Cascadia: A Light in the Pacific (Mar. 1, 2012)

[bat]

Some nice pictures there...
And the 18th teaser is also great!
Looks really beautiful.

[Schulmanator]

Impressive! It is great work and I love it! 

[Kevin1a]

I like the rural look.  I've never been good with rural, mostly because I do poorly with slopes, but you make it look really good.  The only thing I would add would be a small stream next to the road.  In an area that green, there would be a small overgrown culvert or a ditch or something to drain the water when it rains. 

In regards to the previous update: Whatever is under those blacked out areas is probably low lying.  I don't see any shadows which would indicate buildings.  Perhaps a golf course, or some other kind of park?   We'll see how my sleuthing fares against your black blanket of secrecy. 

Edit: After looking more carefully, perhaps there is a freight transfer station or a portion of a port there.  The packing shed exits to the top left of the picture, so we know there is at least 1 street delivering traffic through the area.

[canyonjumper]

CSGforums

Josh (cheeseguy 93): Thanks Josh! Glad you thought so

SC4Devotion

Reikhardt: Thanks! I thought so too

Ioan (io_bg): So am I

Tomas (Tomas Neto): Thanks Tomas!

bat: Thanks! Hope you like this update!

Schulmanator: Thanks!

Kevin (kevin1a): Wow, lots to read Firstly, there is a river just out of the pic, alongside the road. And secondly, the blacked out area is just where I hadn't put anything yet, though you've given me some great ideas

Well, it's been a rough couple of weeks for me and my family, and I really hate that it's taken this long to get an update out there, but RL has been... difficult. First off, I lost my great-uncle to cancer on April 10th, and I had to go to Quesnel for the service. That's the third loss in a year. My mom's in such a fragile state that I don't dare do anything she doesn't like, and even then, I get snapped at for the slightest comment. So I've been getting out of the house way more often, sometimes 3 or 4 days in a row. So that's one reason it's taken this long for an update. Another is school. Part of not angering my mother further is doing all my homework and then showing it to her, no more procrastination on my part. I could go on, but the rest is routine laptop fails and crashes. I think that's enough of my rant for now, here's the extra long 'I'm sorry for taking so long' update As always, click on the image for full awesomeness!



Just a little backstory to Abbotsford. The Town of Abbotsford was incorporated on May 1st, 1919, and was intended to be another city centre on the Fraser River. From Day One, the town had problems. The rate of people moving to Abbotsford was tiny, and no matter what the town did, it wouldn't budge. Finally, in the 1960's, in the years directly after Cascadia's War of Independence, it began to prosper, and soon hundreds of people would arrive every month.

In 1967, the town became a city, and Mayor Alfred Smythe was forced to cut funding in response to the stretching of services. This resulted in the increase of organized crime and violence. Every Mayor after Smythe tried to eradicate the mob presence, and each failed. After 45 years of this, the population has decreased to a tiny fraction of what it once was. The streets are almost always empty, and garbage gathers on the streets. Many conservationists see the continued flow of electricity to the city as a waste, and many are campaigning to have it cut off completely.

On March 31st, 2011, Mayor Chesiak announced the renewal of the city, and the reconstruction of many buildings destroyed by neglect and arson. The Abbotsford City Renewal Project (ACRP) began April 2nd, and its first task was to fix up Route 34B, which was cut off by abandoned vehicles. This update takes place June 1st, 2011, as much of the northern parts of the city are clean and presentable.

40-01
Mosaic numero uno Going from James Avenue southbound to the shores of Silver River. Like the sound walls? I think they look good And the FLuPs of course!

40-02
This is a shot on a typical night.

40-03
This empty lot used to be two apartment buildings, but an arson three years agree made it necessary to demolish the remains. No one has built on the land since.

40-04
Abbotsford Station. The Pacific Red Line begins underground here, before going through Vancouver and terminating at the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal.

40-05
The second mosaic, from Fraser Memorial Hospital across Route 34B, through downtown and the slums to Pine Valley Shopping Complex.

40-06
Blaine Causeway. Goes across the Silver River midway, where it transitions to a 4-lane bridge.

40-07
A map of the world situation in 2011. A cookie to whoever spots my fail.

40-08
A key to the above map.

I've made a series of fact cards for some of the countries on the above map. Each figure on the cards is calculated using the 2009-2011 censuses, and my random interference. But mostly the censuses... There's no point for a caption, each card kinds explains itself

40-10

40-11

40-12

40-13

40-14
Small correction. The 'Establishment' should say 'June 21st', not 'June 21nd'

40-15

40-16

40-17
Small correction here. The 'Establishment' date should be 'February 12th, 1929'

Hope you guys enjoyed this apologetic update, and again, I'm sorry for taking so long I'll try and get better with the timing, but you know RL, it can be a real pain in the butt. See you all next time, for Update 41!

