The city of Monaca, Ohio
 

Monaca, Ohio is a new city I have been working on for quite some time. I thought now would be the best time to show some of my work. Although the city is much bigger than shown, I only want to show everyone 90%+ completed areas.

Please, any and all criticism is highly appreciated! I think you people on here are so awesome at what you design and can sketch, it's amazing!

I will try to update every 1 - 2 weeks. I am currently in college for civil engineering which really limits my time on here and it seems like the rest of my time goes into my fraternity (FIJI) and friends.

The downtown of the city is over a mile long, located along the shores of the Ohio river in the southeastern part of the state. Only a mountain is on the other side of the river currently and I think I intend on keeping it that way.

More details to follow!


http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...ftandright.jpg


This view is looking down United (street), which splits to the right down Freedom Lane. The tall glass building is 110 Liberty East (banking building). Its height is 830' and is the tallest building in the city. (I intend on keeping it that way).


http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...ntfountain.jpg

This view is from the waterfront walk (historic) with a water fountain at the intersection. To the left is the fish market and warehouse with a few historic buildings across the street. 110 Liberty East can be seen to the right.

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...dinnsuites.jpg

This view shows Fairfield inn & suites in the foreground on the left. You can see Brew City Bakery (WHQ) in the background. The city is renowned for its rich history for brewing beer although there is not too much of that left. (to be seen in future pictures) The black building is a government building (not finished).

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...acatechpic.jpg

This is Monaca Tech (official name: Monaca Engineering & Technology University). You can see the pedestrian bridge in the foreground and the mountain on the other side of the river in the background.


http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...omoutfield.jpg


This is the baseball field. Cisco Field is the crown jewel of this area and began the revitalization of the area in the early 90's. It completely changed the look and feel of the east side around the train tracks and warehouses. It also prompted lofts to be converted.



More to come!
Please, any suggestions or comments are appreciated! :D

WOW! This city is off to an absolutely amazing start! Wonderfully done, I can't wait to see more!

.
 

Excellent,that stadium looks great in that area.

overall looks good bar that black building.:)

Stadium alone gets 2 thumbs up from me!

Nice stadium .Very mixed in the city!Can't wait for the city to turn out!

A really great start! Please continue this! :) It looks realistic and I really like the city's atmossphere. And I think the mix of old and new buildings is really well balanced.

Nice Broadway First Shot! Looking forward for more!

update time!
 

Although I've been extremely busy lately, Ive managed to update a few areas of my city, mainly with highway and byways. Please let me know what you guys think!




Interchange between main highway intersecting the city and a few side streets:
Note that you can see the beginnings of the hospital in the background.
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...rchangefro.jpg



Interchange on west side of the city:
Note that neither of these interchange areas are nearly finished but I thought it would be better to show now so yins can suggest some ideas maybe:rolleyes:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...ibertyeast.jpg




An update from the historic waterfront area:
I added the church you can see to the right and a building along the river.
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...ntofchurch.jpg





An interesting corner building that will be surrounded with highrises. I think this building has enough interesting architecture to "stand up" with some taller competition, do you?
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...ndhospital.jpg




Here is my most recently completed piece of the puzzle. It's located across from the stadium and is supposed to look rather old but with a touch of class. I personally love the area around the stadium and have a few new ideas brewing up now:tup: .
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...romstadium.jpg

Nice!Great job.

Realistic zoning and architecture here, good job. I love the classical American cities with brownstone buildings next to shiny glass. The freeway intersections look fine, personally i hate building flyovers and on ramps I don't know about you?

.
 

Nice sketching man!!Ilike all the freeways and flyovers but for me
the grey texture beneath them looks funny....maybe some landscaping
underneath would look better with some grass and maybe some curved
ponds etc.......but over all looking good:)

Pingyao: The classic American cities seem so hearty to me. Every time I drive or walk through a city with so much warmth, my jaw just drops. This is where I get most of my inspiration. The brick just seems so inviting to me. I'm glad you like it! Glass is extremely difficult to work with on sketchup for me actually. The flyovers were such a pain though! After all that work, I think it seems rather realistic though so the time was worth it:D



Toyota74: Thanks! The grey texture is temporary for me so that I can tell where the ground is as I build. I really wasn't sure what to do with it though. What type of landscaping are you thinking of for such an area?

A M A Z I N G, reminds me of Cleveland! I do see the Midwestern American City feel you are trying to get at here, Please do go on with Monaca :tup:

Really great detailing and thought put into this city. Please continue to update when you have time.

