I have used Maya for the first time today and I have experimented with using simple shapes to create a city street. This is the result of my first try: 
I have also learned some of the key shortcuts to made the modeling process faster. ALT + M1 rotates the scene. ALT + click wheel moves the scene around and the scroll wheel lets you zoom in and out. W lets you move an object, E lets you rotate an object and R lets you scale the object.