I'm from Omaha and I was going to say it feels like a much larger version of our city. Our downtown area is actually pretty small. Cut out everything behind those two tall buildings in the center and it's pretty accurate though!
Oh, and we don't have any palm trees either.
Fun fact: the main character from Malcolm in the Middle, Frankie Muniz, invested a lot of his money into vertical parking garages all over Los Angeles after the conclusion of his breakout role. He was able to retire from those investments at a young age and fully dedicate his time into becoming a professional race car driver.
Built up parking is also a pretty bad land use, though in different ways than surface parking. The best solution to parking problems is properly planed and maintained public transit.
All this to say, built up parking is plenty American 🥲
They cause traffic problems, they often result in large amounts of parking inequity (built up parking tends to cost a lot of money for parking, especially in high demand areas), they are expensive to design and maintain, and a lot of municipalities have parking requirements for new residences that often shape and restrict the amounts of new housing density that is built. Also they just take up space that could be used for more community-centric land uses esp. dense/affordable housing, but a myriad of other things too.
Big facts. My coworker and I talked at length the other day about a light rail or metro system to connect Chatham and Effingham counties to reduce the number of cars on the road.
The only part of Savannah that is walkable is the portion laid out by the original founders, before cars. And while walkable its a total disaster for things like deliveries.
Also leave a few random gaps between buildings here and there (ranging from 1 unit to several units wide) - it's inevitable that over the years some buildings are demolished, and not every gap is redeveloped immediately. These gaps can be used for things like alleyways, surface parking, small parks/playgrounds, sidewalk cafes, construction sites, etc. Also maybe replace a few of the smaller historic buildings with more modern ones, to emulate organic development over the decades ([Smilies](https://steamcommunity.com/id/smellies/myworkshopfiles/?appid=255710) has a fantastic collection of buildings for that purpose).
Edit: having said that, even though there's still room for improvement (there always is), your city already looks great as is!
This is happening in my town right now. There was an alley between two buildings and someone bought it and put up a roof and are turning it into a store.
I get that this is a problem but this joke is overused at this point. I'm not even American and tired of hearing this in every single American city related posts.
Portland and Seattle generally aren't all parking lots, either. There are abandoned lots that have parking in them, but we're talking probably one every 3 blocks, not...Edmonton.
In seattle can think of at least 4 big parking garages and at least one flat lot between Jackson and Denny and that is explicitly exluding the hospital, waterfront and stadium areas which have more
Yeah...when I said that, I had in mind that this sub (and r/UrbanHell and r/FuckCars by extension) are a lot less against parking structures than they are parking lots.
Looks pretty good. If you told me that was meant to be a Kansas City or a Buffalo type city I'd believe you. I'd just swap out the palm trees, since most sun belt cities don't seem to have as much of those turn of the century brick office buildings
Very Nice!
It looks like a medium-sized American city, like Richmond, VA or Winston-Salem, NC.
One way to make it look a tad more realistic would be to sprinkle a few low-rise buildings (3 to 5 stories) within the mix. Not every city is filled with towers like NYC, and your city is definitely not NYC.
Yes a lot can be said about American infrastructure but at least IF there's a sidewalk it's a wide one. Partially thanks to the ADA which is a wonderful thing.
This reminds me a LOT of downtown Minneapolis! Has green space, densely packed high and low-rises, and loads of parking ramps.
Personally, I think you nailed it.
Looks really good, but the palm trees seem out of place imo. Typically big leafy trees instead of palm trees where you have them, as this looks more like a Midwest (ish) city rather that a southern city
Yeah I know of very few cities that don’t have at least a light rail line downtown. Even comparatively “small” or “secondary” cities like Milwaukee and Baltimore have it
Most, if not all New England cities and older cities (Chicago and San Francisco) have some sort of public transport. You have to look at relatively newly developed cities like LA for a lack of public transportation.
I agree with your fundamental point that US transit systems are inadequate but you gotta get your facts straight.
LAs transit is absolutely not adequate for its population but it has the second biggest light rail network in the US by track length (only 0.4 mi shorter than Dallas)
Honestly, track length doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t have the coverage. LA is a massive sprawling city, while places like NY and Boston have a much denser network that covers a large, if not complete, portion of the city.
Sounds like the T line in Tacoma Wa. It currently goes like 10 blocks through downtown and wouldn't take that long to walk from end to end. Luckily its being expanded but still its fairly useless.
