Klaufnakrampa: The Coastal Metropolis (28 April 2011: Jakobsfeld)

[Kevin1a]

Welcome everyone to the region of Klaufnakrampa.  My old MD Skandnakja has been abandoned.  I switched computers and my plugin folder was so cluttered I decided it would be easier to start from scratch than attempt to fix it.  I hope those of you who followed my old city will joining me in this new adventure.  The region is centered around a large coastal metropolis (already constructed), but I will begin by showing the development of Nilkranla (I totally make these names up ), a planned extension of the metropolis to the west of main city.  Klaufnakrampa is a very diverse city.  The main language is German, though large minorities speak English and Swahili.  Generally the region has a reputation for being rather (political information removed to comply with rules -Kevin 22Aug2010), and the slightly (bleep ) than average taxes and use of citizen driven public works leagues, have facilitated the construction of a wide variety of public works projects, among them: an extensive trail system, a myriad of transportation projects, and parks and plazas scattered throughout the whole city.  In order to facilitate efficient pedestrian movement, most of these plazas are sunken and are connected via underground walkways.  Connections to the Kbahn are also common in this underground area.  It has been theorized that a pedestrian could walk a distance of over twenty blocks without ever setting foot on the surface.  Anyways, on to the construction:


Fig002 A view of East Perry Island, located one tile west in the capitol city of Klaufnakrampa.
The city i will be working on is located just to the east and is currently populated only by trees.

Fig003  Due to the narrowness of Perry Island, it will be necessary for the main throughtfare, Greydon Strasse to go under the main passenger train station, Perry Hauptbahnhof and the bahn trasse.  Since discovering SC4D, I've become a lot more adept at the use of tunnels.  Additionally this is one of my first cities where rail will play a major role.  In order to further complicate things for the designers, but simultaneously improve service quality and safety for rail users, the governing board for Klaufnakrampa Rail Logistics and Passenger Services has issued a directive ordering that all new passenger rail alignments with speeds in excess of 60kmh must be grade separated along their entire length.  Federal funds were appropriated to ensure that even on the extremely narrow width of Perry Island this directive could be met.  Further construction shots:

Fig004

Fig005

Fig006

Fig007

Fig008  The island itself was chosen as the site for the city because the western portion of the island, located in Klaufnakrampa, was already filled with sky scrapers, and had subway lines ready to be extended to the west.

Fig009

Fig010

Fig011

Fig012

Fig013  The Kbahn, Klaufnakrampa's regional subway and light rail system was extended onto western Penn island.  The initial configuration consisted of two parallel main lines and a perpendicular line on the wider portion of the island.

Before anyone says anything...I just realized that I accidentally left the grid on.  Of course, this was more of a construction update than a beauty pageant, so I'm not going to change anything.  Also, my buildings were very diverse and non-repetitive until recently.  Does anyone know how I can kill that blasted blue building on the tip of the island?  It built itself three times that close together, which I would normally ignore, but considering how ugly it is, I feel the need to undertake something...like permanently liberating my plug-in folder from its ugliness.

[Battlecat]

Great start!  Nice urban development, looks like a pretty good mix of buildings to me.  Looking forward to seeing what else you've got planned!  No worries about the grid, but turning it off always makes things look even better! 

I think that "blasted blue building" is a maxis building.  I'm not certain how to get rid of it short of a maxis blocker.

[samerton]

A great start to the MD! I see lots of brown boxes...
Really good start.. which blue building? I don't notice any?

Great start again!

[Kevin1a]

@Battlecat: I've thought about taking the leap and installing a maxis-blocker.  I think I have enough custom content installed that it would work.  There are some really nice Maxis buildings, but there are a few really ugly ones that end up blighting even the most marvelous city.  Is there one in particular that you would recommend that is compatible with the CAM, NAM, and all that good stuff?
@Samerton: The brown boxes are in Klaufnakrampa, the city to the east.  I only showed the shot to give some perspective.  When I actually tour the city I will fix them.  But you are right, they've got to go.  The blue building is at the bottom of the very first image.  It is right next to the bridge, and one of them is blighted.  I've always thought this particular building looked very unrealistic.

