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Copy Clerk  Posts: 102 Joined: 14 Apr 2008     | |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 515 Joined: 23 May 2008   | I would pick a warmer climate something a bit more stable and at the base of a mountain, which the mountains sole purpose is to train military and police forces (higher altitudes provides superior respiratory function when they leave the area) It would HAVE to be near a large river, if not I'm sure we could make one nearby. Otherwise it is very similar to yours. |
On the Record  Posts: 6071 Joined: 25 Jan 2008     | I've always dreamed of designing a city on an artificial gridwork. A grid section would be say whatever 1 city block would measure, perfectly square. Roads between the grid squares would be the foundation of the whole design. Under the road would run all amenities (power, water, fiberoptic cable), and an underground road underneath that, for service access to fix any problems. Each road intersection would also be a junction for the amenities running below, each junction would connect to the four quarter-grids diagonal to the junction. Thus you could simply turn on and off a quarter of a city block without interrupting service elsewhere, and failure in one junction would only affect 1/4 of four different grids. With the grid BEING a grid in design, the downed junction wouldn't block anything else because service would just re-route around the down unit. Just a crazy idea I had. Oh, and the laws of my city would include idiots not being allowed to breed or drive... And no smoking. And no Telemarketing. And no churches, etc... |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2659 Joined: 4 Nov 2007    |
Ahhhh, a square shaped utopia... |
On the Record  Posts: 5965 Joined: 7 Feb 2008    | Um... Alberta weather is EVIL dude, winter almost requires NG heating to be comfortable. |
Beat Writer  Posts: 127 Joined: 8 May 2008 | Low environmental impact you say? |
On the Record Posts: 6071 Joined: 25 Jan 2008 |
Damn straight! Things are better when stackable, sortable, and easy to file. |
On the Record  Posts: 7316 Joined: 23 Dec 2007   | I forward the motion to name it "Awesometopia". |
Time Lord  Posts: 9962 Joined: 13 Feb 2008    | And make the gender ratio just favour the girls. |
On the Record Posts: 7316 Joined: 23 Dec 2007 | Such as men/women 4:5, or greater than that? |
Time Lord Posts: 9962 Joined: 13 Feb 2008 | Sounds good enough, just to all give us someone to hug. |
On the Record Posts: 6071 Joined: 25 Jan 2008 | And grope. Can this city be located near a big lake? I want to get a Seadoo some day. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2108 Joined: 13 Dec 2007 | Sounds like Khell's been playing too much Sim City. As I child I always envisioned having my own tropical island and being empress. It had one city with tall gleaming glass and crystal towers, and the rest of it was little huts and such. There'd be no money, just trade. There'd be a screening process to get onto the island, in which you'd have to prove to me that you're a nice person who's willing to be loyal and law abiding. Any crimes committed would get you in front of an open court, where everyone would decide what would happen to the person, the most common to be kicked off the island. I would have the power to veto any decision though. I imagined everyone wearing lose flowy clothing and there being lots of street musicians and gardens, as well as a massive jungle. And there I could live my life, running the nation and choosing my successor... It'd basically be a hippie haven, really. |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 109 Joined: 23 Jan 2008  | I'm way too much of a misanthropic bastard for this to work but since we're brainstorming... A disused prison complex in a temperate zone would be good for size and defense (if that's a factor) Cover the roof with solar panels and wind turbines. Turn the internal open spaces (excercise yard etc.) into allotments to grow food and pot, selling the surplus of both to outsiders. Highly armed, highly educated democracy with emphasis on the rights of the individual: all issues are researched and voted on, with an individual's vote weighted by length of time in the community, and degree of contribution. The twofold advantage of allowing people to dictate their level of participation in the system, and that political corruption would be futile as the degree of effort involved would go almost as far if invested in increasing the weight of your own vote through honest means. Thermal insulation to reduce the necessity for energy use on climate control. Work rotas based on the needs of the community and the skill pool available: No work & No money? No access to goods and services. I know it sounds harsh but probably the only way to keep mooching hippies out. |
BANNED  Posts: 5167 Joined: 26 Feb 2008  | Don't really care what the rest of the town does or looks like as long as those stupid kids stay off of my Missile Farm... Khell's idea is best besides that, though... User was banned for: Ipod Saves Girl's Life. (Permanent) |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3633 Joined: 3 Apr 2008     | can the lake be in the shape of Pacman, his eye being an Island where i can live |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3664 Joined: 21 Jan 2008   |
