City '26, Week 15: Terra Nova – Major Streets

Although it's been two weeks, I am still on the grind for City 26! At one point I'd fallen almost a week behind, then spent a few day trying to play catch up, with varying levels of success. I also might have lost count at one point... Although my notes and entries for City 26 are really well organized, they're not easy to individually count (partially because there's so many) and that makes it easy to lose track of how many there are. For lack of better options I have a manual counter that I updated every time I make a new entry, but that means actually remembering to update it each time. At the very least though, I'm either at or slightly above 110 entries-- which feels like so many even though I still have many more to go.

Anyway, this week I've got all of the major streets for Terra Nova mapped out. I tried to use a combination of old, pre-1800 maps of Vila Nova de Gaia and modern Google maps, but still leaned most heavily on my own experiences of the city. That's the original intention of this whole exercise, after all.

Terra Nova Major Streets

• The Avenida: This wide boulevard begins at the Pont Luis, the main bridge spanning the Goldrock and connecting Terra Velha and Terra Nova. From there it runs south in an almost straight line until it reaches the edge of the district, at which point it evaporates into branches of cobblestone and dirt. The Avenida hosts most of the city's municipal buildings, trading company headquarters, and a wide variety of upscale residences and businesses. In this way it acts as the main artery for the flow of money through Terra Nova. Its centerline was built with a steel rail, intended for a horse-drawn railway car like those found in Terra Velha, but the plans for the service were abandoned after pushback from the district's wealthy citizens.
  
  

 

A photograph of the real-life Avenida da República, looking north towards Porto (in what is one of the most spectacular views of this road I've ever seen).

• Marquis da Banderia: Running almost perfectly parallel to the Avenida, this road begins in Harborside at the river markets, passes through the Oceanview neighborhood, then continues to rise steeply until it crosses the Rue du Torres and suddenly levels off. Caught in a strange liminal space, the Marquis da Bandeira benefits from its status as one of the largest roads connecting Harborside directly to Terra Nova, but its chance at becoming a major economic vein are limited by its proximity to the larger, wealthier Avenida. Perhaps for this reason, it's grown in popularity as a spot for wealthy patricians to keep apartments-- close enough to keep an eye on their businesses, but far enough to maintain leisure, and with easy access to the late-night pleasures of Harborside.
• Rue du Baixo: This broad road connects Terra Nova and Terra Velha via the Pont Freixo. Prior to the construction of the Pont Luis, this was the major thoroughfare for people crossing the river who sought to avoid Harborside. But the higher tolls for crossing the Pont Freixo slowly strangled business, and though the toll has been reduced, business on the Rue do Baixo has yet to recover. With the centralization of trade onto the Avenida, the Rue do Baixo has become an after-thought. Its homes, restaurants, and other businesses have been sold one-by-one to less-wealthy families seeking space in Terra Nova, who failed to realize they were moving into an area that the major money had already passed through.
  
  

 

Another picture of the Avenida, this time from the early 1900s. The presence of the tram line means it's sometimes after 1905, at least.

• Rue du Infantil: Technically a collection of smaller, individually-named roads, streets, and paths which blend together into one long roadway. It "starts" at the shores of the Goldrock, to the east of the Pont Luis, then meanders west and south, intersecting almost every major road and street along the way. It also varies in size, going from narrow alley to wide boulevard and back again. This meandering nature and variable width have prevented the Rue du Infantil from becoming a more important thoroughfare. In addition, some of the areas and neighborhoods it passes through have already developed a reputation, usually overstated, for being unsafe for most people.
• Rue du Torres: A major road that splits early from the Avenida, just after Harborside, then heads east toward the coast before curving south. Long and winding, it continues far beyond the bounds of Port Callus, into the states to the south. Prior to the creation of the Avenida, this was the primary road for southern travelers coming into the city, and its broad and well-paved surface is easy-riding for carriages. It's now mainly used by Terra Nova residents making day trips to the west coast's beautiful beaches.
• Rue da Vereda: Once a small footpath that ran east to west through Terra Nova, as the district grew, this dirt road expanded to become the major channel between the Avenida and the Rue du Baixo. While the latter has suffered from the move of local business toward the Avenida, the Rue da Vereda has flourished. Its greatest strength is the presence of a large municipal park, which draws people from all over the district. The park was one a farm, whose owner refused for decades to sell the property, even as the rest of the district was transformed into a hub of commerce. Only once the city came to him directly, hoping to turn the still-rural stretch into much-needed green space for its citizens, did the farmer relent-- and consequently turning a much greater profit than he might have otherwise. 