Welcome back friends.  Today's update will address the main rail stations in Nilkranla.  So far, the only pictures I have posted have been of Perry Station, the cities downtown commuter station serving only passenger trains.  Due to space constraints this station has very little in the way of maintnance and train storage other than a few sidings for stopped trains.  It has the highest volume of trains, with IC (Intercity) trains to Klaufnakrampa with no stops leaving every hour; RE (Regional Express) trains with limited stops; and RB (Regional Bahn) trains that stop at every single station.  Additionally, there is an airport shuttle that runs between the city center and the airport every thirty minutes.  The slower trains run mostly  between the hours of 05:00 and 10:00 but the Klaufnakrampa Logistics and Passenger Rail has rolled out several late night trains for young people hitting the clubs in the big city.  These are affectionately known as "Party Trains."  Previously some trains did not run on weekends or holidays, but due to popular support, and automation of the system this no longer occurs.  Tickets are sold at vending machines in the station.  A round trip ticket (Tageskarte) to Klaufnakrampa on the IC runs about 20$, 10$ on the RE.  A 20$ surcharge is added for Party Train guests who puke all over the place instead of using the designated waste receptacles.  All trains are handicap accessible and physically handicapped guests ride for half price.  This poster hangs in Perry Station.

Abfart (Departures) 00:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 00:05 EX: Airport 00:35 EX: Airport 01:05 EX: Airport 01:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa (Party Train) 01:35 EX: Airport 01:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 01:35 EX: Airport 02:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 00:05 EX: Airport 02:35 EX: Airport 03:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 03:05 EX: Airport 03:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa (Party Train) 03:35 EX: Airport 04:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 04:05 EX: Airport 04:35 EX: Airport 05:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 05:05 EX: Airport 05:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa 05:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 05:35 EX: Airport 05:45 RE: Nangutenka 05:55 RB: Nilkranla North 06:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 06:05 EX: Airport 06:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 06:35 EX: Airport 06:55 RB: Nilkranla North 07:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 07:05 EX: Airport 07:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa 07:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 07:35 EX: Airport 07:55 RB: Nilkranla North 07:45 RE: Nangutenka 08:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa

08:05 EX: Airport 08:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 08:35 EX: Airport 08:55 RB: Nilkranla North 09:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 09:05 EX: Airport 09:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa 09:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 09:35 EX: Airport 09:55 RB: Nilkranla North 09:45 RE: Nangutenka 10:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 10:05 EX: Airport 10:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 10:35 EX: Airport 10:55 RB: Nilkranla North 11:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 11:05 EX: Airport 11:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa 11:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 11:35 EX: Airport 11:55 RB: Nilkranla North 11:45 RE: Nangutenka 12:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 12:05 EX: Airport 12:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 12:35 EX: Airport 12:55 RB: Nilkranla North 13:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 13:05 EX: Airport 13:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa 13:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 13:35 EX: Airport 13:55 RB: Nilkranla North 13:45 RE: Nangutenka 14:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 14:05 EX: Airport 14:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 14:55 RB: Nilkranla North

15:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 15:05 EX: Airport 15:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa 15:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 15:35 EX: Airport 15:55 RB: Nilkranla North 15:45 RE: Nangutenka 16:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 16:05 EX: Airport 16:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 16:35 EX: Airport 16:55 RB: Nilkranla North 17:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 17:05 EX: Airport 17:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa 17:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 17:35 EX: Airport 17:55 RB: Nilkranla North 17:45 RE: Nangutenka 18:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 18:05 EX: Airport 18:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 18:35 EX: Airport 18:55 RB: Nilkranla North 19:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 19:05 EX: Airport 19:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa 19:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 19:35 EX: Airport 19:55 RB: Nilkranla North 19:45 RE: Nangutenka 20:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 20:05 EX: Airport 20:20 RB: Glorchen - Nangutenka 20:35 EX: Airport 20:55 RB: Nilkranla North 21:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 21:05 EX: Airport 21:15 RE: Klaufnakrampa

21:20 RB: GLorchen - Nangutenka 21:35 EX: Airport 21:55 RB: Nilkranla North 21:45 RE: Nangutenka 22:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 22:05 EX: Airport 22:35 EX: Airport 23:00 IC: Klaufnakrampa 23:05 EX: Airport 23:35 EX: Airport IC (Intercity) RE (Regional Express) RB (Regional Bahn) EX (Express Shuttle to Airport)

The schedule is subject to change as the region grows and I add more cities.

