Thundara:
VitruviusAIA is a modest fellow, as befits a member of the cherubim, and therefore cannot tell you that some of the finest examples of housing blocks are those of his own creation. I, however, am free to recommend to your attention the many superb blocks of his design that can be found in his thread called simply Housing Blocks. I am a particular fan of the block he shows in reply 42 to that thread. During the voting period of the Cleo Beauty Contest, I looked at a city (that later proved to be VAIA’s winning entry to the contest) and recognized the use of that block. I recall showing my (Pharaoh-playing) daughter that city and observing that if it was not VAIA’s entry, then somebody owed him an acknowledgment.
Excellent as it is, VAIA’s block in reply 42 is rather large and may not fit in the space you have available on your map. They may have been published in January of 2001, but if you’re cramped for space, one of SenetER’s three blocks (oldies but goodies, described in My new worker blocks) may suit your needs.
At the opposite extreme, you might have tons of space on your map for a block. In such a case, you might want to consider variations on Plebus’ L-block shown in reply 2 to his thread entitled 3 new speed record and 3 new blocks. As a student of walker behavior, I am a big fan of compound blocks built around a four-way intersection, but they are an advanced subject for which you need to know about shorting-out to be able to use safely. If you do choose to tinker with the designs Plebus gave us, please note that he was careful to keep the northernmost square of all of his non-redundant service-providing buildings within six squares of the four-way intersection in his L-block.
Although I have pointed you to a number of excellent published housing blocks, I want to encourage you not to slavishly duplicate them. Much of the pleasure to be gained from Pharaoh arises from city design: creating your own blocks. You’ll have more fun if you design your own block. Check out the block designs in the references cited above and that you can find by searching Pharaoh Heaven on the subject “block”, and then roll your own. I’ll bet you do just fine.StephAmon