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CSGdesign's NATURAL GROWTH

Started by CSGdesign, November 20, 2009, 12:50:42 AM

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CSGdesign

#60


joelyboy911
Quote from: joelyboy911 on November 24, 2009, 02:18:53 AM
Hello again  :D

I guess I was meaning all those windy bits in the road. They look really nice in maps and on region view, but the compromise is, that they look quite sharp and as though they take an indirect route. Myself, I do like grids. But, that's fair enough that you don't.

Anyway, keep it up.  &apls
I'd love to be able to use more gentle curves in a natural 3d environment, but as we all know sc4 is limited to a grid of 16x16m tiles, so this is as close to winding roads as I can get in this environment.
Without doubt in the future there'll be a decent truly 3d city-simulation engine, but for now I'm very happy with this game - it's a lot of fun for me so I don't focus too much on things about it that I can't control.




Spanner Island, a small town all by itself, has outgrown the tiny little aluminium pontoon that has brought it so rapidly to the point it is at now.



The community of Spanner Island was almost completely self-sufficient.  It had residential of every class, including some medium density structures in both lower and middle income earners.  It had a wide cross-section of commercial ventures, as well as all types of industry, from farming to high tech.



It had developed with only a small trickle of traffic (about 50 sims per week) using the pontoon, however industry in particular was putting a lot of pressure on local government to improve the infrastructure to allow for a much freer traffic flow between Spanner Island and the main-land.



A small undeveloped section of land existed at the back of Kernegan's acreage, and it was chosen as the site for a newly proposed vehicle ferry.



Construction on the ferry terminal took the better part of nine months, but at the end of it an entirely new horizon was opened up for Spanner Island.  Effectively Spanner Island was now more attractive than many mainland shores due to it's location without the burden of isolation.



Portnix Seafood Bar & Grill was given the lease to the commercial site zoned next to the ferry, adding a bit of class to the development.



With Industry connected to the mainland, things were looking up for commerce and industry on the small island community.
As most of it was quite and non-polluting, residents welcomed what the future was likely to bring.

CSGdesign



Boston Central CBD.
It's busy, it's crowded, and it has a street network that hasn't changed in over 80 years.



Oh sure some of the streets had been upgraded to roads, round-abouts had been put in, even a dirty great avenue sliced through the middle, but the layout itself had remained largely unchanged since Boston was nothing more than a small collection of houses settled on the shores of Boston River Main.



Langley Simcorp Inc. was interested in developing some real giants in town.  Buildings that would dwarf all others.  So the corporation started searching around for likely areas and quickly found that the existing street networks simply didn't allow enough room for really large structures.  The only way it would be possible for Langley Simcorp to build their proposed residential towers was going to be if the streets themselves were restructured.



The corporation's engineers quickly located a few likely spots and drafted proposals and sent kickbacks to councillors.
Ultimately the first likely redevelopment in Boston Central CBD was located... a small pocket of residential growth right on the outskirts of the current CBD, nestled between Fairvale, Snob Point, and the huge East End Industrial Park.



Langley Simcorp got to the business of calculating costs and producing much more comprehensive development plans.



Once the final site was chosen, and the final proposals were sent to council, approved, and all the boxes were ticked, resumptions and demolitions began.
None of the existing residents (even the old ditty in the Bungalow wasting prime land with a 7 sim residence) resisted the development because of the rediculous amount of Simoleans that Langley Simcorp offered for their land.



The street and the zones facing into the street, along with the bus-stop, were all breaking up what would otherwise be a huge footprint of land that could be used to build massively tall sky scrapers and towers.  They all had to go.




To allow the new high density zones to face onto a street along their entire edge, roadworks were done to demolish the eastern row-houses and replace them with some nice shiny tarmac.  Since this was going to be a high-density development it was pre-emptively upgraded to a road rather than leaving it as a street.  A bus-stop would be installed later after traffic volume was metered.



During the development the council upgraded all the local zones to high density as part of the redevelopment, which would allow much larger structures to be built by buying out the existing residences themselves, without the expense or inconvenience of knocking them down first.



One of the local mansions, very old and now somewhat rundown, was also bought up as part of the development and converted into a park.



Sims love parks, and it might help keep the area posh and sparkly.



