Praesidium - A Google Sketchup City

Dear Leader VI · #1 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 2:34 AM**

Hey guys,

I've been fumbling around with sketchup for the better part of a month now, and I think I may be ready to start my own metropolis. Problem is, I am inept at finding and editing textures, and I have no idea how to post screenshots here. Any advice on either of those problems would be greatly appreciated.

My city will be called Praesidium, Latin for "chief" or "protector." It is appropriately named since it will be a major hub for commerce, manufacturing, cultural attractions, retail, financing, and telecommunications. There will be distinctive high-rise and low-rise sections of the city, along with a large central business district. I currently am looking for where in the sketchup-city nation map I want my city to be located, preferably away from other established cities such as City City, Palm Dunes, Oceanside, Staunton, etc. Any ideas for this would be greatly appreciated.

BoiseAirport · #2 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 3:03 AM**

Hey,

Cool name! I'm excited to see it! You can find textures by Image Googling "Building Textures" and hopefully you'll find some there. That's where I've found all of mine. As for the map, here is, what I believe, the most recent map yet:

Hope that helps!
Anthony

foxmtbr · #3 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 3:16 AM**

It looks like you can go to the Northwest, Midwest, or South if you want to be far away from other cities. Or wherever you please...

Dear Leader VI · #4 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 5:07 AM**

So many areas to choose from....

I think I'll go with the Northwestern US. Short of Seattle and Portland, that region is remarkably void of extremely large (millions of people) population centers. Praesidium will lie on the Idaho-Montana border, but will lie in Montana. Praesidium, Montana; not bad, not bad.

Until I make a photobucket (or whatever) account, here's a little history behind Praesidium:

Originally started as a small trading post in the mid-19th century, Praesidium grew quickly with the expansion of the US westward. The discovery of nearby silver in 1857 led a rush to strike it rich in Praesidium. By 1876, the centennial celebration of the United States, Praesidium boasted a population of approximately 80,000 temporary and permanant residents.

Railroads and the Industrial Revolution led to even more rapid growth for Praesidium. Cheap land as well as a strategic location allowed Praesidium to become an industrial power, drawing immigrants arriving in both the West and East coasts. Despite this unbelievable increase in population, Praesidium developed a reputation for being a clean and properly developed, if somewhat corrupt, city. Progressive building codes and efficient city services allowed Praesidium to escape the "tenemants and slums" era many other cities struggled with at the time.

By the turn of the twentieth century, Praesidium had grown to a metropolis of 800,000 people - making it among the top ten cities in the United States in population. Universities and intellectuals were wooed by the progressive and liberal attitude of the city, and in 1906, the University of Montana at Praesidium - UMP as it affectionately called - was founded as Praesidium's first institution of higher learning. Withen a few years (and a few more colleges), college students made up almost 20% of the total population.

Big business also flocked to Praesidium, thanks to low taxes and a high quality of life. To better accomodate and serve the large downtown corporations, the Praesidium Stock and Board Exchange (PSBE) opened in 1911.

Unfortunately, the good times were halted by the Great Depression in 1929. Construction on the sixty-five story Treasure State Building, slated to be the tallest west of the Mississippi, was temporarily halted. Fortunately, FDR's New Deal helped to ease some of the pains. Still, economic growth and expansion remained at a standstill until the massive military contracts of World War II.

By 1950, Praesidium boasted a population of just over 2 million residents, in a region of 2.8 million. Protected natural resources and park systems prevented the low-density suburban housing typical of the period from occuring in a large scale in Praesidium.

The 1960s and 70s, however, brought social unrest to Praesidium. In what has been considered by historians as the most destructive riot in United States history, racial tensions flared after the corrupt and infamous mayor Wallace Greenson (known by his nickname "Greedson") awarded city contracts through racial discrimination. In addition, members of the Greenson administration also managed to embezzle over $2.5 million (in 1972 dollars) from the city treasury. Furious, multi-racial mobs burned an empty City Hall to the ground, as well as several surrounding low-rise office buildings. An estimated $9.2 million in damage was caused to the west side of Downtown.

In addition, the loss of manufacturing jobs overseas forced many former factory workers to labor strikes, including an infamous showdown between Foreman Industrial Piping workers and the Praesidium Police riot police in 1977.

Fortunately, the 1980s and 1990s brought relative peace and prosperity to Praesidium. The 1982 Winter Olympics were held in the city's newly-constructed Olympic Village, and the 1992 Democratic convention was held at the William Jennings Bryan Convention Center. The new city hall, a stunning work by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings, and Merril in the international style, captured the record for tallest city hall in the United States, at 739' and 46 floors.

In addition, Praesidium began to regain the population it lost in the turmoil of the 1970s, climbing to a population of 2.3 million residents (3.2 million metro) in the 1990 census.

What Praesidium lost in the manufacturing sector, it regained in the technology sector, as its universities, colleges, and famously low corporate taxes encouraged large tech companies to make downtown Praesidium their home.

----TO BE CONTINUED----

Derek · #5 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 5:16 AM**

i was thinking northwest as well

Derek · #6 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 5:17 AM**

Montana eh? should be interesting

Patrick · #7 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 5:27 AM**

Wow, great story, can wait to see the city!

foxmtbr · #8 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 6:02 AM**

Yep, I can't wait!

