WEST END

[paroch]

Well, with the votes at 3-1 in favour of demolishing the tower blocks, they're starting to look doomed!

I thought I'd provide you with a closer pic, so you can get a better idea of what they look like.  Between the three blocks they house approx 4,500 sims.



Next update is likely to be next weekend, so there's still time to either save them, or condemn them!

[capo]

Wow, I just recently noticed that you download pretty much the same content from the STEX as I do Very , very nice updates since I recently posted in this thread, though I am starting to get curious where you got the buildings in the 20.05 pic and your last pic from. I know you don't reallly rememeber...though I am curious

I really like what I see (hint: Mas'71 has just released a new wall pack on the LEX. I think for this city you would like this new wall series on the LEX).

I hope you are doing well my friend, take care.

[thundercrack83]

21.10:  The Thundercrack Junior School for Statisticians:

Wow! I don't know what to say, my friend! I'm very flattered! And you're right, we do take football very seriously! In fact, I think the most tabulated statistic at the school is red cards!

[Pat]

Paul some wonderful activity here lately and see my comment on Doodle for why I think the flats should stay....  I await with anticpation to see what happens...

[bat]

So at this view it is looking very good, paroch!!

Looking forward to more of West End!

[TheTeaCat]

Missed many updates sorry 'bout that 

love what you done so far and all your hard work shows 
I think you may need this


till the next time


TTC

[bokrif]

I think the three towers can't be there. Two should be a good number. If you buldoze the middle one, it will look much more realistic and you don't have to remove all three of them with ~4500 sims.

[sebes]

Looking at the close-up pic, indeed the middle tower should go....  kaboom

[Shadow Assassin]

Yup, the middle tower should go, keep the other two. Maybe have some parking in the middle or just open grass for kids to play?


Anyway, great job so far on West End. The region is growing quite nicely, it seems.

[paroch]

REPLIES:

Well, the vote seemed reasonably popular - thanks for taking part.  See below for details of the result:

Bat:  thanks for the comment and you're welcome re the name.  You are a constant visitor and supporter, it was the least I could do!

Nedalezz:  Thanks for the advice re "junk".  I have a few "filler lots" that I will try to remember to use more often

Joan:  Thanks for your comments re industrials.  No-one has said I'm doing much "wrong" but I do feel they're the area where I have most room for improvement.  Glad you liked Mousie Park.  As for the RODA JC in the football stadium - Sebes has already said, it's the stadium of Dutch side Roda.  Here's a link to Oppie's fantastic stadium BAT if you're interested:  http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=2688

Bokrif:  Thanks - short and sweet!

Sebes:  LOL, Since you've been visiting West End, I have kind of figured out you have a sense of humour  , so I thought if there's anyone I can say such terrible things about and they'll laugh, it'll be Sebes!  The red busses seem to spawn in some unexpected places - but they're just so English I've got to keep them.  I'll seek opinions about another footie tournament, maybe in May as it'll be 6 months since the last.

Dave:  Thanks for the comments and glad to see that Balnavia now has some custom fences!

Capo:  We have similar download tastes eh?  Well, great minds think alike! !  Can't wait to see all your downloads in the new Biroud!

Dustin:  Well, you are a regular visitor so it was only right you had something named - and you are THE statitician!  And red cards, ouch!

Pat:  Good to see you again and thanks for taking part in the vote.

Tea Cat:  Hey, good to see you and thanks for the cuppa and doughnut  YUM.

Shadow Assassin:  Good to see you here again and thanks for your suggestion - see below.


UPDATE 22 - 16th February 2008

The results of the vote were........3-3.  It's a tie.  So in the spirit of compromise, and also, based upon the comments you made, I decided to knock down the middle tower and keep the other two.....like this.

22.01  Before


22.02  Going, going


22.03  Gone

I decided that one of the towers on the other side of the road had to go as well.  Trouble is, after I demolished one, the other "upgraded", 'doh, I'd forgotten to make it historical!


22.04  After

This is what the area looks like now.  Somewhere to park and somewhere to play.

Hope you all like the results.  I plan to release a fuller update tomorrow - transportation and commercials.