Very, very, very american city, i love american cities, good job!

Great job! :tup: This city is so detailed and has a lovely atmosphere. I especially love the fact that there's so many older buildings left.

Very nice! I see a big City developing!

finally an update!
 

Hey sketchup world, I've had some MAJOR issues recently. My computer crashed and I lost everything until my friend somehow accessed my hard drive LUCKILY! Therefore, Monaca is not lost. But, due to college kicking my ass recently, there is little progress...civil engineering homework and labs suck!

Anyway...enjoy these :)



Here's a view of a small office building with some pretty sweet row houses beside it. This is located across the street from the baseball field:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...eballfield.jpg



I absolutely loved making this...the detail is unreal cause I use all lines and components. It seems bland in the picture but there are so many layers and there are actually multiple buildings around the complex. This complex used to be a large bakery industrial place along the train tracks and right along the north edge of the city. But because of recent trends in industry moving out to the country where the land is cheaper, the bakery left and now its office space mixed with retail. Good to keep the old buildings (I can see this in Pittsburgh and Akron OH) The 2 places that I've lived.
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...kerysquare.jpg




Lastly, This shot was taken beside the hospital on the hill. The second oldest part of the hospital is situated on your left and an old town hall (from when there were small towns before the industry came). In the background, you can see the crosstown highway, Brew City Bakery on bottom, a residential tower on the right, 70's box building beside that, 110 Liberty East (glass building), and the granite building. any suggestions on names for it?
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...omhospital.jpg

I love the details and atmosphere in this city! I think the most important thing in making a great 3d city is that the maker really loves the city himself / herself. That he / she is its biggest fan. This city really shows that love.

golf course
 

I saw that the forum was slow so I figured to get back to sketchup a bit. Since summer was in session, I've been in the golf mode so the plan is to have a country club near the city (urban).

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...holes4and6.png

I don't want to give too much away yet but it's going to look good in the upcoming days :D

Golf will be good and really like Bakery square.

Nice golf course!

I really like the architecture of the city..... Very U.S.A style

Cool! I'd love to see this city actually make it to completion. Keep up the great work, and keep us posted. :-)

This is one of my definite favourites here. Glad to see it's still alive.

i can really appreciate the detail and non flatness of the buildings faces and particularly like the bakery building.

Geeze...thanks for checking it out! And thanks for all the reviews / comments!

Update on the golf...its coming along nicely. I have the first 7 holes done but since I'm aiming on an 18 hole course, there's more work to do. Also, I have a surprise on the clubhouse (think top of the mountain overlook).

Toyota74: I appreciate it! Yeah, bakery square came out fantastic in my opinion. I actually have a springfield suites hotel 25% done in the same complex. Should fit with the style.

Flamesrule: I was going for USA style :cheers: But thanks, I get a lot of my ideas from Pittsburgh, Akron, Cleveland, and NYC (all very american cities)

JHoward88: I SOO hope I can make it to completion as well... Its extremely time consuming though! And it doesnt help when I like to change so many details (actually it does help :P )

Vellu: That's awesome to hear! I honestly think your Bourne NY is amazing (and I'm not just saying it)

Prometheuspan: It's hard to show it off, but thanks for noticing! Do you have any secrets on how to make it stand out? By the way, welcome to the boards!


Anyway, small update here...
It's a pretty cool street view i think...showing off just a sneakpeek of the skyline. You can see my bridge in the middle, which runs from the river up through the mountain. Also, a mid-city hotel is on the right and small, older building is on the other corner with a new building in the background and brew city bakery behind...
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...mflagpoles.png

small update:


Here is a pretty sweet view of the western end of the city from the golf course:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...edbuilding.png



This is my most recently completed building...I think it has great street presence. Additionally, the buildings around it work well together, all older as well:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...dingcorner.png

Wonderful views, especially the one from the golf course! Nice piece of the skyline there! I really love the detail, especially on the older buildings. It would be great to see this city rendered.

Update!
 

Update! I've been putting a little time in it lately and wanted you guys to check it out...

Here's a new twin span bridge with some pretty interesting girders:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...background.png


This should let you see how detailed many of the buildings in my city are:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...arefromsky.png
PS: the open space on that block will soon be filled with a new modern building...about 500-600ft...