It wasn't long until the new tower's construction began, and at the same time the park helped other developments in the immediate area be much more attractive for sims.



Previously the heavy-weight for Boston had been Preston's Housing Project, at 1609 sims.  There were two of these, both in Snob Point.



The most attractive of Boston's residential towers by 1985 was Bilyk Towers, also of which there were two.  One was in western Snob Point and the other was on the shores of Fairvale.



But now Boston had a new heavyweight.
Meet Bown Hi-Rise, weighing in at a mighty 3120 sims.
Langley Simcorp Incorporated had succeeded in introducing the largest building to date in Boston, beating the previous record holder by almost 300%.

Langley Simcorp had several such redevelopments in store for Boston Central CBD and outskirts.



Now council had the task of "cleaning up" as it were, improving transport, education, health and various other facilities that were suddenly inundated in the massive jump in local sim population.



Boston is growing up.

CSGdesign




Tranquillity Harbour, a thriving little nest of sims in the south east of the harbour, not far from Tunnings Quarry and a LONG way away from Boston Central CBD.
This is a really beautiful part of the bay, and enjoys wonderful clean pure waters, oysters off the rocks, trout, mud crabs and a wide variety of natural delights.

The only practical way of getting around this stunning patch of Boston was either by private water craft, ferry, or by taking an offroad vehicle for a VERY long drive around the inland end of the harbour itself.



But as the community grew, so too did the demand for proper infrastructure. While ferries were cheap, they were noisy and disrupted the local fishing spots.
So two small bridges were proposes, approved, and built inside 3 years, connecting the entire harbour efficiently at two key points.

The first bridge was Jennifer Maine Bridge, connecting the communities of Leopardcliffe with Boptom (say THAT three times fast!)



The second bridge was erected between the northern cape of Boptom and Gillers Point.
Both bridges were built at a height to allow ferries to pass underneath due not only to the busy ferry network but also to the predominantly water-oriented population enjoying taking their private yachts and speedboats out onto the harbour.



The jump in traffic taking cars over the bridge releaved the ferry network a reasonable amount, but most importantly would allow further growth in commuting that the ferry network (which still wasn't adequately supported by a bus network) would have prevented.  This meant more rapid growth and the development of the area in general.



Of course the old-timers of the region were not very happy with the conversion of their beautiful little retreat being turned into a tourist town, but... well tough luck, you can't stop progress...


Perdie.

CSGdesign



KSIM radio host Edward Souton tackles the Mayor of Boston South Central, the honourable Mayor Frederick Kruger on the issue of the landfill just off Elm Street that has been decomposing in the heart of the suburbs for the last 24 years.



We tune in now to the breakfast talk-back show, June 5th, 1985...







...this is a prolonged and heated talk-back topic which raised a lot of public outrage and feedback, and Mayor Kruger was forced to act.

We tune again in the Edward Souton's show, August 21st, 1985...




... so something IS being done, but how effective will it be, and how long will it take?

Only time will tell.

CSGdesign

#64



Boston Central's power consumption was climbing rapidly.
Solar power, while effective and clean, simply could not generate enough power without dedicating huge amounts of land to mirrors reflecting the sun's heat back up to their generator towers.

High Tech Industry had a number of solutions to this problem, however in the end it was decided that tried and tested Nuclear Power would be the next best option for Boston.



The Lybonrech Station was installed in mid 1986 and came online later that same year.
Generating more power than three solar power plants, and occupying a sixth the amount of space, it was clear that a Nuclear Reactor was an excellent solution.

It included an artificial lake (seperate from the main river to avoid potential contamination issues), a chainlink razor-wire fence, and a police station for immediate and effective security.  It was, afterall, basically a tamed nuclear bomb sitting on the outskirts of town.

The lovely glow it gave the city's night skyline was quite delightful.  Almost like a man-made Aurora except with a sharp sting when you breathed in.

Smashing atoms together and releasing city-levelling amounts of energy all of which was being stifled and controlled by specially produced heavy water in which the decaying uranium was immersed to prevent it from reaching temperatures that would melt through hundreds of meters of solid rock.... what could possibly go wrong??

There were a few protests.
Riots, actually.
But you can hear about that on CNN, this isn't the place for pointing out the flawed and damaging decisions made by the lovely simfolk of Boston, mmk?

