Paradis, USA

Paradis (French for “paradise”) is the name of the city that is the end product of many years of research, and many hard hours of planning. In Paradis, there lies a uniqueness, in that certain problems that are plaguing other cities are essentially absent. These are air pollution; lack of food, housing, and jobs for large populations; and crime.

According to Michael H. Brown, many of the poisionous substances in the atmosphere are caused by chemical plants, factories, and incinerators, and these toxins are carried throughout the country on wind currents. These wind currents were mapped out, and Paradis was constructed on a suitable site, out of the way of the major toxin-carrying wind currents.

Another problem with the atmosphere in most cities is lead. Most people are unaware of it, but:

“...recent studies indicate that even extremely low levels of lead in the body cause neurological harm and impair body chemistry and bone growth.”

— Gurman, 18-20

Some other symptoms of minor lead poisoning are feeling tired, cramped and confused. An EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) report in 1985 warned

“that gasoline emissions contribute more to human lead exposure than any other source, providing more than 50 percent of the lead in the average American’s blood.”

— Gurman

To solve this problem, Paradis has an underground electric train system that provides transportation to almost every major point in the city. For the people who want to use cars, only cars using unleaded fuel are sold or serviced in Paradis, along with electric cars. When people move in who own cars using leaded gasoline, they are offered a trade by the city government, for an electric car. The trade-in car is then either converted to unleaded gas use, or sent to another part of the country for resale. Unleaded gas pumps in Paradis outnumber leaded ones by a ratio of 12 to one.

Jeanne C. Biggar, a writer for World Book Encycolopedia mentions that the problem with large populations is usually not overcrowding, but lack of housing, food, and jobs for the excess people. To solve the problem of jobs, Paradis has a section of government called POJ, for Plenty Of Jobs. This agency’s main objectives are to find jobs for newcomers, find job placement for people already living there who have been dropped for one reason or another, and to create jobs for the people who can’t find one.

Part of the food problem is solved by POJ, because when jobs have to be created, a good percentage of these are farm jobs which help to produce food for Paradis. The main reason for bountiful food in Paradis, however, is the closeness of the farms. Outside of the city limits, at an accessible distance, are the farms, which produce food principally for Paradis. Food is not shipped to other areas unless there is a significant amount of extra produce.

Between the city and the farms, there is a fairly expansive open area. This open ground is mostly for expected expansion of Paradis. A great part of this area is already designated as to what will be built there in the future, and a large part of it is reserved for high rise apartment buildings, and housing developments. This will provide housing for excess people, and it will also create many jobs for construction workers.

Crime in the inner city is usually caused by discontent, either with low wages, lack of a job, or boredom. This will be largely taken care of by the fact that just about everyone will have a good job, and there are enough inexpensive recreational centers (bowling alleys, arcades, theaters, fitness clubs, churches, etc.) that boredom won’t be a large factor.

In cities of the past, in the twentieth century, there have been many uncontrolled problems. Paradis was an attempt to rid cities of these problems, and it was successful for the most part. It would have been foolish for Paradis’s planners to assume it would actually be a “paradise”, since that is only possible in Christianity’s Heaven. However, most people at the present seem to voice the general opinion that Paradis came as close to an earthly paradise as possible, since it did dispense with several of the main problems of old cities.

Bibliography

Biggar, Jeanne C. "Population." World Book Encyclopedia. 1984 ed.

Brown, Michael H. "Toxic Wind." Discover Nov. 1987: 42-49.

Cooke, Alistair. America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1973.

Gatland, Kenneth, and David Jefferis. Future Cities. London: Usborne Publishing, Ltd., 1979.

Gurman, Lew. "Deadly Lead." Environmental Action March/April 1986: 18-20.

Wilson, Richard O. "Gasoline Vapor Controls: Pros And Cons." EPA Journal April 1987: 23-25.

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