Building The City

[12th Doctor]

I'll call VI.  My idea for VI is that it sits at a crossroads for the city as a kind of "second business district" where a number of wealthy merchants and such live in a combination of modest mansions and townhouses, next to their businesses, or at least transportation to their businesses, if they happen to be downtown or in the manufacturing districts.  Does that mesh with your conception?

[12th Doctor]

For the most part, though, no too many uber-wealthy people live in VI... based on my conception... but many many people of considerable means.

[12th Doctor]

... Waiting for confirmation, Al.  If it meets will your approval, I'll have something drawn up quickly.

[Sibboleth]

I'll call VI.  My idea for VI is that it sits at a crossroads for the city as a kind of "second business district" where a number of wealthy merchants and such live in a combination of modest mansions and townhouses, next to their businesses, or at least transportation to their businesses, if they happen to be downtown or in the manufacturing districts.  Does that mesh with your conception?

Yeah, having it as an early (ie; late 19th century) "villa suburb" makes a great deal of sense. Good idea.

[Hashemite]

Still fighting over whether to take XIII and I... both are appealing!

[12th Doctor]

VI - North Liberty

Most residents, if asked to identify the city's second downtown, would immediately point to North Liberty.  This neighborhood, which sits on an area of relatively flat land between the industrial lowlands, and residential highlands serves as meeting point for many of the main transit arteries of the city, and a central hub for the surrounding neighborhoods, both upper and lower class.

Here, expensive boutiques share storefronts with common shops, and people of all financial means shop side-by-side in the bustling business district, while sharing street cars to their jobs and homes.



This is a far cry from what you would have seen just a century ago.  In the 1850's, most of this land was taken up by the cow pastures that give it it's name ("Liberty" being an old term for a plot of commonly-held grazing land).  As small village existed at a cross roads in the area.  This began to change, however, when two of those cross roads were turned into turnpikes, and the sleepy area outside of the city controlled access within.  Inns and small stores popped up at the junction, followed by homes, department stores, and other developments.  The turnpikes were dissolved in 1899, but by then the small village was a booming center of commerce; which was then annexed by the city in 1908 (still a sore spot with some of the old time residents).

This history of late development has lent to the neighborhood's wide, sweeping streets, and relatively uncongested appearance.

St. George Parish, a beautiful, ornate church, rivaling the Cathedral itself, is a symbol of the community and source of local pride.

A few of the cities great financial and industrial kings own significant estates in the neighborhood, but for the most part, much of the housing is densely packed, though decidedly upper-scale row housing for the merchants who own businesses in the area.

Like much of the city, North Liberty was damaged during the war.  And though recovery was swift, the opportunity given by newly available land, the slow advance of urban decay, and the designs of urban planners leave the future of this neighborhood uncertain.

--------------------------------------

On a side note, I based this neighborhood almost entire off of the neighborhood of East Liberty in Pittsburgh, which is a couple blocks from my apartment and was itself a victim of urban renewal, 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Liberty_%28Pittsburgh%29

[afleitch]

We'll as we're being local This area is based on places like Ayr and Helensburgh

VII - Culzeansands (pronounced 'Cuh-ley-an Sands')

This area was once a former fishing village nestled in sand dunes. It was swallowed up by the mid-19th century expansion of the urban area and with it came the construction of grand Georgian and Victorian sandstone terraces and smaller townhouses. While the area, through choice, did not become a 'kiss me quick' summer resort, it still maintains a healthy seasonable tourist trade. It's houses are well kept and expensive. It's inhabitants are outward looking, at least to those on middle class 'jollies' from the city and elsewhere. It remained an independent burgh until local authority re-organisation in 1927

Culzeansands is home to a summer arts and cultural fair 'The Flibbertygibbert' on The Sands and is home to the regionally famous Princes Theatre and the Maritime Museum. A coastal tram operates in the area connecting with transport services further south. The sand dunes are very popular with ramblers and bird spotters.

Politics; Centre-right/ European liberal

Local areas; St Andrew's, Muckle Ferry, Zelburgh, Kirklachlan, Trondwick

[Sibboleth]

Still fighting over whether to take XIII and I... both are appealing!