(unlike Patrick, who apparently can wait.

)

It's nice to see a very historically-accurate history with your city. I can see you've read your textbooks.

cur_sed · #9 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 6:07 AM**

Good to see a well thought through backstory, that's sure to provide some inspiration when you get building.

Dear Leader VI · #10 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 10:47 PM**

Thanks guys!

How do you guys host your images? Photobucket?

BoiseAirport · #11 Posted **Feb 28, 2007, 11:27 PM**

Very cool! Near my home state (Idaho)! I can't wait to see this, it sounds great!

I usually use imageshack for uploading photos. Photobucket has a bandwidth limit that's no good in my opinion.

www.imageshack.us

Anthony

foxmtbr · #12 Posted **Mar 1, 2007, 12:41 AM**

Yes, I also use imageshack. No logging in or all that crap, just easy uploading, with pretty large filesizes (Although not large enough to host my 4096 x 3200 pictures, the way I save them, lol).

Dear Leader VI · #13 Posted **Mar 1, 2007, 12:54 AM**

Double Post

Dear Leader VI · #14 Posted **Mar 1, 2007, 12:55 AM**

Excellent! I have picked out a location for Praesidium via Google Maps.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&...,1.150818&om=1

It's the area in which the Montana border seems to 'indent' into Idaho and then out again.

On to making an Imageshack account...

Patrick · #15 Posted **Mar 1, 2007, 3:48 AM**

Yikes! I mean Can't! lol!!

foxmtbr · #16 Posted **Mar 1, 2007, 4:54 AM**

^ Haha, I was just playing with you there.

Yes, the location is great, it will be the cultural hub of the area!

Dear Leader VI · #17 Posted **Mar 5, 2007, 12:04 AM**

Ladies, Gents, and any lurking goldfish,

It gives me great pleasure to give you the first update on Praesidium! (Not so much as an update as a teaser photo until the first real update.)

There's the Praesidium skyline looking Southwest. You'll see the 1400' GigaCore Tower (brown) on your right, and the 1300' PSBE (Praesidium Stock and Board Exchange) Tower on your left (white with blue pyramid at top). No roads or sidewalks as of yet, but those plus many more pictures coming soon! Enjoy!

EDIT: I may have sized it wrong; bear with me, I'm new to this.

Derek · #18 Posted **Mar 5, 2007, 12:08 AM**

^^keep it coming!!!

Dear Leader VI · #19 Posted **Mar 5, 2007, 1:41 AM**

PRAESIDIUM, MONTANA: A GOOGLE SKETCHUP CITY

By Dear Leader VI

Welcome, fellow skyscraper nerds! This is the first update for Praesidium, MT, a booming metropolis of over 2 million people! Let's get to it, shall we?

This is the core of downtown Praesidium. Huge corporations, allured by low corporate income and city wage taxes, have built gigantic high-rises for the better part of the last 100 years. Wondering what that steel skeleton structure in the middle of the shot is?

Back in the late 1990s, Praesidium Financial was midway through the construction of their new, 65-story world headquarters building, when the Stock Exchange Crash of 2001 hit. Rioting occured outside the PSBE (Praesidium Stock and Board Exchange), and construction was immediately halted due to lack of funds. The building, with only its external structure intact, sat for three long years, during which Praesidium abandoned the project.

Local citizen and NIMBY groups crusaded to have the ugly structure torn down, but an idea of City Planner Wilson Smith turned the structure into a world-famous landmark. The site would become a city park, complete with trails and a large fountain, while the structure would be refurbished and left as is. The result, as you can see, is the unique monument to Praesidium named the Galveston Memorial, after the city's first mayor.

Here we have a shot of the Oceanic Airlines Building, home to the Pacific's largest airline. The PSBE Tower is in the background of this shot, as is the Galveston River.

Another shot of the Galveston Memorial.

Here's a look at MacArthur square, with the GigaCore Tower, and Dunder-Mifflin Building surrounding it.

In this aerial view of Praesidium, you can see the Galveston Memorial in the background. The tall, blue building in the foreground is the headquarters for StauntonLife's Praesidium branch.

This shot is taken from Praesidium's Cannerytown district, which borders downtown on the south. (Yes, the small buildings are from Google's warehouse, and I still have to texture some of them). The classic, 70s, white high-rise on the right is the Hanso Corporation Building.

Here's a view of the Praesidium skyline from the north, in the Glendale district across the Galveston River. Glendale still needs to be textured, but I just wanted to get a view of how downtown looks from other neighborhoods. As you can see, there's tons of work to be done.

That's all for now, guys. Thanks for viewing! I'll be updating pretty frequently from here on out (hopefully).

All the best,

Dear Leader VI

PS - Anyone pick up on the Lost and The Office references I included in this Sketchup city?

Dac150 · #20 Posted **Mar 5, 2007, 1:53 AM**

Down right amazing!!!!! Without a doubt a long thread of greatness! The city has a very unique storyline, especially that memorial. Very creative. Please keep more updates coming!

Just a suggestion....the location of your city I would change. Montana just doesn't seem like a practical location for a city like that. I suggest you move it over to Washington or even upper California. Just a thought....