Here's a sneak peak of a nice river walk on the east side of the city. The blue building is almost done as well:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...ingonriver.png
(excuse me for the horrible shore and mountain on the other side of the river)


I know you guys have seen a picture close to this area but I updated it. First, I added terrain to a few areas around the river as well as most of the roads further away from the river, climbing up the hill. Second, you can see the really old building by the warehouse. And lastly, there is a new building behind the church...it's deceivingly tall as well. You can only see half and there are a lot of setbacks too:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...5/fountain.png



This may be my favorite building in the city: It's called the Amerisquare Hotel and looks like an older building on the first floors and has a nice curtain wall system further up. (yes its supposed to be angled like that haha):
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...nandsuites.png

Great, love that detail shot :)

This city has a very nice somewhat industrial feel to it! Great buildings, especially the art deco ones. I really love the love you have for this city. The outcome of it is really fantastic.

Well guys, another small update. I've been working on the city on and off for the last week and got some more accomplished :notacrook:


Here's a view of downtown from the ball park, which is on the second block on the left:

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...dhomeplate.png



http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...telinefree.png


http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...lateshadow.png



So I have a question for everyone. Which of these three pictures is the best way to showcase views of my city?

I like the second one the best.


This city is coming along nicely. Keep it up.

third one, the tallest building in the city looks weird in the second one.

They all look great.

Flamesrule:
Thanks! the problem with the third one is that it takes a while to load due to the shadows and over 55.1mb file.

Innsertnamehere:
The second one looked odd cause I actually did some of the interior and it shows up in that picture.


My city is still coming along, albeit at a slow pace...

Thanks for tuning in and look for another update in the next 4 days!

And as always, comments / constructive criticism is appreciated :tup:

Here's a building with some bit of a street scene. Tell me what you guys think!

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...ngbuilding.png

I have some more pictures to upload in the next few days...

I had no idea that Monico had terrian!


The building looks great.

Yeah Flames, some of it does as the roads lead away from the river. I planned it though so that many of the blocks are flat.....SO much easier!

Here are 2 more pictures, small update. I've done lots of work though.


This is a view from the river looking in at the parking lot under the riverfront street. There is an office building on the left and FSN (tv / broadcasting) on the right. You can see the stadium between them:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...omriverlot.png



And here is my new crown jewel of the midtown area. It's located right along the river (which is also under the camera view). It's the city hall building for Monaca...Trust me, this sucker took quite a few hours of my time! More detailed pictures of this building soon. (its 97% complete)
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...tybuilding.png

PS is the park in front too boring? It's so hard for me to do landscaping in this program...

This is awesome! Keep it up. I think the garden in front looks really nice, looks planned like a government building landscape would be. Maybe add a small information booth or statue? I think some nice tall flag poles in the plaza directly in front of the building would really set it off!

Awesome detail still! I love that FSN design and the City Hall is a real beauty!

wow! missed this! any chances we'll get updates?

Thanks for the support guys!

Clevelumbus: I'll most likely be adding a memorial plaza in front of the city hall, thanks for the ideas

Aleks: I'm slowly working on it more and more. There are many parts you guys haven't seen yet but I frown upon showing any detail less than 75%. There could be an update in the next 2 weeks though......

Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Update: I've been extremely busy my last semester in college...so it was hard to get any updates. sorry guys!

I'll going to start doing some more work on the city though.

Here's a landscape view of the city to keep some interest out there :tup:

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...dscapeview.jpg

Hey it's great to see such advance, this is becoming one of my favorite cities!!!

I love the ground level work, the angled steps on the plaza that connects Total Care with that TV building. I also love that last horizontal shot which reminds me of some of my own work on Mulligan.

Keep it up! it's more important than college.

Here's a view of my just-finished building: The Conrad. It's an upscale hotel. You can see the park in the middle of the picture, with the budweiser plant on the right (with pipes --> more to come with those)
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...s65/conrad.png

vertical x: i'm glad you like! trust me, there is so much more going on than i can show you guys. like i said once, i only like to show portions about 75% done...

the ground level work is the hardest too!

I'm graduating tomorrow!

Nice city, realistic, and good to see someone else building on this quiet forum. Ground level work is time consuming, but worthwhile.

If this were a real city, I'd be taking a room in the Conrad right away.

Nice work!

As would I Flamesrule, as would I.

Here's a view from across the river on the ridge of the mountain:
http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...ntoverlook.png

I need some help placing 1 - 3 new buildings. they are about half the height of my all glass building (tallest) and about 2/3 the width. Early 1900's (1910-1930) era. Any suggestions with respect to this picture for placement? or how many?

Nice view, good massing and planning. What's that low building far left, looks like a museum/concert hall?