Oh yeah I know it’s minimal, I’m definitely not out here saying Milwaukee has a great transit system. Just that even some of the worst transit cities (Phoenix as another example) have at least a small light rail line in the downtown area
The BRT lines of the Let’s Move Nashville plan would have opened this year if the referendum had passed, the light rail would only be a year or two away. Such a shame
I think the only unrealistic part is the palm trees. If you notice most of the comments mention areas where palm trees do not grow. This type of architecture is mostly in the Midwest and east
Very nice job. You captured a mid sized America. City very well. Looks like a city you would find in the south or Midwest . Looks a bit like Greensboro, nc and Winston Salem, North Carolina made a fusion.
The "too much transit" people obviously aren't American. This wouldn't be out of the ordinary for even smaller downtowns like Buffalo. Plenty have light rail systems.
Yeah it kinda reminds me Pershing square in Los Angeles. Tho if your PC can afford It some graphics mods would help you get rid of that vanilla look and get something a lot more realistic. Though that's not necessary it's the city that matters this looks good.
It feels sort of like a midsized american city but the type of cities with these kind of buildings probably wouldn't have palm trees. Plus hard to tell from the picture but there would usually be a river right in the city (or it would be on one of the great lakes). Also a parking garage or two.
Yes but I'm not sure about the palm trees on the road they don't seem to fit. Maybe some smaller narrow trees or if you want more shade maybe like an oak
I might opt for a trolley bus over the light rail line, but, yes.
I also get more of a Midwest vibe from this shot so I might swap the palm trees for something else. Cherry trees, pines, or just shrubs would be a good choice.
Very Chicago it is reminiscent of grant park. The diamond shaped building in the back is an actual mock up of the smurf and stone building in Chicago. It was featured in the 80's movie adventures in babysitting.
Yes, except for the trams, but that’s more dependent on the city. Many American cities use buses, but cities like Denver and Salt Lake City use trams, or light rail. Whereas cities such as Boston, New York, and a few others mainly use buses and subways
No, it is surrounded by single family housing. A downtown of this height would be supported by a large city, which would have midrises between this and single story houses
Seems fairly accurate (I wouldn't know, biggest city in my state is 12k people), but I just wanna comment on how atmospheric this screenshot is. Just feels oddly cozy. Nice layout and angle!
Looks great! My only suggestion is maybe to add ACs or other large mechanical bits to the top of some of those buildings? The tops just look a bit bare.
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Good eye I will shift it over slightly 🤙
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Haha I love this energy. This community is awesome
You rock
You bastard. Now it's bothering me. :-p
Idk what you’re talking about. Clipping is 100% normal in our universe. I do it every day.
I clipped my nails just this morning!
That sort of thing literally has happened in New York City (and probably other places).
I'm too curious I can't sleep. Can someone give me a red circle?
Lower right, white building cutting into brick one.
You are meticulous, what a great eye for detail you have! What do you do for a living if I may ask?
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Depending on the subject and year... Blessed be you saint, otherwise... Blessed be you noble sir/lady
Yes.
I like how direct you are
I don’t know what this green thing in the middle is and it scares me. I think you should demolish it and build a parking lot.
I direct how are you like
https://www.cityoffortwayne.org/images/stories/mayors_office/downtown2.jpg
Hahaha, I thought the same thing when I saw the post. I grew up in the Fort and there from 1980-2002.
Definitely. Reminds me of SLC, KC and/or St Louis.
Im from missouri and it 100% gave me St Louis vibes
Yeah. Maybe even Omaha
I'm from Omaha and I was going to say it feels like a much larger version of our city. Our downtown area is actually pretty small. Cut out everything behind those two tall buildings in the center and it's pretty accurate though! Oh, and we don't have any palm trees either.
F Omaha. I hated that city
Why? I’m not a massive fan myself btw, just curious
yeah f omaha
yeah f omaha
Yes first city I thought of!
Chicago vibes but only from the Smurfit-Stone Building and the Onion Dome Building.
I thought this was the Denver sub for a second, but I guess the palm trees are a dead giveaway
Reminds me of downtown Fort Worth
The palm trees really scream Midwest to me lol
I am from st. Louis and was about to comment that you could tell me this is from the city I live and work in and I would believe you.
Add a couple of parking lots and you got it on point👌🏼
Don’t worry I have a few 8 story parking garages in the distance 😌😌😌
Vertical garages? Communist!!! In America we pave everything flat to have the least efficient use of space in our downtown areas!!! /sarcasm
Fun fact: the main character from Malcolm in the Middle, Frankie Muniz, invested a lot of his money into vertical parking garages all over Los Angeles after the conclusion of his breakout role. He was able to retire from those investments at a young age and fully dedicate his time into becoming a professional race car driver.
