Republic of Herwood

[Masi]

Hello there.

Let me first tell you a little bit about myself. I've been playing SC4 since its release, more or less frequently anyways... At the end of 2012 I found CAM and NAM and got into playing again with these mods and loads of other added content.  I've spend most of year 2013 on testing and learning how to use all this new content. I've been browsing these forums actively, although I haven't made a single post before this day .

I do believe now is right time to take next step on my learning process and start showing my work to others. I know I'm far away from being good at building cities but I hope I can get some opinions, feedback and critique of my work so I can learn and become better. But I think this is enough background about me. Let me present:

Republic of Herwood

This is a brand new Mayor Diary to celebrate the start of year 2014. The Republic of Herwood is completely fictional place, though the name Herwood actually comes from the nickname of my home neighborhood (many locals call it Herwood forest). The map isn't really that original, but there has always been something in the Three Rivers Region map that appeals to me. At first, we'll be focusing on southwestern corner (bottom left) of the map but I expect to be introducing more areas as time goes by.



Chapter 1

Part 1 - Introduction

First three local towns of Harrisburg, Riverbank and Wheatvale are located rather close to each other and are connected by a road following the two rivers in the area. Three different mayors with three different towns will lead to some interesting stories about different ways to develop cities. All of them are, of course, still relying on farming industry for jobs but there are different plans for each of the towns to grow.

Harrisburg

Harrisburg is the biggest of the three towns, located near the shores of Harrison Lake. It has currently 3490 inhabitants and it is growing rather quickly. The mayor, mr Henry Steel, is in his 50's and widely recognized to be a learned academic who values education and culture very highly. That is, of course, explanation to the fact that Harrisburg has enough funding for education system, library and even a museum. Since power plants and pumping stations are expensive to build, Harrisburg also supplies energy and water to the other two towns.


Here you can see overview of the town. Still rather small and concentrated on a small area, but rest assured. There are plans to grow the town into new areas.


This is just a little close up of the small town school that covers kindergarten and school years 1-6 and the town library.

Wheatvale

Wheatvale is the smallest community out of the three, located west from Harrisburg at the crossing of two rivers, Harrison Creek and Wheat Branch. Although it's small, it has long history and the church is 250 years old. It's a farming community of 1961 inhabitants with lots of farms and farmhouses. Everything thrives and dies with farm industry in this town. Mr John Jameson, who's the mayor, is known to be highly religious and old fashioned man. That is why religious buildings are/will be in great role in this town. Having already reached his 60's, mr Jameson isn't expected to make any drastic changes during his last years as a mayor.


Here's again an overview of the town area. You can see farms spreading on every direction and since many farm owners have more than 1 child, it's easy to expect more farms growing in the surrounding areas.


And here's the church, pretty much the center of the town.

Riverbank

Riverbank is located south from Harrisburg, on the banks of Harrisons Run, a quick streaming small river leading to Lake Harrison. There are 2693 happy inhabitants in Riverbank at the moment. Mrs Jenna Williams, aged 45, is the mayor here. She is propably the most "green" person you can ever imagine. Riverbank has many parks and grass areas, very little or no pollution at all and everyone in the town seems to say nature comes first


This is how Riverbank looks from high above. Hope to show you more next time, this is a nice area to start a new town.


Riverbank is still a small town, but it already has nice open area in the heart of the town. This is a good place to visit after a long day at work. In fact, there are plans to make the surrounding woods part of this park so maybe more paths and benches are already on their way?

Thanks for reading. I hope you the introduction.

[M4346]

This looks really good! And promising!

[rooker1]

This looks like a very interesting start. It's always nice to see new members starting an MD.

Robin

[Gugu3]

Interesting start!looking forward to seeing more

[MTT9]

Nice start! I look foward for more

[Shroud]

That map holds a lot of potential! I look forward to seeing where you take things.

[Jmouse]

Welcome to the exciting world of MDing, Masi. Getting started is the most difficult part, whether you're showing your work to the community or playing in the dim shadows of your room. So now that you have that part behind you, I wish you much success with your brave new venture.