City '26, Week 13: Terra Nova

After a short, two week break, I'm back with some more of my ongoing City 26 endeavors. Last time I posted anything I had just finished Harborside, my first of four districts. I've spent the 14 days between then and now working on a totally new one, Terra Nova. This one is based on the area that I live in, Vila Nova de Gaia, which is actually a separate city south of Porto and across the Douro river, but still in the Porto district. It's been trickier to work with because so much of Gaia is (relatively) new, with buildings primarily from the past century, but since I'm not trying to lift the city 1-for-1 anyway it's actually been a beneficial in some cases.

A view of Gaia from Porto, across the river.

Welcome to Terra Nova

This district is the largest in Port Callus, and spans the southern side of the Goldrock River, where the sharp cliffs ascend suddenly from the riverside before leveling off. Positioned between eastern hills and west coast pleasure beaches, as the city sprawls south it slowly shifts from urban center to rural estates. Compared to the rest of the Port Callus, this district is marked by new construction, more frequent green spaces, and larger manors with private yards. Terra Nova is also home to much of the city's governmental and economic infrastructure, which has shifted here from the older Terra Velha after the two districts were united as a single city.

Six Major Locations

• Gaia's Castle:  The remains of a fortified castle built over 700 years ago, on top of a hill overlooking the Goldrock River, just west of the Pont Luis. In times past, the frequent wars between the northern and southern states made the castle a prime strategic fortification. But as the peace enacted four centuries ago continued unabated, its importance faded, and its stones were slowly pulled away for other construction or worn away by wind and rain. Now most of the outer walls and buildings have collapsed. The central structure remains, barely, and residents who bother to visit claim they've seen signs of tunnels and other chambers buried beneath the ruins. The City Court and the Freemen's Guild have discussed renovating the castle, perhaps to headquarter their own guards, but can't decide how to split the significant cost required to do so.
• Pont Freixo:  The easternmost bridge across the Goldrock River, within the boundaries of the city. Until the construction of the more modern Pont Luis, this was the major artery for north-south trade in Port Callus, as well as a major passage along the continental coast. It was built as a private endeavor by the Casa Nunes family, long before their involvement in organized crime; the tarriffs they charge on goods carried across was a major factor in building their political and financial power. However, while it's still a major transport bridge, the toll-free Pont Luis has overtaken it in number of crossings.
• Pont Luis: An impressive, modern-construction bridge that spans the Goldrock River, connecting the core of Terra Velha to Terra Nova. The Pont Luis was built in response to the growing economic prosperity of Terra Nova, and to better connect the two halves of Port Callus after the unification. Its construction was financed by a combination of taxation, import fees on goods from outside the city, and loans from the Freemen's Guild. It is also one of the tallest bridges on the continent, rising almost 150 feet above the water, so that its southern end is even with the point at which Terra Nova's riverside cliffs flatten out into a plateau.
• Saint Igantius's Zoo: Founded by Saint Ignatius over a century ago, shortly after Port Callus achieved independence from the states surrounding it. Saint Ignatius played a major role in winning the city's freedom, by traveling across the continent to build diplomatic agreements for the city that sheltered it when they made their bid for independence. Also a devoted naturalist, Ignatius spent his later years traveling the world, collecting natural specimens that were housed at his private conservatory. Always fond of receiving visitors there, after his death Ignatius transferred ownership of the conservatory to the city, which has maintained it as a public zoo ever since.
• The Fifth Manor: A lingering remnant of the city's pre-republic history, when Terra Nova was an almost entirely rural area under the control of the southern monarchy. It was built by a king as a private retreat from the busy capital, but one still close enough to the urbanized Terra Nova to benefit from its pleasures. When Terra Nova and Terra Velha were united as a single, independent city, the castle fell out of use. As Terra Nova began to expand, the royal family sold it to a private buyer, who heightened the walls around it and converted the surrounding land into a vineyard. The owner's identity is still a well-guarded secret, but the wine produced there is famous up and down the coast.
• The Municipal Court: The central locale of the City Court, the organization responsible for legal and judicial affairs within Port Callus, and one of three segments of the city's system of leadership. Previously the City Court handled its affairs in a series of court rooms throughout the city, with a primary location on the northern bounds of Harborside. As the city's prosperity grew, and its economic center shifted south to Terra Nova, the Municipal Court was constructed to centralize the legal system. One of the tallest buildings in the city, it stands five stories high, with two additional levels half-buried by the hill it sits on. Of these seven floors, only two are public facing offices, three are reserved for court rooms,  and the highest and lowest levels are used as a mix of private offices, judicial headquarters, and guard quarters.