Building Downtown-Part One

Decided to do a post about building a custom downtown which is what I had to do once I decided to expand Apple Valley's borders. AV is small since I wanted maximum time playing, but after a while I grew bored of suburban living. I'm a city girl at heart (and an island girl in my soul, but that's another post). I decided to allow my simmies a downtown and Apple Valley Metro was born. (note-AVM is still a work in progress and like AV will always be).


Let's start at the very beginning.

Inspiration

I decided to go for a New York City/Chicago (especially Chicago) vibe since they are both waterfront cities and Apple Valley Metro would be an island. Why an island? The terrain is smaller and faster to load! I LOVE Chigaco and would live there if it wasn't so cold (remember, I'm an island girl in my soul). I knew I wanted a beach boardwalk for closer beach access than a vacation and some urban apartments. I added Lady Starr (the Bella statue) by editing the terrain and building up a small island to place the neighborhood decor. Using MTS I found some ferry decor and pier decor to make a small walkway and Lady Starr Isle was born (modeled of course after Lady Liberty). Lady Starr is not named after my webname-starrsim, but it is named after Greymount's (Apple Valley's TS1 roots) first spokesim-Starr Grey.

Terrain

I decided on Amber Journey's Sunset Island as the terrain since it was smaller than Apple Valley's terrain (Golden Bay Island) and had the makings for a ferry dock. I love small terrains, it allows loading times to run much faster and it would provide a very dense appearence to the urban city once lots were added.

Layout
Apple Valley Metro couldn't be much of a city, mostly crowded and urban. The ferry access is to the north. Luxury apartments and penthouse are towards the north, seady cheap residences are towards the south. The beach is to the east while Lady Starr lies to the west. The center is the business and civic center and a small apartment complex based on a set of lofts (I've found that my commerical lots made with Lot Adjuster lots don't seem to work as well so I'm in the process of creating commercial lots on default maxis lots-ETA: Duh! There's a seperate download for community lot adjuster lots-whoopie! Now I can still have tiny commercial lots!). Not much room for other neighborhood decor except a raised train and a few billboards.

Construction

AV Metro is still in process and undergoing lots of construction and reconstruction until I like it. I recently took out a lot of the apartment buildings (there was room for about 45 sims, which I barely have that many in the main hood) and replaced them with more green space.

Apartments

Needless to say, the apartments went (are going) under multiple renovations, deletions and rebuilts. I deal with mostly 3x3 and smaller lots, which meant that sometimes entire apartment units would have to fit on a 2x1 or 1x1 lot. At the moment the city is overcrowded with apartments. There are 12 lots total, 8 are apartment lots. I am working on decreasing that number to 4-5. Why? Well, I want various lifestyles represented and space is limited so I narrowed it down to the following apartment types:

Morningside Co-Op [2x2]
Description: 2-2 bedroom luxury apartments with one 2 level penthouse (north). Penthouse includes a lower level rooftop garden. Common area includes bowling alley, business center and sauna. Heavily based on this building from dacyco which I couldn't download :(
Construction Progress: Complete, currently being playtested. MAXIS thinks this expensive lot should be for low class ($1,230 (for the smaller apartments) and $6,450 (for the penthouse) in rent?!!?) I am testing it with the cheat-lot class changer, but I have to reset it each time I enter the lot/add a family. Grrr! I am looking for something a bit more permenant in terms of changing the lot class.
Social Groups: Socialites

Metro Center Lofts [2x1]
Description: 2-Mid-Range Apartments in Loft Style (center). Each apartment has a large lofted bedroom and 1 full baths. Features exercise room, party room with bar and buffet and rooftop .
Construction Progress: Complete, currently being playtested and reworked. Will probably add additional floors to showcase an urban view or simply add a penthouse. However, the lofts are in the center of the city, which would mean the other lots would need to be built higher as well as I don't want the lofts to be the highest building. I added rooftop amenities instead and remove the sauna and massage center to add more square footage and am currently playtesting the changes. Social Groups: Techies

Oakwood Townhomes [2x4]
Description:3-Mid-Range Townhomes (west). Each townhouse has four bedrooms, three full baths, enclosed backyard and front yard. There are no common areas...unless you count the bus stop by the street. Great for families.
Construction Progress: Complete, being playtested. Again, for some reason MAXIS thinks this expensive lot should be for low class ($4,450 in rent?!!?) I am testing it with the cheat-lot class changer, but I have to reset it each time I enter the lot/add a family. Grrr!
Social Groups: Jocks, Techies

Carmela Artist Community [2x2] or [1x4]
Description: 3-4 Mid-Range Apartments. This is the urban Artists Colony with community garden (south). I am experimenting with building with containor crates, but I also like the look of Black Orchid's Green Village.
Construction Progress: 2x2 complete and playtesting, 1x4 in progress.
Social Groups: Gearheads, Bohemians

Economy Studios (south)
Description: I would love to have cheap cramped studio apartments, we'll see where they fit in since AVM is so small and the seedy part of town is really close to the the nicer parts of town (there's pretty much no seperation!)

