Covington - Update 61 "Chestnut Hills and South River Bend"

[dedgren]

Congratulations, JBSimio!



The MD Section Staff<sup>*

*</sup> Actually, Jon, it's just little old me filling in for Robin and Dustin.  The ribbons were a bit late arriving from the printer. -DE

[rooker1]

Jon, first you get the Best Rural MD Award and now this.
Congratulations my friend, very well deserving and I look forward to what you have in store for us this month.
Robin 

[Lilojame]

Hi there!

Congrats yet again!!!  It is wonderful to see you in OSITM!

Karin

[JBSimio]

Pat:  Thank you as always, my friend!  I rather expected you might be happy about the existence of this MD seeing as how you were one of those "aforementioned people" after all...

Matt:  Thank you!  The only reason I would really reconsider the style I use for the roads is for the sake of the closer pictures.  I think I could find a happy medium without impacting the region shots too much... but that would need some experimenting (which will be done in a different region!).  I'm pretty sure that both the houses you mentioned are from Mattb... I don't have the exact names at the moment, but I'll get back to you on that.

Bat:  Thank you very much on both counts!

Robin:  Thank you... I really do appreciate it!

Flyinbird:  Thank you!  Welcome to Covington!

Arthur:  Thank you as always!

Joan:  Thank you!  I have to admit that initially I wasn't all that happy with how Redhawk Ridge was turning out because of the wide variety of housing styles, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense and then the story line kind of grew from there.  As you said, rural may not have been my original idea, but I surely don't regret the way things have evolved either.

Paul:  Thank you so much!  We both seem to be very big fans of each other's MDs despite (or perhaps because of) their often different styles.  I'll be looking forward to seeing how your farming areas turn out and if you say I had even a small part in that, then I'm very flattered indeed.  There is a mini-description of how I make my maps in this thread somewhere, but I'll be happy to help more if you'd like.  I'm glad you enjoyed the update... and thank you again for all the various congratulations!

Pat:  Thank you!  It's quite a thrill to be here so soon again and also with some excellent company (once again on that note, too)!  You guys left some big shoes to fill in November, so we'll see if I can really hang or not! 

Adam:  Wow... thank you very much, sir!  I'm practically blushing beneath a shower of praises like that...

Dan:  Thank you!  I have very little direction in mind for this month... so I guess we'll both be surprised by what I come up with! 

David:  Thank you very much!  Even if it was a ribbon that brought you, I'm so pleased to finally see you here!  (Don't get me wrong... I'm thrilled about the ribbon too, but it almost pales in comparrison to a visit from the master!)

Robin:  Thank you again!  It's turning into quite a little run here, isn't it?

Karin:  Thank you!  Congratulations to you as well... with the likes of Rainbow Falls, Commonwealth of Marathon, and Lar's MD I have a feeling this section might be in for another big month.  I'll do my best to keep up...

Well, my goodness!  What in the world is going on around here lately?  This is all just wonderful and I'm really looking forward to the "extra motivation" that being in this category always seems to give.  This should coincide nicely with some plans that the city leaders in Covington already have...  Well, just take a look and I'll leave it to you to decide if this is all just a freaky coincidence or some sort of high level scheme which may ultimately result in a huge government coverup at the expense of a bunch of people who were never involved to begin with...

See you soon and thanks for reading!
JB

[Lilojame]

Thanks and let me say, that I am much honored to share a place wit you, Dustin and praiodan for this special month!

Haha, loved that newspaper!!! (darn, why didn't I remember that!  ). But seriously nicely written and with a lovely picture!

BTW. Did I already told you that I believe that you have a terrificly great MD here?

Till the next time,
Karin

[thundercrack83]

Wonderful newspaper, Jon! Absolutely wonderful!

And congratulations on being OSITM this month, too! As Karin said, it's an honor to share the month with you, my friend!

Dustin

[rooker1]

Awesome News Paper article.  I have to try my hand at one of those one of these days. 
Do I see some hidden agendas in there?  Anywas, what ever it is, I'll be around all month watching you closely my friend.

Robin 

[bat]

Nice newspaper there!

And congrats for your second OSITM-time!!!!!

