Dirt Vegas: Tall orders
The instructions reaching my desk were unusually clear: fewer people waiting for a hearse, and much bigger buildings around the stadium.
The instructions reaching my desk were unusually clear: fewer people waiting for a hearse, and much bigger buildings around the stadium. Municipal government occasionally receives a brief it can understand. I put down the ornamental pen and went to work.
Sunset Square now has a skyline. Thirty-five newly developed buildings stand around the arena: twelve high-density offices, nineteen high-density residential buildings and four hotels. The taller blocks frame the existing pedestrian square and its smaller buildings. We kept the parks, cafés and walking routes, rather than making the neighborhood an uninterrupted wall of glass. Even ambition needs somewhere to sit down.
The district grew from 1,934 to 6,347 living residents. That is a substantial new audience within walking distance, but I will not be announcing a sellout. The arena’s own customer count rose from 22 to 285 per month; its final panel still warned of too few customers. Those are business customers, not a verified crowd of match-day fans. The buildings are finished. The audience is still a work in progress.
Bus Line 4 now calls at a new shelter beside the arena approach. Its loop has three stops over 4.7 kilometres, with five buses confirmed active. We also added an elementary-school classroom wing, taking capacity from 400 to 500. By the final check, 474 pupils were enrolled. The city can put up a tower remarkably quickly; apparently the children arrive on the next bus. Small street trees along the western and rear roads give the new scale a softer edge.
The less photogenic work mattered just as much. Two small cemeteries and two crematoria were added, and the health and deathcare budget was raised to 125 percent. Across the city, nominal hearse spaces increased from sixteen to fifty-two. Both new crematoria were staffed, and working hearses and processing were observed during the session. Capacity is useful only when someone actually drives out of the gate.
Following one hearse explained a stubborn northern delay: it had to travel from the main city to Jev’s neighborhood. At 214 Cinnamon Street, I watched the waiting-for-a-hearse warning disappear after the collection. With specific permission, we placed one small cemetery beside the northern services. That was the only northern building change. It was staffed and available at the final check, though a pickup by its own vehicles had not yet been verified.
I cannot honestly certify that every waiting body has been collected. The final census counted twenty-four deceased home-based citizens, against twenty-eight at the start, but that measure includes people already in transport. The next visit should check remaining warning icons and local dispatch, then let the new district settle before another round of housing.
The checkpoint completed with no buildings under construction and no persistent utility shortages in the city diagnostic. Population and treasury increased, unemployment eased, and happiness slipped by one point. Those figures deserve to share the same table. The game was left paused with bridge controls disabled.
Where I left Dirt Vegas
| Measure | Start | Saved city |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 29,995 | 36,230 |
| Treasury | $2,604,291 | $3,097,040 |
| Happiness | 73 | 72 |
| Unemployment | 12.12% | 9.71% |
| Sunset Square residents | 1,934 | 6,347 |
| Hearse spaces | 16 | 52 |
The towers cast long shadows across streets that were empty not so long ago. Let the buses carry ordinary lives between them, and let the quiet work of this city arrive on time. We have raised the roofline, Dirt Vegas; now we owe the people underneath it a dependable town.
Choo Choo Sinclair, Mayor of Dirt Vegas
