Welcome to Holt District!

Holt District is my brand-new DD,and is also my second one. However, it is the first one I have published here at Simmania. In this journal we will follow the Region of Holt District through developments - both good and bad - and the pains on motorists as roads are widened and residents + businesses as utilities are tinkered with the allow for new developments.

We will see developments go from the planning phases, through construction all the way to the end process. Likewise, those of you who know of Windemere & Taschereau also know I like road construction. That, too will be part of this DD as when an area grows, so to do the demands on its road/transit network.

Holt District will vary from Windemere & Taschereau in that instead of me adding "new" cities throughout the course of the DD, the cities I start with are it. Any new cities that come up will be result of new developments, and the bureaucratic mess that goes with it. As mentioned, we will see developments go from a plan to finished product. While this is not true for all developments - that would get boring pretty quick we will see some major developments through the entire process, and on a variety of styles. (Suburban sprawl, urban skyscrapers, business parks, etc.)

Holt District has been in development for several months, since about later March/early April. It has been a long road to this point, and those who have been following my Innocent Posts will (hopefully) be excited to be here, just as I am. Now, before I begin today's update (Yay update 1!) I will go into a bit about the DD website, map and twitter feed. For information about the region of Holt District itself, check out the DD website!

Additional Media:
Additional media will play a very large roll in Holt District. Holt District (the DD) has a website (holtdistrict.weebly.com - link at the bottom of this post) which has some information about the region and general news that you won't generally get in an update. Sometimes a special post will be made to highlight something on the website, with feedback and discussion more than welcome here in the Holt District topic. Generally development proposals will be posted on the site, with discussion about them taking place here. The process of watching it go from plan to finished product will also take place here. It is only the "application", if you will, that is posted on the website.

Also, Holt District will have a streetmap. To be located at maps.holtdistrict.host22.com, it will be a streetmap (i.e. the elevated rail lines won't be on it.) This may change in the future as my abilities in this area improve. When this feature launches (it is currently only a welcome page) there will also be a regional transportation view available for more detail in other areas of transit - including EL-RAIL.

Lastly, Holt District Has twitter! Twitter will be used to let you know when updates will be coming out, random teasers and general "What I'm working on in the region today is..."

So with that... let's get onto the update. Again, welcome - to Holt District!





INTRODUCTION + RETAIL 'DILEMMA'

1.1 \ Shorecoast Shopping Centre is at the cross-roads of 2 major arterial roads in Manatee. Having grown over time with 2 additions and several renovations, the mall is now home to Hecht's, Sears, JCPenney and a large multiplex movie theatre. The mall is a major draw for residents of not only Manatee, but the entire region as it is the only enclosed shopping centre in the region.






1.2 \ Over time, the owner of the mall, Centurion Properties, Inc., developed portions of the massive parking lot into large office buildings. Several office building and even a department store exist on what was once pavement. When confronted with these proposals (over time) the city's council easily approved the developments, saying "It helps break up the pavement monster which is the Shorecoast parking lot, all while brining jobs to the area." Indeed, this building alone employs over 2 000 people.






1.3 \ Although the mall has a diverse clientele, and wise base where it draws customers from - its biggest return visitors and spenders are those who live right around the mall. This is one of the older sections of Manatee.






1.4 \ The food court benefits from a high school which is about a 10 minute walk away. The food court suring any of the lunches is packed - if you are a non-high school student you need to pick and choose when you go for lunch or a snack.






1.5 \ However, not all retail is booming. This Kmart store, which has been in this location for 35 years - and expanded several times - has been loosing business to the mall since it has opened. The mid-range department stores in the mall have stolen business away from Kmart, while an out-of-town Walmart has put the nail in the coffin. Rumours of its closing have been swirling for years, though no official confirmation from the company.






1.6 \ The only saving grace for this location is it is across the street from this minor league stadium, home to various local sports teams and the soccer and foorball teams from the highschool just down the street. Often, people will purchase snacks from Kmart, and on cool nights sales of blankets soar.






