Bay City

Bay City is a Subcontinent located in West Sansara. It is the largest of all subcontinents known. SLGI team gave it the transitory name **B032**.

## History

Bay City is one of the oldest part of the grid. It was not created at once, but in several steps. It is the furthest mainland expansion to West. Since then, Linden Lab never built anything more to West, instead oriented to East, leaving private enterprises build islands in West.

## Structure

Bay City is described by various authors as having different sizes. SLGI team had problems setting the real size of the subcontinent. The most accepted point of view is that the most developed urban area forms **Main Bay City**, while the Eastern parts, like Nova Albilon and Shemerville, form **Bay City Suburbs**. That is, the subcontinent can be further divided into smaller subcontinents:

* Main Bay City:
	+ West Bay City
	+ East Bay City
* Bay City Suburbs:
	+ Shemerville
	+ Nova Albilon
	+ Luna
	+ Channel Islands
	+ Dore - Infohub Area
* Economically Connected Area:
	+ Gulf Of Lauren.

Each of these can be considered a subcontinent on its own.

## Main Bay City

The main urban area is composed of roughly 40 sims. Most of them share the words *Bay City* in their names. By location, it can be split into two almost equal areas, **West Bay City** and **East Bay City**. The two are separated by **West Channel**.

### West Channel

It is a large navigable waterway, crossing through the middle of Bay City. Route 66 crosses it from East to West on a low bridge, restricting navigation for large ships. The channel can be used for both ships and airplanes.

The West Channel hosts an island, Falmouth, which is home to *Falmouth Hotel*. This is a place with different sky texture. Residents are advised not to adventure inside, but the area has no access restrictions and is Linden-owned. The place is haunted. There are dead bodies everywhere, traps and hidden places. Ghosts roam the area. Warning messages, often written with blood, can be seen anywhere. Also, skeletons and tortured teddy bears can be found often. The building has many floors. Not all rooms are opened for visitors.

### Main Metropolitan Area

Most sims share the name *Bay City*. They are composed of a network of roads, paths and waterways.

Roads in main metropolitan area look similar and allow access to almost any parcel. They are two-lane driving ways with pedestrian ways on both sides and cross over channels using bridges. In night time, roads are illuminated.

Waterways are usually not deep. They are made for small ships, as most bridges are low. Waterways have concrete walls.

It looks like every sim has a central area, where residents will be sent if they teleport. The central area consists usually of a paved square, with a fountain or a small park. Sometimes, concrete paths allow deeper access.

Bay City is not a place for land barons. The vast majority of parcels are resident-owned or owned by small groups. Buildings vary in size and destination. Basically, you can find anything you want, from residential buildings to shops and not only.

Land is always set at the same altitude, 25 m (5 m above sea level). Terraforming is not allowed. There are no hills within the city, only a large plain.

About land status, it appears that abandoned land is almost absent from the city. Land for sale is available at high prices. If land is ever set for auctions, prices usually are skyrocketing. Bay City appears to be a place where land is very expensive. However, the number of residents online within the area is not high.

### Special Areas

There are some places within the city that are different. Usually, they are easy to identify based on their names.

**Inner Harbor** is a sim that hosts a huge harbor. It is, as the name suggests, a large harbor, continued into the nearby sim, *Daley Bay*. Strategically, it is the center of Bay City, home to the railway station, located in the middle of Route 66, with trolley access and open waterway for big ships.

**Hau Koda** is a sim located North to Inner Harbor. It hosts Bay City Municipal Airport, a Linden-Owned airport that can be used by any resident. In addition, it hosts Governor Linden's house, which is opened for public and represents an infohub.

**Owens Beach** might not seem interesting at first, but it hides an underground rail leading to a mine.

**Oak Bluffs** hosts a roller-coaster. and other amusement buildings. Nearby, in *Oak Bay*, you can find Bay City Aquarium. Another nearby sim, *Weston*, is a good destination to continue the fun.

**Wellfleet Harbor** is an old, wooden harbor, opened for anyone.

**Portage Bay** is a harbor in South. It is made for small ships.

**Moose Beach** holds an infohub.

The Southern part of Bay City finishes directly into Void Ocean. Because of this, new residents consider that the city is not finished, as it has no South continental waterway. The Northern part is bordered by Gulf Of Lauren.