Facilities

Current Commercial Lots in Progress or Built:

39th Street
Cultural Musuems (Regional Aquarium, Musuem of History), Coffeehouse, Clothing Store & Salon, Gym, Pet Shop, Electronics Shop

8th Ave
Seedy Nightlife (dance club, strip joints, hotels)

9th Ave
Art Gallery, Indoor Skating, Concert Halls (Regional Orchestra, Regional Ballet). In Progress: Jazz cafe

White (or East) Shore
Pier and Boardwalk with beach access.

Dimensional Park
Parks & Green Spaces with view of Lady Starr

Mini Adults

Resar, fall, 2002
Julio is 35, Rebecca is 32, Abel and Amanda are 6

The twins are in first grade and Rebecca decides that it's time to enlighten them about the birds and bees.

"I really don't think they're ready." Julio mumbles while chewing his dinner.

"Nothing too graphic, just some basic things. They need to know the proper names for thier anatomy as well as that babies are not delivered via a stork or from a cloud of flowers." Rebecca hissed back.

Abel and Amanda simply watched in amusement as thier parents tried to silently debate telling them all about woohoo. In the end, it was very simple. Rebecca used a new picture book that she ordered for the shop to help her in the discussion.

The twins left dinner with a lot more knowledge than spaghetti needs to be slurped in order to be fully enjoyed and not to talk to strangers.

---

The Toy Shoppe was doing fine, especially on the heels of the Apple Festival this past summer. There were still a few more events before the closing ceremony and residents and visitors alike were spending thier simoleans freely.

Business was good-great! Purchases were large and often made in cash and Rebecca managed to make some good contacts.

"My friend is in the wholesale business, I bet she can give you some good deals on the newest toys." One customer told Rebecca while browsing the store. Rebecca was willing to accept any help at the moment, especially since she had a costly rebuilding effort in front of her.

"Your husband's business is going to have to be rebuilt as well?" Rebecca asked Sandy Warwick when the woman came to the shop to browse and chat.

Recently businesses by the ferry access road and east bank were given letters informing them that they needed to demolish thier buildings so that the land can be built up and reinforced. After the land was secured, the businesses could rebuild, with a small subsidy. Not only was Rebecca affected, but so was Julio as he had to rebuild the Medical Center as well.

"Yes, it's not the best thing at the moment, but Sazo is trying to see the bright side of things."

"The bright side?"

"Yes, being able to build the shop with all the amenities from the beginning and not simply just patch things here or there."

Rebecca nodded. However the Warwick (formally Kent) had been in the small business world for simyears, especially when it came to coffee shops. They had reserves of cash, the Toy Shoppe was only in its second generation and she hoped that one of the twins was interested in taking over.

---

Perhaps it was this dream that caused Rebecca to push them to do all thier homework and extra work that she found on the internet everynight until they were tired from exhaustion. The twins honestly didn't see much of the playground that was at thier doorstep. Ok, they see it twice a day, once when they leave and again when they return from school.

Julio shared the blame for his children's lack of exposure to sunlight as well. His dream was that one of them entered the medical field. Recently Julio had to take his recertification exam for General Practictions, thankfully he passed with flying marks. For his children to be successful in the medical field it meant high marks on the skill exams and perfect grades, since you could only enter and be successful if you went to the right university. You can only go to the right university if you attend the right highschool which is dependent on attending the right middle school which is dependent on attending the right elementary school which is dependent on attending the right preschool which is dependent on attending the right...well, you understand where Julio is coming from. With the dreams of thier parents weighing on them, it's little wonder if the twins even have dreams of thier own.

To be honest, the only thing the twins wanted to do this fall was to play outdoors and be children...instead of mini adults.

Freedom, Art & Work

Havar, Fall, 2002
Antonio is 51, Carmela is 42, Verde is 15, Rojo is 9, Serendipity is 6

Life was busy for the Herendez family. Serendipity loved school. Kindergarten was a breeze and now she was enjoying first grade and learning to read. She didn't love to do her homework and Rojo often had to remind her to get it done.

