I have a hunch that, while there's lots of brilliant original neighborhoods out there (I mean, there's already a thread full of pictures of them), there's also a lot of Simmers who don't have the patience to build up their entire city from scratch, and instead go for improving the various neighborhoods that shipped with the game. So, for those of you who think your Pleasantview is more pleasant, your Strangetown stranger, or your Belladonna Cove... bella-i-er? (the pattern fell apart there), show us what you got! Have you transformed Three Lakes into a gorgeous mountaintop ski resort? Does Académie Le Tour look like a true Ivy League school in your game? Show off how you've one-upped Maxis in your game!


I'll start with what I've done with the standard Downtown- not much of a coherent theme to this neighborhood, but you can see how much more built up I've made it (and probably recognize a few of my skyscrapers in there ).

How did you make downtown not dark?

BTW, I have way too many of your lots in my game Zarathustra. My computer grunts at you! :D

You toggle the day-night switch in options.

Or press L on keyboard. Works in neighborhood View and lot view.

@Zarathustra
The only word that comes to mind right now is: WOW (pronounced W-O-W!).

Oh, come on guys! I'm glad you like mine, but I want to see some of YOUR Maxis neighborhoods too!

In another post I promised to post pictures of all four Maxis community lots in Veronaville, as they are in my game today. Although I've now been actively playing Veronaville for nearly 13 years, I have only made minor changes to them, so their general look and feel are very much as the good Maxis made them. I could have just just opened each of them in Build/Buy mode to take the pictures, but I thought it would be more fun to go and visit each of them in turn with a couple of my Sims. So a couple of boys, recently arrived in Veronaville, agreed to show us round.

Let me introduce the boys:

Stratford Strip

Stanley and Luca are just getting out of their taxi. The only noticeable addition outside here is a CC vending machine by pacotacoplayer that sells a very powerful energy drink, though there are also minor additions indoors. As Maxis made Veronaville this was the only place where you could by clothes. When they arrived Stanley and Luca hugged each other. This caused Luca to fall in love with Stanley, putting the seal on their relationship. This means at all five teenage boys living at 47 Stratford Street are now in love with each other! They didn't buy any clothes here, but Luca bought an energy drink from the slot machine, and Stanley grilled hamburgers, which they both ate.

5 Pentameter Parkway

Then they went on to 5 Pentameter Parkway, which has a small supermarket in an almost rural setting. The small kiosk building to the left sells magazines. Perhaps unusually for a Maxis community lot, there is no grill or other cooking facility at 5 Pentameter Parkway. The pactacoplayer vending machine I added inside the kiosk at least in part remedies this lack. I find it interesting to watch the way they all dutifully walk round by the paved paths round these big car parks. If I was there I'd be tempted to walk straight across the tarmac, especially as there are never any cars in the car park. Luca and Stanley stocked up on groceries in the main shop and bought a copy of the Highbrow Review in the kiosk, to satisfy their mutual interest in environmental politics. They then ordered a taxi to take them across the canal to the old Veronaville Market. By the time their taxi arrived it was beginning to get dark.

Veronaville Market

By the time they arrived at Veronaville Market, it was completely dark. This by far my favourite of the Maxis community lots. The others are all relatively modern with their tarmacked car parks, but Veronaville Market just oozes character and history. It clearly dates from the same era as the old half-timbered houses here. Andrew, who lives just across the road, has done some research into the Market for a school history project, tells me that the current building dates from the early seventeenth century (around 1610) the height of Veronaville's prosperity as a "wool town" but there was a medieval market on the site for several hundred years before that. During Veronaville's long decline, the building began to fall into a state of disrepair, and eventually the upper floor, which was originally used to store wool and other agricultural produce, collapsed as a result of an infestation by deathwatch beetle. There was some attempt to restore the building in the latter part on the 19th century, and the current walkway at first floor level was constructed in the 20th century. Clearly there have had to be some adaptations for modern life, but Andrew and I think it's nice to see the old building still functioning for its original purpose -- trade.

A year or two after I started to play, I added a single clothes rail and a changing booth to the Market. Stanley found it and decided, after trying it on, to buy himself a new, and extremely revealing swimsuit. He and Luca had woohoo in the changing booth, much to the amusement of the staff and other shoppers. Their original plan was to go on to the nearby lot at 431 Globe Street, but both Stanley and Luca were being "hygienically challenged", so instead they returned by taxi to their own side of the town, and went to the Swim Centre, to get showers. Of course it also gave Stanley the opportunity to show off his new swimwear, which, I regret to say, is too revealing to illustrate on a PG website! I'll spoiler the Swim Centre as it's not a Maxis lot.


431 Globe Street

431 Globe Street is the smallest of the Maxis community lots in Veronaville. Although it is built in the traditional Tudor style found throughout Eastside Veronaville, it is clearly a modern building, built to match the style of the old buildings nearby. The right hand end of the building contains a small shop selling magazines and games. Maxis must have expected this shop to get busy, as two tills are provided, meaning that two teenage cashiers appear to work them. The left hand end of the shop contains four pinball machines, though I didn't see anyone playing them during Stanley and Luca's visit. As at 5 Pentameter Parkway, there is no grill here, but again I have added a pacotacoplayer CC vending machine, so visiting playable Sims can still get sustenance. The boys went into the shop; would you like to follow them inside and see what was going on there?


From 431 Globe Street Stanley and Luca took yet another taxi home to their little shared house beside the Swim Centre.

Personally I quite like these lots, but I suppose I've had plenty of time to get to know them. I really love Veronaville Market for reasons described above. I can't understand why anyone would dislike such an interesting old building. But I also quite like Stratford Strip, which I believe is older than 5 Pentameter Parkway and 431 Globe Street. (I think it may have been built in the 1920s or '30s). In the early days of my game it was the only place where my Sims could buy clothes, so visits there were frequent. Andrew and his mum have always liked buying new clothes! Even on this trip it's the place where Luca fell in love with Stanley, so it will probably always have pleasant associations in his mind. I'm not quite so keen on the smaller modern lots with their big car parks, but they're still OK; most Westside Veronavillians do their regular shopping at 5 Pentameter Parkway.

Finally I must thank Stanley and Luca for helping me create this post.