Living In in Vampire Lake: A Real Estate & Neighborhoods Journal

[omnivoreceo 54]

So I wanted to take a slightly different approach to this city journal. Vampire Lake is a fictional (obviously) built on a map of Roanoke, Virginia area. Based on my fictional country of Neloxia, Vampire Lake as the largest city in the Northwest corner of Neloxia, anchored by the city of Vampire Lake and surrounded by a variety of smaller city suburbs. I've remapped most of the city by moving most of the office spaces into the downtown core of Vampire Lake, making most of the outskirts cities primarily residential with some commercial interspersed. 

In recent years, we've seen massive growth to communities far from the city including the second largest city in the Northwest Neloxia region, Cathopolis and Blake City, another town that boasts its own commercial district. 

What I'd like to do is rather than geek out on highways and street tunnels, doing flyovers of the entire map or anything else, I'd like to borrow a page from the Living In section of the New York Times that profiles different neighborhoods in the New York City area. It profiles real estate, but also things to do in these communities as if they're appealing to people who are looking for places to live. So to humanize my particular city, but also to get more familiar with the various areas that are cropping up through a 40% increase in population in the Vampire Lake Metropolitan Area (VLMA) over the past 5 years. People are moving here in droves, but why? 

We'll explore the hot neighborhoods, the hidden gems & examine what makes Vampire Lake such a great place to live.

 

[omnivoreceo 54]

More aerial views, this one viewing east from above the Cathopolis area towards the main part of the VLMA.

Vampire Lake is home to a Ligapremier football (soccer) team that is the pride & joy of the citizens. Because Vampire Lake is in the Northwest part of Neloxia, its not as frequented as some of the more urban areas in the central and southern parts of the country. Cities like Alzate, Mapouras, the capital city Marisa, Hellsbath, et. al. are more well known and have had long histories. So for most people, their only awareness of the VLMA is related to the soccer team. 

Neighborhoods & Suburbs

Quote

 

VAMPIRE LAKE NEIGHBORHOODS
Downtown
Southwest of Downtown (ShaDOW)
Glovemaker District
Broadway Square
Bridgeport
Old Settlement (Old Town)
Neuwewaard
Cathedral Square
Oldenzach
Lower West Side
East Village
Lakeside Heights
Winslet
River Park
23rd & Main
Upper West Side
West Side Mills
Far North Side
Englesman
Wolf Harbour
Flushing Shores

NEIGHBORHOODS OUTSIDE MAIN CITY ISLAND
Krikstan
Endersby
Easthaven
Marick
Lane Park
Woodbine
Collegetown
Lower Park Square

Basil Point (Bazar Island)
East Lake (East Island)

SUBURBS (Independent cities)

Teela
North Teela
South Teela
Cathopolis
Blake City
Sunrise Heights
Northfield Estates
McGillivray Bridge
Saffron Hills
Bernstein

 

Some basic facts. There are currently 34 high schools in the VLMA, the overwhelming majority of those in the city limits of Vampire Lake. 

The mass transit system is called Vampire Lake Regional Rapid Transit System, or RTS for short. Nobody calls it that, though, preferring the demonym "V-STOP" as in "is there a V-Stop in Bernstein? That's so far!" It can mean anything from bus to train to subway. 

This is a view of Downtown Vampire Lake & the Zane-Litt Tower, the tallest building in Vampire Lake city.

[omnivoreceo 54]

LIVING IN: FIREFLY RIDGE

The 32nd and newest official neighborhood in Vampire Lake is Firefly Ridge. Nested along the Firefly Mountain ridge in an area that is rapidly changing from a former lumber mill was purchased by a land consortium and converted to a residential complex.

Many people said that no one would want to live in the area, because of its industrial roots and anticipated the project would fail. What they could not imagine was an area that would boast some of the best views of the region. 

The residents who have descended on the area are young families who were attracted to Vampire Lake by its high quality of life, without having to sacrifice much of the city amenities they'd grown accustomed to in other parts of the city or from more metropolitan cities like Swenton, Maporuas or the capital city region of Marisa.

"My family thought I was crazy when I said I was moving to Vampire Lake," said Raylee Bush, 31, an administrator at a health clinic. Last month she and her husband, Tanner, 39, a registered nurse, and their son, aged 5 years old, moved to Vampire Lake from a two-bedroom rental in Upton Park, where even after six years they felt overwhelmed by the swelling of the capital region. 

"We just felt like it wasn't a place to raise a family," Ms. Bush said.

Besides, Ms. Bush said that in Vampire Lake, they were able to get a brand new condo for the price than anything they'd be able to afford in the Marisa-area and with salaries in Vampire Lake mostly par with other cities in the country, being in the Northwest of Neloxia allowed the family to get more space for more money.

Today she and her family share a semideatched house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and exquisite views of Vampire Lake, for $212,500. 