Connor

I have not come across this MD before, though i have just had a breif scan through its entirety and i am very impressed. The idea is original, and its very refreshing to see and MD doing something different and innovative. The layout and photo editing is great, and although this must be very time consuming, and it results in a fantastic MD. Plus, your region view is incredible.

Keep up all the great work. I eagerly anticipate whats to come.

Connor.

Earth quake

Another wonderfull updates. (On one day, I have forgotten 23 updates.  :o)
Your work at your MD is really impressive CGS Design and Every update is a real surprise, and I congratulate you on this fantastic work.

scott1964

Where did you get those pontoons? The update was awesome.  :D

newsimaddict

The most condensed and amazing updates in 4 pages - great reading and thought process. Will definately drop in here more!

Battlecat

Nice job blasting through the transfer!  That update with the radio station is hilarious.  I expect he'll be screaming even louder when the land gets sold for development! 

rooker1

Great work on getting your MD moved over here nice and smoothly.
I'll have to go back a few times to fully get everything.

Robin  :thumbsup:
Call me Robin, please.

Tomas Neto

In your cities exists a good distribution between the urban and rural areas! Nice work!  :thumbsup:

CSGdesign

#72


Connor
Quote from: Connor on November 24, 2009, 09:30:37 AM
I have not come across this MD before, though i have just had a breif scan through its entirety and i am very impressed. The idea is original, and its very refreshing to see and MD doing something different and innovative. The layout and photo editing is great, and although this must be very time consuming, and it results in a fantastic MD. Plus, your region view is incredible.

Keep up all the great work. I eagerly anticipate whats to come.

Connor.
You wouldn't have seen it before because it only appeared in the last week.
It's been produced on Simtropolis for the last 6 months, but I've decided to publish it in parallel here.
I look forward to your comments.

Earth quake
Quote from: Earth quake on November 24, 2009, 11:06:49 AM
Another wonderfull updates. (On one day, I have forgotten 23 updates.  :o)
Your work at your MD is really impressive CGS Design and Every update is a real surprise, and I congratulate you on this fantastic work.

Thankyou for your feedback, I hope you enjoy future updates.
The city is still only very young in game year 1985 - I intend to carry it through for many many more game-years yet.
Into the future (past game year 2010) should be particularly interesting.

scott1964
Quote from: scott1964 on November 24, 2009, 12:35:39 PM
Where did you get those pontoons? The update was awesome.  :D
Those pontoons were built by me.
They're currently only available to download on Simtropolis Exchange.
You can download it here.
Enjoy!

newsimaddict
Quote from: newsimaddict on November 24, 2009, 07:40:14 PM
The most condensed and amazing updates in 4 pages - great reading and thought process. Will definately drop in here more!
Look forward to seeing you!
Let me know how that Traffic Mod works for you.

Battlecat
Quote from: Battlecat on November 25, 2009, 11:44:08 AM
Nice job blasting through the transfer!  That update with the radio station is hilarious.  I expect he'll be screaming even louder when the land gets sold for development! 
I spent like 5 hours doing it - really wanted to get it nailed so that I could continue with actual updates.
We're current now, so the next one you see will be a fresh one.
I've already got it done, just waiting to word it how i want it.

rooker1
Quote from: rooker1 on November 25, 2009, 12:09:06 PM
Great work on getting your MD moved over here nice and smoothly.
I'll have to go back a few times to fully get everything.

Robin  :thumbsup:
Thankyou so much for your support and encouragement to date.
I had one complaint about breaking the double-posting rules but I PM'd them to let them know I'd sought permission first under special circumstances and they altered their post accordingly.
I wanted the history in even if ppl dont read it properly, because current updates will often reflect back on previous regions, and this whole MD is about growth and development and watching it happen, so it is important to establish the region's history before continuing, I think.

Tomas Neto
Quote from: Tomas Neto on November 25, 2009, 01:00:08 PM
In your cities exists a good distribution between the urban and rural areas! Nice work!  :thumbsup:
Thankyou.
One of my future updates I was considering pondering the farms in particular, because their development over time has changed to reflect the environment.  For example back when cars and trucks weren't around, they were much smaller and closer to roads, then they spread out more, and these days some farms are larger than a small city tile.  Many even span more than one city tile!  But you can't really see that just by looking at the region, so I thought I might feature it since it's an interesting phenomena.  Also interesting to note is that farms near the city are constantly being bought out and redeveloped, so often a farm will in fact be the basis of an entire new suburb or "release".  Actually there are a few things around farms that I would like to document - they're an integral part of the Natural Growth technique.

