Clueless Urban Planners: Desert Edition

The Geo Gang
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As 3 urban planners from Vancouver, a coastal, temperate urban paradise, we have absolutely no conception of the challenges of building a city in the desert, real or virtual. What better way to test our skills and knowledge than dropping ourselves in the dunes of Cities Skylines and developing a community from scratch. Join us on our journey for some hot asphalt roads and even hotter urban planning takes. Follow the original video series on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JXFTuxvILkY?feature=shared

  1. Jul 22

    Park And Riding Our Way To IMPROVED TRAFFIC FLOW! | Ep. 29

    Traffic flow is further improved with the opening of Stephen's offline park and ride center coinciding with an extended tram line. At Onyx's insistence, Stephen also replaces the second bridge to Nazca Heights with a tunnel, which turns out to be even more janky. With industrial demand now surging due to the sudden infusion of unskilled workers last episode, we build a second "temporary" industrial district deep into the county desert near the site of a potential future town. Video: https://youtu.be/6iSp582sV1c

  2. Jul 14

    Urban Planner Causes A SUPERNOVA In Our City! | Ep. 28

    Onyx builds an ill-advised road (both in theory and in practice), which causes an explosive supernova to occur near the university. Stephen unveils a new stacked interchange based on the infamous "Stack" interchange in Phoenix, Arizona. Industrial businesses continue to shutter due to a lack of sufficient labour force for operation. A "crappy neighbourhood" is hastily built in order to serve as a new housing district for the "uneducated" workers. Video: https://youtu.be/DGVCbGNBaWk

  3. May 27

    EMINENT DOMAIN Saves The Day | Ep. 27

    The relief east-west road is completed and immediately makes a positive impact on the city's traffic issues. Stephen gets his wish for another major north-south arterial road, albeit at the cost of recklessly bulldozing dozens of houses in the way. Aaron continues outfitting his namesake neighbourhood with rec facilities and a football field. He also moves the original town hall park out of the way to allow the city's main road to punch through all the way to the relief arterial. Video: https://youtu.be/VpaPUcZj3Es

  4. May 12

    Who Doesn't Love A GOLF COURSE? | Ep. 26

    Aaron and Onyx are in awe as Stephen unveils the result of offline blood, sweat, and tears: a new 9-hole country club golf course and driving range in the notionally gated community of Oasis Park. We build a new relief arterial road to take traffic pressure off the city's main east-west connector route. To aid this further, we also relocate the main postal sorting plant to the industrial district, because who wants noisy mail trucks roaring down your quiet residential street at 2am in the morning? Video: https://youtu.be/o3LCOcScy70

  5. Apr 14

    Our Education System Is A House Of Cards | Ep. 25

    In a "build and yap" session, the city deals with a dangerously below average school graduation rate, along with a severe shortage of students entering the university, with most of the population either already graduated from college or having skipped it entirely to enter the workforce. We attempt to downplay the situation by comparing the county to other locations in the US, but ultimately find that we are far worse off than anywhere else in the country. Video: https://youtu.be/pXc06-9SPd0

  6. Apr 2

    The Driver's Dilemma: To Park Or Not To Park | Ep. 24

    Confusion abounds regarding Onyx's intentions regarding the campus athletics facilities. Traffic conditions continue to deteriorate across the city, and Stephen explains Traffic Manager's Advanced Parking AI, which forces us to build additional multi-level parking garages in multiple neighbourhoods. Onyx also insists that Church's Texas Chicken is a Canadian company, despite the name. Video: https://youtu.be/ZA55uhqMTqk

  7. Mar 31

    Nothing Beats A NEW MANCHESTER Holiday! | Ep. 23

    Over 20 episodes in and we still have no catchy slogan for our region. We devote probably too much time brainstorming taglines with wildly mixed results, including Aaron reaching for ChatGPT for some "inspiration". Meanwhile, Stephen attempts to build a bridge across the highway to Nazca which Onyx immediately seizes to rebuild, only to make it worse. We also finally settle on a name for the county seat: New Manchester. Video: https://youtu.be/FBuakSSWdOo

  8. Mar 25

    Revitalizing The City Center! | Ep. 22

    Stephen and Onyx squabble over the location of the university's baseball park. The route alignment for the tram line is finalized. Aaron takes advantage of the glitchy disappearing businesses downtown and begins upzoning blocks for higher density development. The city's first shopping mall is constructed. We also discuss various "niche phases" of our lives, including our shared penny board phase and Aaron's harmonica years. Video: https://youtu.be/wh1aAfQ_1e8

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As 3 urban planners from Vancouver, a coastal, temperate urban paradise, we have absolutely no conception of the challenges of building a city in the desert, real or virtual. What better way to test our skills and knowledge than dropping ourselves in the dunes of Cities Skylines and developing a community from scratch. Join us on our journey for some hot asphalt roads and even hotter urban planning takes. Follow the original video series on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JXFTuxvILkY?feature=shared

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