Chapter 2554: Xiao Xiao Descends (Part 2)

Gotham's transportation remained a perennial topic of discussion, but the transportation improvement project and the construction renovation project were almost begun simultaneously, so notable results had been achieved to date.

Before the renovation, Gotham's main transportation problem was the lack of public transport functions. There was an excessive number of private cars, yet the roads were seldom repaired, resulting in most of the traffic congestion being on those few roads.

Unlike Metropolis, Gotham struggled with subway construction due to issues with the structure of its underground water system. During an era when subway construction was booming in America's large cities, Gotham was unable to resolve such technical challenges and consequently didn't even have a legacy subway system. There were only two routes in the heart of the city where the geology was relatively stable, which was a disaster for a city with a population of tens of millions.

Moreover, Gotham had a thriving automotive market, boasting the largest used car market on the East Coast. Combined with affordable car prices and fuel costs, nearly any family with some savings chose to buy a car.

The terrain of Gotham, unlike Metropolis, was mostly hilly within the city, with numerous slopes. Riding bicycles or motorcycles was practically asking for trouble, which is why many young people opted to buy cars after starting their careers.

This led to a higher rate of private car ownership in Gotham than in its neighbor, Metropolis, which had a larger population.

On the flip side was Gotham's terrible road maintenance system. The roads built during the initial period were not wide and were made of inferior materials. Moreover, too many lawless thugs drove overladen trucks back and forth, crushing the pavement. Repairs and maintenance required road closures, resulting in perpetual traffic jams in the city center.

Subway construction technology had indeed advanced in recent years. Even without Wayne Enterprises, Gotham could have begun work on its subway, but with Wayne Enterprises involved, it was decided to take a big leap forward and not build a subway at all, but instead construct a high-speed rail.

However, virtually no corporations in America were capable of constructing high-speed rail as it wasn't a crucial mode of transportation for them, with highways and airplanes being their main focus.

If Gotham wanted to build a high-speed railway, it had to either find teams from other countries or start research from scratch. Regardless of the choice, neither was very realistic, let alone the fact that Gotham wanted to build a high-speed underground railway through its complex network of waterways, a feat unmatched anywhere in the world at the time.

This was when a technology caught the attention of Wayne Enterprises—magnetic levitation, historically used for high-speed urban transport through maglev trains.

Yet again, the proprietary technology for such a system was largely in the hands of Germany, Japan, and China. The United States had no such proprietary technology and would either have to invite a team over or conduct its own research.

But previously in order to improve Gotham's transit network, Bruce had garnered a great deal of dark energy. The essence of magnetic levitation is converting electrical energy into kinetic energy; however, he could also transform other forms of energy into kinetic energy—as long as there was an energy source.

Therefore, Bruce decided to start from scratch on the technology tree, utilizing the endless supply of dark energy from Barbados to build a levitating subway for Gotham.

However, before that, he first used the previous relocation wave to build many new roads and overpasses to alleviate the existing traffic problems, then increased buses, ferries, and even cable cars, and crazily built bridges across the Gotham River and the Delta region, managing to slightly ease the traffic congestion.

In the commercial sector, the South District, already a commercial hub, was undergoing a new commercial integration, essentially gathering scattered business fronts into commercial circles and business centers.

Actually, this task should have been completed over a hundred years ago, but Gotham had its own circumstances. The terrible security environment did not assure investors to put all their assets in one basket, so building such a large business center would just invite robbery, wouldn't it?

Even if no one robbed it daily, the Mob demanding protection money every day and threatening to bomb it if not paid was beyond help. Damage to a single storefront might be bearable, but the destruction of an entire business center would be too costly.

Therefore, Gotham never managed to complete commercial agglomeration until recently when the security situation improved significantly. Traditional mobs were in complete decline while modern corporate mobs sought new ways to extort money, which facilitated the South District's boom in construction and the creation of busy commercial districts.

Indeed, from a municipal planning perspective, placing the industrial area in the North District to strengthen ties with inland industries while staying away from affluent residential districts, and situating the consumer and entertainment centers in the bordernonnected West and South Districts to promote consumption would be the best choice.

On one hand, historical conditions didn't permit this. On the other hand, many people gradually realized that the consumption power of the wealthy was not as strong as imagined—a single luxury street was enough for their shopping.

Contrarily, a commercial district adjacent to densely populated residential areas, containing countless affordable goods and numerous entertainment centers, was the true golden goose, as real consumption depends on the mass market.

And this was the most significant reason Gotham surpassed other cities after the onset of the Great Depression.