I've read enough Orwell and Huxley to know that there is no utopia. Humanity will always muck it up. But, Khell, a good idea never-the-less. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2770 Joined: 13 Feb 2008  | Ocean City. Big walled floating thing. Instead of conditional laws such as DUI's and the like, we have a dumbass-alyzer. It's a hat with a paddle on it, and when it senses one of several things - being a dumbass, if you are too stupid to handle driving, breeding etc - It smacks you in the face and says "DUMBASS" I also second the space station idea. |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 121 Joined: 10 May 2008 | Hmmm... Aidonia- Capital of the Aidonic Empire The glorious metropolis of Aidonia was founded in 2037 after WWIII in the ruins of St.Louis. Through the strong will of our great Emperor the Empire quickly became influential in not only the what was left of the United States, but once it captured sea ports in California and Washington it became a world power as well. Aidonia became a center of trade itself because of its prime location on the Mississippi River. Most of this wealth however has gone into the chests of the Empire and corrupt merchant men. The Glorious Emperor choses to remain aloof inside the Imperial Palace only meeting with his handpicked advisers and issuing edicts when necessary. The wide-spread poverty among the lower classes in the Empire has lead to several large slums in the city. The police force is the best equipped and organized in the Empire. Whenever their is even rumor of dissent it quickly followed up on. When riots break out over food shortages or taxes they organize massive crackdowns shutting down traffic and communication in and out of the city. The largest riot ever, the Winter Wheat Riot of 2043, ended in the death or execution of more than 15,000 citizens. |
Paperboy Posts: 39 Joined: 10 Feb 2008  | Me, I'd go with the basic feudal manor system until we reach 1000 people, then build a bank and switch to a capitalist democracy, with the original feudal lords becoming an independent judiciary and law enforcement system. At 10,000 people, raise an army to deal with foreign threats and resource acquisition, and put a civilian leader elected by a weighted sample of the general population (determined by geographic location and population distribution) in charge of them. Anything other than those general principles, I'll leave up to the people to decide what's best, especially the right of succession for all official duties. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 2659 Joined: 4 Nov 2007 |
That goes without saying. Of course, you shouldn't believe something just because it's in a novel; even a good novel. |
On the Record Posts: 7316 Joined: 23 Dec 2007 | I want to live in a Combine Citadel-esque building minus the malevolence and can fold into the shape of a 12-meter tall cubist pop-bottle for security. And it has adaptive camouflage on the exterior so it can be any colour. I want to be neighbours with Khell and Mobuis, and Stompy & PurpleRain live across the street. |
On the Record  Posts: 5674 Joined: 2 Dec 2007   |
"Keep it down ya bloody kids!" (Shakes fist) My ultimate city would be a run down destroyed necropolis where the last human survivors have to fight for their lives against giant rats, mutants and zombies. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1780 Joined: 29 Dec 2007     | Me and my friends actually planned one out once. It would be a floating "island" starting off small. Just enough for two or three little huts. Then, it would just grow as time went on. It would be built out of empty soda bottles and bamboo to connect them. Dirt would be put on top, and smallish trees and plants would be grown. It was inspired by some guy who made a floating island for himself out of some absurdly large amount of soda bottles (I think somewhere in the area of 2 million or something. Could be way off.). Also, something like Rapture was a thought I had, only instead of failing miserably, make sure it doesn't. That's the tricky part I think. Plus, whereas Rapture was just the buildings surrounded by ocean and connected by tubes, put all the buildings beneath a dome which is just a bunch of TV screens that display whatever the sky looks like via a camera somewhere facing up. Include some grassy areas to sit and work or talk, some little rivers that run in circles, I think it would be nice. It could be powered by currents under the water, and food could be grown there. It would be completely self-contained and once you were there, you couldn't just leave. Have regular submarines (or whatever could survive the depths) go up to the surface and swap people who no longer want to live down there, or who want a little vacation to see people. |
On the Record Posts: 6071 Joined: 25 Jan 2008 | In the end, it doesn't matter how the city is laid out, as long as we learn some lessons from cities that fail so poorly. -Don't build on a fault line (San Fransisco) Now as to zoning codes, would a stonewalled Keep be too much? And if it isn't, what about my moat? ------------ Loosely related story (loosely related like George W is loosely related to a chimpanzee)... IF I ever got rich... Bill Gates, Warren Buffet rich, I always planned to have a castle or keep built in south end Edmonton, complete with a moat, drawbridge (garage-door opener operated), and the world's most extravagant kitchen. I want a live-in cook who is specifically trained in cooking all my favorite items from all the fast food chains I like. Literally, he or she would train at a normal McDonalds on exactly how to cook the fries and McNuggets, then moved to an A&W on fries and hotdog techniques for their chain, off to Arby's where he will learn Fries, Curly Fries, Chicken Fingers, and Mozza Sticks... The kitchen would have all the required machinery to produce my food exactly as it would be in the specific restaurant (sans the spit in the food or unwashed hands). On site, a minimum supply would be kept of all required ingredients, and a contract with the local real restaurants to supply as needed. The chef would be on call 24/7, but only at-station during meal hours, free to do whatever on off-times but must come when called. The whole point of having all that? I come home, decide I want an A&W hotdog, some Arbys Mozza sticks, Burger King fries, and some NewyorkFries cheese sauce to dip it in, and I GET IT. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2486 Joined: 29 Nov 2007   | First dude who whips out a conch shell gets it. |