'til next time..............

[TheTeaCat]

I do indeed like the results 
looks much better now - not so cluttered well done


TTc

[Jmouse]

Oh, yes, yes, yes!
I'm glad you didn't get too dynamite happy all at once -- you definitely made the right choice. The park fits in perfectly and the smaller buildings that grew next door look really good.

Until next time...
Joan

[sebes]

I love the result of the big kaboom Paul. But 1500 Westenders homeless now... that is something else of course. Where will you park those poor people? Hope not in the stadium???

[tooheys]

Hehe, I've missed my dose of destruction since Bliss was retired 

That does look a lot better Paul. Can't wait for the fuller update.

Cheers

Dave

[paroch]

REPLIES:

Tea Cat:  Thanks, clutter is sometimes one of my problems, both in SC4 and RL

JoanMouse:  Glad you like it.  And here's next time.....

Sebes:  Wardour does seem to have a surplus of Big Issue sellers at the moment!  Don't worry, the population is now up at 61,00 (more than I intended), so there are plenty of houses in the leafy parts.

Tooheys:  Ah Bliss - yes destruction was always well done in Bliss .  And you didn't have to wait long for the fuller update!


UPDATE 23:  17th February 2008

The last update was only a small one - more to do with RL logistics than anything else

Today is Transportation and Commercials.......

23.01  Transport Overview:

Blue = Motorway  with junctions in Red
Orange = Main Boulevard/Avenue
Black = Railway with stations in Yellow.

The centre of Wardour is along the Main Boulevard, stretching north to the motorway and south to the railway.
There is no GLR, subway or El-Rail in Wardour.  The railway is used mainly by people commuting eastwards into the larger cities of Great Portland and Oxford (still to be re-built).
There are plenty of busses in Wardour.

Let's focus on the main motorway junctions.  We'll travel from the west heading eastwards......

23.02  West Junction:

This is a busy junction where the Main Boulevard ends.  To the north east is a large sprawling low density development.  Plenty of drivers from that development join the motorway here when leaving town.  I really need to start using some diagonal buildings though
This style junction is seen quite a bit on some of the older motorways in the UK.


23.03  Dunrose Junction (Central):

Similar style junction to the West Junction.  Traffic leaves and then uses the roundabout.
This junction serves the city centre and also the low density developments to the north.
I don't often see those concrete planters used alongside sunken highways - I thought they made a nice change.


23.04  East Junction:

This is an important interchange, particularly for drivers heading into town from the east.  They can come off the motorway and onto the Main Boulevard without having to use single lane roads. 
This junction also serves the football stadium and southern industrial parks.


23.05  Maxis Junction:

This old style Maxis Junction is still so very useful for those places where space is at a premium!
This junction serves the central industrial park and also some of the housing developments near to the centre of town.


23.06  River Junction:

This is a restricted access junction, only serving one side of the motorway.  It's main purpose is for access to and from the developments along the riverside.
You can also see the bridge over the River of Qumma.


Let's move on to the Railways now.....


23.07  Wardour Corrigan Station:

This station serves the residential area of Wardour known as Corrigan.  You'll see it only serves two of the four tracks.  Express services use the north tracks (in my mind ) and do not stop at Corrigan.  This is very much a station for local and feeder services.


23.08  Wardour Central Station:

The Main Boulevard is to the right of the picture.  Busses serve both sides of the station.  Parking is down at the same level of the stations.
I'm a bit annoyed that one commercial square didn't develop


23.09  Wardour Pelham Park Station - Before:

23.10  And After:

Now don't get me wrong, I think the Dora Bay building is a great Bat.  All that shining steel and glass looks magnificent........but just not there!  When I saw that had grown on that spot I knew it had to go, no need for a vote this time
Pelham Park is a busy commuter station to the north of the centre.  Plenty of car parking available at the station.  Busses serve both sides and the small commercials do a good trade.  The two pubs in the top of the picture are popular with commuters on their way home.


23.11  Twin Rail Bridges over the River of Qumma.

The title says it all!


Let's now move on to the main commercials in Wardour.........

