Detroit Off Topic

[Jasoncw]

Hello everyone. I'm recreating 211 West Fort Street for Sim City 4. I'm all set for everything, except for the front lobby, I don't know how spread apart the windows are. If someone has a photo of that part of the building, straight on, from across Washington, so that I could see how the window frames are lined up with the rest of the building, it would be a big help.

Here's my progress so far:

I actually started this building over a year ago, but I've decided to restart it, since the first one I made wasn't very good.

And while I was searching for photos, I ran into some fun 360 views from the building at its official site.

Thanks.

[tapezord]

Great work as always... I really like 211 W Fort. Such a neat and clean building. Its funny how much I have grown to appreciate these type of buildings within the last 5 years or so...

[wolverine]

I thought your original was pretty good. What was wrong with it?

[nofunk]

I thought your original was pretty good. What was wrong with it?

[Jasoncw]

^ There's the latest render of the old version. It wasn't too bad, but once I started working on the new one, I found all of the mistakes I made on the old one. The entire roof area was wrong with the old one, and somehow I even had the number of windows on the sides totally wrong. However I just noticed that I have one too many floors on the new one. Anyway, the new one will be a lot more accurate.

tapezord, thanks! Yeah, the same thing with me. Actually, when I originally started this building, I didn't like it a lot and was just doing it because it was fast, and it would need to be done eventually. But since then I've warmed up to it a lot and like it in general.

[tapezord]

the lobby is surprisingly warm for a building like that. It is very inviting! I remember how it used to look before they cleaned the building a few years ago, I like it much better with the white finish.

I'm also curious, from just playing with some of the rendering softwares, I know you can do all sorts of things with these renderings, how would the top section look with a different lighting scheme versus the sodium vapor lamps they use now? Is it easy to change the color of the lighting? If it takes any more than 1 minute, forget I ever said anything, it was just out of curiosity

[Jasoncw]

I can very very easily change the color of the lights. It's also very easy for me to change some of the properties (how far the light travels before it starts to fade, how strong the light is, etc.).

I was planning on making the lights the orangy color they are in real life. I'll definitely experiment though.

Does anyone have the reference photos that I need?

[Jasoncw]

Mega-big thanks to Baldy for getting the photos for me.

[rbdetsport]

I don't think so. I think Quicken should be there.

[Allan]

With all this talk of scrappers and fires, does anyone know what the statistics for arson were last month, and how they compare to a "normal" month? I'd heard that the DFD responded to reports of over 700 arsons during the month of June, but I can't find a source to back it up.

If that's really the statistic, it's pretty scary. Last summer, there were only two fires in my neighborhood, and we've had 8 in just the past 2 months. More are sure to follow, since there are 5 empty houses on my block, and over 20 on my entire street (which stretches a mere 4 blocks). Houses and apartment buildings are getting foreclosed on left and right here. Usually once a property is bank-owned, it is broken into by scrappers, and it goes up in flames within 2-3 weeks. Or at least that seems to be the pattern here. I think all of us are at a loss here. We feel like our neighborhood is falling apart around us, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

[wolverine]

Yeah. Have you seen East Saginaw lately? There's nothing left burn except trees and weeds. I can't imagine SW Detroit getting THAT bad though. Really, it's sad though because even with neighborhood watches and such, once a problem is detected, emergency response is slow.

[Allan]

My particular neighborhood is deteriorating very quickly. However, as a whole SW is one of the most intact sections of the city so, there are fewer fires in SW than in most other parts of Detroit. Still, the number of fires we've had has increased dramatically over the past few years. Most of the arsons are related to insurance scams. It's a lot easier to burn down a house and collect insurance money for it than it is to try and sell it in this market for a low price, especially for those that are on the verge of loosing their homes to foreclosure. Sad but true.

We're also experiencing an upswing in crime and gang activity we're experiencing, which doesn't help things any, but is not really the main cause of most of the arsons.

[RustTown]

Allan, if it's not too personal or bold, it sounds as if you're near your rope's end with the city; what would it take to make you move? With the affordability of the inner-ring, what's keeping you from moving on?

[Jasoncw]

I wouldn't say that SW Detroit is the most intact neighborhood at all. I think there are plenty of more intact areas, and they're closer to where you need to commute. I don't know how expensive these areas are though, but I doubt sharing a rental house with someone would be mega expensive.

[wolverine]

^ Actually, its one of the most intact neighborhoods.

[RustTown]

It really is, and one of the very few actually gaining more residents than its loses. It's still very rough in places, all that said, if it even is densely occupied.

[Jasoncw]

I would say that the North East corner of the city is a lot more intact. Almost all of the houses are still there, there are nice local businesses, access to good schools, there is real shopping nearby. Nice parks, houses are generally maintained.

I mean, how good that neighborhood is is being determined by how many houses have been burned down recently. I'm not saying there aren't worthwhile qualities, or that people shouldn't live there, but I don't think it's the most intact neighborhood of Detroit.

[Allan]

Allan, if it's not too personal or bold, it sounds as if you're near your rope's end with the city; what would it take to make you move? With the affordability of the inner-ring, what's keeping you from moving on?

[Allan]

Jason, I'm specifically referring to the Michigan/Livernois area when I talk about the deterioration of my area. Most of the southwest side is thriving. Drive down W. Vernor. There are as many cars on W. Vernor as there were in the 1920s (although there are fewer pedestrians). The area of southwest Detroit by Woodmere Cemetery, for instance, is a very intact residential area. There are virtually no missing houses, and almost all of the houses are well maintained. Parts of southwest Detroit are probably the most dense areas we see today. Density-wise, I'd say it's on the same plane as Hamtramck.

[RustTown]

Thanks, Allan. As someone, even have lived in the city, I'd only been to the Southwest a few times as a kid. I took a drive through a year or two, ago, and couldn't believe how busy it was, like any other vibrant, ethnic hood in any other city. Sure, it's still a bit rough around the edges, but it's quite clear that it's a growing area, and, again, the only one that posted a significant population gain over the 1990's. Vernor is very comparable to Hamtramck in its feel.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Lmichigan

[hudkina]

The Vernor-Springwells neighborhood is the densest individual neighborhood in Detroit (over 15,000 ppsm), though the Far East Side has the highest overall density for any large area of Detroit. It has about 130,000 people in 13 sq. mi. (10,000 ppsm)

Vernor-Springwells is one of the few areas in the "inner-city" that is still mostly intact. Another area is the Dexter-Linwood area, but that neighborhood is much worse than Vernor-Springwells as far as social conditions are concerned.

[Jasoncw]

Thanks for the numbers Hudkina.

I'd also like to add that even though that area of SW Detroit is more dense, the NE side has always been less dense, and that it is not less dense because it is not intact, and that the intact area has a large area.

[hudkina]

Part of the reason it is the densest area of the city is that it has few large industrial areas, parks, cemetaries, etc. to bring the overall density down. Also, like you said most of the neighborhoods have few if any abandoned properties.

[JeffM]

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../708310414/1003

Welcome back the Lodge Freeway!

[Jim856796]

How come the Detroit City Airport is named "Coleman A. Young International Airport" if it ain't even up to international standards? The runways are too short, the terminals are inadequate, and it has no scheduled passenger airline service. Also, it's a boring airport.