Entry no.31 - Orchard Heights
For this update we head back to Orchard Heights first seen in entry 25. Back then I only showed closeups and focused on the hydro corridor and the residential area surrounding it. But in recent years this neighborhood has developed a small commercial downtown owning largely to the governments policy of intensifying density near Fastraxx commuter train stations. The area now accounts for a little under 20% (5500 of 29,000) of Dresden's commercial jobs while12,600 live in the area.
The Orchard Heights train station is on the south side of the neighborhood while the Web Interchange, originally seen in entry 26, is just to the south west. This was an entry that I was going to post on Tuesday but then I had to use system restore after my computer crashed which wipe out all the images I original took of the area. So I had to start from scratch again. In any case, hope you like it! 
Overview of Orchard Heights with the major thoroughfares.
First let's take a look at the neighborhood's points of access, major employers and notable places of culture & recreation.
The primary means of reaching Orchard Heights is of course via The Web interchange and the train station.
The Orchard Heights train station is a stop on the Fastraxx line. As noted in the Fastraxx E2, this line has all-day train service(think RER type of service). The stop is used by 1,061 commuters daily and has a surface parking lot with 255 spaces. Because of it's proximity to Orchard Heights mini downtown(even the farthest offices are only about 500m away) most commuters walk to and from the station.
If we go southward on Middleton Rd. from here we arrive to the neighborhood of Valhalla Park which begins on the other side of the rail underpass. This rail line is ICR's Lakeridge subdivision, one of two lines that carries freight traffic to points further south of Pretoria.
The single track line is the ICR Sumira Spur which connects to the GWR's rail network allowing the two companies to interchange rail traffic.
The first major office building is across the street from the train station. The SimCityPolska building is located on the north east corner of Michigan Rd. & Middleton Rd. SimCityPolska is a compute game development company that employs 150 people. Their offices are located on the top two floors of the building while the remaining floors are leased to other companies.Employees working here can conveniently take the train in, walk across the street and be at work. That hasn't stopped them from building a moderately sized above ground parking garage with 175 spaces on the east side of the building. I suppose you can't expect everyone to take transit. A total of 558 people work in the building. On & off ramps to the 700 are just to the west of here.
The fisherman's Bar and a gas station are located on the side side of Michigan Rd.
Orchard Height's largest employer is the TMB, short for the "The Major Bank". They have a branch office located on the corner of Middleton Rd and Ruiko Dr. just to the north of the 700. Nearly 800 people work here. TMB Plaza is the tallest building in Orchard Heights at 78m/255ft. All other buildings in the area are under 200ft(except for the Holy Trinity's steeple). Though this still only makes it Dresden's 23rd tallest. There was some concern about it's height and density as local residents feared that it set a new precedent for buildings in the area. But the new city council has so far rejected all application for taller buildings in Orchard Heights. On the east side of the intersection is Dresden's second largest hotel(behind only the 200-room Hotel Mercure in downtown Dresden), the 132 room Shangri-la Hotel Dresden. The access ramp to a large 600 space underground parking lot for both buildings is just east of the hotel.
For the record here is Hotel Mercure in downtown Dresden.
Turning left(west) on Ruiko Dr. are a couple more on/off ramps to the 700 past them there is a farmers market and a discount department store.
Further west down Grenadier Rd. where it transitions to Portlands Rd. on the other side of the Web interchange is Enders Mall. While technically outside of Orchard Heights, it's actually in the area known as Industrial sector G, the mall is frequented by residents from Orchard Heights. Despite being less than half a km away though, most people drive to the mall since the surrounding roads are are not very pedestrian friendly.
Enders Mall is one of Pretoria's oldest and smallest and has seen better days. Currently nearly half of the 2-story mall's 180 stalls sit empty while the remaining stalls house mostly discount retail shops. The mall is not in the most attractive location and has not been maintained very well. It hasn't been refurbished even once in its 40-year history. The mall's owners have not shown any interest in renovating the mall but have expressed some interest in selling the property. Several industrial companies have expressed interest but the city has steadfastly refused so far to rezoned the land. Which would be necessary before any industrial facility can be built on the site(currently zoned for commercial use only). Parking for 300 vehicles is provided behind that mall and another 100 spots are available across Station Rd.
Now let's backtrack down Grenadier Rd. all the way back to Middleton Rd.(and the nicer part of town 
)
Between Ruiko Drive and Grenadier Rd. we come across the Holy Trinity Church. Built in 1956, the church predates nearly all of the other buildings in the area by several decades.
The head office of an insurance firm called GE Money is located on the north side of Grenadier Rd. GE money is Orchard Height's second largest employer with 715 workers.
The other two corners of this intersection are occupied by a luxury auto dealership and a branch office for a major cell phone manufacturer.
Further north is Dunstin Park. The park has an indoor & outdoor swimming pool, two softball fields(children sized) & three soccer fields underneath the Hardack hydro corridor.
One of the larger of Dresden's water towers is located here as well, with a capacity of 1.8 million liters.
For those wondering, It's actually not that usual for a soccer field(s) to be located under a power line. There's several fields like that where I live, eg;
Reversing back down Grenadier Road, east of the Holy Trinity Church we come across an area with several smaller office buildings. Dresden's modern city hall is located here as well. It's the beige & white brick building with the green lawn on the upper right corner of the Grenadier Rd. & Ruiko Dr. intersection.
Grenadier Rd. then passes underneath the 700
Meets up with Michigan Rd.
And
And finally runs underneath both rail lines before leaving Orchard Heights.
That more or less covers all the notable places of interest in the Orchard Heights neighborhood.
Now it's time to Cue the mosaics 
Wide angles
Dresden GS looms large over the area.
Long shots
View of Michigan Rd. & the rail lines from the train station to the Grenadier Rd. underpass.
View of Middleton Rd. just north of Grenadier Rd. to the "Curveball" Interchange.
View of the core from The Web to the Grenadier Rd. underpass.
From the curveball to the Web. (Middleton Rd. to the left of the 700, Michigan Rd tn the right)
Another angle of the above area.
And lastly, from Cisco Bay to the train station...
...and back.
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