[Masi]

Replies:

M4346: Thank you. Let's hope it continues to look like that

rooker1: Thanks Robin. You are actually one of the people who inspired me to start my own.

Gugu3: Thanks, hope you'll enjoy what I have to show this time.

MTT9: Thank you, I look forward to show you some more.

Shroud: Yes, indeed it does. I've already started 4-5 regions with this map from different locations but didn't really like where it progressed. But this time I have made better plans, so I think it'll work out.

Jmouse: Thank you. Getting started may be the most difficult part but taking breaks to manage your real life responsibilities doesn't come that far behind

Part 2 – Planning the Growth

While we have been away, the three mayors have had long hours and endless discussions with city councils about best ways to develop their towns. All have come up with plans for future, some more detailed and for longer time period than others. Some construction work has already been done, but the cities aren't identical in this aspect. Let's see what they have been up to.

Harrisburg

When there's a growing town with lots of demand for housing capacity, there's always something happening in the city. Before you can build houses you have to build the infrastructure aka roads, pipelines etc. There have been plans to build new housing on the western side of Harrisburg for some time and finally the construction has started. Once it is completed, it should provide housing for over 1500 new citizens.



Here you can see the area that is under construction. It actually is the western side, the pic has been taken from the north.



In this one you can see some hard working men wondering what to do next. Or perhaps they are taking a coffee break, can't really decide.



And here's the end result. Many new houses that look exactly like the existing ones. There is a rumor however that the architect company in town has hired a young and ambitious architect so perhaps we'll see something different in the future?

What you saw above isn't the only project in the town however. The local farmers own most of the land and have discovered a way to make some serious $$$. With high demand the lot prices go up as well, which means the farmers are willing to sell land and would like to see infrastructure being built also on this area southeast from the town center and by the river. So far the mayor has been against this idea and has been able to prevent it but growing number of council members support it because it would eventually bring quite a lot of tax income.



Shall we see this area developed in next update or can mayor Steel delay this project for another year or two? The only way for you to find out is to come back and check the next update.

Wheatvale

Meanwhile in Wheatvale we can see different approach. Some old farmhouses have been taken down and new more modern farms are being built in their place. Since the population is expected to remain fairly stable with just a modest increase, there hasn't been massive city planning just yet. However building new farms requires a lot of space, so the farmlands are expected to spread towards river banks in south and west side of the town.



Here you can see the planned expansion in farm lands. Yellow is the first phase and red is the second, which will happen in the near future.



Now you can see the new look of Wheatvale's farms. There's much more variety with the buildings and fields.



The park department, aka mr Smith who is the only worker, was also given funding to restore the old cementery to its former glory. Now it is green and alive again. Well at least the grass and trees are.

Riverbank

We haven't seen much growth in Riverbank yet but that should change in the near future. The central park expansion has been completed and planning of future projects is picking up speed. The city plans on expanding to the east (and bit to the south) towards the river. Unfortunately this process eats up almost all of the built farmland this city has at the moment, but fear not. There's plenty of good farming land just north from the town center along the road to Harrisburg.



Riverbank has big plans for the future. Business district will gradually grow inside the blue area and new residential areas will be built in the yellow area. And since we are in Riverbank, there's of course room for a new park area as well.



The old central park got its long awaited expansion and now it's bigger and better than ever before. Locals really love a walk here on a sunny Saturday afternoon after a long week at work.

[Gugu3]

Cool!always nice to see new developement

[FrankU]

Looks nice, and well thought.
Thank you for using my farms and lots!

[wallasey]

Great start. I like how you are taking a methodical and well considered approach to how you develop your region. I hope you have a long and successful career in MD-ing!

[Masi]

Replies:

Gugu3: Thanks. Here's even more development

FrankU: Thank you for making such a nice farms and lots .

Wallasey: Thank you, I hope The Republic of Herwood will continue for a long time.