                         Your friend,
                                          Jordan

PS: The Canucks are gonna beat Chicago tonight, just you see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSxH3lLlUEM

[Exla357]

Jordan, let me be the first tell you on behalf of all of us here that we express sincere condolences for your losses and RL troubles. Life sucks sometimes and that's the way it goes, so you just have to stay strong and pull through. We are all here for you.

Regarding the update:
I am glad to see you back. I might not have said this before but your cities all have a very Pacific Northwest feel. I have been to Washington State a few times and when I look at your pictures I can almost feel the crisp northwest breeze. Great job with the fact cards, as well. Did you do that yourself? Must have been a lot of effort on your part, good for you I would be happy to know where you got those green and red sound walls/fence thingies, if you wouldn't mind.
Thank you for another wonderful update and I hope to see you soon.

Your buddy,
Alex

[Kevin1a]

An answer and a question.

@Exla357: I believe those are the SBSH Soundwalls.  They are one of my favorite soundwall sets, and I would love to see a graffiti covered version with less props on the lots, but that'll have to wait until I understand lot editing.  You can find them on the LEX.

@Jordan: Great update.  An interesting situation with the local roads and the avenue running so close together, but I see what you did.  Great job with the FLUPS, I'm going to go find them now because I've been looking for something like that for a while now.

[MattyFo]

First of I would like to offer my sincere condolensces to you and your family. 

As for the update I love those FLUPS!  I wonder if they are functional? 

Also, I believe I have spotted your "fail"...  Could it be the fact that you did not add Newfoundland into the "Color Guide"??

- Matt

[noahclem]

Sorry to hear about your family trouble Jordan 

The update looks really nice with the first picture being my favorite--though it doesn't look too rundown     I like the way you placed those new simfox buildings next to each other to look like one big one and I think I'll try it. Also really interesting road layout/flups. Beautiful rural teaser as well 

[RickD]

Creative ways to use FLUPS, looks great. I hope RL is going to be better for you soon.

[Battlecat]

Sorry to hear life has been so rough, hope things improve soon! 

On a separate note, I also have to agree, that's a very innovative use of the FLUPs.  I also quite like your map.  I haven't spotted any obvious fails on your world map, but I'm not exactly at my sharpest today.  I should let you know that in my opinion the map and the cards look very professional.  I'm looking forward to seeing more as always! 

[peter007]

What an awful situation.
I hope it will get better soon.

Though you made a very nice update. 

-Ernst

[i_love_lamp]

Lovely update and map from you!

PS, you misspelled 'Kazakhstan'

[canyonjumper]

Wow, thanks guys! I see I've got a few questions to answer. So here we go!

...your cities all have a very Pacific Northwest feel.

Thanks! I live in Surrey (a suburb of Vancouver) so it's always nice to know I'm portraying exactly what I want to portray

Great job with the fact cards, as well. Did you do that yourself?

Yes I did, I'm glad I did a great job

I would be happy to know where you got those green and red sound walls/fence thingies, if you wouldn't mind.

They're actually the SFBT Soundwalls and you can find them here

Great job with the FLUPS, I'm going to go find them now because I've been looking for something like that for a while now.

The avenue FLuPs are actually a pair of buddybud's beta Underpasses. I had to dig around for those after Ioan (io_bg) pointed them out to me.

I wonder if they are functional?

They convert road traffic to subway and back, so yes, they're functional They're not actually FLuPs.

Also, I believe I have spotted your "fail"...  Could it be the fact that you did not add Newfoundland into the "Color Guide"??

Nope, Newfoundland is a Dominion of the UK, and is coloured the same.

...though it doesn't look too rundown

That's the renewed section you're looking at

PS, you misspelled 'Kazakhstan'

lol, I didn't even notice I'm not sure how that 'h' got there. Thanks for mentioning it



Just on a small side note, how many watched the Canucks VS Chicago last night? And are you smiling or crying?

                  Your friend,
                                 Jordan

EDIT: 8 more posts to the Classics

[ricardomiranda]

Still in MD had seen her, great job, really liked it!

[bat]

Update 40 is great.
Nice work on it.
Looking forward to update 41...

[greckman]

Very nice update. I love the way you added the trash to the rundown areas.

[supremec]

Great update 

[Exla357]

Three more posts left till Classics. Congrats and thanks for the link!

[Tomas Neto]

Sorry to hear about your family trouble, Jordan!!!

Nice update, with fantastic mosaic and awesome pics!!!

More two comments..., and welcome to the Classics!!!

[Utvaw]

Nice update.  I really like that sunken intersection area, it has a lot of character and helps it feel more like a real, living town.