Stratford County

[gentle flax]

Taking inspiration from the Pacific Northwest, I am designing a large costal metropolis designed to be a state capital and it's surrounding county areas! I'm starting with some humble beginnings in the town of Glendale, a farming community nestled in the valley of the rocky mountains!

Glendale was founded with gold in mind! but when no gold was found in the early 1800s, the community discovered that the valley was full of rich soil that can be used as farm land! At the same time, the Northern Pacific Railway was plotting it's course, and the newly forming town of Glendale was right in the path of the new railway. With some agreements they decided to run the railway through the heart of the community, giving Glendale a divided North and Southern side of the town.

When automobiles became the main mode of transportation, the city remained a small community, especially when a new two way highway emerged through the area, connecting Glendale to the surrounding areas. This Highway was designated State Route 1 for it's east to west nature. It also gave a good divide in the community as they ran the highway through the existing town infrastructure by the railway, giving the town a unique downtown area.

Map: Volchoria by Damiancio

Anarchy
MoveIt
Extra Landscaping Tools
Tree Controller
Water Features
Plop The Growables
Population Rebalance```

[gentle flax]

Heading down the valley, once you have passed Glendale you come across the quaint smaller town of Stillwater Township. This town utilized all the city services from Glendale. Stillwater is only a small farming town, with a small bit of forestry with it as well, although that is technically part of Glendale's sphere of influence.

The most recent development for the county is the Glendale Bypass, This Bypass of St. Rt. 1 allows trucks and other thru traffic to divert around Glendale to improve traffic flow through the main roads, and improving noise complaint issues as well.

[gentle flax]

Continuing our journey down the valley, we hit the next major area which is the Stratford County Railyard and Industrial Park. This little area holds the railyard complex to supply trains for the county, and on the Northern Pacific Railway. An Industrial Park was developed using left over land when the area was originally developed to help supply some industrial jobs for Glendale as well as Eatonville (Which we will talk about in the next update)

[gentle flax]

And we have made it down the entire valley! We are entering into the suburbs of 1 of the two large cities in the county, Astoria. This is Eatonville, as well as Rockford (4th photo) These two suburbs are connected by the same Diamond Interchange and house a total population of the area of roughly 1500 to 2000.

Eatonville has been seeing exponential growth in the form of larger apartment complexes being developed along St. Rt. 1 (3rd photo reference), which at this point has split and become a "bypass" for Astoria. (5th Photo reference of Fly-over with Diamond Interchange)

This area of the Fly-Over and Diamond Interchange has been of concern for the local government as it is a high traffic area that always sees congestion. Especially since There's a major Diamond interchange with Astoria and Eatonville (not shown, but is just below Photo 3) This area will see major construction soon.

Rockford is an old small-town that became incorporated into the larger Astoria area, winding up and down the mountain side, and also has the main communication tower for Astoria

[compact dove]

Beautiful