1.7 \ Another source of customers is the casino resort, Holt Casino & Resort. It is inevitable that travellers forget something, and with Kmart in walking distance several tourists enter the store each week. While this is not a steady source of income for the store, it is better than nothing.






1.8 \ However, Kmart's demise may now be more real than ever. Rumours are swirling that Walmart is in the process of purchasing the property from the land owner. The fact Kmart's lease is up in 11 months is doing nothing to help squash the rumour. Walmart previously tried to enter Manatee, 10 years ago, but their plan was rejected. Since this is already a retail site, chances any changes they make to the building would be approved. When their plan was rejected 10 years ago, they located 2 highway exits to the south in another town.






1.9 \ It is becoming increasingly likely that the residents of the luscious suburbs in and around Kmart
could soon be faced with the sound of construction vehicles for months.






That is all for today, the first update of Holt District! I hope for those who have been following its development it is everything you have been looking forward to. I am super excited about the prospects of this new DD, and I hope you will stay for the journey as things develop!




Next Update: We will be looking at some more of suburban Manatee and may just venture into its downtown core...

Welcome to another update of Holt District!

In today's update we are still in The City of Manatee, this time looking at its downtown core and the surrounding area. Its downtown is a mix of both new and old buildings, and a mix of high-rises, mid-rise and low-rise buildings. The downtown core starts at the edge of the Shorecrest Shopping Centre to the north, working its way down to one of the major throughfares in the city. The are surrounding downtown is a mix of suburban housing, retail, parkland, office space and government buildings.

Before I get to today's update, I would also like to mention that the Holt District street map is up, but only uses the default in-game look at present. It will be upgraded and updated as time goes on. And voting has closed on the "NORECREST" subdivision... details in a few updates.
Okay, now we can go on to the second update...



The Downtown Core + Cultural Park



2.1 | Manatee is not just a suburban sprawl nightmare. It does, in fact, have a large and bustling downtown core for a city of 120,000. The downtown core is where the majority of jobs in Manatee are located, though there are other concentrations of offices. In this photo we see the "core" of the core, the 4 largest buildings in the city. The empty strip of land of the top of the picture is rumoured to soon be for sale... for $10 million.






2.2 | Just south is another area downtown - Historic Manatee. As you can see, the area is made up of several mid-rise and low-rise buildings which range from very new to protected architecture-age. The city enacted legislation several years ago that protected this area from large-scale redevelopments. In addition to offices, this area houses several residences and as such the height-limit is lower in this portion of the city. While the legislation itself is solid, redevelopment does still occur. A history housing block was torn down, and 2 new, large-scale condominium buildings are being built in its place. Estimates show that between 4000 and 6000 people with live in the new towers.






2.3 | This is another view of "Historic Manatee." Here you can see more construction which is considered outside the downtown barrier. Since it is outside the downtown "subdivision" according to city planning guides, it is not subject to the same stringent development laws. The closest construction lot is schedules to be a complex of office buildings while the one just visible is more condominiums. The city is currently experiencing a building boom in this area, as there is easy access to everything. You can also see the Manatee Performing Arts Complex, a city-owned stage venue. Various National and local productions are put on here. Rumour has it the city is considering selling the land the parking lot sits on...






2.4 | In this closer look of Historic Manatee, we can see some of the finer details on the older office buildings in this section of Manatee. These buildings house several web-based media companies and other various electronics companies, including games developers Lugnut Gaming. (It occupies the blue, glass building on the bottom right corner of the intersection.)






2.5 | Of course, no downtown would be complete without construction. Here we can see a closer look and Denten Condominiums, developed by Viscal Properties, Ltd. There was strong opposistion to this proposal, since Viscal has been known for creating bland, repetitive developments. The city worked with the developed on the style of building, and eventually approved the project. Reisdents still point to the Viscal development in neighbouring city Sherkston as a reason it should not have been approved. Even with the changes made to the original proposal, some residents still complain it looks un-original and unfitting to the downtown area.






