Graven (redrawing)

[kestrelgrey]

Haven't had a chance to work on mapping much or get on the forums, but this weekend I started redrawing my fictional city "Graven". Entirely. The map file is 11750px square, 1/4 the "final" size. Drawing everything in Illustrator (draw the island in Photoshop, converted it to a path, and imported it into AI); drawing in building lots - not individual buildings - instead of streets, but using a reference layer (basically a very rough composite created from various screenshots of Google Maps) to get sizes right. Don't have much done yet, of course. "Final" size is ~3.3' square, which is why I'm creating it in AI/vectors. No parks/natural areas yet, and that pink color is just so I can see what I'm doing. I'll change it to a more neutral color once I get most of the city done. Not sure how long it's going to take, but thought I'd start getting some feedback now before I get too deep into it.

First image is zoomed to 50%; 2nd is 6.25% zoom to show whole map.



Some notes about the city:
i) lots of canals instead of streets in several areas (not yet shown) because they use boats for personal transportation and delivery of larger goods; ii) most buildings are built very close together or right up next to each other, like in Old Florence; iii) many buildings near canals are actually built right up to - and sometimes hanging over - the canals so that boats can dock right at a water-side entrance; iv) the city was originally started by a group of witches & magicians, so that area (not yet shown) is a bit disorganized and buildings are stacked on top of each other with lots of 'streets' running underneath/through buildings so that area is going to have very narrow streets. And I have no idea how to show where streets run under/through buildings.

Any ideas on a good color to use for the buildings once I get more done, comments on the current 'layout', and suggestions for how to show streets running under/through buildings would be greatly appreciated. Anything, really. Thanks!