So "The Fax Machine" is getting quite impressive.
Once a small backwater town it grew into a small but unimpressive town over a very slow period of time. When it got up around 20'000 people the city was struck by a meteor shower that wiped out the entire downtown area;
The fire ended up being a blessing in disguise. It didn't take long for the downtown to redensify and the town quickly boomed to 60'000;
The excessive oil deposits propped up the city coffers. With brand new petroleum and trading headquarters, multiple trading depots, and over a $100'000 in oil revenue a month the city boomed to 90'000 overnight!
100'000+ people quickly followed. With this size though the city suffered from an arsonist, and an increase in the homeless population.
Oil money and new parks along with a clean-up of "East Village" provided some new land and over a couple of years the city hit it's peak population of
190'000!
Oil royalties peaked shortly after. The city's coffer collapsed. An exodus occured dropping the population to 140'000. Water started drying up and with no where else to turn the mayor had no choice but to diversify. Small coal deposits, the Globe Theatre, and a new casino has kept the city afloat and it now sits at a healthy 160'000 people.
This city has reminded me of Calgary's history. For most of it's history it was a small city on the edge of civilization. Oil changed all this and the city boomed out of control. Sleek glass towers are both cities way of hiding their excessive homelessness and lack of identity. This city like Calgary's likely future is not good because of the boom-bust cycle. Hopefully like The Fax Machine, Calgary can diversify more and get some of its profits for its uncertain future. Otherwise it could end up like
Signal Hill