Rapture Immigration

* See also Welcome Center
* See also Rapture_Population
* See also The Vanishing
* See also Secrecy_For_Rapture
* See also Columbia_Immigration
Why People came to Rapture
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WHO ? :
You have to look at WHO are the many people who logically come to Rapture :
Artists ? Were artists really discriminated in the 1940s world all that much ?? And the venues are rather limited ( for performing artists ). Maybe its more the LAME ones looking for a new start.
Refugees from Europe/Asia - Those places were real messes that weren't going to recover for a decade or from Communist tyranny. England and France weren't so great when you think about it.
Inventors ? What stops you from 'inventing' - getting your invention produced to make a ton of CASH - THAT would be what was lacking for minorities ( even someone who already has sufficiently developed something good ). But the problem there is small Rapture with its 20-40 thousand population The Novel author estimates pipulation of 20,000 and small customer base - How much money are YOU REALLY going to make there.
ANYONE could be worried about a coming atomic war or just another ware with the Communists, So exceptions to any/all reasons could be an allowance.
Unethical Scientists ? How unethical before they cross over the social mores even for Rapture - WAR CRIMINALS have obvious dispensation as they are escaping justice.
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I'm Moving To Rapture :
* How NOT to have a 'fire sale' on your worldly possessions/holdings, when moving to Rapture.
* You can't take it all with you ( but you CAN take alot of it ) - possession allowances for immigrants ( you pay the shipping ).
* Ryan's contacts interested in acquiring companies and properties that are somewhat 'discounted' ( qualms?? -- if an A-bomb blew them up tomorrow, how much would they be worth then ?? ).
Actually, 'Rapture' would be a pretty good scam - Get some rich dolts to sign-over their worldly goods to you, to send them to an undersea 'paradise', only they find themselves trapped there ( or dumped on some island somewhere or just murdered ) ... People WOULD naturally be incredulous, and many WOULD have to have more Evidence/Assurances of what they 'were getting into' ( We should have some MMORPG missions on this subject - Flashbacks to the early days and the 'sales job' that was done on 20000 - 40000 people to get them to come to Ryan's Rapture. )
* Other properties/holdings would be arranged to be held so that they could be sold off gradually ( so as to recover most of their monetary value ).
* What good is a company without its personnel ?? How to talk employees into also going to Rapture.
* There just is not as large a market in Rapture as on The Surface ( even with a monopoly ). Thus is required a reasonably-sized business model and expectation. ( The fear of being blown up in a atomic/nuclear war might convince some 'big businessmen' to accept a 'downsized' empire ).
* The 'Idle Rich' taking refuge from 'The End of the World' -- Ryan would accept that they might not 'Pull the Great Chain' very hard, but their resources would help build Rapture to enable others that could.
* Retirement to a 'Safe and Pleasant' place - Shady Acres retirement community ( see the new Rapture map ). Some of those fancy Hotels we see would be permanent homes to various 'rich' people who prefer the 'room service' lifestyle.
* How to be in Rapture before the Taxman knows you are gone ????
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City Population Distortions :
"Ryan filled it with several thousand (hundreds?) of the World's "Best and Brightest".
Rapture could not exist with only 'elites' and 'discarded' construction workers. The remaining population would reflect this.
* Most of the original population (20000 - 40000) would have had to exist to make the city work and be 'self-sufficient' ( the goal declared by Ryan ). Many more people would have to be skilled in all kinds of manufacture/industry/services. Only a small percentage would have been rich enough for a life of leisure and many of those would still own businesses.
* The 'downtrodden' Construction Workers (a thousand ?) would have to adjust/retrain and take new jobs -- with a wide spectrum of jobs being available to them.
* Some Construction would actually have been planned to be continuous to make space for long term City growth and to help alleviate the 'cramped' situation ( many of the 'suburbs' were built after the 'City' was largely completed ). This would also continue active jobs for more than a few construction workers.
* The original game's plot machinations left many possible options like this non-existent -- instead it needed to fabricate the required elite vs poor class conflict and force failure on Ryan's 'utopia'. Most construction workers would likely find jobs doing City Maintenance ( which was alluded to being needed more than has been expected ) or be retrained for other jobs over a period of many years.
* The market/bank crash caused by Fontaine/Atlas violence and murder was actually responsible for putting large numbers of people out of work ( not just construction workers ) and the mayhem caused by the Splicers made sure recovery was largely impossible in that situation. One of the Audio Diaries ( in Hephaestus ) has Ryan saying that Rapture would recover, which would actually have been likely once he eliminated Atlas's poisonous violence and the Splicers were under control and sufficient order was restored ( Sofia Lamb hiding under her rock somewhere at that time would have been easily dealt with ). Ryan would have fixed his City if given the chance.
An earlier economic downturn ( around 1954 ?? ) was recovered from, but with criminal opportunists like Fontaine and Lamb using the unfortunates as cannon fodder for their own greed for power, the 'poor' got little real help and instead propaganda of why they should be given handouts instead of simply working for their own livelihood. If Sofia Lamb and Fontaine had created/fostered some constructive work ( farm-work, manufacturing, rebuilding housing, picking up garbage ) for all those 'poor' people, then they might have had a chance to climb out of their circumstances. Instead they got 'make work' in Dionysus Park and lessons in how to hold 'strikes' and protests and threaten violence and rantings at how unfair everything was.