CSGdesign

#73


Sometimes a bridge is not made of steel or stone, but is made from Earth itself.



Recent developments on Portsmouth Island had made the area very popular and land value was through the roof.
But when you've got such an isolated piece of land so close to the mainland, why burden development with tedious ferry services?



For Portsmouth Island to grow any further it needed direct traffic access to the mainland.
Rather than building a large and impossibly diagonal bridge from the mainland, Bostonian Engineers decided that a causeway built of rock and earth would be the best option.

Construction began in April 1985.  Apartments on Felix Point were resumed by council, knocked down, and boulders were imported from Northern Rim and used to begin the fill effort towards Portsmouth Island.



With a much wider "footing" to divert erosive forces, the inward stretch was made much thinner to conserve material and keep costs down.
The process involved rolling many thousands of tons of boulders off the edge onto the bay's floor, and gradually piling the material up until surveyors measured it as being level with the existing surface.

The erosive force of waves during this process helped to naturally place material where it was stable, and as the point was elongated and compacted the sheer weight of earth on top held the earthworks in place.



The site office was located at the base of the earth works, on Felix Point side, and served to coordinate the efforts as well as a base for security at night to keep people off the point while it was under construction (and therefore potentially very unstable and unsafe).



Past the halfway point the breaking action of Portsmouth Island itself served to reduce the wave action on the earthworks, greatly speeding work.



Finally the last ripple of water had passed between Portsmouth Island and Felix Point, and the two lands were joined by a rock and earth land-bridge, otherwise known as a causeway.

Security had a big job keeping revellers off the causeway at night during this time, as people were keen to impress each other by walking from one side to the other.  (Yeah drunken sims are just as silly as drunken real people).

Portsmouth Island side apartments were at this stage demolished in preparation for that side's earthworks.



With the causeway levelled, stabilised, re-enforced with concrete between the outer layer of boulders, and finalised, the roadworks on the top could begin.



In November 1986, Shadowass Road was opened and traffic could for the first time (legally) cross the causeway and Portsmouth Island was now physically attached the mainland.



There were one or two casualties of the construction works, but the project was for the greater-good, so to hell with Kramer.
Maybe he'll find better luck in the apartment across the way from the Jerry guy, up-state.



In December of that same year, the earthworks, the roadworks, and the landscaping had all been completed, and the Shadowass Causeway was in it's completed form.



It didn't take long for sims to buy up the prime real-estate offered by this unique infrastructural development.

Tomas Neto

Really cool the whole process, and the idea of a bridge, such as this, so creates a very beautiful story!!! Fantastic update!!!  :thumbsup:

Earth quake

Another excellent update.
It's interesting to see the construction of the Shadowass Road. :thumbsup:

Battlecat

Very cool update.  A causeway like that is a significant investment, must be a pretty impressive batch of wealth on that island! 

CSGdesign

#77


Tomas Neto
Quote from: Tomas Neto on November 27, 2009, 01:33:32 AM
Really cool the whole process, and the idea of a bridge, such as this, so creates a very beautiful story!!! Fantastic update!!!  :thumbsup:
I'm very glad you're enjoying it!
I hope you like the following update - it's inspired by your last comment about farm spacing, and features how farms have changed in the region over time.
You can see clearly in the flash animation of entry #1 that the farms were much smaller and closer in the beginning, and then began spreading out from the CBD, and becoming much larger in size over time.  So in a way, this update is in done for you.

Earth quake
Quote from: Earth quake on November 27, 2009, 11:19:52 AM
Another excellent update.
It's interesting to see the construction of the Shadowass Road. :thumbsup:
I don't actually play like this of course, but for the sake of a journal entry I setup the props and take the shots.  As I play I do role-play and grow things slowly (game-months or years) to keep the interruption to sim-life as realistic as practical, but not to the point of not getting anything done.

