A Passionate Hobby
One summer day in 2018, I had an Xbox and a free month of Game Pass, Xbox’s free game service, and I noticed a game: Cities Skylines. I took a look at it and found out it was a city simulator, where you can build your own roads, power grid, water infrastructure, buildings, public transit, and so much more. I figured I’d give it a shot on that cloudy day and since then, I’ve been hooked.
Since 2018, I have purposefully built a computer to play Cities Skylines, have continually upgraded my computer beyond comprehension (especially to my wallet, lol). With a computer, I unlocked greater control of my city building game, allowing for fine placement of everything, and the ability to mod the game. What started out as a fun game became an obsession; no longer when riding in the car did I look at my phone, I instead studied the road layouts, the street signs, the power lines, and any public transit I could see. I spend time continuously watching urban planning youtubers such as Not Just Bikes, City Planner Plays, Road Guy Rob, and Ray Delahanty (aka CityNerd), as well as many others.
I began learning about differing design techniques, such as road hierarchy (arterials, collectors, and local roads), interchanges and their benefits (efficiency and safety in Diverging Diamonds and Single Point Urban Interchanges), and other designs (the slope grade requirements for roads and trains).
I feel that it’s safe to say that I passionately enjoy learning about city planning, and masquerading as a hobbyist city planner with Cities Skylines. While it’s not completely life-like, I enjoy taking practical lessons in life and applying it in game. I also enjoy experimenting in my cities, often by designing a very American style city, then converting it into a walkable and bikeable city with plenty of public transit in key spots. If you want, check out some of my proudest city designs below!
