@Matt: Welcome back. Nature preservation is the underlying goal, so the development is keep to a minimum.

@Thundercrack: In this update, you will get to see the start of development of Misty Plains.

@Bat: Thanks!

@Emilin: Thanks for your feedback. I've blended my personal touches with what I have seen in various CJ's at ST and MD's here.
Last time, I promised another visit to Misty Plains. So, let's go....!


This picture was taken 2 months after the founding of Misty Plains. The initial setup of Misty Plains' industrial sector is seen here. Nexis Industries set up a generator in the steel shed and CSX Construction fenced off the property. The entire parcel is for a future power plant. The fuel for the generator is stored in the tall fuel tower nearby. Construction was just finishing up on a few remaining parcels in the industrial sector. The cement truck driver is going around to the back side to pour some concrete slabs.


A few miles northwest of the industrial sector is the commerce district of Misty Plains. The businesses seen here are: Dolomite's Diner, CalTex Carwash (Deadwoods Petroleum Co.), a pub/betting shop (JMyers Designs), Cafe Joe & Wacky Candy (Ancient Society Creations), and a Texaco gas station (Bobbo662 Industries). The building in the bottom left corner is the only office building in Misty Plains. The traffic is quite heavy during the morning and evening rush hours, as the roadway is only two lanes wide.


Just to the left of the commerce block, are the housing developments. SimGoober and Dolphin Designs have been busy building new housing developments after razing older buildings. Many of the structures are stone or wood buildings. Most of the residents are working class citizens, but a few middle class residents have moved in recently. Plans are being worked out to have street side parking allowed. Residents currently park their cars in the woods, at the ends of the streets, if they don't have a driveway or allowances on their property for parking.

A few years later.....


After several years, plans are now being drawn up to widen the roadway that leads to the industrial sector. All the properties on the left side of the roadway from earlier have been razed to allow for the service street to be put in. Cafe Joe was bought out by Goobers Nuts, a store that sells peanuts that are grown at a peanut farm in Independence.

Traffic is starting to get busy in this picture as the evening rush hour starts up. Plans for the future call for an avenue to run through the commerce block and a divided highway to the industrial sector. Over 400 cars a day use the narrow 2 lane road/highway to the industrial block. By having two lanes each way, traffic congestion should ease a bit and make the commuters a little more happier. The roadway the commuters use is a road in developed areas and a rural highway in rural areas. Speed limit is 20 mph in developed areas and 75 mph in undeveloped/rural areas. The divided highway when finished will also be 75 mph.


Here is a overview of the current industrial sector. At the top of the picture, you can see the end of the rural highway as it approaches the intersection near the power plant. The speed limit drops after reaching the intersection that is above the industrial sector (out of view at the top of the picture). The speed limit is 50 mph as you approach the industrial sector, and 35 mph as you drive by the power plant site into it.

The expanses of parking/paved areas were paved by Swamper Signs Inc. These areas connect the parking lots of the industries to the roadways and give the freight trucks a means to reach the loading docks of the warehouses. The industries run 3 8-hour shifts each day, but there are fewer workers at night than in the daytime. Most of the night workers are maintenance staff, making repairs and inspections before the next work day begins. The other workers load the trucks to clear the loading bays for the next day's shipments.

-Jan

[jeronij]

You'll have to explain what "ostentation" means to me though

You show a great level of imagination when you write your history. In English I found only one word to translate the many different spanish ones we have for that. My original sentence was:
"Un gran alarde de imaginacion !!! "  - Now, go and try to translate this yourself     

[Heinz]

for what it is worth, you are now officially part of my list of comprehensive MDers, my friend. you imagine and share tremendous amounts of detail that any visitor can see and even hear or feel what is going on in your region. great work! see you around!

[bat]

Great housing development! Wonderful pictures!
Fantastic work!

[kwakelaar]

Nice with two updates to read and look at, I can just join the corus that say they enjoy this kind of detailed MD's

[thundercrack83]

Misty Plains is looking good! I love the industrial sector that you've created. Keep up the good work!