## Bay City Suburbs

The suburbs are composed of the following parts:

* Shemerville
* North Channel
* Nova Albilon
* Luna
* Dore - Infohub.

### Shemerbille

The suburbs of Shemerville are older then Bay City itself. They are composed of four sims linked to form a square, with parallel roads. Roads are oriented East - West, while alleys are set North-South. The main sim, Shemerville Central, hosts a playground for children.

Shemerville is connected to Route 66 through a large bridge, high enough to allow big ships to pass. From a Geographic point of view, Shemerville is a large plain, with altitude set at 25 m, like Central Bay City. To West, sims end bordered by void ocean, while to East, North and South, they are bordered by navigable waterways.

Land in Shemerville is expensive, but cheaper then in Bay City. The area is more quiet and residential. Terraforming is not allowed. Public land does not allow automated vehicles to enter, therefore, the area is more quiet.

Shemerville is separated from Nova Albilon by **Straits Of Shemerville**, a group of two flooded sims.

### Nova Albilon

Especially new residents consider Nova Albilon to be the suburbs of Bay City.

Nova Albilon looks much like Sharp Bay City (or TSL Bay City as old residents use to call it), the city located on Sharp Continent, which was once the teen part of Second Life.

Nova Albilon is crossed by Route 66. It has its own tram service, that crosses the area from Luna to Dore - Infohub.

Roads are made with a different texture then in Bay City. There are river canals within the area, but built in a different manner. Another important difference is that land is not always set at the same altitude. There are higher or lower parcels within the area. There is an infohub in Miramare sim.

### North Channel

It separates the city from the suburbs. To South, it hosts an island that is used as *Bay City Fairgrounds*. To North, only the bravest dare to enter Bay City Asylum.

The asylum is a place where many people died and probably many more were tortured. There, like if time was frozen, people can see doctors and nurses, ghosts, even not decent drawings.

To have an idea about what was the main activity in the area, we can look at notes from a book left on the floor:

1. Restrain patient.
2. Sedate.
3. Remove brain.
4. Sew up.
5. Clean floor.

### Luna

Located at the South end of Nova Albilon trolley, Luna area consists of Luna Palisades (with its shops) and neighboring sims. It is a good place for sailing.

### Dore - Infohub

The Nova Albilon trolley North end is in Dore sim, close to an infohub located between four sims (Dore, Bonifacio, Morris and Oak Grove). In past, the area was crowded. Even today, it appears to be populated from time to time. Unfortunately, in the infohub, land does not allow scripts to run.

At some distance from the infohub, people can find many abandoned things, including a road that goes nowhere. There are a few rivers flowing through the area. To the border of the four sims, there are parcels of private-owned land. There are also a few hills rising above 50 m high.

**Darkwood** sim, located North and unconnected to any sim, has been linked to Bay City Suburbs because of its position. By the way it is made and organized, it has similar features with most places in Color Sims.

## Access

Bay City can be accessed by teleporting, like most places on mainland. Visitors can walk through any sim. There are many roads, paths and waterways, which allow anyone to reach any sim within the city and the suburbs.

Access is possible by air or by water from central Sansara or from Heterocera, but it is a bit difficult. Access to central Sansara is shorter through Sansara Sandboxes, but more risky. The safest way is through Violet Infohub, North of Color Sims, a way that leads also very easy to Heterocera.

Bay City has a complex transportation system, composed of its tram, busses, boats and balloons. They don't come at every minute and are controlled by a group of residents. YavaScript Pods are present in the area and usually follow waterways. The SLGI Trains come every 6 hours and reach Bay City Railway.

Nova Albilon has its own trolley. Also, the YavaScript pods visit the area. There is no automated service in Shemerville.

Bay City has places to rezz cars, boats, airplanes (at the airport), trains (on the railway), which can be used to explore the city, its suburbs or can be used to reach central Sansara or Heterocera.

## See Also

* Second Life Geography
* Sansara
* List Of Subcontinents
* Cloned Geography
* Sharp Bay City