1951 - 1956
Upon taking office, Quintillus decided to investigate the police commissioner's claims, and visited each jail. Sure enough, they were filled to the brim. But what really surprised him was the poor state of the infrastructure by Shafer City and Apolyton. All of New Galway's power was there, yet there was no water connection.
A thorough investigation was conducted, and it was found that it was a conspiracy by Shafer City and Apolyton truckers, who were making a fortune hauling water in by the truckload to the power plants located in the area, so the power plants could generate steam and produce electricity. At some point the water mains to the nearby water towers had been sabotaged, and ever since the profits had been rolling in. They had even bribed the post office to not deliver letters addressed to City Hall and the Mayor's House from the area, keeping the local officials in the dark. Quintillus decided this quadrant of the city should no longer be isolated, and ordered a road to be constructed there, in addition to fixing the water issues.
Next to the road, Quintillus soon decided to zone some farms.
Not enough to feed the whole city anymore, but there's something to be said for local agriculture, and there was land to re-introduce it.
Next, Quintillus zoned a waterfront community far away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
A nice, quiet, secluded area for those who were embracing the postwar automobile and didn't want to live on floor 72 - the Lowlands, the neighborhood was named. And for those who did wan to live life in a highrise? There was plenty of housing next to the largest building in the city, the Kong Tower.
As you might have noticed in the Lowlands picture, Quintillus also built out a rail network, initially on the easternmost landmass. This was connected to Shafer City, Sorenville, and Apolyton, as well as the Lowlands, the industrial area, and the airport. Initial ridership was low, but Quintillus was undeterred, and connected the railroad to the edges of the downtown area, to the military base, and to the edge of the Josh Gibson University District, and from there to Sparks. This was not a railroad for next Tuesday, but a railroad for the next generation.
This was followed up by blowing the rest of the treasury on a subway system.
Quintillus thought this would be great for marking New Galway's entry as a world-class city, but it turned out people preferred to be above ground and take the existing busses. The only "subway" stations with high traffic were the ones that marked the end of the surface rail lines. The approval of Quintillus plummeted, but he didn't really care - he already knew he wouldn't be re-elected, and the city had no recall mechanism.
Much the same thing happened in the first half of 1952, as Quintillus connected the subway across the rivers.
On the west side, this connected up with the existing rail lines, and provided a much shorter alternative to the Golden Gate bridge.
But in late 1952, Quintillus did start addressing the burgeoning demand for more housing and commerce, expanding the downtown area out. The city was growing again, the rail lines had proved popular with industry, if still a middling success with passengers, and there was optimism - until pollution reared its ugly head.
A toxic cloud - how wonderful! Despite the efforts of past administrations to include a few trees in the industrial area, it was not the healthiest air to breathe in. And yet the jobs were needed. Quintillus didn't have an answer - but was starting to develop industry out by the military base, and that industry was generally cleaner.
In late 1953, it was agreed to import 10% more garbage from Sparks. New Galway didn't need the money anymore, but had a large landfill - might as well make use of it. In fact, New Galway didn't need the funds to such an extent that Quintillus agreed to industry leaders' request to lower taxes from 8% to 6%.
1954's marquee construction was the extension of the subway to the Josh Gibson University District, followed by adding another large urban park to the northeast of the current extent of downtown development, similar to the smaller one that had proven enormously popular.
In 1955, natural gas power plants became available, just as Sorenville requested more money for the 27% of New Galway's power that they were by then providing. This was reason enough to build some of those new power plants. After building ten natural gas plants, Sorenville came back with a better offer, offering to sell power at 8 simoleons per gigawatt-hour, rather than the old 11 or the previously-proposed 12. This, Quintillus decided, would be a question for the next mayor - there was enough of a surplus of power, albeit a modest surplus, for the time being.
Population: 318,643
(+69,277; +27.8%)
Cash: $118,922
(+$19,984)
Income: $145,044
(+$38,328, +35.9%)
Annual Surplus: $77,472
(+$21,396, +38.2%)
EQ: 110/123 (total/workforce)
(+5/+16)
Life Expectancy: 64/63 (total/workforce)
(+1/0)
Power (last 12 months): 48% coal, 19% oil, 6% neighbor, 28% natural gas
(-20% coal, -8% oil, +1% neighbor, +28% natural gas)