Grand Flatts City

Grand Flatts City, Royal District, is a city located within a consolidated autonomous district of the Kingdom of Texas, and serves as the centralized national capital. The Royal District that encompasses Grand Flatts City is located in southeastern New Mexico, but is not apart of the state. The new city uses a system of moats, circular streets and soil enhancements to give a temperate and stable feel to the environment. Upon total completion, the city and surrounding metro area will be able to house around three to four million people.

The city and surrounding district are landlocked. The closest source of natural water is the Pecos River, which is 47 miles away from the western most edge of the city. To deal with rapid urbanization and increasing water demand, the city utilizes a system of canals that connect the Pecos River to the internal network of hydroponics. Grand Flatts City is located, as its name states, on a large flatland that stretches throughout most of the visible region. The city and royal district are located in the presence of a vast network of wind collection facility, which supplies a considerable amount of the city's power.

History
The idea of Washington, DC, was seen as a perfect way for representation in elections. With the establishment of the Kingdom of Texas in 2004, the new national government wanted its own new national capital to represent the new free spirit of the nation. Votes for location began on March 5th. A key factor in the decision of the capital's location was the invoice of the tribal peoples of New Mexico. With the loss of the US Federal government in their lands, reservations became de facto instead of government operated. Their request for the central government to extend the rights of the tribes in the reservation brought up the idea of a city in the least dense part of New Mexico itself. The new Senate, operating out of Oklahoma City, decided that a city would be constructed in southeastern New Mexico with the final vote on March 15th. Funding for the city was amounted to completion on March 27th. Construction was scheduled to begin by next month.

The initial design of the city came under fierce debate in the Senate, and several theories had been proposed as to what the core of the city should look like. Under the Davidson plan, created by city planner Matthew Davidson of Tulsa, the city would use a system of three roundabouts in a centralized circle pattern. The opposing plan was the Linné plan proposed by Jacques Linné. The Linné plan included a central thoroughfare which would split into a diamond while returning again to form a central district that split two larger ones apart. The pros of the Davidson plan were its defensive capabilities and allowance for a large number of parks and other beautification areas, and its cons were that is would be difficult to expand around the financial district like a traditional city would. The pros of the Linné plan were its ease of expansion and allowance for a more loosely bound city, but its cons were that it would be less possible to include a large number of parks near the national government buildings. A final vote for the plan was held on March 25th, were it was decided that the Davidson plan best fit the needs of the government. The Senate's final reasoning for the plan was that because "the plan allows for a more structured and beautiful city by providing a system of even expansion in its core".

The ceremony of dedicating the former city of Jal, New Mexico, as the capital was held on April 10th. The Senate dedicated a monument which would serve as the central roundabout in the city's circular design. Inscribed on the monument was the motto, "Out of her most blankest of slates, her most barren of deserts, arises a golden pillar that sits aloft with God." The city's construction began the next day, ironically with destroying the former city of Jal. The inhabitants of the city had left after the Davidson plan was adopted, and in return each family was promised a plot of land in the Oak District, were most of the politician's mansions and foreign embassies would be. Some turned down the offer for a plot of land in the outlying area of the Financial District, hoping to make money off of selling their land at a high price with the completion of the Core City. In five days, on April 16th, the city's core had completed its waterway canal system which would provide water to the city. Water was opened from the Pecos River the next day, and the canals worked as planned. The streets of the Core City were completed on April 28th, and the construction on the government buildings began on May 1st. While the government buildings were under construction, two new power plants were opened north and south of the city. The northern power plant would provide coal-zero-emission power, and the southern would provide a vast amount of wind turbine power. The Oak District, Royal District and Presidium District all would be primarily constructed in Spanish renaissance style, while the Financial District would not be limited to any style as pertaining its loose zoning code. After a year of construction on the Core, the government moved into the capital on October 19th, 2005. Two years later, on June 9th, 2007, the Core City was completed. As of 2012, the city is continuing its planned growth, and should be completely maxed in size by 2015.

Geography
Grand Flatts City is located on a flat, expansive dry land in southeast New Mexico. It is near the west Texas border, and exposed to strong winds that are being countered with the growth of trees and the formation of hills outside the city. The city is located near the former city of Jal, New Mexico, which is now cleared space for the gradual expansion of the city. While not entirely a desert, the unnatural and imported tropical fauna is supported by a system of man made canals. The canals use a combined system of aquifer/river source reservoirs. River water is directed from the Pecos River, west of the city, and aquifer water is taken from the Ogallala Aquifer under the Grand Reservoir. Year round, the climate of Grand Flatts City is hot and dry, with very little rainfall each year.

Transportation
Grand Flatts City is a relatively new city, and has an advanced infrastructural system that was fit to allow for the city to expand and grow as well as operate to its fullest of extent. Grand Flatts City has a large network of ground expressways with functional High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. Apart of its large expressway system is a bus transit available for free to proven residents of the city. The most common forms of transit in Grand Flatts City are bus, pedestrian and car.

The bus network is a largely local operating bus service, the GrandTransit Company. GrandTransit operates entirely inside of Grand Flatts City, and is in part funded by the local government for its primary application of operating costs. GrandTransit's bus network, the GrandTransit Bus System, is the only form of public transportation currently available in Grand Flatts City as of 2012. The GrandTransit System covers all 22 wards of the city, allowing for a less dense road network and a greater volume of people to use the network without large roadway congestion. The GTS operates mainly out of its Exchange Ward nexus, the Grand Exchange Terminus. With seven operating lines, GTS is effective and neatly localized with the commuter population in the city. Bus travel is the most common type of transportation in the city.

Grand Flatts City has a large public expressway network that outranks any other Texan city with its sheer capacity and size. The expressway provides vehicular traffic with a non-congested and open use of the city's vast road network, as the wards are all located in relativity near an expressway. Under the Unified Grand Flatts City Expressway, the expressway system is operated wholly by the city's local government, and not subject to national management of highways inside the city's proper limits. The expressway is connected to the National Highway System of Texas as it leaves city limits. As Grand Flatts City is very dense even without full occupancy, private car travel is discouraged, and bus or carpooling is endorsed by the city government.

Grand Flatts City is serviced by Thomas Bakerson International Aiport, which is operated by the city government as well. Thomas Bakerson International has a high volume of air traffic, as Grand Flatts City is the capital of the Kingdom. The airport was also built outside of the city's circular nexus, allowing for gradual expansion if needed. The airport provides service to many pan-American locations, as well as a number of intercontinental locations across the globe.