[Jmouse]

Terrific job on the newspaper, Jon. It's going to be a great month in OSITM.

Later...
Joan

[Pat]

Jon in response to your replies, I know I was being humble and not saying anything at all but since you brought it out I am glad I kept hounding you to do a MD!!!! You have fantastic skills and a mad hatter skills at that, I cant wait to see what happens next exspecialy after this wonderful paper has hit the racks, turned out so well!!!!

[EDGE4194]

Hi Jon- I know I'm a little late getting caught up, but I wanted to congratulate you on the well-deserved reward.
Fantastic update and nice job on the paper!          

[flyinbird93]

congradulations on making special interest!  deffinatly a cj worth checking out thats for sure   cant wait for more!

[JBSimio]

Karin:  Thank you!  I am also very honored to be in such good company here this month!  I'm glad you liked the newspaper and the rest of this humble little diary.

Dustin:  Thank you!

Robin:  Thanks!  Hidden agendas?  Knowing the mayor the little that I do, I don't really think he's one for a lot of conspiracy... but then again, you just never know with politicians! 

Bat:  Thank you, my friend!

Joan:  Thank you!

Pat:  Thanks!  Sorry if I brought you a whole bunch of unwanted attention by calling you out, there... I'm sure the reporters will go away soon. 

Edge:  Thank you!

Flyinbird:  Thank you very much!

Alright... this update took a little longer than I had hoped.  The sad thing is that I had it ready a couple days ago, but then I decided it would be really fun to get ridiculously sick.  So I spent about 40 hours in bed except for some regularly scheduled desparate sprints for the bathroom.  Then I found out that my internet at home thought it would be fun to have some issues.  Needless to say, all this fun being had by so many different people really put a damper on the way I had planned for things to go!  (Moral of the story... don't EVER have any fun!  Wait... that just doesn't even sound right.  Maybe that's not the moral... I don't know.)  Anyway...

Update Time!!!

So, if you guessed that we would be headed out High Point Road to the southwest of downtown Covington today, then you guessed right.  (If you guessed somewhere else or didn't bother to guess at all, I wouldn't worry about it too much if I was you... most of this stuff is just based on my own personal whims anyway!)

23.1


Another look at the map shows that there has been a lot of development between High Point Road and I-85.  Wheaton Hills is another mostly low density working class neighborhood.  This area is bordered by all sorts of different things.  There are numerous commercial strips along High Point and Freeman Mill Roads with industry to the north and to the south.  The main railroad line to High Point and the interstate also manage to slice this neighborhood up in places.

23.2


You may remember when we were looking at Oak Park, that I mentioned a small strip of homes along I-85 that didn't technically belong to the neighborhood of Oak Park.  You don't remember that?  I don't blame you... it was quite a while ago.  I-85 came through here well after this area had been built up and literally cut right through Wheaton Hills.  You can actually see some of the old streets that were cut off from each other when the freeway was built.  The city did put up some rather pretty sound walls in an attempt to compensate for being so rude to those that called this area home, but I don't think people were all that impressed.

23.3


Moving west from the freeway just a little bit, you can see that Wheaton Hills actually shares some similar characteristics with Oak Park.  There are several long narrow parks scattered around the neighborhood.  The houses here have become much more mixed over time.  Oak Park, while not a protected historic area, retained many of its older homes than Wheaton Hills has managed to preserve.  This picture also shows most of the neighborhood's civic necessities... police and fire protection, plus a small library are all clustered together just north of the elementary school.

23.4


Speaking of schools, Wheaton High School is a newer addition to the neighborhood.  This complex was built around 1963 to ease the strain felt by several other city schools.  This is quickly becoming one of the busiest high schools in the city as more and more apartment complexes go up out this way.  (And, yes, I realize we're not seeing any of those today... you'll just have to trust me on this part!   )

23.5


Back to the housing stock of Wheaton Hills, you can see it really is a mixed bag.  There are a number of large mansions left over from times gone by.  Most of these stately homes used to sit secluded inside much larger tracts of land, but as the area grew, bits were sold and smaller houses of every style now sit alongside these past indications of Covington's railroading boom.