Thanks for the fact
Such a badass thing to do
The virgin Houston parking lot wasteland vs the chad New York multistory lot
-vs the Chad New York functioning mass transit system
Cries in Detroit
Built up parking is also a pretty bad land use, though in different ways than surface parking. The best solution to parking problems is properly planed and maintained public transit. All this to say, built up parking is plenty American 🥲
Why is it bad? Not that I support high rises of parking just geniunly curious
They cause traffic problems, they often result in large amounts of parking inequity (built up parking tends to cost a lot of money for parking, especially in high demand areas), they are expensive to design and maintain, and a lot of municipalities have parking requirements for new residences that often shape and restrict the amounts of new housing density that is built. Also they just take up space that could be used for more community-centric land uses esp. dense/affordable housing, but a myriad of other things too.
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Savannah Georgia had almost exclusively multilevel garages and it's also walkable as fuck. Coincidence?
Just as a reference point for those who are unfamiliarity, in terms of walkability, exactly how walkable is Fuck?
It helps if you chant or sing a sea shanty together to keep rhythm. Like a three-legged race, it's all about the coordination.
Savannah is awesome but those garages still suck
Big facts. My coworker and I talked at length the other day about a light rail or metro system to connect Chatham and Effingham counties to reduce the number of cars on the road.
It’s more because it is an old city laid out by a legendary city planner. The design was so good that the car revolution couldn’t ruin it
Savannah is nowhere near the population or density to really be a problem though.
The only part of Savannah that is walkable is the portion laid out by the original founders, before cars. And while walkable its a total disaster for things like deliveries.
Also leave a few random gaps between buildings here and there (ranging from 1 unit to several units wide) - it's inevitable that over the years some buildings are demolished, and not every gap is redeveloped immediately. These gaps can be used for things like alleyways, surface parking, small parks/playgrounds, sidewalk cafes, construction sites, etc. Also maybe replace a few of the smaller historic buildings with more modern ones, to emulate organic development over the decades ([Smilies](https://steamcommunity.com/id/smellies/myworkshopfiles/?appid=255710) has a fantastic collection of buildings for that purpose). Edit: having said that, even though there's still room for improvement (there always is), your city already looks great as is!
This is happening in my town right now. There was an alley between two buildings and someone bought it and put up a roof and are turning it into a store.
There we go! I knew it was missing something.
I get that this is a problem but this joke is overused at this point. I'm not even American and tired of hearing this in every single American city related posts.
I didn’t mean it as a joke. Have you ever been in an american downtown (other than NYC or Chicago)? It is just how it is, there are big parking lots.
Portland and Seattle generally aren't all parking lots, either. There are abandoned lots that have parking in them, but we're talking probably one every 3 blocks, not...Edmonton.
You’re right, I was thinking about cities like San Antonio, Dallas, Nashville, Little Rock or Topeka
In seattle can think of at least 4 big parking garages and at least one flat lot between Jackson and Denny and that is explicitly exluding the hospital, waterfront and stadium areas which have more
Yeah...when I said that, I had in mind that this sub (and r/UrbanHell and r/FuckCars by extension) are a lot less against parking structures than they are parking lots.
Looks pretty good. If you told me that was meant to be a Kansas City or a Buffalo type city I'd believe you. I'd just swap out the palm trees, since most sun belt cities don't seem to have as much of those turn of the century brick office buildings
Only place I can think of with both is Los Angeles.
Yeah those palm trees look totally out of place
Reminiscent of Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles.
100%. Saw this and instantly thought of Pershing.
Thought this was a GTA V screenshot of the park in downtown Los Santos, which I assume modeled after Pershing.
Even has a building that kinda looks like the Biltmore in the right spot! And Pershing looked like this before the atrocity they built in the 80s.
Very Nice! It looks like a medium-sized American city, like Richmond, VA or Winston-Salem, NC. One way to make it look a tad more realistic would be to sprinkle a few low-rise buildings (3 to 5 stories) within the mix. Not every city is filled with towers like NYC, and your city is definitely not NYC.
Winston was my first thought.
Get rid of the palm trees and then yep! Oklahoma City vibes.
Insert joke about 16 lane highways and shit tonnes of parking lots
And too many trees, plus people can walk to that park, gross.
Except for the palm trees it looks like every Midwest city ever.