Fig001 Perry Station. Surrounded by Commercial and Residential Towers

Fig002 Nilkranla West Station.  Close in Proximity to Perry Station, but separated by water this small commuter station serves residents of Nilkranla's other build up (yet presently nameless) island.  It has a parking garage, bus stop, and a larger subway station.

Fig003 Airport Station. Due to the lack of space in a city, passenger trains are built and stored here.  The white cars are the alternate colour scheme for the airport express.  The station is separated from the airport by a plaza with a fountain.  Abflug (Departure) and (Ankunft) Arrival roads are visible in the image.

Fig004 The old nuclear power plant is located near the freight terminal.  Due to concerns about safety the plant was decommissioned, yet the surrounding area still measures higher than normal on a Geiger counter.  The local forester has admitted to shooting two headed deer in the woods behind the plant.

Nilkranla Freight and Logistics Terminal.  Located behind the power plant and near the Industrigebiet (Industrial Zone), the freight terminal moves most of the freight traffic for the city.  The government assess prohibitive tolls on all trucks other than local delivery trucks whether they are using the motorways or city streets.  This has helped diminish road damage and traffic throughout the entire region.  Inside of the industrial area, trucks of all sizes are permitted to move freely as long as they do not hinder the flow of traffic.  Trains leaving here usually go to the classification yard in Genkmundo (I built, and am still working on a hump yard on a neighbouring tile.  I'm trying to keep it as realistic as possible) to be sorted before being dispatched to their final destinations.

We interviewed a few people about the rail system.
Mr Klaus Maalim said this: "The trains are very good, they are usually punctual and are kept in good repair.  I have business meetings in the city about once a week and If I take the IC, I can get there and back in time to join my family and neighbours for dinner"
Miss Claudia Julius a local college student and avid beer pong player was not so positive: "Most of the time the trains are great, but these new part trains smell like puke.  I just take the subway into town.  It takes longer, but the cleaning crews do a much better job.  Thank goodness it runs all night"

If you would like to participate:
I'm thinking about renaming the Nilkranla West station to honour a local of distinguished character.  A name and a short story about why the citizen deserves recognition would be appropriate.
The same goes for the airport.  I need a good name.

Criticism is always appreciated, even morsoe if it is constructive.

[travismking]

nice start Ive always hated that damn blue builing as well, i always demolish it

[Battlecat]

Nice looking rail system!  When I want a maxis blocker I usually use this one by BSC.  It has separate files for each zone and wealth level so you can specifically choose what maxis content to block. 

[canyonjumper]

Nice start! Great rail network, and I love those roundabout fillers

             Your friend,
                            Jordan

[rooker1]

I agree with Jordan completely....very nice start.

Robin 

[Kevin1a]

My draft for this update included some pictures of a neighboring city.  I've decided to hide those for now, and share them in my next update.   Anyways, back to Nilkranla.  Things have been going fairly well.  Despite my intense hatred of sprawl, a small low density community developed near the south bridge (still un-named)

Fig03-01: Nilkranla Woods is a small community across from the city.  Its residents tend to be rather wealthy.  This area of town is not popular with the people across the river.  They argue that urban sprawl detracts from the region's natural beauty and creates higher infrastructure costs.

Fig03-02: Most of the traffic coming into or leaving Nilkranla to the south runs through this roundabout.  East (up) in the picture heads in the direction of Klaufnakrampa, South (left) to Glorchen, West (down) to the airport, power plants, and the freeway.

Fig03-03: Queen Island is located north of the main island and is shared between three cities and surrounded by tributaries of the Penn River.  It is almost entirely urban though its streets occasionally deviate from the almost perfect grid seen in other parts of town.  It is served by Quark Station (formerly Nilkranla North) named for Gregory Quark, a philosopher who used to live in the woods on the island before the city expanded into his domain.

In other news, the tunnel under Penn Station was renamed this labour day to honor Burt Clinton a local labour activist and striker killed in a labour strike years ago.  We asked Rich Feuckre a local businessman about his views on the renaming of the tunnel.  "I don't think they should have named it after him.  He was a hooligan and a trouble maker who stirred up trouble and imperiled profits."  Mr Feuckre then got into his illegally parked car and drove off.

Chances to Participate: I'm offering up naming rights to every bridge in the city as long as it's reasonable.  You can even name it after yourself if you want to.
Next Time: A peek at Glorchen, and perhaps my latest project.