2.6 | One of the reasons the downtown has been growing steadily is easy access - this station (Cultural Park Terminus) provides access to a portion of the northern area of Manatee, and fast access to various parts of Sherkston.






2.7 | These are the three main office buildings in Manatee - Samsung Orchidsen HQ, MNC Tower and Rebran Tower. These towers occupy the site of the former city hall and grounds, which burnt down due to an electrical fire in the 1970's. City hall has since relocated for a second time to its current location, next to the Cultural Square Terminus Station (seen on the bottom right of the above photo.)






2.8 | Moving away from the job and skyscraper side of downtown, we have the recently completed Cultural Square. Consisting of 2 buildings, this building is the Manatee-Centurion Concert Hall. Various orchestras play here, and is also known for hosting more intimate concerts. A group of residents to this day resent that the naming rights were sold and the facility be commercially branded. City hall's response? "If you come up with the million dollars a year they pay the city and the cancellation fee, we'll drop the name." The resident's group folded quickly after this comment.






2.9 | The other portion of this venue is the art gallery. The city has put a strong emphasis on local art in this facility, with artists of all ages getting their artwork in this facility. Touring art exhibits also join the museum. Admission is generally free, but the travelling exhibits usually have a fee for entry, typically $5 to $10.






2.10| And no story attatched to this image. This is a night view of Downtown Manatee.







That is it for today's update on Downtown Manatee. I hope you enjoyed this update and liked some of the history of the area and resident unhappiness.




111222333444
Thanks. I decided to give FlagCounter a go, sorta fun.

K50
Giving full updates a go. The biggest obstacle is slightly different BBCodes. But I have fiddled with the format to get rid of that.

Cheeseguy
That's why I'm going to try. The biggest problem is I used the visual editor on ST, then have to use BBCode on SC4D, and the BBCode here is slightly different for some font details. But I have fiddled with the format both there and here - shouldn't be too big a problem anymore. So I am going to post full updates here, they may just sometimes be delayed by a day or two from ST, where I post updates first. And thanks.

mayorm
Thanks.





Next Update: We will be venturing outside of Manatee to one of the coastal municipalities...
Also... if you notice some formatting errors (like random code in the middle of the update) - please let me know. I will tweak the format for upcoming updates.








1 update, over 1000 views. Thanks everyone!

Welcome to another update of Holt District!

Today's update may not be as flashy as the previous 2, but there is a reason for that. Today we are venturing to one of the coastal municipalities in Holt District, Old Port. The town has a long, and at times troublesome, history. The City was one of the first areas settled in what is now Holt District. It is often joked that there is a pyromaniac and their famioly residing in Old Port, as it has burned to the ground not once, not twice, but three times since it was settled in the early 1700s. The latest burning, in 1907, levelled the town completely.

So Old Port was constructed for the fourth time. And this time, it was bustling. It had a booming downtown area and, despite its name, did not have a port. But things went fishy when Old Port was folded into Holt District upon the regions formation in 1970. What was a small, beautiful town became dysfunctional. Development was haphazard, with a mega-sized office buiding being constructed in the middle of a residential area. History downtown buildings were destroyed for the parking lot of a new supermarket. Offices continued to be built, and residents suffered greatly.

One day, election day in the mid-1990s, residents had had enough, and booted the mayor and all 3 councillors out of office. The newly elected mayor promished to clean up politics in Old Port, and has been attempting (key word: attempting) to since then. But things weren't all rosey.

As the rest of Holt District expanded, Old Port contracted. Its population declined from 11 000 to the approximate 7000 it is today. Many vacant neighbourhoods were demolished, and streets torn-up and grassed-over to hide the cities troubled past.

But the new mayors plan to stop all development led to a backlash from developers who has started to eye the area, and infuriated residents. Elected on the promise of better planned development, development was eliminated all-together. Why not vote the mayor out? He has sucessfully has Old Port designated a no development zone in the region. So no mayor would be able to approve developments until the regional plan was re-opened. A consequence of this development freeze was the reconstruction of the town's only school, Port Public & Secondary School. The mayor had sucesfully killed new development, but also killed the school reconstruction by accident.

