The Rat Infestation in Crimsongorod of 1985

The Rat Infestation in Crimsongorod of 1985 (from now on just called the Rats of '85.) Was a historic and notable crumbling of Red infrastructure that led to many lasting changes in sanitation and regulation, particularly drawing an eye to the poor living conditions of those stuck near the bottom of Lower Crimsongorod.
== The Leadup ==
=== 1980 - 1983 ===
For a few years in the early 80s, the city leaders of Lower Crimsongorod warned the public that unless funding was provided by the Upper districts to help their sanitation fight, the uncleanliness would boil over, worsening the already deathly conditions on the ground; their messages went unheeded for the better part of 2 years, before some light was shed in '83 as the Lower Crimson Herald ran a popular article emphasizing the worsening of conditions, and narrowing in on the emerging rat population cropping up in residents homes. Leading into 1984 however, besides a small-scale public campaign done in some districts, the overall sanitary conditions could not be improved, so long as Crimsongorod didn't allocate funds to help the lower city.
=== 1984 ===
In 1984, the Crimsongorod City Council or CCC voted for a budget that increased sanitary funding for the lower districts by 20%, which gave a much needed sigh of relief and according to researchers, staved off the boiling point by a full year. However even this was not enough, as the city found that even with the increased funds, they simply did not have the total resources to staff the renovations required in many public areas such as bathrooms, fountains, and sidewalks. While public fountains and sidewalks were focused on as the most public outlet of the rats spread, bathrooms went mostly overlooked, a deep flaw that would lead to the next year's true infestation.
=== Early '85 ===
In early 1985, researchers predicted that the overlooking of bathrooms, and general lack of any more fund increases for sanitation projects, would lead to a tipping point where the rats would find their way to the upper city, causing a panic. They were mostly ignored, aside from a 10% fund increase for the sanitation projects, the Upper Crimsongorodians mostly ignored the pleadings of help for the residents of the lower city and let the issues fester, leading to everyone's worst nightmare, in May of 1985, rats were found infesting a bathroom in the Upper City. The Summer of Nightmares had begun.
Category:Events