Part 3 - Development Begins
It's been a while longer than I had hoped for, but here we are with a new update from Republic of Herwood. Apparently it can hinder your MD progress if you have loads of courses and a girlfriend who doesn't like you playing on a computer

Harrisburg
When we last heard from Harrisburg there was a new neighborhood being built for 1500 new inhabitants and Mr Steel was trying to delay an even bigger housing project. And he was doing that for a good reason, 1500 new inhabitants and not a single new office, shop or factory for them to work at. Not really an equation that works, is it? Luckily bigger workforce leads to development in business sector as well. Some new offices and shops have started up in the center of the town, though a few families had to move out from their homes to make way for larger offices.



Here can be seen some new commercial development around the main street.

Remember the area by the river that mayor Steel didn't want to get developed just yet? Here's how it looks like now, thanks to council election. 5 out of 9 councilors voted for construction of this area and 4 voted against it. That means the city of Harrisburg now has over 8000 citizens.



You can also see this new area of Harrisburg already has its education covered. Though a small one, it's still large enough for kindergarten and elementary students of this part of the city.



You'd think this one belongs to some company CEO or factory owner but actually the owner was a farmer just year ago. He just happened to own 60% of the land underneath these new houses so. He decided to leave farming for his son and retire to this large mansion and enjoy the profits he made.



Wheatvale
Wheatvale is still small, quiet farming community under the mayorship of Mr Jameson but the farms have spread like mushrooms all over the valley. That has also meant a slight increase in Wheatvales population, it now stands just over 4000.

Such an increase in the number of farms around the town also means there is bigger demand for workforce than ever before. That's why it is expected that Wheatvales population will reach 5000 mark in no time and people at the town hall are very busy trying to zone housing over farm fields. And to top all that, mayor Jameson is getting close to his 68th birthday, which is the age of retirement in Republic of Herwood.



Here is a view from the air. As you can see, the farms have spread pretty efficiently between the two rivers.



This kind of farm industry of course creates demand for all kinds of farming supplies and machines. That's why there's a special district in the city where all the farming shops are close by.

Riverbank
Mrs Williams has clear vision on how she wants the city of Riverbank to grow. Good planning ensures there's enough room to build sufficient parks to keep nature loving citizens happy and it also prevents unemployment in the city. There's loads of farmland just a bit north from the center of the city to employ those who are more industry oriented so Mrs Williams can focus on developing commercial district in the city. That suits very well for the mayor indeed, because this option tends to be non-polluting and friendly for the environment. This approach has seen Riverbank become a home for over 7000 people.

And since this city is known for its green areas, there was a separate planning group for the new park as well. They decided to hold an open competition about the design of the new park. They received over 50 pieces of design and the choice wasn't an easy one to make. In the end the winner came from Riverbank. A young and open minded architect, specialized on environmental building, submitted the best plan, which is slightly bigger than the original planned area for the park. The planning group and everyone else at the town hall hope that people of Riverbank will enjoy this new addition to their city.



This is the new park in Riverbank. There are reports saying people have spent whole Saturday there, having picnic lunch and dinner. On the north side it meets the business district and ends in large squares. Those palm trees aren't real btw, the park department got them for free from a local movie studio after some Caribbean based movie. There's a rumor that head gardeners cousins son in law was an unused extra in the film but no one has been able to confirm this yet...



Here are some of the new offices that have been built in Riverbank.

[Gugu3]

Looks nice apart from the maxis palm trees...sorry but i don't really like them...they look so fake
Nice job anyway
Cheers

[Masi]

Replies:

Gugu3: I definitely agree with you and have actually replaced the maxis plazas with better ones without palm trees. And as soon as I can find a decent street side tree mod I'm getting completely rid of those.

Part 4 – Heading for Better Tomorrow
In this weeks update we begin to see the bigger picture about the things that are in motion in Herwood. We shall lose one character and meet some new ones. I hope you like reading as much as I've liked writing this update

So far we have only been focusing on the three cities introduced in part one but there is, of course, a bigger picture. These three cities are all part of the South-Eastern Province of Herwood. Province has its own ruling council that makes important decisions about infrastructure on larger scale. For example main railroad and highway lines go through the provincial decision process because they need significant funding from the province, or even from the state. There has been a lot of talks between cities of Riverbank and Harrisburg about building a railway line between the two cities and while there has been no official confirmation from the province just yet, the government has shown green light to this project.