"Ser, you have to finish writing your name before you can play."

Unfortunately, Rojo hadn't learned that when women make up thier mind, good luck changing it.

Unlike Verde who was well versed in the fact.

"Soccer is the way to go, it can be played indoor or outdoor, that's where the fame is." S'Ahmisha explained as they walked from school. Heavy stormclouds hung overhead, threatening to pour thier bounty below.

Verde nodded, knowing that he perfered basketball. Did it have something to do with that fact that S'Ahmisa was a better soccer player than him, he wouldn't say.

Instead he palmed the small water balloon he made before leaving school.

"I guess you're right, but-whoa! What's that?"
---

Meanwhile, Antonio and Carmela were preparing for the heavy thunderstorm. Antonio was desperately trying to pack up his current project, but inspiration struck and he had to apply that last paint stroke.

Carmela was calling Sandy Warwick to inform her of the coming storm and how S'Ahmisa would probably wait it with the Herendez.

"Well, I'm going to run over as well. Heck, we live a street across, I could make it before the lightening show starts."

"Why don't you stay at home?"

"Nah, S'Ahmisha and I have to discuss some things with you."

Carmela held her breath...what could they want to discuss.

---

Carmela sent the family upstairs with thier dinner, Rojo and Serendipity didn't mind. It meant that they didn't have to eat thier veggies if they flushed them down the toilet, even Antonio welcomed the respite and retreated to the master suite to read about the newest watercolor techniques. Perhaps Verde was the only one whose heart was wrapped in dread.

What are they going to talk about? I didn't do anything, I swear! We kissed a couple of times, but that's it!

Carmela was wondering the same thing. "Thanks so much for talking with us," Sandy started.

Carmela laughed. "Sandy, this isn't an interview for goodness sakes, our kids pratically live at each other houses."

Sandy smiled. "S'Ahmisa wants to get a job-"

"Why?"

"I'm doing well in school," S'Ahmisa began, "and I could use the extra money."

Carmela was confused. "Don't you get an allowance."

The teen nodded, "I'm saving a lot of it to travel the world, but...well...I want to get more money."

"She's so hard-working at home and school and not to mention the soccer team. I don't think she has time for a job, not to mention I also don't understand why she needs the extra money. Part of her trust fund is released once she is 18."

Carmela regarded the girl and then, "Who are you trying to help?"

S'Ahmisa dropped her fork and Sandy's jaw dropped.

"I...uh..."

"S'Ahmisa, we all know your heart is made of pure gold. You want this money to help someone don't you?"

The teen nodded.

"Why didn't you just ask for the money, sweetie?"

"I wanted to earn it myself. I didn't want to simply ask for the simoleans and then move on. I wanted to feel what it was like to earn them and then give it away."

"That's a noble reason to find employment," Carmela said. "I think that there may be some jobs in Apple Valley Metro. With all the expansion and construction, I'm sure some business is hiring."
---

Carmela often thought about finding a job herself as well. With the children in school, her days were spent doing light cleaning and cooking and playing online games.

"Carmela! Didn't you hear me knocking!" Rebecca yelled from the window.

"O! No, I'm sorry I didn't. I'll be right there!"

"Hi, what are you doing today?" Carmela asked her neighbor, sister-in-law and friend.

"I'm on the way to the Toy Shoppe, but Fiona gave me a call. She wants us to present an update of our reports and plans for the term at the next meeting."

Carmela groaned. "Thank you for telling me, I have to find it now."

---

Besides her position on the hood council, Carmela worked with the Homemaker's Society, but with only three members it wasn't much of a society, especially when the other two members were mother and daughter.

"Perhaps you could start some charity work." Her husband suggested one of the rare moments they were able to enjoy dinner together and alone.

"Charity work?"

"Yes, it will give you something to do and provide a benefit to the hood."

It was from that conversation that the Herendez Foundation for the Arts was born.

With the downturn in the economy not showing many signs of recovery, Carmela surmmized that the number of starving artists were increasing and that the world of art was suffering since artists could not afford to create thier art.

The Herendez Foundation for the Arts will increase awareness of and appreciation for the quality of arts produced and presented in Apple Valley by providing programs and services to promote and assist Apple Valley Artists.

