Hi everybody. I've been a member for a while, but this is my first post. I worry it's somewhat gauche to make one's first post a BAT request, but this idea has been nagging at me and this seemed a better place than Simtropolis to post it.
Anyway, here goes: The High Line is a stretch of abandoned elevated railroad track on the West Side of Manhattan, running from the Meatpacking District to the Javitts Convention Center on 34th St., about a mile and a half in total. The city and a group of volunteers called Friends of the High Line turned it into an elevated linear park. Previously, Paris did the same thing, turning an abandoned viaduct into the Promenade plantée, and now the idea may be catching on in other cities, with Chicago and Philadelphia contemplating turning abandoned rail viaducts into greenways.
Wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Line_%28New_York_City%29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Line_%28New_York_City%29)
My idea isn't to create an exact replica of the High Line (or the Promenade plantée, or a future Reading Viaduct or Bloomingdale Line park). Rather, I thought it would be neat if someone could take the existing models used for the viaduct rail puzzle pieces, modified them to look like an urban greenway, and lotted them as parks. I have no idea how hard it would be to modify the existing models, but only a handful of original models would have to be made, for entrance/exit stairs and elevators, trailheads, and perhaps a visitor's center or restrooms.
Another possibility, just for pure eye candy, would be to do the same thing but instead of a neatly manicured park, create wild and overgrown abandoned viaducts. For my city I'd prefer the parks, but I'm sure abandoned viaducts could be put to good use in other CJs.
Anyway, I hope this idea is interesting. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes a crack at it.
You might want to check out this (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2913.380) topic