Battlecat
Quote from: Battlecat on November 27, 2009, 12:00:17 PM
Very cool update.  A causeway like that is a significant investment, must be a pretty impressive batch of wealth on that island! 
What amounts to landfill is actually not that much more expensive than erecting a bridge, however you are right, Portsmouth Island is definitely becoming the "place to be" for the rich folks.  Land values there are sometimes over twice what you could expect to pay for a similar lot elsewhere in Boston.  From a game perspective though the primary reason to build a causeway rather than a bridge was so that it could remain diagonal and not look awkward and unrealistic by trying to clumsily work with right-angle bridges in a diagonal "hole".




Let's take a moment to reflect on the single most important feature of any naturally growing city - farms.
Farms are called Primary Industry for a reason.
They not only pioneer the way for urban sprawl by "improving the land" (by destroying it) but they also provide the first set of labouring jobs for a new town's work-force.
In addition they provide raw food-stuffs for the people, and eventually provide other materials such as lumber and farm-wastes that are used by dirty industries to produce secondary goods such as building materials and processed goods.
Later, as they develop and technology allows, they form hungry consumers of industrial products such as chemicals, tools, machinery, and fertilisers.
Farms are vital.  No city would exist without farms, either directly supporting them or the goods of which are exported to the city from another city that has farms supporting it instead.

Back when Boston v2 was a mere pup of a city, it was the year 1920 and the internal combustion engine was very much a new thing.
Steam ruled supreme, supported closely by horses, and as such distances were much larger and forces were much harder to overcome.

Plowing a field took far longer than it does today, and traveling into town wasn't simply a hop in the car and back again, it was a day trip.



As a result farms were much, much smaller, very close to the main roads, and were manned by families that laboured the land, and cleared trees to improve their land using chains attached to bullocks or clydesdale horses, one tree at a time.  Very, very slow work and as a result the forests were large and formidable forces of nature, representing a very real barrier to the sims of the day.



So let's take a look at the type of farms that existed in Boston v2 back in the 20's and 30's.



Orchards provided fruit such as apples, oranges, pears, and other european fruits that were staple to the diets of the settling sims.  The native coniferous forests had little that the european settlers could eat and more importantly farm with such ease.



In small farming communites outskirting the main township of Boston, many smaller farms would cluster together, sharing protection from wild animals, as well as services such as mail delivery, and resources such as milk, bread, butchery, etc.



Of course these days the world is a far, far smaller place, and farms are simply very low density properties that generate an income for the owners rather than working else-where for "the man".  The above two images are of the same area with an 83 game-year interval.



In the space between then and now, as internal combustion became the second industrial revolution, things changed, and rapidly.
Trucks could be used to carry goods cost-effectively over much greater distances, allowing farms to be much further from their purchasers in town.
Tractors and earth-moving machinery could be used to clear land and build dams in days rather than years, allowing properties to push asside nature and make use of the land with much greater ease.

Farms spread out from the town into the wild surrounding land much faster and broader than ever before.
And houses, workshops, corner stores, pubs, hotels, and all manner of society followed in the wake of the pioneering efforts of the farms.



They grew so fast and wide that often huge main roads would wind for kilometers through nothing but farmland... distances that would have taken a horse days to travel on now took sims hours or less.

By the late 60's and 70's, farms were so huge and distant from the main CBD that it was sometimes impossible to even see one end from the other.  These farms represented 10 or 20 farms of the 20's and 30's, and would have taken several families years to clear and sew.

Now they could be operated by a single family with hired help during peak season.



By the late 80's farms in Boston were owned by more than families.  They were owned by corporations and big-business (often the roots of which were successful family farmers from previous generations, although not always).

The farms purchased, conglomerated, cleared, improved, and maintained by these business were so vast that they would very often stretch across city lines, spanning two or even three shires.



The future of farming would no doubt follow the pattern shown throughout history - they would continue to grow in size and distance from Boston itself.  The trend was disturbing in it's blatant disregard for the utter destruction of the wildlife and habitat that once existed on these thousands upon thousands of acres.  But without regulation there would be no reason for business to stop the advance.  And without public awareness there would be no pressure on government to pass regulation.

And so the advance contintues, along with nature's mauling.

But agriculture is not the only type of farming that Boston has seen introduced.

