Chapter 2507

Cat Getan's traffic is still an age-old problem, but the traffic renovation project and the architectural renovation project started almost simultaneously, so they have also achieved impressive results so far.

Before the renovation, the main problem with Cat Getan's traffic was the lack of public transport functions, the excessively high ownership of private cars, and the fact that ground roads had not been repaired for a long time, leading to most of the traffic being blocked on just a few roads.

Unlike Metropolis, Cat Getan is difficult to build subways in due to its groundwater system structure. In the era when subway construction in major American cities was in full swing, they temporarily failed to solve this type of technical problem, which led to Cat Getan not even having a legacy subway, with only two lines in the most central part of the main city where the geology is relatively good. This is simply a disaster for a major city with a population of 10 million.

Cat Getan's car trading market is very prosperous, possessing the largest second-hand car trading market on the entire East Coast. Coupled with the fact that car prices and oil prices are not that expensive, every family with some savings chooses to buy a car.

And Cat Getan's terrain is different from Metropolis; the vast majority of places within Cat Getan City are also hills, with many slopes. Riding bicycles and motorcycles is purely asking for trouble, so many young people also choose to buy cars after starting work.

This has led to Cat Getan's private car ownership being much higher than that of the neighboring Metropolis, which has a larger population.

In contrast is Cat Getan's terrible road maintenance system. The roads built in the early stages were not wide, the materials used were not good, and there were too many lawless maniacs driving outrageously overweight trucks back and forth, while repairs and maintenance would occupy the roads. So Cat Getan's city center was blocked solid all year round.

The technology for building subways has indeed developed a lot in recent years. Even without the Wei En Group, Cat Getan's subway could have started construction. But with the Wei En Group, they decided to do it all in one step: don't build a subway, build a high-speed rail directly.

However, there are basically no conglomerates in the United States capable of building high-speed rail, because this mode of transportation is not very important to them; the main modes of transportation in the United States are still highways and airplanes.

If Cat Getan wants to build a high-speed railway, it must either find a team from another country or research it from scratch. But neither is very realistic, let alone the fact that Cat Getan wants to build a high-speed underground railway spread throughout a complex water network; basically, there is no similar technology or experience globally.

At this time, a technology entered the Wei En Group's field of vision, and that is maglev. Historically, there have been many examples of using maglev trains as high-speed intra-city transportation.

But similarly, this type of patented technology is basically mastered by Germany, Japan, and China. The United States does not have patented technology in this area, so it can only either hire a team or research it itself.

But previously, in order to improve Cat Getan's traffic network, Bruce brought in a lot of dark energy. In fact, the essence of maglev is converting electrical energy into kinetic energy, so he can actually convert other energy into kinetic energy, as long as there is energy.

So Bruce decided to start the technology tree from scratch, using the endless dark energy obtained from Barbatos to build a maglev subway for Cat Getan.

However, before that, he first used the previous relocation wave to build many new roads and interchanges to alleviate existing traffic problems, then increased buses, ferry boats, and even cable cars, and built crazy numbers of bridges in the Cat Getan River and delta areas, which slightly alleviated the traffic situation.

In the commercial part, the South District, which was originally a commercial gathering area, is also undergoing new commercial integration. To put it bluntly, it is also gathering those scattered commercial storefronts into business districts and commercial centers.

This was actually a task that should have been completed more than 100 years ago, but Cat Getan has its own circumstances. The terrible public security environment made investors not feel at ease putting all their industries in one basket. Isn't building such a large commercial center just asking to be robbed?

Even if no one goes to rob it every day, the gangs come to the door every day to ask for protection money, and if you don't give it, they blow it up. There's no way around it. Damage to one storefront is acceptable, but the cost of destroying an entire commercial center is too great.

So Cat Getan could never complete commercial gathering, until recently, when Cat Getan's public security situation greatly improved, traditional gangs completely declined, and modern corporate-style gangs needed new ways to collect money, which prompted the entire South District to start large-scale construction and build various prosperous business districts.

In fact, from the perspective of municipal planning, placing the industrial zone in the North District, strengthening ties with inland industries, and keeping a distance from the wealthy district, while placing consumption and entertainment centers at the junction of the West District and South District to promote consumption, is the best choice.

But on one hand, historical conditions did not allow it, and on the other hand, many people gradually realized that the consumption power of the rich is actually not that strong; giving them one luxury street is enough for them to shop.

On the contrary, a commercial area adjacent to a densely populated area with countless affordable goods and many centers for eating, drinking, and playing is the real goose that lays golden eggs. Real consumption still depends on mass consumption.

And this is also the most important reason why Cat Getan, after welcoming the Great Depression, can significantly surpass other cities.