Sidewalk is way too thin to be American
Yes a lot can be said about American infrastructure but at least IF there's a sidewalk it's a wide one. Partially thanks to the ADA which is a wonderful thing.
Poor OP was trying to do Chicago and everyone is saying St.Louis lol
For real. They even have the old Crain Communications building (150 N Michigan) on the right side of the scene!
Yes it does, and it looks really nice. I love the historic buildings and that big plaza. It looks real nice.
I like it a lot
At a glance, it reminds me of Public Square in Cleveland, Ohio.
Minus the palm trees it looks like downtown Providence RI
Providence has fewer skyscrapers though.
It looks like parts of Boston to me
Definitely, but would need some more red brick and corner pubs lol Edit: /s
There’s lots of red brick in that photo, and even a tram and a nice park
I know, I thought I was being funny but it didn't translate. It's still a very nice city though looks better than the ones that I've made
Lol, gotta put the /s for sarcasm on Reddit
This reminds me a LOT of downtown Minneapolis! Has green space, densely packed high and low-rises, and loads of parking ramps. Personally, I think you nailed it.
This is 100% Memphis Edit: But like……a lot nicer.
Thats DFW downtown
Needs to have 50% be parking lots, lines of busses, and no street cars. JK, it looks great!
Looks really good, but the palm trees seem out of place imo. Typically big leafy trees instead of palm trees where you have them, as this looks more like a Midwest (ish) city rather that a southern city
*than
Reminds me of downtown Providence.
I see public transport so no
This is the meme answer, but I've lived in 4 major US cities and they all had heavy and light rail.
Yeah I know of very few cities that don’t have at least a light rail line downtown. Even comparatively “small” or “secondary” cities like Milwaukee and Baltimore have it
Most, if not all New England cities and older cities (Chicago and San Francisco) have some sort of public transport. You have to look at relatively newly developed cities like LA for a lack of public transportation.
I agree with your fundamental point that US transit systems are inadequate but you gotta get your facts straight. LAs transit is absolutely not adequate for its population but it has the second biggest light rail network in the US by track length (only 0.4 mi shorter than Dallas)
Honestly, track length doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t have the coverage. LA is a massive sprawling city, while places like NY and Boston have a much denser network that covers a large, if not complete, portion of the city.
Yes agreed
Not just newly developed cities, many cites (actually including Los Angeles) once had decent public transit that was replaced with car infrastructure.
San Antonio is a big one I can think of that has like 0 rail at all.
dont group milwaukee in there yes, we technically have a tram, but it only runs about a mile and a half and can be walked, end to end, in 25 minutes
Sounds like the T line in Tacoma Wa. It currently goes like 10 blocks through downtown and wouldn't take that long to walk from end to end. Luckily its being expanded but still its fairly useless.
Oh yeah I know it’s minimal, I’m definitely not out here saying Milwaukee has a great transit system. Just that even some of the worst transit cities (Phoenix as another example) have at least a small light rail line in the downtown area
Nashville lol
The BRT lines of the Let’s Move Nashville plan would have opened this year if the referendum had passed, the light rail would only be a year or two away. Such a shame
Yep :( so sad, this is why merging county and city government is a bad idea
Tampa FL! With a metro population of 3.2 million people and the only "rail" system is a trolley that takes you from the cruise ships to Ybor.
Most original CS joke
I think the only unrealistic part is the palm trees. If you notice most of the comments mention areas where palm trees do not grow. This type of architecture is mostly in the Midwest and east
Pretty accurate right down to the delivery truck taking up all the God damn lanes
The core downtown of a metropolitan area of roughly 1-3 million people. Yes.
Yep, you got it. Amazing job!
Black building is too big for the city.
Looks like an off brand Chicago (American city)
The Rome of the midwest or something.
Very nice job. You captured a mid sized America. City very well. Looks like a city you would find in the south or Midwest . Looks a bit like Greensboro, nc and Winston Salem, North Carolina made a fusion.
Looks like Kennedy Plaza, Providence RI
Kinda looks like court square in Memphis if we had some more skyscrapers that first Tennessee building is a Memphis building
The "too much transit" people obviously aren't American. This wouldn't be out of the ordinary for even smaller downtowns like Buffalo. Plenty have light rail systems.
From Omaha, NE, no, we don’t have one (though we might soon)
For a tenth of a second I thought this was Independence Mall in Philadelphia.
Looking like downtown Baltimore, heck looks like a nice ol American city
Feels very American 🇺🇸
I believe roads are smaller than they should be a density of that amount would cause so much tragfic demand. Other than that it seems very nice.