Which brings us to today, where Old Port has remained the same for nearly 2 decades. While restrictions have been loosened to allow individual building reconstruction, development is still off limits.




Old Port - Depressed & Stuck in the Past



3.1 | Downtown Old Port has faced its challenges over the years. As mentioned in the introduction, the town has burned to the ground 3 separate times. Even after that, those buildings constructed in the early 1900s faced several attacks from developers in the 70s-80s. One historic building was demolished and replaced with an "ugly", modernized version of what previously stood there (left of the photo.).






3.2 | Several more historic buildings were demolished for the parking lot of this supermarket. This was the first in a long string of mis-steps which caused the previous mayor his job. Outrage was so high over the approval of this grocery store and demolition of historic buildings that the mayor requested body guards to follow him and protect his house. An empty box was left at his office, but was not meant as a threat. It was meant to symbolize the perception that the mayor didn't have a brain for allowing this development. No charges were laid.






3.3 | The final development approved under the mayor's tenure was this office development. Outcry far surpassed the supermarket development, so much the region was said to be days away from ousting the mayor from office. He resigned only hours before the region would have made the announcement. Although this development provides employment for the area, it was criticized for being in the middle of a residential area, the expropriation of land for its development, and the design. Residents critiqued the design saying it looked exactly like the offices found in Manatee or Sherkston.








3.4 | As mentioned in the introduction, the current mayor's (Alber Fonzworth) freezing of all development project lead to the cancellation of a badly-needed school redevelopment. Housing students in kindergarten to Grade 12, this school served the entire municipality. Due to the development laws, only the repairs necessary to keep the school from collapsing have been made. The safety of the building is a constant question of residents.






3.5 | The biggest disappointment facing residents of Old Port is the mayors unwillingness to allow re-landscaping to occur at Port Park. Long a source of pride of the town, the park has declined in recent years as a series of storms and high-winds have downed trees, and droughts have killed off the majority on non-tree vegetation. Despite cries from residents, council has repeatedly declined to remodel the park. To add insult to injury, the council approved a cell phone tower to be placed in the upper corner of the park.





3.6 | Despite all these problems, residential neighbourhoods like this one are still highly sought after. Waterfront property is waterfront property in many buyers eyes.






3.7 | Vegetation remains very strong in this area, along the canals. This area is considered the most beautiful area in Old Port by the majority of residents, evident by the shimmy soccer games on weekends and various picnics.







3.8 | While Old Port can still be considered "depressed" in terms of development, things are beginning to improve. The "absolutely no development" provisions were lifted by the region much to the outcry of Old Port council, and the delight of residents. The first house to be (re)coinstructed in nearly 2 decades is making progress.

There is feeling that in the next municipal election, sweeping changed will be had in Old Port...






Not all coastal cities in Holt District are suffering, however. On the contrary, some are experiencing record building booms, and have been growing steadily for years. This is the latest in a string of condominium developments in a municipality south of Old Port, where we will find ourselves in update 4...






That is it for today's update on Old Port. With development reaching a white-hot pace in Holt District, and demand (and prices) skyrocketing, Old Port like many other municipalities will never be the same...





mayorm
Thank You! That is exactly what I tried to avoid with Manatee - and applied some of what I used here to a neighbouring city. Didn't work quite as well there, but still looks good.

cheeseguy
No, well not yet anyways.

111222333444
Don't insult the manatee! Besides, how could this possibly be ugly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpqaH4NJpQA

K50
The big sifference is in colour - it uses different methods to identify colours. And font size, with forumotion it is whereas SMF (SC4D) it is [size=18pt]
It just led to a little bit more work, is all.
Also, hope you enjoyed this update!

111222333444
BBC Code... is it the secret language they use at the BBC when the cameras aren't rolling?

cheeseguy
I think he might have.

K50
Well, what if you were referring to some secret code, BBC Code? Never know...




[size=8]Next Update: We will be venturing outside of Manatee to one of the coastal municipalities...