Here's actually the first plan drawn about the railroad connecting these two cities. There are of course more lines than this, but I don't want to reveal too much just yet.

Harrisburg
Harrisburg has been spreading like a muffin since we last visited and now has a population of over 15 000. There are 3 new areas under construction, but we won't visit them until next update. In this update we see the new architecture in the city, thanks to Architects Inc. which has brought new style to the city.



Now which one was mine again? We are actually interested in the red one on the middle because that is the house of Bergström family. A family of nordic immigrants who will play a part in the future of this MD.



This one on the bottom  is the Architecture Inc. office building, naturally designed by one of their own architects. Also notice the small restaurants and cafes on the top left corner.



Here we can see the Bank of Harrisburg. The low building is for the regular customers to deal with their daily stuff and the tall office building is for the insurance and investment people trying to make profit for the bank.


Wheatvale
We receive sad news from Wheatvale this week. Mayor Jameson unfortunately passed away just 2 months before his 68th birthday and retirement. He had already agreed with the preparations of the forthcoming election and also approved the new housing plan, which has already seen Wheatvales population reach 6500 and that number will continue to rise.

In the next update we shall see whether the new mayor is Nick Jameson (nephew of the late mayor Jameson), a farmer from southern side of Wheatvale, or Janice Smith, a businesswoman who lives in Wheatvale and works in Harrisburg. Mr. Jameson would be pretty similar than his uncle as a mayor, with high emphasis on religion and farming, although he might add some industry as well. Mrs. Smith on the other hand would like to see Wheatvale to rely on tourism and trade, meaning a heavy shift from industrial sector to commercial sector. Who would you like to see as the new Mayor?



Here we have the village of Upper Valley, home for 1500 people. These houses just seem to appear out of nowhere in the middle of farm land when there's such a high demand. There are approved plans to build such villages on 3 other locations as well.



After Mayor Jameson had been put to rest, the people of Wheatvale showed their gratitude towards their former mayor by unveiling this statue of him. It's placed close to the church Mr. Jameson loved so much and next to the only road leading to the city.

Riverbank
No matter how much you love environment, you have to realize that every city reaches the point where streets can't handle the traffic well enough. This is the case that has happened in Riverbank after the city reached 10 000 mark. The work has begun to widen the street network into roads and this is done with the local workforce so it boosts the economy quite a lot. It's planned to take 3 years to upgrade the entire street network.



You have to start somewhere, and these workers started from the main street of Riverbank.



In the meanwhile, mayor Williams has turned her attention to education and Riverbank now has a decent education system as well. This has been the motivation for many middle class families to move into Riverbank.

[benedict]

Another great update. I love all the details of the suburbs.

[threestooges]

Just read through this. Looks like it's off to a good start, and I'm looking to see more.
-Matt

[Gugu3]

Nice update!

[Masi]

Replies

benedict: Thanks! You won't be seeing any suburbs this time, but there should be some details. I will be back to our storyline soon enough.

threestooges: Thank you, I think there'll be plenty of updates to come from Herwood.

Gugu3: Thanks, hope you'll like this one as well

Part 5 – Distractions

Today we are getting a little sidetracked from the usual storyline because I haven't been able to spend too much time working on it recently. I've been playing around with this little project in the nearby mountain area and thought I could give you guys something to look at

Feel free to comment/suggest improvements. New ideas are always welcome.

But lets get to the point, shall we Allow me to introduce you The Herwood Timber Co. It has long traditions, it was established in 1868 and is the biggest timber&lumber company in the Republic of Herwood. This site was opened up recently and emplyos about 70-80 workers in total.

[benedict]

Fascinating new update, clever use of maps (?) lotting (?) to create the logging company surroundings.