Press Junketeer  Posts: 352 Joined: 23 Apr 2008   | As a car guy first and gamer/computer nerd/audiophile second through fourth in... some order (not that I care, I know what's first, that's what counts) I say whatever city anyone wants to design, throw in this street design: no street signal lights, no stop signs, and no roundabouts. Insanity, you say? No, just not fully explain yet. In my area, we have far to many railroad tracks. Some genius a while back decided that while rebuilding the roads, make the road an underpass and the railroad track an overpass. I say this should be done at every major intersection in this Utopian paradise we're looking to design (with gentle flowing curves to get from one road to another should you wish to turn). As for the further insanity of no lights or stop signs, I call for the underused "yield sign". No one's coming your way when you go to turn? Just keep going. That's bound to boost fuel efficiency, or, if we go all electric (Tesla! Woo!), extend your battery range because you're not slowing/stopping/accelerating back to speed over and over and over... Okay, that might not work with the barge-based country proposed by meatloaf231 (and, some time back, Dogbert), but so long as I can get where I'm going with a minimum of delay, I'll be a happy camper. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1780 Joined: 29 Dec 2007 |
You would have very unhappy arteries. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3633 Joined: 3 Apr 2008 | I'n the centre of the city around where all the important peoples houses there will be how's about that? =) Edit: Whoops can't forget Ultrajoe |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3633 Joined: 3 Apr 2008 | Plus i can Blow my Conch Shell all day long on my Island and it will serve as city wide announcements that another great game has been released I just gotta blow the dust off my MGS4 conch someday |
On the Record Posts: 6071 Joined: 25 Jan 2008 |
Not sayin I'd eat that way every day, I'd have a real kitchen too, but what's the point of being filthy rich if you can't get an A&W hotdog without leaving your house? |
On the Record Posts: 7316 Joined: 23 Dec 2007 | Construction layout plans? Look up "Amsterdam", then go on a nice trip though Nelson, BC. That's right, a nice little high-density oldy-type city on a hill with lots of |
On the Record Posts: 6071 Joined: 25 Jan 2008 | With regards to a city design, if done right, and done in Alberta Canada, here's another possible idea... I always wanted to live in a place where instead of roads, there was waterways (live Venice), but the waterways being entirely artificial, formed from concrete like a swimming pool, so houses would really be on dry land and people could still have backyards. Divert the North Saskatchewan river (plus put a filtering station before the river hits the first "street"), and use the natural flow from the river to supply the water. Seadoos and small motorboats instead of cars, Huzzah! As to why Alberta, winter time hits, it becomes a frozen pathway and seadoos get put away in favor of snowmobiles. |
On the Record Posts: 7316 Joined: 23 Dec 2007 | Yeah... Venice... (enchanted sigh of delight) |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 872 Joined: 4 Dec 2007    | 2 words :vostok station |
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I've always been interested in the idea of designing a community from the ground up based on principles like having a low environmental footprint, using solar and wind power, and other things like that. I've always thought that actually consciously planning a community rather than having them form and be inefficient as they are now would be an interesting way to do things.
So, I've started a thread. Let's hear what your ideal community, started from scratch, would be like.
Mine would be built someplace similar in climate to Alberta, I guess. I'd like the area to be farther from the rural and urban sprawl of Alberta though. It would be built somewhere windy, with a swift river. Preferably hot-springs as well. I'd rely on solar and hydro-electic power during the spring, summer, and autumn months and wind power year round. Excess power would be gathered during the summer months and used year round with large batteries. As well, power and heating would also be provided geo-thermally.
All vehicles would be required to be completely electric as all roadways would be underground and thus ventilation would be easier to manage without the emitions from internal combustion engines.
We'd import food, just like everyone else, but we'd also have some larger outdoor farms with a number of indoor greenhouse type farms.
Housing construction would be specialized to prevent heat transfer so they would be easier/less resource intensive to heat/cool. They'd probably look pretty uniform, as well. I picture the whole community as looking almost like what you'd picture a science fiction style colony on mars or the moon to look like. Anyway, I'm a little tired, going to go to bed, so my idea isn't really described as cohesively as I'd like but hopefully you get the picture. I wonder how many people would be required, using today's available technology, to create a self-sufficient colony like I have imagined. I'm sure the financial resources required would be phenomenal.
Anyway, what is everyone elses colony like?