Housing in the Capital City

Every day at thirty minutes after sunrise, there was always a crowd of people clustered around the land registry office. Phanae pushed her way to the front of the crowd and gave an exaggerated sigh - all of the housing tickets posted had already been taken. She wasn't alone in her frustration; the housing official was fending off a crowd of would-be petitioners.
"Why are so few listings being posted?"
"These tickets are supposed to be first come first serve? Are you selling them?"
"Why hasn't the Principality started building more housing?"
The housing official sounded exasperated. "Folks, I Just. Work. Here. I don't set the policies and I don't know the answers to your questions. If you couldn't get a ticket today, come back tomorrow."
The crowd howled, and the guards began to pound their spears against the ground. Phanae ducked out of the crowd. Things were going to get a bit ugly.

Purpose / Function

Housing in the city provides all the amenities of modern life for city residents - clean in-home taps for water, Power hook-ups and flywheel charging stations, and local commerce for needs and desires. Although the Principality is egalitarian in outlook, it's no secret that the Etoile Capital City has the highest standard of living on the continent, and the high quality of the housing is integral.
One unique feature to the capital is the grid of powershaft relays supported on the roofs of each building; all buildings in the original City plan are directly connected to central Power.

Alterations

Although the construction of each block of apartments was standardized, the buildings are in private hands. As such, a range of apartments that have had more luxurious improvements are deemed in the 'wealthy' part of the City, and those without are in the 'bad' side of the City, but both terms are relative. Cheaper apartments tend to be reconfigured to partition the housing units into smaller and smaller sections in order to reduce per-unit rental costs.

Architecture

The original construction of the City was brutalist and utilitarian in design, but the passing years and various artistic initiatives have caused all sorts of styles to emerge in various neighborhoods. Floral motifs, abstracted color patterning, and historical murals are common sights in various parts of the City.

History

Etoile Capital City was constructed in under ten years by the First Princeps, as a demonstration of modern Power technology. His projection was for the City to house a half million people, and a grid of stonework and wood-frame buildings sprung up on the plains. Unfortunately, three times that number now count themselves residents of the Capital, and new housing is slow in coming. The housing ticket system ostensibly allocates the opportunity to purchase new and vacated units in a fair first-come-first-serve method, but the overwhelming demand has created political problems in the Capital - rents for a single two bedroom apartment are upwards of a thousand Florins a month, significantly higher than the average incomes for a single person.

Type

Apartment building / Tenament

Parent Location

Etoile Capital City