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From the air, Jefferson is glorious. It's a carefully sculpted city, the lines of which I scored into the landscape many hours ago and from which a relief has sprung more spectacular than anything I could have imagined. Downtown stands tall, great sentinels of concrete and steel that stare out over the huddled, homely neighbourhoods towards the edge of town. One by one, their lights wink out and, with the setting of the sun, workers become residents, making their way to redbrick apartments, two story townhouses, or the static homes sat amongst the trees at the city limits. A park fills with children, the air with their laughter, and those skyscrapers become sundials as afternoon shadows creep from block to block. But look a little closer and you find much that is wrong.On the ground, Jefferson is a mess. Crowds protest outside City Hall, complaining first about crime and later about a lack of clean water. The main road out of Jefferson haemorrhages traffic. The downtown clinic can't find the space to treat the sick. At first glance, it might appear that Jefferson has its struggles, but these issues require a little more investigation. We have to look deeper into the problems that plague its public.
There is almost no crime to complain about. The police precincts are packed with patrol cars, supplemented by advanced dispatch services and community outreach. While the clinic is oversubscribed, the hospital nearby has fifty beds free and almost never treats anyone. According to a utilities advisor, Jefferson has a substantial surplus of water and the option to import more from its neighbour, yet hundreds of buildings that are connected to the main report dry taps. The water table never refreshes because there is almost never any rain.
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