23.12  Dunrose Union Crossing:

Thanks to Joan for the name of this central commercial development.  The market is a busy and thriving place.  The Dunrose Tower looms over the city centre and is perhaps the most famous land mark in Wardour.


23.13  South Side Commercials:

The Borough Council decided that the area immediately to the south of the railway needed some commercial development to give it some life.  This small plaza was the original piece of that plan, but the commercials along the road have actually done better.  Two more pubs can be seen, suggesting that Wardourians like to have a pint (or three ).
To the north of the railway you can see 5 key cutting shops, suggesting that Wardourians drink too much and then lose their keys when drunk.  Just as well the "odd shop out" is the Java Hut Coffee Shop as they can have a strong espresso to help sober up
(Oh, and I know the red and white small tower does look a little odd there but it's the first time it's grown in any of my cities - and I like it).


23.14  Main Boulevard:

This picture is taken near the Central Station.  You can see a good selection of offices have sprung up along the Boulevard.


23.15  Diagonals!:

My first use of diagonals!!!!  I really need to download some more.
I like the building loads - and thought the ped mall plaza worked well with it, do you agree?


Well, that's the end of today's tour.  Wardour is zoned as much as it's going to be now.  Population is at 61,000 (I was planning on 50,000).  Some small low density zones have yet to grow, so I'll let the game run for a bit to see if they will develop.  I just need to decide on which tile to develop next.  My choices are:
Piccadilly - an undeveloped tile that will be a large high density commercial district.
Broadwick - near to Piccadilly and will be a "mid town" kind of place with plenty of apartments and mid sized commercials.
Carnaby - site of the new International Airport
Oxford - The capital needs to be re-built after my city locking up problem.
As always, I welcome your input.

Before then, there will be one more update from Wardour focussing on the residential areas.  I do feel that the low density suburbs of Wardour are the best I've ever built.  I hope you enjoy them, as a teaser for next time, here's a picture I entered into the competition.  It won one round and then came up against one of Cockatoo's great photoshopped pictures!

23.16  Suburban Dreams:


'til next time...........

[sebes]

Wardour is a very interesting city! I had no idea how busy and sparkling the town center would be! The Dunrose tower looks a bit out of place considering how sleepy and dull the town is where the real version is (Emmeloord). So good that you make this nice tower the landmark of a more sparkling city Paul . 
I also like the variety in roundabout that you have in this town - especially the one near Wardour Central Station fits very well with the surrounding buildings!
Looking at the East Junction picture I realized in shock that the trucks take the wrong lane entering the highway, realizing only now that Westend is a left-hand driving nation.... Of course I could have noticed if I had a closer look at the arrows and cars on the streets before, but somehow I was feeling so 'at home' in your MD that I never realized it before... 

[bat]

The result on the middle towers is looking really nice, paroch!!

The update is wonderful! Like the Wardour Central Station - area! The others are looking good, too!

[warconstruct]

wow fantastic update 

it is really splendid, your river is very quite carried out! many details are taken into account, one can only like 
the sight area with this countryside is superb !

If I can allow myself on the 11eme images, or have to be this lays?

I thank you in advance and good continuation .

[Jmouse]

You've been really busy working on transport routes, haven't you Paul! That's one of my many weaknesses, but you have created some really impressive intersections. While all are good, the first one (23.02) is really a standout IMO.

I like your use of mid-rise buildings, too. As a native of Houston and later living within shopping distance of Dallas, I got my fill of skyscrapers. Even so, it's too bad about the Dora Bay Building -- I like the looks of it, but you are right about the inopportune location. Maybe it'll pop up somewhere else.

Dunrose Union Crossing (23.12) turned out great, and I'm honored to have had the privilege of naming it. 23.14 is an excellent example of commercial development, too.

Of course, now you have me hankering for a better look at the residentials. Knowing you, they are very much in keeping with the rest of the city, so I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

Until next time...
Joan

[nedalezz]

The highway system looks fantastic, and I liked what you did with the Industrial zones. It seems you are using a bit of fillers between factories, giving a more realistic look. They look great!