23.6


Moving to the west just between the main rail line and High Point road is an area that used to be an old warehousing district.  Many of these old buildings have now been converted into residential lofts.  Newer townhouses have also sprung up here in place of old parking lots. 

23.7


Just south of the old warehouse district shows that commercial development is also beginning to threaten parts of the neighborhood.  With High Point Road's traffic volume growing by leaps and bounds, many businesses are starting to opt for a slightly less expensive address just around the corner instead of fronting the main drag.  These intrustions haven't become overly common yet, but it is a newly developing trend that has some local residents concerned.

23.8


This picture shows just why businesses are looking for alternative locations.  High Point Road is starting to get a bit crowded.  Shops, offices, and restaraunts make a never ending line up and down the busy street.  (I know... it doesn't look very busy in this picture, does it?  Maybe I should install one of those handy traffic generators or something...)  You can also see as we move further from the city center that these various stores are getting newer and a fair bit larger.

23.9


And there you have it...

Thanks for reading!!!
JB

[Lilojame]

Hi Jon!

Mmmm, sweet, and update!  I have to say that I like all the pictures in there and I love the lines in between. Hm, I wouldn't take kindly if somebody would build a highway just behind my house either so I can relate to those Sims living there, but on other hand, the walls do look nice tho.
I have to say that I like the greens between the roads (pic 23.3). The neighborhood looks very neat. And those park-paths going around the various playgrounds on the next picture are well putted also. It looks much more real (at least to me) as if you would just put the playgrounds by the road.
So to make things short: you made another great update here, my friend!  Keep it up.

Have fun,
Karin

[nerdly_dood]

Not bad! I like how you've cut off the streets leaving them nowhere to go... I've seen a few examples of this in real life - it's not pretty. (At least in RL its not - your version doesn't look nearly as ugly ) I'd like to see the apartment buildings that you say are filling up your schools.

[Jmouse]

Good work on this update, Jon. I like the more open look of 23.3 - I've never liked houses so close together you could barely get a lawnmower between them. The Wheaton High School complex (23.4) is well done - the sports facilities work well there - and I like the school building, too.

The neighborhood in 23.5 is rather typical of "progress" seen all over the country. Guess it makes a certain amount of sense. What has never made sense to me is seeing a pretty, brand new brick house appear in a dilapidated neighborhood where peeling paint and dirt driveways are the norm.

23.6 just plain looks good! Love the eclectic mix, especially the pinkish-red-brick buildings. Overall, we have a nice down-home area that seems well established. It might even be safe to walk down those streets after dark! Wouldn't that be nice?

Later...
Joan

[bat]

Your pictures are great! And fantastic work on that part of your wonderful city; and nice region!

[flyinbird93]

wonderful update, i especially enjoyed your new school looks great!

[JBSimio]

Karin:  Thank you!  Unfortunately, there are countless places in the US where people had to deal with new interstates cutting through their backyard.  The small green ways between the streets was always one of my favorite features of Greensboro when I lived there and I've tried to mimic that here in a number of different places... I'm glad you like it!

Nerdly_dood:  Thanks!  The highway didn't cause quite as much damage here as it usually would, but I guess that's what "artistic license" is all about.    I wouldn't mind seeing that apartments either... but I'll need to build them first. 

Joan:  Thank you!  I'm glad you liked the schools... I figured it was about time I tried some that weren't my own!    I agree with your comment about 23.5... it is a strange thing to see, but it seems to happen all the time.  The pinkish buildings you like (which I really do too!) are the Ellsworth Lofts by Nofunk... they're on the STEX (sorry I don't have a link handy at the moment).  I think you'd be relatively safe here, although we're still fairly close to the industry and housing projects of the central city.  Maybe just a small can of pepper spray... just in case! 

Bat:  Thank you my friend!

Flyinbird:  Thanks!  The high school is actually one by Simgoober, in case you're curious.

It seems that the news just keeps pouring out of Covington lately... here's another headline I spotted today in the "Local" section:

Thanks for reading!!!
JB


Sorry about the little white box... didn't notice that until it was too late

[art128]

Splendid work on this "newspaper" Jon! 
The last update is also splendid too. 
continue this great work my friend,
Arthur