Carmela decided to have two arms of the foundation. The Arts in Education arm would support artist education in the elementary and secondary levels. Including donations of supplies, equiptment and funding to expose students to local art and culture through field trips, lectures and hiring artists/teachers. There would also be scholarships for students showing high artist merit. The Partner in Art arm would supply fellowships for artists to move to Apple Valley to persue thier artist endeavours. This arm would also provide funding to establish a community art collection, hire artists for various events, lectures and teaching positions, and host the annual Arts Festival.

---

While Carmela was tweaking the business model of the Herendez Foundation, Antonio was busy with the Herendez Gallery.

Business was doing very well, true he was selling mostly prints and serials, with the occasional original art, but residents didn't seem to mind very much.

Business was doing so well that his suppliers offered him a wholesale discount due to the large number of orders he was placing.

The best part of the gallery was helping a sim find that perfect art piece for thier home collection. The gallery caters to a range of price points and styles.

The gallery was also a great place for artists to network. He bumped into one such artist who mentioned that she dabbled in sculpting.

"Really? My wife is starting an arts foundation. I'll have to pass on your name and number so she can contact you."

"Wow! Thanks! Please don't forget! I hate having to work as a recess monitor to make ends meet. I would love to have the freedom to create art!"

---

I'm so excited about this foundation! Not only will it provide an artist colony for some bohemian simmies, but infuse some custom art and allow more simmies into the hood. I'm experimenting with having playable non-playables so I can infuse them with backstories and occasionally play them and especially use them to play test lots.

Happy Mother's Day!

Business in the Hood

Apple Valley has plenty of businesses in the hood and I play them several ways.

Open For Business (OFB) Style
This style of business is played the way OFB was created. My sims

Non-OFB Style

Free is the Best Price

Remar, summer, 2002
Tobi is 30, Li is 30, Ping, Aaron and Simora are 3

Remar brought about a time for rememberance and a light dusting of snow. It was the strangest thing. The news media, including Li's company, thought that it was a sign of the end. Rumors swirled about a new dimension, time warps and worm holes. Tobi thought it was silly the way sims overeacted to a little snow that melted by dawn. He only wished that the bills that Li retrieved from the mailbox had melted along with the snow.

The family was still struggling to stay ahead of the bills, still struggling to get a decent meal or three hours of sleep each day. Thankfully, the triplets were almost four and would soon be in kindergarten and on a regular sleeping schedule.

On the Day of Rememberance, Li spent all simday on the phone with her sister chatting about the children and emailing the latest photos of the triplets.


Ping, Aaron and Simora had grown so much. They were walking and talking and chewing blocks now. In fact, they were the best of friends, always looking for the others. Sometimes Li and Tobi found they sleeping on the playroom floor, cuddled together in a heap on the floor.

"Remember, Li, tonight I'm taking you to the train station." Tobi called out as he left for ther morning ferry.

Li smiled, estastic that she would be getting out of the house. They were going to the Apple Plains Train Station for dinner. It was an odd choice for a date, but it was cheap. How cheap? They found a coupon in the mail for two free dinners. Free was as cheap as it got.

----

After the babysitter had all the instructions, Li and Tobi boarded the evening ferry to the nearest train station and then took the evening train to Apple Plains. It was a beautiful town, or at least it seemed that way from thier view from the train station.


They had some time before thier table was ready, so they browsed around the small gift shop.

"Look, there's a photo booth." Tobi whispered to his wife.

Li glanced into the bar area and saw the photo booth. "You want to take a photo?"


Tobi whispered what he rather do in the photo booth instead of taking a nice romantic photo. Li could feel her face glowing bright red and wondered if anyone else could see it.

"We can't do that!" She whispered.

"Why not? It's empty in here, no one will notice."

"Why not." Li whispered back, surprised at herself.

----

Afterwards, the couple giggled as they half stepped half fell out of the tiny photo booth.

"I can't believe we did that."

"Do you regret it?"

"Of course not!"

Maybe it was the lack of privacy at home with a toddler bursting through a door at any given second that made the couple more comfortable with a public indescretion. Whatever it was, they could not stop thinking about it. While requesting thier reservation, Li giggled at the memory of booth shaking.

Tobi couldn't concentrate on the menu, all he could see was his wife's face in the shadows and thier hushed tones. What they both neglected to think about was that all the employees knew exactly what happened in the photo booth. Heck, if they started charging entrance on that booth then the station would be rich!

"Here's to us, to our family that is finally complete, to our love, to our memories, to family and friends." Tobi said over the glass of free champagne and thier first course.