What Firefly Ridge offers is unmatched in any other neighborhood in the city, maybe because it's the first master planned community in Vampire Lake. While new developments have cropped up in suburban communities like Cathopolis - a growing city in its own right - or Blake City in the southeast section of the metro area, Firefly Ridge is firmly in the city limits of Vampire Lake and offers easy access to downtown amenities, activities and city schools.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND

Nestled atop the hills, Firefly Ridge boasts a population of about 27,724. Bordered by the Trans-Island Expressway (TIE) and the former Westside Mills Lumber Yard, the closest residential neighborhood is the Lower West Side, but its closest real neighborhood is the Vampire Lake Regional Airport, a deterrent that many real estate agents cite is a problem for some would-be residents and what keeps prices among the lowest in the area so far, but that's changing quickly.

Narrow, winding streets are a staple of the region owing to the lumber yard vestiges. All of the residential properties are new and were built in the last 5 years and there is a diverse stock from co-op to condomimums. Single-family homes are rare, but Phase II of the community plan for the Westside Mills complex involves a separate neighborhood of single-family dwellings.

WHAT TO DO

One of the side effects of building a new community from scratch are also building commercial and event spaces to entertain the people living there. Right now, none of that exists in Firefly Ridge. The closest commercial amenities are available in the Lower West Side neighborhoods. 

There are a number of parks in the community and many of the residents cite this as an aspect of the community they like. "We feel like we know the faces, because here you see them often. It's almost easy to forget you live in a big city up here. I don't feel that way anywhere else in town," said Janet Garrison, 48, an artist & museum curator whose lived in different areas of Vampire Lake for 20 years.

THE SCHOOLS

Another logistical issue with the Firefly Ridge area is the lack of schools. The VLMA already has a surplus on seats at public non-high schools, so the city school authority did not deem the area worthy of adding an additional school. 

The closest K-8 school, Seaside Ridge Elementary (P.S. 5) is physically located in the nearby neighborhood of Seaside Park (which depending on who you speak to is often considered part of Shadow district), nestled on the shores of Vampire Lake, due west of SW Downtown (Shadow) district. There are five other elementary schools in the Upper West Side that are also relatively nearby.

The closest high school is Vampire Lake HS in the Shadow district.

THE COMMUTE
Firefly Ridge does have a VSTOP station -- both the Green line (East) and Blue line (North) have stops here which will take you into downtown or connections to the suburbs. 

There is currently no bus access to Firefly Ridge.

[omnivoreceo 54]

LIVING IN: Niuewewaard (The Dutch District)

Originally settled as a community for repatriated Afrikaners, coloured and blacks from apartheid South Africa who wanted to live together in a unified community, the Nieuwewaard was a colony that evolved into a hot spot for artists new to the VLMA. 

That's what attracted Silvia Bencomo to the area over 30 years ago. She remains despite the flurry of changes in the neighborhoods around her. "It's kind of a forgotten part of the city. Doesn't have the hustle and bustle of the other parts. We have shops, places to eat and I like it."

Most locals call it "the German district." 

Vistas along many of the streets are similar, with views towards the skyscrapers of downtown or peering looks towards the north and the Bay area. There are a few detached single-family homes, but primarily condos and co-ops predominate the neighborhood that is bounded on the east side by Sorel Avenue and on the west by Henke Boulevard and West Arcade on the north.

Tight inventory is elevating prices. Town house sales have ranged from the $400,000 to $1 million in the last year, said Dick Grout of Vampire Estates Realtors, with the "largest majority" from $615,000 to $2 million."

A recent internet search found 31 residential properties for sale and 81 for rent; most two-bedroom rentals ranged from $1900 to $4300 a month.

WHAT TO DO

The area boasts a number of restaurants including highly rated seafood shops and is home to the city's best ethnic fare including Thai, Italian, Indonesian and American. 

In addition, the area borders the Lake City Zoo 
at the corner of Arcade and Sorel Avenue. Tourists seeking a more "authentic" Vampire Lake experience often travel to the area to visit the historic German church or to shop at the Macy's. The Hyatt Place hotel also built its downtown flagship in the Niuewewaard, as well.

THE SCHOOLS

Options include Public School 14 on Arcade and 2nd Street, which teaches through Grade 8.

THE COMMUTE
The South End station at Niuewewaard has access to most major train lines including Green (South), Purple (Southeast), Orange (SW) and Gold (North) line trains that can take commuters to all points through the VLMA. Several bus lines also dot the neighborhood along Henke, Arcade and Sorel Ave. 

[omnivoreceo 54]

Here's an alpha of my rent/home price calculator for Cities Skylines. The basic idea is taking the average price per square meter for districts that the game generates and using that to come up with a price per square foot number to determine rent. 

Home price uses that, along with a prestige factor for the various neighborhoods that I decided not to use with rent in my alpha example, but could be added to the formula pretty easily.