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 'Laborer' Construction Workers would be not much going to Rapture :
* Prefabs as much as possible to lower the costs ( done on land and alot of assembly right at surface )
* Most of the work would be done by remote operators
* Guys in diving suits are rarer than remote machine operators ( and Deep Divers 20 x more )
* Ryan didn't want people who would soon have no job
* After the City Construction largely ended they had to get other jobs ( and would - with Rapture tech levels )
* Interior work is a whole different kind of work ( went on a bit longer than the Main Structural Construction )
This all is important because of the simpleton's "Poor Out Of Work Workers" game story element/plot driving. 
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Something Ryan Understood :
That others would achieve for Achievement's sake, and that money was just 'a means to an end' for them IF it was required. Those others could do things he himself couldn't do, but their achievements would/could be made available to all. That is the way Civilization happened and grew.
Thus the greatest Artists and Scientists in Rapture likely were only marginally involved with commercial activities. Yes, they needed to Pay to continue their work, and often only mere sidelines of theirs were turned into money, but only to forward their real work/vocation. Others who were 'Engineers' and 'Craftsmen' with their own kind of great ability turned those achievements into improved products and services. Few individuals were more than ONE of those things.
Ryan's achievement was using his knowledge and abilities to make the Power Systems of Rapture work in an alien environment - to push the limits of what had been done. Building in that environment was an outgrowth of work his companies had done previously. The achievements of many others were required to make Rapture a reality.
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Immigration Process in Rapture is Something Barely Touched In The Game :
How do you move ~20000 people ( the population mentioned in the Novel ) out to the middle of the North Atlantic, and Largely In Secret ??
Vetting (Filtering) of the Immigrants :
* One of the biggest gaffs in BS2 storyline was letting Sofia Lamb in when it should have been obvious what her real agenda was 
* Would HAVE to largely be done BEFORE the People even came
Maintaining the Secrecy :
Transportation
* Ships large and small
* Planes - a rich person might arrive via Seaplane (but only in good weather)
* Docking facilities near the Lighthouse
* Process already well-practiced from the Construction material transport
Taking everything Down How ??
* NOT JUST BATHYSPHERES ( only about 8 people fit in a 'Bathysphere' )
* Consider 'all their worldly possessions' coming too ... ( far more than just a suitcase )
Marshaling into points of Transport (up in the Surface World)
* Ocean Ports used to move shiploads (hopefully ordinary looking stuff)
* The AMOUNT of materials could look very suspicious
Processing of Peoples' Financial Assets in The Surface World
* Preferably NOT sold at Fire Sale Prices
Moving all the Stuff they would bring with them (They ain't goin back)
* Personal Goods ( unlikely people would bring only a suitcase )
* Craft tools and materials to set up their businesses
* Art Works
Installing the people into Rapture ...
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Why Would Ryan Let-In So Many People Who Would Not Match Raptures Philosophy? :
He wouldnt, and would have done due diligence to try to keep Parasitically-Oriented people out.
The not-letting-people-leave is problematic. Ryan never did really got great advice from anyone - SOMETHING LIKE : A Suggestion to have his research labs try to develop a 'Memory Wipe' Tonic, so that people who wanted to leave could safely be allowed to. That would be best all round to send away people who just could not adapt to Rapture.   
Allegedly (in the game plot) having so many inappropriate people, people of the Surface World way-of-thinking,  meant he didn't ( rather Wasn't Allowed - FOR IN THE PLOT ) have carried out Proper Vetting of those he allowed to come to Rapture.  
Honestly, He wouldn't have allowed them in, if the Writers had given Ryan realistic common sense and actually allowed him to follow his own understandings and Philosophy.
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Immigration - Joe Blow who came to Rapture - With what Incentive ? :
Scientists and Artists and Industrialists and Businessmen -- OK.  But what about all the people who have to make the place work?  All the services required, raw materials to gather, manufacturing, services, industry ...  to keep those 'Elites' alive, and at the same time providing for everyone else ( and their own families and livings ).
A wide spectrum of knowhow, skills and abilities would have come to be applied to all the different activities which made Rapture work.
There already were some construction workers, but Rapture's construction went on for years - majority 1946-1952 and many stayed ( also many worked only on the Surface, where it was easier/efficient, and never saw or even got near Rapture ).  Most who stayed probably did move on to other jobs in Rapture, as was expected and planned ( like everything else ).  Alot of Rapture's construction was significantly automated ( as it also was, by that time, in the Surface World -- more technicians/operators as a percentage to 'hand' 'grunt' laborers ).   More than a little pre-construction was done outside Rapture ( on land and at the surface ) using workers who would never come to Rapture, and most would not have a clue beyond rumors that Rapture even existed.
Desperate people escaping from 'crappy' places in the world. Post-WW2 populations where even just endless 'rationing' in countries like Britain (into the 1950s) which might make the promise of Rapture sound very good.
Political Separatists who 'saw the writing on the wall' about how Leftism was settling in and strangling freedom's opportunity and prosperity.  People escaping from Eastern Europe ...
Craftsmen who are impaired in performing their craft under the weight of government meddling and taxation or simply being 'five year planned' out of existence or eliminated/discouraged as a symbol of Bourgeoise values.
Rich people would come whose wealth was converted into property ownership ( monies added in to construct Rapture ) or industrial establishments/materials, or investments into various businesses brought by others.
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YOU Bring It With You :
The image of people waiting on a beach holding only a suitcase for their 'Vanishing' disappearance when going to Rapture is pretty ludicrous for the majority of people bound for Rapture. Many people who came to Rapture brought alot of their stuff (possessions) with them. If you were going there for the rest of your life, what all would you bring if you could ? ( Otherwise what all would you be able to get ahold of otherwise ? Buy it all when you arrive ? Not possible for very many immigrants - and WHERE now did the stuff you are buying come from. )
If I was someone going to Rapture and had a Business/Craft :
* For Starters would be : To bring whatever Tools I used to make/do my profession work, and as many of the most needed spares and wearable parts as possible ( as they definitely would be hard to come by later ). 
* Second would be hard to get required Materials ( you try getting esoteric wood in Rapture if you were a funiture maker ... ) Stockpiling decades ahead of need can add upto alot of stuff to bring.
Seeds/cuttings would be a very important asset to bring for those in several professions.
* Third - Plans, Manuals, Reference Books, Patterns, and other useful information needed for the Skills/Crafts ( for all forseen eventualities ). Possibly make provisions to obtain new such stuff from the Surface as long as possible ( Possibly build up a stockpile AFTER your business is established ). 
* My Artworks and Decorative items/goods which were unlikely to be equaled/available ( and with Rapture's likely population of artists, few might ever be 'great' or 'adequate' ). Nice things likely never to be obtainable again would be brought. 
* Living comforts, clothing, furniture, utensils, interior decoration ...
* Books, Movies, Pictures, Family Histories/mementos/papers/heirlooms
* Hobby related items
* Portable Wealth of course in what ever form would retain its value IN Rapture ( that's whatever is left after all the moving expenses ).
Many people might not be wealthy enough to bring more than the basics. Many immigrants from war-torn parts of the world likely would have little to bring, or had to leave such thing behind in the chaos of those circumstances (they might be able to recover some of them subsequent to their emigration).
So, many people who came may NOT have been able to bring many possessions or a large business stockpile (decades worth) even after selling off their worldly goods. Loans might be given from 'investors', or those others may buy such items to eventually become a supplier within Rapture to the people who need the otherwise hard-to-get items. Alternatives would likely be looked for, and materials could still be obtained from the Surface World for a time ( though they still have to be paid for - using monies going TO The Surface ).
All these things vastly multiply the amount of stuff which needed to be transported and transferred into Rapture. ( This transport/handling would be part of the cost paid by the immigrants ). Rapture's infrastructure would be designed to facilitate this (and preferably once that use was finished, to then have a second use for all the time afterwards).
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Calculate Tonnage :
Scheduling - The immigration had years to take place ( The Novel says that barely anyone was there yet even in 1947 ), and many people took time to dispose-of/marshal all their belongings for transport ( which included overland travel getting it all to the sea ports used to do the transport ). Warehousing and packaging needed to be done to ready it all to await shipping. ( Note- containerized freight was just starting at that time in the US ). It all would have been highly organized, involving Ryan's people to coordinate/schedule/complete.
Amount - How many shiploads of 2000 - 5000 tons ? ( via tramp freighter which wouldn't attract notice ). Such cargo can be bulky, so be far short in weight of the full capacity of the ships being used. The weight also includes the rugged packaging which can easily double the load.
One ton per person sounds like alot, but it really isn't. Many tons each would be more likely a number, and affluent people many many times that.
People in Rapture also had to be supported WHILE the place became operational and self-supporting. SO secondary shipments also has to be added in. That of course is to be added ontop of all the continuing deliveries of construction materials, which far outweighed the personal possessions.
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What Wouldn't/Couldn't be Brought :
Property, Buildings, Houses, etc... ( Owned Assets which cannot easily be liquidated ) But there would likely be, through Ryan's organization, a way to make sure those things were NOT sold-off in a quick wasteful fire-sale ( as Ryan needs all the wealth possible brought to Rapture - to get it built and furnished, and to have its businesses operate successfully ). Holding companies to slowly sell off ~20000 peoples worth of Financial Assets - Quietly and with minimal loss of value ( good thing there was a boom after WW2, and returning GIs who needed to buy houses and such ... ).
Ryan himself was in such a position where a good part of his Surface Business Empire had to be sold off to fund the building of Rapture ( and likely the fortunes of several other wealthy immigrants to make it large enough for the given story ). Part of that organization would be shifted to sustain Rapture while it got its start and for quite a while afterwards. Likewise, another part of the plan would be managing those Assets that would take years to sell off ( and later include the construction/shipping facilities which had to be acquired to build Rapture ).
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Selling Rapture :
What kind of Sales Job did Ryan do on so many people to convince them to quit the Surface World and come to stay in Rapture ?
For most people it would not be Blind Faith.  But people in the World had many things to worry about and consider escape from - Nuclear war and a looming Cold War for example, miserable post-WW2 conditions for others.
Some who knew Ryan well enough would take his word that Rapture existed and was what he said it was.
This would include employees who knew first-hand what Ryan was capable of and that he had the resources, know-how, and drive to make it happen.
Some would come from war-torn Europe where those people's world had already crumbled and there would be along climb out of basic subsistence to get to a point that would reward any kind of Exceptionalism. Some would be from parts of the World where tyranny was newly imposing itself ( or old tyranny for that matter ) and threatened any outstanding individuals and would cause many to seek escape.
Some would rely on testimonials of others already in Rapture, to give assurances it was real ( since Immigration continued upto 1952 there would have been many resident for years already ).
Many would have to be shown (being from Missouri) before they committed themselves.   There would have to be some 'test drive' process that allowed keeping Raptures location secret ( and reasonable deniability well short of killing people who might not keep their mouths shut ).  Those impressive cityscape views on arriving were one big 'Sales Job'  ( assuming that people at that point were not already 'locked in' ).
No doubt, motion picture evidence would have been produced that didn't give away key information. Convincing because of the extent/detail/realism of what was shown, it would have been too expensive to be faked.  ( this of could would have been shown to already pre-vetted individuals - no need to give so much away to obvious rejects ).   For a few key rich people special features like this would have been created showing them exact things they asked to see and the film/pictures able to be produced/transported to them inside a week would make it extremely unlikely to be faked).
Convenience of converting/bringing their worldly goods to Rapture itself would be a big selling point as would the creative ways that Ryan's Surface Organization was able to 'plausibly' disappear.
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What Industrialist or Big Businessman Would Have come to Rapture except to escape World Destruction or to retire ? :
(( Similar Goes For Engineers, Artists, Scientists ))
They couldn't bring their large business with them or their customers ( at least in scale - a city of 20000-40000 is a very small market - hundreds of customers instead of hundreds of thousands ). Smaller-scale - Its NOT even the same kind of business. Trying to bring their production methods likely would be difficult if not impossible, and eventually materials they required no longer would be accessible. Consumer Goods Consumption is limited, even with a large middle-class or better spending patterns. (( See Rapture Economy ))
Thus the smaller entrepreneurs and technical innovators would have had greater opportunities. They would have to develop their production before they could sell ( and customers would then need to want to buy ).
Many attempts to adapt would be tried, and those that worked would then grow. New products from new Rapture technologies would likewise become opportunities.
It would be an interesting situation because of the various 'Rich' people who escaped to Rapture. They would have enough money to buy many of the first gimmicky 'prestige' items, and allow funding further development to make the product into 'consumer grade' (much cheaper) items available to all.
With New Rapture and its even smaller population ( but with an ambition of bringing back the old lifestyle ), that opens possibilities for small business operations ( player run without too much tedium ). Construction/reconstruction too is a new resurgent business, that will be larger than consumer goods.
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Exposé - Secret City Full of Vanished People :
Some 'Surface' Journalists who on hearing the rumors about Ryan's City tried to infiltrate Rapture to 'get the story' back out to their newspapers and other media.  How many wound up in Persephone ( or its predecessor ) ?  Despite Ryan's obfuscation and dis-information projects and other attempts at hiding Rapture, some enterprising individuals still may have made their way past Rapture's camouflage over the years.
Remember the MMORPG system would allow building situations of all kinds - Up on the Surface as well as down in Rapture.   Many created storylines can delve into happenings and people and organizations on The Surface which interacted with Rapture before and later.
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An Ellis Island Is Needed :
Rapture Immigration should have had a acclimatization base 'transition stop' where people could be tested to see if the atmosphere of Rapture affected them ( and also to observe them for political instability, and diseases - much like Ellis Island ). Excuses of waiting for immunizations/shots/paperwork and such could justify the delay.
It would not located near Rapture - all immigrants would be made to think they were going somewhere else in the World, so that if they are rejected they would not be able to give away much.
Initial test location could even be on land underground ( done in the style of Rapture Architecture ) to test the tolerance for the limitation of always being inside a building. Aquarium motifs might have only been a partial 'decoration', and upto that point the candidate immigrants would not even be yet told they would be 'under the sea'.
Kinda odd to blindfold them so they could not see that LightHouse -- So maybe that phase would be well AFTER they passed the 'Ellis Island' testing and were pretty much selected/accepted.
This all would have been AFTER a sufficient preliminary vetting of candidates ( a collectivist like Sofia Lamb SHOULD have been intercepted long before she ever arrived, found-out by proper background investigations ). None of these measures might have stopped the discovery of ADAM and its many potential problems ( and its abuse ), BUT would possibly have eliminated criminals like Fontaine and Sociopaths like Sofia Lamb from taking advantage of it.
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SHhhhhhhhhhhhh, Secretsssss.... :
If it is SO important for Rapture's existence to remain a secret for Andrew Ryan, how did all who came to Rapture learn of it in the first place ?   Did Ryan put an ad in the papers or something saying "Hey, I built a really cool underwater city, so everyone who is smart and rich and not a fricken Parasite come on down !"
Seriously how many people would come to Rapture sight unseen? So how was it handled if that wasn't the case ?
Flashbacks are our Friend.   The ENTIRE Rapture story can be told (retold) in a logical and cohesive fashion.  Dislike a vague or contradictory ( or just plain stupid ) section of the Rapture story ?  Propose a plausible revision/elaboration and let the community digest your improvement.
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Rapture's Immigration Staging :
Considering that the bulk of ~ 40000 people came to Rapture in the space of 4 years (about 200 per week), there must have been staging areas for that transportation -- for not just the people, but their possessions and commercial inventories/stockpiles. The logistics of having people showing up in small numbers from many tiny boats would be ridiculous (and hazardous). Instead, many would have come in regular shipments via converted freighters and passenger ships, with all their possessions prepacked to be taken down below to Port of Rapture.
Rapture's location is about 2300 miles from New York City, which would take about 5 days one way at a typical fast freighter speed ( straight running, assuming no delays ). The actual origination points might be much further away ( the Novel mentions one - for construction materials coming from NYC ), and again the weather/port scheduling might not always cooperate.
The facilities at the Lighthouse would be substantial, to be able to transship such quantities in a safe and timely fashion. Remote staging areas would have to have all the needed ship docking/loading/servicing installations and there would be the small fleet of ships themselves, shuttling between the various staging locations and Rapture ( usually many thousands of miles per trip ). Ryan's industrial empire could supply some 'abandoned' industrial complexes to be put to such purposes ( as transfer points, as the people converged from across the World ). All of this huge operation would be greatly complicated by its secretive nature and the round-about paths people would be made to take.
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Who Would be ALLOWED in Rapture and Who Would NOT :
NOT :
* "Mentals/Retards" (if wards of the state, special conditions required for relatives taking care of them - pre-paid future for the useless)
* Religious Fanatics
* Communists and Socialist, False Altruists
* Union Organizers, Trade Unionists
* Anarchists ( those violent/disruptive )
* Current Welfare Recipients 
* Known Habitual Criminals ( exceptions for certain political 'crimes' ? )
Exceptions are possible, with some types subjected to extreme vetting as to cause to allow them in.
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Reasons For People in Rapture :
Mafioso in Rapture -- Why would they be there if not escaping from 'A favor you won't be able to Refuse ( and then the assassin sent to follow the reneger on that 'Favor' ), or one escaping a Conviction (or Charges) and possibly an unwanted trip to 'The Electric Chair' ? ( Fontaine probably would have steered clear of such persons ).
ADD MORE ...
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No Parasites Need Apply :
Ryan ( and his Surface Organization ) searched out people who he thought would be interested and did not disclose too much detail UNTIL it was more certain about them.  Many people who came to Rapture still did not realize it was as much as Ryan had implied it to be.  Those people then knew other like-minded people ( networking ... ). 
Incongruously, Ryan's letting a Collectivist like Sofia Lamb into Rapture made no real sense, and his vetting process should have been more than enough to turn up her Collectivist beliefs, and so to have him immediately REJECT her ( but the  almighty plot can't have that, so blah ... )     Likewise, the game makes it look like there were countless unskilled grunt  'construction workers' - who, when the City was finished, would be 'Out of Work' and a future Dystopic problem.  Somehow that too would be overlooked by the writers.
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Moronic Celebrities Which Many Ocean Clams Have Higher IQs Than :
Rapture would also have them just as they exist throughout the World and history. ( You COULD buy your way into Rapture, and various Heirs often don't have the skills to build the fortunes they inherited. )
Sander Cohen, at least once in his career, had enough talent to get paid sufficiently to afford building the Fleet Hall Theater on coming to Rapture ( Much of the rest of Fort Frolic would be funded by investors ... ).
I suppose if Cohen had (dwindling) royalties paid for his previous 'Surface' works, he somehow might continued to collect ( or did he sell off The Rights ... ) and have it converted and sent to him. Even after 1952, critical materials and other things still were being (bought and) sent to Rapture via Ryan's Surface organization. AND some immigrants property assets might take many years to finally sell-off.
Many 'celebrities' in the Real World barely made a living ( or not for very long ), but still might retain 'notice' (being 'celebrated') even without much financial success.
Lots of "One Shot Wonder" artists amongst the Amateurs ( Don't quit your Day Job... ), who never again have a "Hit", though how they might become 'big' celebrities ( other than with the cliche '15 minutes of fame ) has more to do with the people dependent ON 'celebrities' - promoters, merchandisers, newspapers, critics, etc ...
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Lighthouse Entryway :
Thinking about the Welcome Center Bathysphere Station ( where the Player disembarks from the trip down from the Lighthouse ) :
* Why is the Bathysphere from the Lighthouse still operating - except for Ryan's men who should be the only ones allowed ?
* Why is there that Bathysphere waiting on the surface (at the Lighthouse) ? Wouldn't it have been a little smarter to NOT have one ready there to take anyone who stumbles on the place down to Rapture automatically? ( Atlas arranged that ??? ... When Ryan controls the system and allegedly there is a genetic lock blocking such manipulations ??? The 'genetic lock' thing becomes much more dubious... )
* Why isn't there a security checkpoint there in the Welcome Center Station, as the most obvious way someone could get into Rapture (or out). There are no Security Turrets ( working or wrecked ones ) to be seen. No Security Camera aimed right at the docking port ( we certainly see enough such security still around Rapture ). -- Even just to keep the Splicers/Atlas's thugs away from such an important transportation infrastructure.
* Why are those big doors/hatches ( the ones you see there in the Station that would cover the holes the 'Bathyspheres' rise and descend thru ) NOT closed and locked ? They should be sealed just for safety ( Why risk a failure flooding the entire area ? - it is simply common sense ).
* Why is the Lighthouse even still there? You could at least have turned off that big light. If it is still used for some shipments from the Surface that late (1960), at least shave it down to make it less obvious and turn on the light only when it is required.
The Lighthouse Bathysphere should only go to Welcome Center as a special path -- instead of to any other place. That would explain why we get no destination selection on its Control Stand. That would be an example of an obvious/simple security measure.
Simple answer to all this is : With any obvious security measures in place, the games plot wouldn't have happened. Ryan wasn't that stupid, but the designers assume we (the Players) will buy such illogic.
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Prepaid - We Don't Offer Credit :
Sander Cohen was in Rapture fairly Early, and was rich or influential enough to get his Fleet Hall Theater built (attached to Fort Frolic/Poseidon Plaza which was probably funded by others).
Consider that everything in Rapture had to be prepaid for, and so much of it (in the game) looks customized for specific use, and thus was planned that way before built. That would mean that they had to be funded at an earlier time by their intended customer/owner. Perhaps alot of the Rapture we DIDN'T see would be more generic ( more of less-expensive modular primary structural shell, still with some (re)customization of the interior, making it more changeable/adaptable sometime later ).
Assume that people coming to Rapture would liquidate their Surface assets ( hardly the 'walk off a beach' scenario for most of the emigrants ). Arrangements would/could be made to do that over the course of years to maximize the wealth obtained ( not sell at firesale prices ) which then could be invested into Rapture ( which WOULD need such a supply of money to ever have gotten built ).
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Booker In BaS1 Implies That You Signed a Contract Before Entering Rapture Agreeing That You Would Never Leave :
Would most people sign such a thing without being aware of what they were getting into ??
This would be evidence that people HAD to know what Rapture was to be, and under what rules they were supposed to exist.   People who thought they could be slackers/wanted to cheat the system would have been sufficiently warned off ( and many eliminated from being allowed in, when they were submitted as candidates ).
This actually makes what the game writers present as much less likely - ie- Construction Workers who don't/can't move on to other jobs, who didn't plan ahead, didn't prepare and save up for the eventuality of their jobs ending. ( and who likely would be more machine operators than manual laborers ).   Tons of other wastrels that so easily (got into Rapture) fall into the clutches of Parasite-mongers like Fontaine, Atlas and Sofia Lamb are so convenient ...   So many mouthpieces for a welfare state, when you don't hear much of anything from the majority of the Citizens who came to Rapture to avoid it.
Scenario for MMORPG Flashback : Vetting Rapture Candidates - One of many Surface Offices ( It takes a significant organization to 'find' 20000 people, and can be hardly the 'just people disappearing on a beach' as the storyline repeats ).  All the questions candidates are asked to make sure Rapture wasn't importing 'Parasites', to prevent poisoning its future ...  Ryan's surface organization interviewing people, sifting prospective candidates, handling the odd troublemaker who 'knows too much', etc ...  This would happen well in advance with minimum details given to candidates ( in case of rejections ), with 'stages' of confidence to maintain the Secrecy.
Then there would be the 'disconnection' for those people going - converting their holdings to wealth which they could bring to Rapture, a cover story for their disappearance, the transportation of themselves, and what they brought along.  Disconnection from the 'doomed' Surface World.
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Welcome to Rapture (Not Every New Immigrant's "Cup of Tea" ) :
There were more than a few affluent people coming to Rapture, for which the Kashmir Restaurant and Ritzy Hotel ( and 'Footlight Theater' that was supposed to be 'upscale ) were meant to impress - as an 'Introduction to Rapture'. For others it would assure them their aspirations were possible. There also should have been one or more additional 'introductory' tour paths :
Tours of the City (menu selections to match the individual's taste/interest/concerns) :
* Beer Garden, Stadium
* Modern Transportation System
* Shopping Mall
* Museums and Salons
* Technical Wonders
* Working Farms
* Schools
* Nightlife
The immigrant's professions were likely already pre-arranged for, thus would get a customized destination associate with the person's work/workplace/customers.
Tours heading off to chose a residence ( with many choices for the different social levels, brochures would probably be pre-provided ) or to look at business offices.
Some people who showed up at Rapture were agents for a businessman who needs to bring in alot of equipment, product/inventory, employees, and possessions, and are still arranging transfer/shipping out from the Surface World.
One might wonder if there were some who got 'special tours' to convince them into leaving the Surface, but with measures allowing them to change their minds ( the old 'blindfolded all the way there' stuff ). I wonder how prevalent this would be as many people have a problem with changing their entire life to something "sight unseen".
Transfer - thinking about it - a ship with say 100 new immigrants ( the population 20000+20000 would require 400 such 'shiploads' and don't forget 'all their stuff' - perhaps the equivalent of a moving truck per family ) shows up and the new immigrants need to be brought down. Will there be a waiting queue forming, as 8 at a time get into that single Bathysphere ?? Likely the disembarkation situation will need a 'Welcome Wagon' handing out Coffee and donuts and maybe some heating (and port-a-potties - or is there a Gents/Ladies through some door we didn't see??) for those who have to wait.
Luggage/Moving Van loads of possessions shipping down to Rapture -- I think they better have an alternate path than those tiny Bathyspheres ( besides hauling everything up and down all those steps in the Lighthouse ). Maybe the Cableway from the Lighthouse down to Port of Rapture could continue to be used. Even submarines (if used) would have to be transloaded from the ships somewhere ( NOT the easiest thing to do in the middle of the North Atlantic ). Cargoes could be pre-packed into the Cableway 'containers' aboard the ship, craned into the water, towed over and dragged down via the Cableway to the transportation hub at Port of Rapture, for forwarding to wherever in Rapture the possessions were destined.
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Welcome to Rapture (Flashback) :
One of the mini-adventures would be for the Player to experience a person's first coming to Old Rapture as  an invited immigrant and going thru all the things they would have done :
* Immigrant Vetting Process on the Surface - might as well see how it was handled (several stages because of the  secrecy) initial questionnaires, interviews, etc ...    Actually HAVE a real questionnaire the Player can fill  out ( no real-life info required or encouraged ).
* Sample Brochures and discrete confirmation notices and instructions
* Preparations, mention arranging financial stuff - immigrants bring their wealth with them, transfer to a holding company to avoid a 'fire sale'.  Immigrants would also bring many possessions, requiring packing and shipping to secure transfer depots - not quite this 'sneaking off in the night off a beach' for most of the people.
* Leaving Wherever,  getting to the embarkation point, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and Ships.
* Boat trip ( "Tramp Steamer" freighters would be used alot - a continuous stream of these to move 20000+ people and all their possessions to Rapture )
* Arrival at The Lighthouse, landing them and their 'luggage' ( alot of it goes down a separate way - and pre-containerized cargo to expedite the transfer ).
* Trip down  - similar to what we saw, minus the Ryan pep-talk, as that should have been covered ad nauseum long before this point ( probably would get some basic instructions about next steps for 'Orientation' )
* Welcome Center - paperwork, orientation and tours ( and medical quarantine if needed -- REAL reason 'Medical Pavilion' is right next to the Welcome Center. )
* New Residence ( people need to arrange where they will be living ). Interim stay in the Hotel Monsenor.  A trip to your new home.
* Job or Business - many immigrants brought their tools and materials/supplies/goods with them
* Arranging for relatives/family to be sent ( families might be brought piecemeal to be less 'obvious' in their 'disappearance'. )  Additional relatives could be convinced once a 'trustworthy' family member had seen it wasn't all a Sham.
* Pre-visit by people who are going back but are organizing their installation into Rapture ( more than a few rich people sent trusted agents/representatives to make sure the place was on the up-and-up - particularly BEFORE investing in it ) -- "Hey, do you believe in Economic and Personal Freedom and want to go to a place you can be truly free??  I'm Andy Ryan and you now need to give me all your money now to buy yourself a ticket to my Paradise under the Sea !!!" ).
Keeping this process operating smoothly/efficiently/secretly for 20000-40000 people.  Ryan's Organization up on the Surface would be extensive to carry out this operation, and have to be even more to carry the overhead of the secrecy.   It is logical that he continued to have and control a significant organization on The Surface long after Rapture was completed.
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THERE WILL BE A 'NEW' IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE As People Come To New Rapture From The Ruins ... 
New Rapture Orientation Films - "This is New Rapture" :
Shown to New Ex-Splicers and to outsiders considering further relations with 'The City'. Extols all the conveniences and safety of normal civilized living.
Outside Visitors can actually be shown (a tour) the restored state of the City Center - which the City has plans to keep spreading to restore all of Rapture ( with the Player's help ).
Panning style photograph 'motion' pictures ( part of the suite of presentation media tools ). Mpegs as media would be discouraged to keep bandwidth under control.
Also there would be films to show people who were THINKING about coming to Rapture - who had already been 'vetted' and were likely candidates. Such films would have to limit what they actually disclosed because of the need for Secrecy.
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Nazis in Rapture :
Escaped after war ( since the war in Europe was well over (May '45) by August 1945 when Ryan made his decision ). Many used displaced persons in the confusion to hide amongst. The Nazis were well organized in their escapes.
Might bring a little stolen art along ( various famous artwork the Nazis stole ) OR sold on to some of the people who eventually came to Rapture. Realistically, Virtually NOBODY was just "Picked up off a Beach" to go to Rapture.
Splicer's crazy antics might expose what might've been hidden away. Nothing says crazy Splicers cant 'go Nazi' a few places ( Might not be able to sell the game in Germany, but will that really be a loss ? )
Nazi Zombie Mini-Game !!!
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New Blood :
The New Rapture City Council is talking about having Ryan's Surface organization look for some new Citizens ( ones having the appropriate mindset ). One hopes they would be 'vetted' sufficiently (this time). They may not be too hard to find when the outside world has gone so much further downhill from Ryan's early post WW2 era. Genetic biologists and Reconstruction specialists would be particularly useful. The continuing need for secrecy hampers much potential help the City might get from the Surface. Some personnel from Ryan's organization may be available for temporary duty. Knowledge of course can be obtained if specifically requested ( another game mission could be doing the 'research' and generating such requests to help the City progress against its numerous problems and difficulties. )
Part of the reason for New Rapture's 'beautification' projects is to make an environment suitable for new blood ( otherwise Rapture's ruined state would scare off anyone sane -- "Yes, I DO want to move my family to a half drowned battleground, populated with insane mutants !!! -- Where do I sign up for that ??" ).
It is unknown how many adults Lamb kidnapped from the Surface to use as slaves in Lamb-lands farms and who were forcibly turned into Splicers so they could 'sacrifice' themselves and 'add' to the 'First Utopian'. Same for the actual number of children kidnapped to feed Lamb's insanity. How many died before they could be converted or ones she did 'experiments on' to create the process where Eleanor could 'achieve her destiny'. Possibly not 1 in 10 of the disappearances were reported in the newspapers that Mark Meltzer was investigating.
How many people were murdered/maimed trying to resist these kidnappings ???
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A Third Reich Connection :
Ryan may have obtained some German engineers ( unemployed after the war ) who were familiar with mass Concrete Construction work, added to Americans and others, who did various public works before/during/after WW2 in that material.
No doubt other Germans fled the destruction in Germany immediately after the war ( including those who had lived in the Russian zone ).
Sounds like the perfect opportunity for Mel Brooks style 'Crazy Nazi Splicers' for you to fight ( the chaos allowing a faction of that flavor to come into existence ). (( Nazis and Zombies are traditional PC-Safe targets of player mayhem, so NAZI ZOMBIES are doubly so (squared-PC safe), and if they can somehow join "The Church of Lamb" then ... ))
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Eastern European Escapees :
Reason to go to Rapture  - to try to escape to anywhere but where they were now....  Soviet domination...  Dislocated Persons ...  Economic catastrophe/devastation.  Rationing that lasted into the 1950s ... ( Remember Ryan himself was a refugee. )  But most, if they could 'get out' to Rapture, couldn't they likewise go to other parts of the World to make use of their freedom ( but then everyone else had the same idea, and the few countries who might be in shape to take them in could only take so many ).   Many of them would also philosophically been fed up with 'altruistic' socialism (and worse).
Asian immigrants (like Suchong) likewise from the other war-devastated part of the world.
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Iceland ? : 
 
It may have given Ryan (and the writers) the idea, as a significant amount of its power came from use of geothermal resources. Being off the coast of Iceland in an isolated 'alien' watery environment, it was just a logical progression ( of course there are many other geothermal locations in the World ).
How many Icelanders came to Rapture. There would be significant liaison, as being the nearest land/port, a good logistic backup location for the Project ( with unpredictable weather, various contingency plans would be needed ).
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From SitS Materials :
"There is a confidential memorandum sent by 'Inman', which summarizes the U.S. government's official investigation on the Vanishing, counting around 500,000 missing persons between 1946 and 1952."
THIS Probably should have been for 1945, as very many displaced persons existed at that point in time (after the War).
Note That this should NOT imply that 500000 people went to Rapture -- Just that across the World, during the time following WW2, alot of people were misplaced/lost-track-of/displaced ( Nazi slave laborers, refugees, POWs, etc ... ) The number may also include 'rough' estimates for people in places like the Soviet Union where actual hard data was largely missing.
No qualification is made as to the accuracy of the figure given, or how detailed the 'investigation' was. Vague implication is a great mechanism for not having to provide more detailed information ( particularly from what was supposed to be a historical context ).
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Hitchhikers Guide To Rapture :
Not sure what this idea would entail, but some Player Creator could make something of it to add to the MMORPG. Hallucinations can excuse a whole lotta funny strange stuff. Obviously just an 'Easter Egg' to see if other Players notice it.
Obviously a brochure handed to new Arrivals at Welcome Center. 
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But Moe ... :
Shemp Howard didn't die in 1955, he went to Rapture. ( He was the most talented, but least recognized Stooge. ) There were rumors that ODESSA, the Nazi Post-WW2 SS organization was still after him because the Three Stooges were on Hitler's Personal Kill List (actually true) for mocking him in their movies.
Who else allegedly "died" but may have "gone below" ?
Need a 'Who's Who' list of "deaths" 1946-1958
* Bogart !!!
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WH: You were once Big ... GS: I Am Big, It's the Pictures That Got Small - Sunset Blvd :
Need at least one 'silent film star' in Rapture. 1928 was pretty much the end of the Silent Era (in Hollywood), so with it being 20-30 years on ...
Ever since the 'all talking' movies came out ... ( so many actors just didn't transition ).
The cliche silent file star with the high voice or heavy accent.
See Mediocrity_Leaves_The_World
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Some 'Rich' people got their invite to Rapture like this. Ryan could use the money of many rich men to help get his city built ( for it to be anything like as big as we are shown it ).
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