In late autumn, the major events that Gothamites are concerned about are not the Second Great Depression that the whole United States, or even the whole world, is paying attention to. There are many more important things worth them pricking up their ears and seizing the opportunity.

One is that Mayor Luo Yi has become the strongest candidate for governor. The achievements he has made in Cat Getan are obvious to all, and even the mayor of Metropolis cannot match him. He has stated in interviews several times that he has little hope, and Luo Yi is the one the people want.

Their own mayor is going to be governor, which is good news for Gothamites, but they like their current mayor very much and feel that no one after him will be able to surpass him, so they still feel regretful about his departure.

But no matter what, Luo Yi is definitely going to be promoted, and the citizens are very worried about who will be the new mayor.

Among the current candidates, the most promising one is Oswald Cobblepot, who has also made significant contributions to Cat Getan's construction, but is criticized for his gang background.

Of course, James Gordon also ran, but he stated that he was just running to accompany the others, because if he were to be mayor, Cat Getan would indeed not be able to elect a competent police commissioner, and the citizens agreed with his view.

In addition, Harvey Dent also ran, but it's the same logic as Gordon. If he goes to be mayor, what about the district attorney?

Many people also called for Bruce Wei En to run, but most of the public didn't hold out hope for this. They believed that if Bruce Wei En were to participate, he would participate in the presidential election; he wouldn't come to be a small mayor.

The remaining candidates also have the same problems as the above figures; either their background is not good, or they can't get away due to their duties. So in the past few days, local news has been discussing this topic, and even the Great Depression has been put to the back of their minds.

Another major event is that Cat Getan University is moving. To be precise, it is building a branch campus and moving the vast majority of majors there.

The reason is, on one hand, Cat Getan University is too old, and many teaching buildings need maintenance, so it's better to tear them down and rebuild. On the other hand, the land area is indeed too small, and many high-tech laboratories have no space for expansion.

Moreover, the land where Cat Getan University is located is very important, and building anything there would be more profitable than building a university. In urban planning, this is the best terminal for Cat Getan's maglev train, so even a university has to make way for it.

However, the benefit is that the target location for Cat Getan University's relocation is the West District, where a large area has been left to build a university town. High-tech laboratories can also interact well with high-tech industrial zones, so that professors and technical personnel don't have to run back and forth. Moreover, it is closer to the densely populated East District, shortening the commute for work and school, and most faculty and students are happy to see it happen.

Schiller is of course the same. His manor is in the West District. Although it is on the suburban line of the West District, it is basically the same distance to any place in the city, but at least it is closer than before.

However, after the industrial zone was built, Schiller also considered moving, because the few facilities in the West District that maintain people's livelihood also have to move elsewhere. Even if a manor area can remain in the end, it's impossible to live there without supporting facilities.

Schiller now has two choices: either move to the South District and buy a similar villa in the wealthy district, or move to the East District and buy a flat-floor apartment.

Indeed, no matter how you look at it, the former is better, but the problem is that the United States is currently in a serious economic crisis, and basically no one would be so foolish as to buy a manor that is destined to decline. Schiller's manor in the West District cannot be sold.

In other words, he can only buy a house with the funds he has on hand, but it is conceivable how expensive houses in the South District are.

Some people might say that if you can't afford a manor, is it that hard to buy a villa? In fact, villas are the choice of the vast majority of the rich. Even if Wei En is rich, it's not the Middle Ages anymore. The living comfort and convenience of a manor are completely incomparable to a modern luxury villa, and it's not like everyone who sees it will say he's sick.

In fact, Bruce has wavered more than once, because Alfred is getting old, and cleaning such a huge Gothic manor is simply hell-level difficulty.

And the children are getting bigger and bigger. Dick is about to take the college entrance exam, and Jason and Tim are both about to enter high school. Aisha has been held back two grades because she hasn't grown, so she hasn't graduated from elementary school yet, but she has been growing faster recently.

They are exposed to modern equipment at school, living like normal modern people, playing skateboarding and basketball when they have nothing to do. Jason even wants to join the football team.

The Gothic Wei En Manor does indeed have a high level of prestige, but they aren't taking a vampire or werewolf graduation exam. If they want to play basketball, they have to go to the basketball court in the community across the street. Otherwise, if they accidentally break any pots or jars at home, it counts as damaging cultural relics. Who can stand that?

But Wei En Manor was built too early. Now this area is not a suburb but a city center. The surrounding community and supporting systems are too mature, and there is simply no room for expansion. If they want to have sports fields and the like, they can only tear down the garden.

But Bruce has another way, which is to dig underground. For others, it's a technical problem, but for him, it's not a problem.

He previously mocked other Batmen for digging holes under their own houses, but after going around in circles, he still had to build a Batcave.