In late autumn, the Gothamites weren't fixated on the second Great Depression that both the entire country and the whole world were concerned about; there were many more critical matters that deserved their full attention and offered opportunities to seize.

One of them was that Mayor Roy had become the strongest candidate for governor. The accomplishments he made in Gotham were clear for all to see, so much so that even the mayor of Metropolis couldn't hold a candle to him, admitting several times in interviews that his own chances were slim and that Roy was the true favorite.

Their own mayor is running for governor, and for Gothamites, it's good news, but they like their current mayor very much and feel that no successor will surpass him, so they still regret his departure.

But regardless, Mayor Roy is definitely moving up, and the citizens are very concerned about who will be the new mayor.

Among the current candidates, the most hopeful is Oswald Cobblepot, who has also made significant contributions to the construction of Gotham, but his mob background has been heavily criticized.

Of course, James Gordon has also entered the race, but he has said that he is only participating as a formality because if he were to become mayor, then Gotham really would not be able to elect a competent police commissioner, a view the citizens share.

Harvey Dent has also thrown his hat in the ring, but he faces the same issue as Gordon—if he becomes mayor, what about the district attorney?

Many people have called for Bruce Wayne to run for mayor, but most of the public does not hold out hope, believing that if Bruce Wayne were to get involved, it would be in a presidential race; he wouldn't become a mere mayor.

The remaining candidates face the same issues as those mentioned above, either having inappropriate backgrounds or being tied down by their current responsibilities, so for the past few days, the local news has continuously discussed this topic, even pushing aside the Great Depression.

Another big issue is that Gotham University is moving, or more accurately, is building a satellite campus and relocating the majority of its programs there.

The reasons are twofold: on one hand, Gotham University is very old, and many of its buildings require maintenance, which is less practical than rebuilding; on the other hand, the University's current site is too small to expand for many high-tech laboratories.

Moreover, Gotham University's current location is very important and could be better used for something more profitable, such as the city's plan for a central station for the Gotham suspension railway, thus even the university has to make way.

However, the positive side is that Gotham University's relocation target is the West District, which has reserved a large area for a university town, and high-tech laboratories will be able to interact well with the high-tech industrial area, allowing professors and technical staff to avoid long commutes. Being closer to the densely populated East District also shortens the commute for most faculty and students, who are generally pleased with the development.

Shiller is, of course, one of them, as his manor is located in the West District. Although on the suburban edge of West District, making it roughly the same distance to anywhere in the city, it still is closer than before.

However, after the construction of the industrial zone, Shiller also considered moving because the West District's already scarce public services for residents were relocating elsewhere. Even if a manor zone remains, it would not be habitable without the supporting facilities.

Shiller now has two choices: either move to the South District and buy a roughly equivalent villa in the wealthy neighborhood, or move to the East District and purchase a single-story residence.

Indeed, no matter how one looks at it, the former is better, but the problem is that America is currently in the midst of a severe economic crisis, and it is unlikely anyone would unwisely buy a manor destined to decline—Shiller's manor in the West District is unsellable.

That is to say, he could only rely on the funds he has on hand to buy a house, but as one can imagine, properties in the South District are tremendously expensive.

Some might say that if a manor is unaffordable, is buying a villa really that difficult? In fact, villas are the choice of the vast majority of the wealthy; even if Wayne is affluent, we are not in the Middle Ages anymore. The comfort and convenience of living in a manor cannot compare to that of a modern luxury villa, and anyone who chooses differently would be considered unwell.

In fact, Bruce has been tempted more than once because Alfred is getting old, and managing such a huge Gothic mansion is extremely difficult, akin to a task from Hell.

Moreover, the children are also growing up—Dick is about to go to college, Jason and Tim are almost in high school, and Aisha is still not out of elementary school, having been held up two grades due to her size, even though she's started growing faster lately.

At school, they interact with modern devices and live like regular modern people, skateboarding, playing basketball, with Jason even aspiring to join the football team.

The gothic Wayne Manor indeed has an impressive prestige, but they are not participating in a vampire or werewolf final exam, and if they want to play basketball, they have to go to the community court across the street; otherwise, accidentally damaging any household artifact could be considered harm to cultural relics—who could tolerate that?

But Wayne Manor was built too early, and now the area is not a suburb but an urban district with a mature community and support system leaving no space for expansion; to have something like a sports field, one would have to demolish the garden.

However, Bruce has one other solution, and that is digging underground. What is a technical challenge for others is not a problem for him.

He had previously mocked the idea of other Batmen digging holes under their homes, but after going full circle, he finds he must build his own Batcave.