You can do both if you want

Btw, if you want some examples of British civic architecture (which you'll need if you're doing I) then I can find a lot very quickly. There's a lot of variety as cities sort of competed against each other for the fanciest town hall in the second half of the 19th century. Actually, I'll send a few now. Though the name of I is probably very dull - maybe just City or something like that - feel free to choose a French name for XIII; there was a fashion for French stuff with early suburban developers. And the translations were often very bad.

[afleitch]

Glasgow City Chamber ftw on that one I was there at the weekend; i'll need to upload pictures.

[Sibboleth]

Glasgow City Chamber ftw on that one I was there at the weekend; i'll need to upload pictures.

True (and I forgot about that one in the PM I sent him - must have been distracted by the self-loving horror that is Cardiff City Hall ).

[Hashemite]

Well, if I can take both, I'll happily do so!

[Sibboleth]

Well, if I can take both, I'll happily do so!

Indeed you can, indeed you can.

[Χahar]

I want one. But I don't know which.

[Bacon King]

I'd love to do this, I'm just afraid I don't know that much about culture/politics/society in the time period in question.

Oh, don't worry about that. I know more about it than is exactly healthy, and the same goes for a couple of other people. And all will happily share information, I'm sure.

I suppose, honestly, I'd love to have a general tutorial over everything if that's at all possible.

[London Man]

I'll take XX, please.

[Sibboleth]

Bump!

[Smid]

For VIII, I'm thinking it's probably sort of two in one. The half to three-quarters closest the city is upper-middle class, professionals who work in the city, are quite well off but can't afford to live in VII, and therefore live slightly further out, commuting daily. The outer half/quarter is more recent development, still middle to upper-middle class, but been built more recently and more resembles suburbia. The closer part is made up of larger older houses and is considered "leafy" (I assume you use the same adjective in the UK?).

Am I on the right track?

EDIT: I'm pretty sure this was my last post in the thread, so I'm going to develop VIII here, rather than a new post later which is going to be after your later post on the various city wards.

VIII - St Alban and Sunnybrae

The suburb of St Alban to the north of Stovesby Centre was initially settled by industrialists and bankers in a period of Stovesby's rapid growth during the Industrial Revolution. St Alban has always been considered attractive due to its nearness to the city. Many of the homes date from the late-Victorian era, and the tree-lined streets are still desirable.

In more recent years, wealthier citizens have moved to the costal suburbs to the west, however St Alban has remained an upper-middle to upper class suburb. Most residents are professionals in financial and legal fields, who work in the city.

St Alban is well-serviced by public transport, with an extensive light rail/tram network from the city centre running up most major roads.

Further out from St Alban, the middle- to upper-middle class suburb of Sunnybrae has recently been developed. Only two of the tram routes servicing St Alban currently service Sunnybrae, and few residents can rely on public transport to get to work. Improvement of public transportation has been a hot-button issue in Sunnybrae, and the last council election saw a popular (albeit losing) independent running a single-issue campaign on the expansion of the tram network in the area.


Photo: Davis Avenue, St Alban, is a fairly typical street in this leafy suburb. Photo courtesy of Google Earth.

[Sibboleth]

For VIII, I'm thinking it's probably sort of two in one. The half to three-quarters closest the city is upper-middle class, professionals who work in the city, are quite well off but can't afford to live in VII, and therefore live slightly further out, commuting daily. The outer half/quarter is more recent development, still middle to upper-middle class, but been built more recently and more resembles suburbia. The closer part is made up of larger older houses and is considered "leafy" (I assume you use the same adjective in the UK?).

Am I on the right track?

Yes, I think you certainly are.

[Hashemite]

XIII: Saint Michael

Saint Michael was originally sparsely populated farmland, with Saint Michael being the name given to a small coastal hamlet whose economic survival depended on farming. Like adjacent Culzeansands, this farming economy was overrun by urban growth and some grand Georgian and Victorian terraces and smaller townhouses were built along the coastal cliffs.



Growth inland was much slower, and it only started becoming a suburban area after World War II, with the construction of the city's small airport. As opposed to the very affluent coastal areas of the district, areas inland tend to be more middle-class and the townhouses are more modest. Compared to the coast, it has more of a suburbia feel to it.

Most people in the district commute to work in the city, though some work at the small airport.

Saint Michael has been a traditionally right-wing area, though the left has some strength in poorer social housing parcels around the airport.