In 1973 a new industry was born - that of Forestry.



This was the birth of not only renewable resources, but the dawning in society's consciousness that nature could be reproduced in a contained environment and farmed on a much grander scale than just livestock and crops.  Entire forests could be produced, tended, and harvested, with absolutely zero impact on nature beyond the intitial clearing of the area used.  In fact, in most cased the plantations had a more positive impact on the local environment than the native forests (and certainly the cleared farmlands) had, due to their density, their lack of competition, disease, and pests (leading to more efficient growth than in the wild), and their controlled and efficient use of water.

As a result a great many types of Forestry Plantations sprang up from the mid 70's onwards.



Shore Pine plantations provided an excellent grained wood for furniture and other more decorative uses for wood.



Larch Plantations provided a consistently straight quick-growing pole that was useful for everything from structural beams to power-poles lining the streets.



Redwood Plantations (the slowest growing of the plantations) grew massive redwood trees which yielded massive heavy straight red beams of wood that were used for much heavier applications such as in rafters, support beams, railway sleepers, and other construction purposes.  It was at this time much less expensive than steel for a similar size and strength of beam.



Various other types of wood plantations sported timbers that were used in everything from in-laid wooden chess boards through to chop-sticks.  All without touching even one native tree.



Even self-serve Christmas Tree farms where sims could pay for the priveledge of being able to wander into a field and choose and cut their own Christmas Tree.  Quite a hit among the middle and upper middle income earners!  The kids especially loved it.



But let's not forget the roots of it all.
Back before agriculture, back before the earth was tilled or trees were planted, there was wild, wild land.
And into this wild land moved a very special type of sim.

The grazier.  The grazier cleared the land and let native (or sometimes introduced) grasses flourish without the shade of trees to stifle it's growth, and let herds of livestock wander across it, fattening themselves up.  That is how they made a living, and ultimately, almost every single house, shed, and shop you see in Boston is sitting on land that was claimed from nature by a grazier.

CSGdesign



Zoning is an integral part of your city, and zoning will mean the difference between a city that functions well and a city that falls flat on it's face.


We're going to have a quick look at three mosaics of strips taken from Boston Central.
These strips show a good cross-section of the more dense areas of the city as it stands today, and show how zones have been laid out for maximum effectiveness.

STRIP A



Mosaic Strip A shows a typical medium to low density area in Boston, as well a couple of industrial hubs, and the lead out to ultra-low-density and farmland.

Commerce tends to cling to busy intersections that residents dont like living next to, and both commerce and industry tend to clump together into sectors.

Low density commerce is scattered throughout residential areas to add smatterings of job satisfaction to local sims, as well as provide retail therapy services such as pizza-shops, video stores, pubs, and other small enterprises that sims might visit rather than going to large shopping complexes.





STRIP B



Mosaic Strip B shows a lower density outlying coastal area.  This shows how sims tend to want to buy near water or other sims, and how the clumping effect of industry and commerce is much smaller, causing the zoning to have a much more homogenous look than in the more central and heavy density areas of the city.

In general, the higher the density of an area, the more zones of the same type tend to clump together, serviced by mass transit.

This mosaic also shows the low-density lead out into rural development.

Outlooks and well serviced areas tend to be the first to develop medium density areas, as this encourages those with wealth to move into the higher density lots and keeps local crime lower than lots of out-of-work R$ sims.





STRIP C



Mosaic Strip C shows the dense suburban area to the east of Boston.
This area is almost entirely suburbia, with little or no farmland left, having been bought out and developed for many years now.
This is some of the oldest suburbs in Boston, and is well on its way towards become entirely medium density development.

It shows how the different zones tend to clump together more, but there is still a great deal of scattering, especially of commercial zones.
Some manufacturing and especially high-tech industry is also scattered throughout because it has a very small negative effect on residential growth (due to being not very pollutive) while having an extremely high positive effect of providing a close-by range of jobs that allow the resident sims to get to work without having to use crowded and expensive public transport or conjested road systems.  Never under-estimate the benefit of having a job close-at-hand.





Man I love this game.

Tomas Neto

Yeah, I love this game too!!! My friend, That's a giant update, wooowww!!! Awesome, really awesome work!!! Fantastic!!!  :thumbsup: