CityoftheLivingDead

The school board diverts funding from your kids' school to buy iPads for the children of the newly arrived tech workers.

Cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon litter the streets.

Every place you've ever loved is razed to the ground.

The soft smile of a city official beams as they clasp the hand of an out of town investor.

The local transit agency cuts your bus route.

The city establishes a huge urban renewal zone for your part of town.

Techie assholes kick your kids off of the local soccer field.

There isn't a bar where everyone knows your name anymore.

The local grocery store has gone all boutique, with prices to match.

You have squatted a building.

You have moved to the industrial district.

You have moved into a room above a restaurant.

You have moved into a microapartment with a living area of 210 square feet.

You have moved to a part of the city with a vibrant nightlife.

You have moved to a deserted part of town with few people and no grocery stores close by.

You have moved to a neighborhood filled with single homes.

What do you have against the free market?

No one has your back.

You have moved to a place where people only speak English.

You have moved to an apartment complex with assorted debris accumulating outside the building.

You have moved to a part of town that was built to accommodate new workers after the war.

You have moved close to a church.

You have moved into a flat with a skylight.

You have moved where signs in the street say where you're going.

You have moved quite far away.

You have moved to a building with an overgrown front yard.

You have moved into your mother's garage.

You have moved into a place where the paint is peeling away.

City of the Living Dead

All the new people look askance at you.

The bouncer at the new brewery didn't like your looks.

<<if visited() > 6 >>Actually, it's about ethics in gaming journalism.<<else>>Everyone clutches their cell phone closer to them as you pass by.<<endif>>

You've lived in this town since you were born. Over the years, you've grown up in the same house, went to school here, got a job, created a family.\n\nYou're not sure when it started exactly. Your neighbors started moving away, replaced with people unfamiliar to you -- people with means. You find yourself with crowded out, and you can no longer afford to live in this newly affluent neighborhood.\n\nYou are forced to move elsewhere in the city. You move to the:\n\n||[[North|North]]||\n|[[East|East]]||[[West|West]]|\n||[[South|South]]||\n\n//(you may also like to read [[about|About]] after you've gone through this)

You wonder where the time goes.

You play sports in the park every weekend.

You work, you eat, you sleep.

You involve yourself in community projects.

You are frequently afraid to go outside.

You move to a new place only to discover that there's never any parking spot available.

You find yourself meeting new people and making new friends.

You move into a space with no windows.

You move into a den of squalor.

You move to a gated complex.

You move far away from any public transit.

You move into a house which looks like it's slightly off it's foundation.

You move into an old brick building.

You find that your children make fast friends with the other kids in the neighborhood.

You cook at home more often.

New tech workers have noticed that your building is very distinctive.

You have moved into an artist's collective.

You pack up your things and move to the <<print passage()>>.<<set $move to random(1,5)>><<if $move is 4>> You've lost <<print either("some","a lot")>> of your belongings because there's not enough space in your new place.<<elseif $move is 5>> You've <<print either("lost","destroyed")>> some of your <<print either("belongings", "furniture", "personal mementos")>> in the process of moving.<<endif>><<set $friends to random(0,4)>><<if $friends > 1>> You lose touch with <<print either("one","two","three","four","five")>> of your friends due to your move away from them.<<endif>>\n\n<<display either("d1","d2","d3","d4","d5","d6","d7","d8","d9","d10","d11","d12","d13","d14","d15","d16","d17","d18","d19","d20","d21","d22","d23","d24","d25","d26","d27","d28","d29","d30","d31","d32","d33","d34","d35","d36","d37","d38","d39","d40","d41","d42","d43","d44","d45","d46","d47","d48","d49","d50")>> <<display either("l1","l2","l3","l4","l5","l6","l7","l8","l9","l10","l11","l12","l13","l14","l15","l16","l17","l18","l19","l20","l21","l22","l23","l24","l25","l26","l27","l28","l29","l30","l31","l32","l33","l34","l35","l36","l37","l38","l39","l40","l41","l42","l43","l44","l45","l46","l47","l48","l49","l50")>>\n\n<<display either("h1","h2","h3","h4","h5","h6","h7","h8","h9","h10","h11","h12","h13","h14","h15","h16","h17","h18","h19","h20","h21","h22","h23","h24","h25","h26","h27","h28","h29","h30","h31","h32","h33","h34","h35","h36","h37","h38","h39","h40","h41","h42","h43","h44","h45","h46","h47","h48","h49","h50")>> You are forced to move elsewhere in the city. You move to the:\n\n||[[North|North]]||\n|==East==||[[West|West]]|\n||[[South|South]]||

The smell from the new coffee roasting franchise burns your nostrils awake.

You telecommute.

You hear gunshots every few days.

You surmise that your partner resents the move.

You can hear the grass grow.

You take frequent long walks.

You struggle to pay the bills.

You have found a nice local restaurant which you go to every week.

You discover that the elderly woman who lives next door is a fount of wisdom.

You draw the blinds closed often.

You plant some flowers in the yard.

You move into an apartment complex that has a number of vacancies.

You move into a house with inadequate insulation.

You have moved to a cramped neighborhood with lots of people and few amenities.

You spend your days looking at the people as they pass by.

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You think about the friends you've lost.

You go out to see local bands more than a few times a month.

You lift your head higher.

You think about the friends you've made here.

You bundle up with more blankets in the winter.

You smell like spring.

You babysit the neighbors' children.

You love sitting by the fireplace.

You sweep the sidewalks on Saturdays.

You are not too sure about the man who lives across the street.

You move into a nest of busybodies.

Tanah Atkinson

You move to a place that you're not sure is even in the city.

A new bar brings a new crowd to your neighborhood.

All the new neighbors complain to the city about your building.

Weekend partiers constantly piss in your bushes.

The city council decides to bulldoze your building to make way for new housing for employees of a multibillion dollar company.

Three new cupcake stores and four new ice cream shops have opened up in your neighborhood.

A major tech company has expanded their business causing an influx of more affluent people and corresponding increase in rents.

Everyone you knew has left.

A local restauranteur strikes up a local crusade against Somali youth.

The construction workers who have popped up everywhere catcall you every single day.

The police have an eye on you.

You accost missionaries in the street.

You see cops too often.

You socialize more often at the local laundromat.

You avoid the landlord.

You bike to work.

You get your neighbor to help you fill out your tax forms.

You spend a lot of time at the local library.

You shoot hoops with the neighbors.

You delight in the smell of your neighbors' cooking.

You should know when to let it go.

You marvel at the smell of rain.

You can see the stars most evenings.

You miss movie nights.

You wish things would just stop.

You wonder who will live here after you.

You wonder who lived here before you.

You take your dog on as short of a walk as possible.

You rescue the neighbor kid's cat.

The new trendy business employees harass your kids.

The mayor creates an initiative to boost new market-value residences.

You sing in the shower.

You strum your guitar rather badly.

A yuppie commune wishes to build a seven-story green building where your home is now.

No one smiles anymore.

Developers find a loophole in city zoning regulations that allows 80 coffin-sized apartments on one lot.

Weekend revelers from outside the city party hard.

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You have moved into an apartment building that was modern in the 1950s.

You have moved into a house that has seen better days.

You have moved into military barracks converted for residential use.

You have moved next to the train tracks.

You have moved into a traditionally working-class part of town.

The vacancy rate in your neighborhood is a fraction of a percent.

You have moved into an area filled with student housing.

You have moved across the way.

The landlord puts an eviction notice on your door.

The owners sell your building to a large investor, pushing your rent into the stratosphere.

A tech executive buys your building and kicks you out with no warning.

The landlord tells you that the building is being emptied for major renovation and invites you to reapply for housing once they've finished with the improvements.

You have moved by the water.

You have moved next to a roaring expressway.

A new light rail station is planned for your neighborhood.

The streets grow increasingly unfamiliar.

You have a small circle of friends.

''//City of the Living Dead// by Tanah Atkinson for Ectocomp 2014''\n\nThe title //City of the Living Dead// was taken from the Lucio Fulci movie of the same name. Zombies pushing everyone out of town? I see that every day.\n\nNo copyright.\n\nInfluences: Aside from lived life, I'd encourage you to read [[Gentrification: A Tour Guide|http://shadesofsilence.org/2014/06/11/gentrification-a-tour-guide/]], which details its signs and effects on a particular neighborhood in a rapidly gentrifying city. There's also a similarity with a recent IF work which is rather hard to ignore (opaqueness due to rules and procedures).\n\nGentrification is a process that uproots friends and families. It is a force that cannot be stopped. It is always hungry. It will always eat. How do you fight against a monster that can never be killed? If you have any suggestions: [[tanah.atkinson@yandex.com|mailto:tanah.atkinson@yandex.com]]. (Comments and critiques are okay, too. Also @tanahatk on twitter, probably.)\n\n[[(back to the start)|Start]]

Anti-gay attacks escalate.

The new local businesses demand more cops on the street, and get them.

The local community council gets the last African-American bar in the area shut down as a "problem business."

The local college partners with community advisors to find new housing to enable increased enrollment.

The landlord laughs off your repair requests.

The neighbors say that you're no fun.

The new residents set up a community watch, and you feel their eyes on you all the time.

Nobody speaks your language anymore.

The neighbors encourage you to sign their petition about the transient problem.

Everyone demands that you follow a normative societal ethics.

Words of abuse hit your ears regularly.

You pack up your things and move to the <<print passage()>>.<<set $move to random(1,5)>><<if $move is 4>> You've lost <<print either("some","a lot")>> of your belongings because there's not enough space in your new place.<<elseif $move is 5>> You've <<print either("lost","destroyed")>> some of your <<print either("belongings", "furniture", "personal mementos")>> in the process of moving.<<endif>><<set $friends to random(0,4)>><<if $friends > 1>> You lose touch with <<print either("one","two","three","four","five")>> of your friends due to your move away from them.<<endif>>\n\n<<display either("d1","d2","d3","d4","d5","d6","d7","d8","d9","d10","d11","d12","d13","d14","d15","d16","d17","d18","d19","d20","d21","d22","d23","d24","d25","d26","d27","d28","d29","d30","d31","d32","d33","d34","d35","d36","d37","d38","d39","d40","d41","d42","d43","d44","d45","d46","d47","d48","d49","d50")>> <<display either("l1","l2","l3","l4","l5","l6","l7","l8","l9","l10","l11","l12","l13","l14","l15","l16","l17","l18","l19","l20","l21","l22","l23","l24","l25","l26","l27","l28","l29","l30","l31","l32","l33","l34","l35","l36","l37","l38","l39","l40","l41","l42","l43","l44","l45","l46","l47","l48","l49","l50")>>\n\n<<display either("h1","h2","h3","h4","h5","h6","h7","h8","h9","h10","h11","h12","h13","h14","h15","h16","h17","h18","h19","h20","h21","h22","h23","h24","h25","h26","h27","h28","h29","h30","h31","h32","h33","h34","h35","h36","h37","h38","h39","h40","h41","h42","h43","h44","h45","h46","h47","h48","h49","h50")>> You are forced to move elsewhere in the city. You move to the:\n\n||==North==||\n|[[East|East]]||[[West|West]]|\n||[[South|South]]||

You have moved into a condo that has seen some years.

You have moved into a basement apartment.

You have moved in with your partner's parents.

You have moved into a cul-de-sac.

You have moved into a place that reeks of sulfur.

You have moved into public subsidized housing.

You have moved into a commune.

You have moved to the wrong side of the tracks.

You have moved into a tenement block.

You have moved into the same neighborhood as a good friend of yours.

You have moved to a part of the city that you're unfamiliar with.