Clueless Urban Planners: Desert Edition

Who Doesn't Love A GOLF COURSE? | Ep. 26

Aaron and Onyx are in awe as Stephen unveils the result of offline blood, sweat, and tears: a new 9-hole country club golf course and driving range in the notionally gated community of Oasis Park. We build a new relief arterial road to take traffic pressure off the city's main east-west connector route. To aid this further, we also relocate the main postal sorting plant to the industrial district, because who wants noisy mail trucks roaring down your quiet residential street at 2am in the morning? Video: https://youtu.be/o3LCOcScy70 [https://youtu.be/o3LCOcScy70]

Our Education System Is A House Of Cards | Ep. 25

In a "build and yap" session, the city deals with a dangerously below average school graduation rate, along with a severe shortage of students entering the university, with most of the population either already graduated from college or having skipped it entirely to enter the workforce. We attempt to downplay the situation by comparing the county to other locations in the US, but ultimately find that we are far worse off than anywhere else in the country. Video: https://youtu.be/pXc06-9SPd0 [https://youtu.be/pXc06-9SPd0]

The Driver's Dilemma: To Park Or Not To Park | Ep. 24

Confusion abounds regarding Onyx's intentions regarding the campus athletics facilities. Traffic conditions continue to deteriorate across the city, and Stephen explains Traffic Manager's Advanced Parking AI, which forces us to build additional multi-level parking garages in multiple neighbourhoods. Onyx also insists that Church's Texas Chicken is a Canadian company, despite the name. Video: https://youtu.be/ZA55uhqMTqk [https://youtu.be/ZA55uhqMTqk]

Nothing Beats A NEW MANCHESTER Holiday! | Ep. 23

Over 20 episodes in and we still have no catchy slogan for our region. We devote probably too much time brainstorming taglines with wildly mixed results, including Aaron reaching for ChatGPT for some "inspiration". Meanwhile, Stephen attempts to build a bridge across the highway to Nazca which Onyx immediately seizes to rebuild, only to make it worse. We also finally settle on a name for the county seat: New Manchester. Video: https://youtu.be/FBuakSSWdOo [https://youtu.be/FBuakSSWdOo]

Revitalizing The City Center! | Ep. 22

Stephen and Onyx squabble over the location of the university's baseball park. The route alignment for the tram line is finalized. Aaron takes advantage of the glitchy disappearing businesses downtown and begins upzoning blocks for higher density development. The city's first shopping mall is constructed. We also discuss various "niche phases" of our lives, including our shared penny board phase and Aaron's harmonica years. Video: https://youtu.be/wh1aAfQ_1e8 [https://youtu.be/wh1aAfQ_1e8]