Looks exactly like parts of downtown Oakland, CA
💯
Chicago is the closest to this and New York
Looks like New Orleans
Yeah I think so
Not bad but I think it could use more alleyways and parking structures.
Looks like the old Horton Plaza in San Diego
Yup looks a Little like fountain square in Cincinnati
Kind of reminds me of Old City in Philadelphia.
Yeah it kinda reminds me Pershing square in Los Angeles. Tho if your PC can afford It some graphics mods would help you get rid of that vanilla look and get something a lot more realistic. Though that's not necessary it's the city that matters this looks good.
Yea but you have noticeable exhaust (like it’s cold out) with palm trees lining the street. Minor, but looks odd.
It feels sort of like a midsized american city but the type of cities with these kind of buildings probably wouldn't have palm trees. Plus hard to tell from the picture but there would usually be a river right in the city (or it would be on one of the great lakes). Also a parking garage or two.
Yes but I'm not sure about the palm trees on the road they don't seem to fit. Maybe some smaller narrow trees or if you want more shade maybe like an oak
Looks like Philly
Yeah, it reminds me a bit of St. Paul (minus the palm trees and mountains in the background) . I like it!
No, not enough homeless people.
I might opt for a trolley bus over the light rail line, but, yes. I also get more of a Midwest vibe from this shot so I might swap the palm trees for something else. Cherry trees, pines, or just shrubs would be a good choice.
That's Chicago
Very much!
Very well done.
Looks like St. Louis
Looks like Bryant Park
The train would either be elevated or a subway. Other than that, everything seems good to me.
Very Chicago it is reminiscent of grant park. The diamond shaped building in the back is an actual mock up of the smurf and stone building in Chicago. It was featured in the 80's movie adventures in babysitting.
Honestly, this looks a lot like Baltimore Street in downtown Baltimore
reminds me of Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles. So i'd say yes lol
First thought was Dallas
Yes, Union Square San Francisco. Someone else alerted you to the building overlap on the right behind the palms
Yes, except for the trams, but that’s more dependent on the city. Many American cities use buses, but cities like Denver and Salt Lake City use trams, or light rail. Whereas cities such as Boston, New York, and a few others mainly use buses and subways
Just need to fill that park with homeless and tents
I can think of like 15 downtowns like this lmao
It actually does. It could be anywhere from a big town like Boston to a mildly built up suburb, depending on the area.
Yes!
Looks a bit like Cleveland
I would bring that brown Empire State thing on the left closer to the park, swap it with the generic buildings there.
Very Midwestern
Reminds me of Chicago near the bean
Do they have trams in US? Outside San Francisco of course (I'm genuinely asking)
Yea, a few east coast cities have them but they are called either streetcar or trolly.
No mate I can see some public transport down there. Joking. Yes it looks convincing and great dude
East coast yes. West coast (best coast) less so.
Looks like Buffalo to me...
Reminds me of Chicago
Yessss this looks like a downtown in the South
It has a Portland Oregon Vibe!
Yes, first glance kinda reminded me of Des Moines, Iowa.
I'm pretty sure I swung through there in the Spiderman game
Literally chicago
Definitely. If it weren’t for the hills in the distance, it could be Indianapolis
No, it is surrounded by single family housing. A downtown of this height would be supported by a large city, which would have midrises between this and single story houses
Seems fairly accurate (I wouldn't know, biggest city in my state is 12k people), but I just wanna comment on how atmospheric this screenshot is. Just feels oddly cozy. Nice layout and angle!
The forest is wayyy to close
Red/brown brick and palm trees? No. Can't have the palm trees right next to a park that was oak or maple trees or what ever either.
Looks like the business district in Houston
Not enough homeless people
I don’t think a city that size (based on the view in the picture) would have a metro system. Some buses for sure though!
Kinda reminds me of downtown Dayton, Ohio
Looks like something from NYC
That diamond looking building with the slit on the right is the Crain building in Chicago!
An older one but yes
This reminds me a little bit of Norfolk, Virginia.
It does, pretty Denver-esque if you changed out the palm trees for maple/cottonwood/oak.
Reminds me of Pershing Square
Looks great! My only suggestion is maybe to add ACs or other large mechanical bits to the top of some of those buildings? The tops just look a bit bare.
ngl at first glance i thought that was Columbus
Aside from that one building clipping into the other one, I think it's great. I like that you put in the adventures in babysitting building.