Over conversations of the recent cases at the Mazaloom Courthouse, the couple made plans to get a drink in the bar and try thier hand at the dusty bass guitar.

Li watched as her husband picked a few chords on the instrument.

"I didn't know that you could play the bass?" She said.

"I tried my hand at it a little bit when I was younger. My dad, A'ron, made sure that we had exposure to all sorts of instruments."

Li nodded before ordering a drink. She wrapped her hand around the cool glass and tried to take a sip. Once the liguid touched her tongue, she felt a wave of nausea come over her. Strange.

She stood to visit the restroom and suddenly she felt so tired. Tobi saw his wife struggle to stay on her feet and wisely decided that it was time to go home.

As they waited for the evening train to come in, they held hands and stared in each other's eyes like lovesick teenagers. Tobi thought back to his teen years and how he chased after Marilyn Grey in spite of the crush he had on her twin sister, Ginger. Turns out Marilyn was more interested in girls and Ginger ended up marrying Grex Mendenhall. Would he have changed it if he could? He couldn't say for sure. He loved Li with all his heart, she was his wife.

"What's on your mind?"

"How beautiful you look tonight." Tobi honestly replied. No, he wouldn't change a thing.

----
A few simweeks later, while giving Aaron a bath, Li discovered that they may have been a bit careless that wonderful moonlit night.


----
Yep, Li is pregnant-can you believe it. While they were enjoying themselves at the train station, I directed Li to order a drink, however she kept picking up the drink and it would disappear (I guess she knew she was pregnant before I did). Then her stats showed that she was severely tired and hungry even though they had just eaten. ACR's pregnancy scanner confirmed that she was pregnant and due Lovar 2003. Seems like that woohoo in the photo booth wasn't safe woohoo.

I actually screamed with laughter when it said that she was pregnant, my hubby was concerned-but after I explained it was a sim thing, he returned to his activities. Of all families to get pregnant, it would be the family that has triplet toddlers, financially struggling and living in a cramped apartment. Well, it looks like the apartment will get even more cramped and the simolean will streach even tighter. I think they will end up being my first extremly poor family-at least for a little while.

The scanner shows that she's having one baby-but who knows. Also, as soon as they reached home, she was STRAVING. I looked in thier inventories for food and the only thing they had was a cheesecake. So in an effort to ensure that they would not give birth to twins-at least not from a cheesecake induced diet-I cheated with the Sim Modder to bump her hunger motive up, and then feed her mac-n-cheese. It would be just thier luck to have twins while the triplets are still toddlers. I didn't sign up for the Toddler Mania Challenge!

Apple Festival

Remar 2002


The summer Apple Festival starts with a welcome speech from the president of Apple County, Fiona Kent.

"Welcome Apple County sitizens to the summer Apple Festival! This simyear the festival will feature booths full of arts and crafts, musical performances, fishing contests and of course lectures about food. Enjoy the sights and sounds of art, music and food!"



The residents waste no time in milling about the Farmer's Market searching for fresh produce, hand crafted pot holders or a fresh bouquet of flowers.



Some residents make new connections.



Others prepare for the cook-off. Jolie enters her famous Llama Berry Tart, only to be defeated by Lisa, from the Metro, Apple Carrot Cake.


Most of the children flock to the octi-sprink and enjoy the cool water in the dry summer heat.


Residents also spend time browsing the products at the booths and making deals about future art purchases.

"You want how many photos developed again?"

"A few of the family photos that we lost in the move. We have the negatives."

"Do you want any paintings or just photos?"

Eventually a small crowd walks to the nearby park to watch the line-up of performances.

First, Metrorite Geneva Rocket reads a selection from her new novel, "Exit the Computer".

Then, Carmela Herendez accepts the Spirit of the Community Award.

"Thank you! With the funds from the award, I plan on reinstating NewRIP. If you are interesting in helping, or getting a chapter started in your own hood, please contact me."

After the brief awards ceremony, during which grumbles of unfair advantage travel throughout the crowd, the highlight of the evening arrives. A performance by Aerial Bionic, the newest band to hit SimNation.

Apple Valley was lucky enough to secure the new band before they started thier summer tour.

"We still have slots available for the summer tour!" The lead vocalist tells the crowd. "Let us know if you want us in your hood!"

Some residents don't appreciate good music and instead participate in a bit of fishing.


Unfortunately, the fish don't seem to be attracted to the bait, though Tobi does run off a potential pick-pocket with the threat of jail time. The residents barely notice the odd character, engrossed instead in conversations of the benefits of arts education for youth.