Nerd Pride Radio

What would a perfect city be like?

Great public transportation options, and walkability and bike riding planned into it. Many green spaces, with green roofs as well as city parks being widely accessible. I prefer a city that grows up more than out, so lots of high rises.

When I took a trip to Chicago with the family not too long ago, I was reminded of how much effort it takes to keep a city supplied and the ever-present smell of burnt diesel fuel.

If I were planning a city and could control what goes into and out of the city, I would set up diesel to electric clearinghouses to deal with distribution. No big trucks having to drive into cramped loading docks. The supply system would truck things at a sub-basement level.

Also, green spaces and public spaces everywhere you can put them.

Blade Runner, great neon lights, robots, noodle places everywhere, good stuff.

Devoid of people and full of trees, so... kind of not a city.

It would be me, and a great deal of intelligent machines.

I might allow up to five other people. But that's even a stretch.

It also depends on what your goal for the city is.

For a military/production city, you're going to want, in addition to plenty of food available from irrigated plains grassland and flood plains, to wanting production based resources, such as hills with mines, mountains with mines, and especially any special resources like Iron, Copper, Cows or Oil. A barracks is critical for your troops to come up with plenty of experience, and you should aim for the West Point national wonder when you get the chance. Irownworks makes an excellent second national wonder, as it will greatly increase production. You're probably going to want temple and cathedrals to offset the happiness malus from your production buildings.

A City that you want to get a lot of commerce/science from should be on a river, and preferably have access to the ocean.

How about we make our city in the trees with lots of little completely secure rope ladders that are like giant cobwebby structures that support human-sized creatures? And there will be no bad weather that could blow down or otherwise hurt our little structures in the treetops. And there's a beach and on the other side from the beach there will be rocks to climb up. Again it's not sounding much like a city.

Do you want ewoks? Because that is how you get Ewoks.

Hell yes I want Ewoks! No wonder that's my idea of a great city.