Cities Skylines Rent/Home Price Calculator - Google Sheets

[omnivoreceo 54]

I've had some massive traffic issues -- that is, when I could even get the game loaded -- and so much of my current preoccupation has been looking at the ways that traffic flows around the city and cutting out many of the multiple pathways that the city has and trying to make it more consistent.

The original city roadmap was designed with lots of winding streets in residential neighborhoods which is really turning out to be a problem, but there's no way we're going to be able to raze entire neighborhoods to right the wrongs.  Instead, I've converted a number of main thoroughfares into one-way roads to attempt to flow traffic out of the city center and onto highways or to the places they live if that's where they want to go.

We just had a massive deathwave too that caused some issues because of course, there were massive bottlenecks of emergency vehicles trying to get around the city and the mods I'd use to fix that problem weren't installing for whatever reason, so I just had to go without. I solved that problem though, but our traffic problem has rerouted to other parts of the city. I'm going to continue to tackle that gradually.
 

The original airport in Vampire Lake, BHA has been replaced by Vampire Lake-Cathopolis International Airport which was recently completed outside of the city limits in suburban Bernstein. After some resistance, city officials are considering closing BHA and converting the street into a one-way road that traffic can use to enter the city to control the massive bottlenecks occurring at present.

[Qorten 49]

The images in your latest post are broken for me.

Otherwise a nice CJ!

[omnivoreceo 54]

The cheapest in-city neighborhood is an area called Wesley Park, named at Wesley Rutter, the Vampire Lake mayor who pushed for an industrial yard in the North End of the city beyond the North Side and past the Northern spur of the Cross Island Expressway (CIE) to become a converted mixed residential/commercial area with much of the city pricing out families and individuals of middle/lower incomes.

Wesley Park is home to around 77k people. Average rent for a 690 sq. ft. apartment is $793, subject to strict income restrictions. A limited number of condos, townhomes and single-family houses are also going up in the area, with an average home price of $144,895.

The area makes affordable living within the Vampire Lake city limits more possible than it'd previously been for these groups, though the prices are rising as more people discover the area. 

It sports a nice view of downtown that you can see at night and has a VSTOP station, though travelwise, it would probably take you at least 40 minutes driving (not counting traffic) to get downtown from there, though I'll need to test that theory out.

[omnivoreceo 54]

FOR RENT $2843/month
110 THIRD AVENUE (Breakfast Island) 3BR/2.5 Bath

For your next family vacation or getaway with friends, this beautiful Breakfast Island vacation rental (1150 square feet) offers all the amenities of home with a cozy, woodsy atmosphere, modern finishes, and close proximity to all the fun & relaxation that fun on BI has to offer! The home itself is spacious and inviting, with vaulted ceilings, a wood-burning fireplace with stone surround, and a large flatscreen Blu-ray TV in the cozy lodge-like living room. Just beyond is a dining table for six and an inviting, fully-equipped kitchen with beautiful, warm-toned wood cabinetry and granite countertops. Or, throw some steaks on the gas grill and dine in the fresh mountain air on the spacious deck. With three bedrooms and two full bathrooms, there's plenty of room in this home for up to eight guests. The private master suite gets a floor of its own - enjoy a restful sleep in this lovely queen bed suite on the secluded second floor, which also features a flatscreen TV. Downstairs you'll find two attractively outfitted bedrooms, one with a beautiful queen bed and the other with four twin-size bunk beds. An on-site washer and dryer makes for easy clean-up after a day on the trails.

 

FOR SALE: 471 ISLAND SLOPE ROAD EAST (BLAKE CITY) 
4BR/2.5 BATH $358,696

I am so excited to bring you the rarest of the rare, a single family, detached home (1600 sq. ft) with garage, 50 minutes to the city. Owned by the former Vampire Lake football star Diego Aguirre, the home is well-appointed and designed to reflect his discerning taste and style. You simply will not find a better bargain for the money anywhere in the VLMA. First floor features includes beamed ceilings in both the expansive living room and formal dining room, a newly renovated granite kitchen with stainless steel oven and hood, breakfast area, a new half bath and a sun room to truly appreciate the views. Second floor offers a huge master, two generously sized bedrooms, and a newly renovated bath. The attic is large enough for a playroom, and the basement is full height walk out with laundry hook up and another full bath. Also offers a large patio, and garden featuring mature pear and sassafras trees. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and will not last long.

 

FOR SALE. 900 HAWKS NEST RD. (Breakfast Island) $332,763

3 bedroom, 2 full bath vacation house has marble tiled flooring, upgraded kitchen, finished basement with 2 bedrooms, new siding, new gutters. Just minutes to bridge, main street shops & subway stops in nearby Blake City. A bargain that won't last! The family who lived here previously were longtime Island residents who spent year-round on BI. Cozy.

[omnivoreceo 54]

Hadn't been to Vampire Lake in a long while, it was a lot like visiting somewhere you hadn't been in a while in real life. Skyline is growing exponentially, the suburbs also exploding.