[penguin007]

Nice start to the MD here I like your railway networks a lot.

Will

[canyonjumper]

Looking great Kevin! Interesting AVE-2 ring road, looks cool

           Your friend,
                          Jordan

[Tomas Neto]

Yeah my friend, very nice start and fantastic updates!!! Great MD!!!

[Kevin1a]

My first mono-width update.  Everything today should be exactly 1040 wide.  This is an older project.  It lies off the coast of Klaufnakrampa, the capital city.  The island is called New Ibiza after Europe's well known party island.  I wanted to create a city where island paradise was juxtaposed with metropolitan life.  The city is filled with high rise buildings.  Many contain resort hotels, but the standard apartment buildings and offices are also present.  The island is an epicenter for music production and several well known producers are located in the city.  Once a year, a road race is held on the ring road that circles both peaks of the island along the coast.  For the most part though, transportation is achieved via subway, buss, and ferry, because in such a tight, high density environment parking fees are abhorrent.  It's almost as expensive to pay parking tickets every day as to pay parking fees.  Through a new program, 20% of the spaces in any new garages should be offered to island residents at half price.  This was proposed as a measure to stop emigration due to the inflated living expenses.  The island is very mountainous, and does not provide a lot of room to build.  Development is concentrated in the saddle between the peaks, and a little bit on the outside of the island.  One of the power plants sits on an artificial rock heap that juts out in to the ocean and is protected from erosion by sea walls.

001 - A view of the cruise ship port and the island themed hospital.  I'm thinking about upgrading it to something more modern, but this is the way I found the photos so this is the way I'm posting it.

002 - An overview of the beach.  During the day, the beach is more calm and relaxing, but at night, the party begins.  Young people in Klaufnakrampa and the surrounding areas learn about responsible consumption of intoxicants in school, and for most it only takes on time worshiping at the porcelain throne before they learn moderation.  There is no legal drinking age on New Ibiza, but citizen patrols occasionally pull people aside out of concern for their health.  This is possible in a society were so much emphasis is placed on interpersonal relationships and caring about others.

003 - Residents creatively refer to the two sides of the city that touch the ocean as Portside (the side with the cruise ship port) and Starbord (the part where the stars party until four in the morning)

004 - The beach during the daytime.  All the strobe lights, airplane warning sirens, and bullhorns are off right now...at least until dusk.

005 - The island ring road.

006 - A sneak peak at the system map for a light rail system I am building in a different city.  I don't know if it will ever be featured here, but I hope so.  The suburbs kind of remind me of East Denver.

This weeks update had some abandonment issues and a large brown box right in the middle of the city, but in all honesty I took these images before I decided to make an MD out of this region, so they were really just to archive my own work.

Edit: and I left the grid on AGAIN!   I need to put sticky notes on the monitor to remind me not to do this...ever.

[Kevin1a]

I've had a few updates now.  I find it harder and harder to make long updates.  I'm so busy with school, work takes up a fair amount of my time, and I haven't slept properly in months.  So I think I'll just post a few pictures now and then and forgo the traditional update structure until my schedule normalizes.  Here are a few quick snapshots of Klaufnakrampa, the capital city, of which we have seen surprisingly little thus far.

Fig 1: Mrs. Geraldine, a nice old lady who volunteers at the local library, was digging around in her attic and found this old image taken from an airship back in the early days of Klaufnakrampa.  It shows the old port, from before shipping was diverted to the new port several kilometers away.  Not much as changed, and the old port is still used occasionally in cultural events that reenact the early days of Klaufnakrampa.

Fig 2: An image from Mr Fred a member of the historic society, who is not quite as old as Mrs Geraldine shows the old industrial district, the oldest part of the city, down by the waterfront.  Originally a dark and bustling district with as many illegal businesses as legal, the area has transformed into more of a modern industrial area with a few exceptions.  Unlike the newer industrial areas, the old docks are protected by historic preservation laws.  Preservation committee members help decide what modifications are permissible, and what changes could pose a threat to the historic character of the area.  Many of the old dirty factories still run, albeit with new environmental measures in place, and mostly automated.  Many artisans also practice their trades in this area opting to set up shop in old warehouses and storage sheds.  User serviceable, traditionally made products, are all the rage in Klaufnakrampa.  People got sick of everything being made out of plastic and breaking on the first use, and have opted to buy from these quality craftspeople.  You may wonder why the roads are elevated.  This area used to flood a lot.  In the old days, they built raised wooden walkways onto which they could haul their water sensitive goods when storms came.  These were later replaced with more modern roadways, although the area is now less flood-prone.  Lots of little woods have been left intact in the area, mostly as carbon-sinks, and too break up the monotonous steel and brick.  A seawall now protects the area.