Areas: Stovesby-Saint Michael Airport Lands, La Côte, Old Saint Michael (both coastal), Stovesby West, Walsh Acres (inland areas)

I: Stovesby Centre

The Centre district is the core of the city, and is home to the city's main white-collar business district, the City Hall and the Cathedral. Although very active in daytime, the core has a relatively low population, because many of the people working in the district commute there.



The Centre is a relatively well-off middle-class area, though there has been development of cheaper public housing in some parts of the district. A considerable share of the population live in costly flats overlooking the small yacht's harbour (Old Harbour) and the seafront. The Old Harbour, which used to be the city's main harbour before the Industrial Revolution, is now an affluent promenade lined with cafes and popular with tourists.

Stovesby Centre is a right-wing area, due to its largely upper middle-class inhabitants.

Areas: Old Stovesby, Old Harbour, Cathedral Park, Royal Square (where the city hall et al is).

[Sibboleth]

Not sure if posh flats overlooking the old harbour is exactly "period", but the rest is good. And in parts excellent.

[Hashemite]

Not sure if posh flats overlooking the old harbour is exactly "period", but the rest is good. And in parts excellent.

Well, newer posh flats overlooking a recently transformed harbour (from old, small and early industrial harbour to a yacht/wealthy people's boats harbour with touristy areas), but I understand that may not be post-War fitting, and is possibly more 80s-90s.

Thanks, btw.

[Sibboleth]

Not sure if posh flats overlooking the old harbour is exactly "period", but the rest is good. And in parts excellent.

Well, newer posh flats overlooking a recently transformed harbour (from old, small and early industrial harbour to a yacht/wealthy people's boats harbour with touristy areas), but I understand that may not be post-War fitting, and is possibly more 80s-90s.

Thanks, btw.

Yeah, it's something that'll probably happen at some point if the game gets that far. I'll be doing a few other districts when I get back from my work in a few hours, btw. If we can crack on now, we might be close to starting next week or so.

[London Man]

XX: Willow Tree

Once the grounds of a rather wealthy abbey (before it was demolished in a religious upheaval), the 1930s saw Willow Tree become the scene of a large council estate.

This estate, consisting of rather uniform terraced houses with individual gardens, small parades of shops every so often and a fair number of allotments, is basically an area that took a lot of emigrants from St. Jude's and other such areas before and after the war. Much of its population commute into the centre of the city on a daily basis as local leisure facilities are somewhat spartan- the local swimming pool, the Willow Tree Pool, is an outdoor pool not considered for the faint-hearted in winter. The libraries are good though.

A small local tram network, originally used in the building of the estate, is still in operation, although is in dire need of an upgrade.



Areas: Willow Tree, Marringtree, Four Princes, Oldbridge, Sutton Hill, Deepchurch and Pine Tree.

[Sibboleth]

II: Low Town

Hemmed in between the sea wall, the northern railway line and the cliffs, Low Town has the unenviable reputation of being the worst slum in Stovesby outside the St Jude's district. Low Town was largely constructed in the first half of the 19th century - while an area to the west of the industrial districts might seem an unlikely place for a slum, the unhealthy, marshland of the area and the then constant threat of flooding explains a great deal. Low Town is dominated by gloomy courts and (towards the east) grim Scottish-style tenements, employment is largely unskilled and death rates are abnormally high. The area was devastated by bombing during the War and its population has halved since 1931 - despite this, the area remains overcrowded. Politically, Low Town was a paradoxical Conservative stronghold until the mid '30's; the large Irish population voted for them in municipal elections because of the education issue, the rest of the population because of jingoism, the promise of Social Imperalism and anti-Irish sentiment. Extreme residential segregation made it surprisingly easy to build a successful electoral coalition from apparently opposing elements. In part due to their reputation as a party of the Trade Unions and the better off Working Class, the Socialists polled poorly in Low Town until radical housing and slum clearance plans became a staple of their election literature. Since the mid '30's Low Town has voted strongly Socialist, though turnouts are low.

[Sibboleth]

IX: Isaacstown

Isaacstown is a classic, almost streotypical, example of a traditional Working Class district. It is largely made up of row upon row of terraced housing, includes Fineeg Park (the home of Stovesby AFC), large numbers of factories, a small steelworks and much of the waterfront of the inner docks. A traditional stronghold of Trade Unionism, Isaacstown was the Socialists first stronghold in Stovesby and remains one of the Party's strongest districts. Longterm concerns exist about the future of the steelworks, but this is, in general, not an area with many social problems.