Fig 3: This is the bend in the old A1 where it turns temporarily north aiming for a valley between the mountains.  A few roads join the freeway in this area.  It runs directly north of the old downtown.  Ignore that building that's repeated at least 5 times.  Some stupid developers did that thinking it would look cool.  4 out of the 5 are slated for demolition  Edit: 6 out of 7 are slated for demolition.  Blasted repeating structures.

[kalvar]

Very nice your region, I like cities.
good job.

[canyonjumper]

Nice use of the elevated Avenue! Looks great!

                         Your friend,
                                        Jordan

[Kevin1a]

WOW!  It has been ages since I update, but that's because I've been so busy building.  I'm more of a builder than a storyteller, so I tend to fall off the edge of the earth from time to time.  I also played a few other games for a while.  Yes I know, it's sacrilegious, but they couldn't keep me away from by beloved SC4 forever now could they?

I've worked on several other tiles since I last updated, and become proficient with some different tools.  I also added a lot of new content to my plugins folder.  How would I describe the changes to my playing style:
- Less sprawl.  My cities are more ecological, more dense, and more friendly to non-drivers. 
- Pedestrian and mass transit facilities are more common than ever before.  I have also traded my vast disorganized tile-based subway and bus networks for systems where you could actually figure out the routes and follow them if you wanted to.  I've also started using GLR as my primary form of mass transit.  I use bus networks and parking garages to lure sims to stations on lines which head towards the city center in a spoke and wheel fashion.
- Parks and trails are more common than before
- I have been further improving my use of rail and light rail.  I've received a complement on this before, and I guess if I'm good at it I ought to show it off a little more.    Influenced by my childhood in Germany, my main lines have no level crossings at all, and I've even taken up viaducts from time to time, though I prefer sunken rail corridors.
- I've gotten better with slopes.  Now when I tunnel one road under another, I tend to lower one road and raise the other to make the transitions less apparent.
- I'm plopping my CBDs more than I used to, but I always follow demand.

Anyways, today's project takes place in the city of Grimholm at the terminus of one of the light rail lines at the edge of the city.


Fig GT001
Following the establishment of an urban growth boundary, expansion of Grimholm outwards ceased in many areas.  The light rail lines where never really ended, because the city never stopped growing, but now the time has come.  Drivers on the west street line used to have to get out, walk the length of the train and get in the other cab when turning around.  No longer.  The citizenry has approved the construction of a turnaround.

Fig GT002
A number of buildings had to be condemned.  There was some anger because the buildings on the poorer side of the street were chosen, but transit planners pointed out that this was not because of wealth levels, but because they wanted to change the alignment of the West Street Greenbelt as little as possible.  Traffic problems were fairly large, but crews were on site 24/7 until the project was done, and access to adjacent properties was preserved throughout the project.

Fig GT003
Rather than diverting a minor ring road, a local street was slightly realigned to fit the station.  A variable messaging sign was also installed because of the nearby expressway.

Fig GT004
Local beautification groups successfully requisitioned funds from the parks department to turn some land bordering the expressway into a greenzone.  All the work was performed by volunteers except installation of the sound barriers.  Njord Kilsinger stated, "ever since we switched to the 25 hour work week, I have had a blast donating my spare time to projects like this.  See that willow on the corner?  I dug the hole for that massive thing.  I couldn't think of a more beautiful place to live."  He was later spotted hugging trees in the area.

Fig GT005
Ulli Bauer drove the first tram through the new turnaround.  "I used to have to walk to the other end of the train right away.  We still have an extended stop here, so now I like to step outside and water the flowers while I wait."

Sorry for the dim pictures.  I converted to JPEG to save space and they just turned out that way.

[Terring7]

Very nice job

[rooker1]

More great work and I think your pictures are just fine as jpg. 
Keep the updates coming.

Robin 

[Tomas Neto]

Nice work my friend!!! I liked a lot of the island!!!