Langenthal
<infobox theme="togsmp-large">
<title source="settlement_name"/>
<format>
</format>
<format>
Uptown (left), Commerce (front), Langenthal North (back) and Downtown (right) districts of Langenthal
</format>
<label>Founded</label>
<label>Mayor</label>
<label>Vice Mayor</label>
<label>Population</label>
<label>Unemployment</label>
<group collapse="open">
<header>Government</header>
<label>Type</label>
<label>Body</label>
<label>Constituency Size</label>
</group>
<group collapse="open">
<header>Economy</header>
<label>GVA</label>
<label>Household Income</label>
</group>
<group collapse="open">
<header>Areas</header>
<label>Districts</label>
<label>Sub-districts</label>
<label>{{{area_name3}}}</label>
</group>
<group collapse="open">
<header>Additional Info</header>
<label>Demonym(s)</label>
<label>Energy Source(s)</label>
<label>Police</label>
<label>Airport</label>
</group>
</infobox>
Langenthal is the capital city of Ihazon and its subsequent state West-Ihazon, and the largest city in the world both in terms of area and population. It is the main financial and commercial hub of the Thoirazon area, but also provides a large percentage of Ihazon's industrial output.
The current Governor-Mayor of Langenthal and West-Ihazon is Togfan, who has been in the position since 2012.
During the last population census done by the LGA (Langenthal Graph Agency), Langenthal's population was estimated to be 7,975,320, making it almost seven times larger than Ihazon's second biggest city, New Summerset.
Despite the fact Langenthal is the state capital of West-Ihazon, the city is actually located in Central Ihazon.
Districts
Langenthal is divided into 8 main districts with 7 sub-districts.
Commerce
Commerce is among the oldest districts in Langenthal, and was once considered its downtown.
Many large businesses are located here, such as Vales Union, Langenthal Hotel, Femi Plaza and First Bank of Langenthal, giving rise to the district's name; however, it is likely more known for being where Langenthal City Hall is located. This large administrative building also houses the publically available city archives.
As a meeting point, Commerce has only risen in importance for Langenthäler. Alongside the already bustling Server Plaza, after the decomission of Langenthal Nuclear Power Plant begun the district also saw opening to the new Central Park. As a result, the district has only becoem more bustling with life, being home to a plethera of cafés, group gatherings and official events.
Downtown
In the middle of the city is Downtown, Langenthal's densest district. Its most prominent landmark is the Langenthal World Financial Centre, also known as the LWFC. The towering structure houses offices of many of Ihazon's largest companies as well as a large mall in its first two floors, where Vice-mayor John Who has made a tradition of serving as the mall santa during christmas times.
Criticism has been raised as to whether the mall really is a child-friendly location to host this event, as the strip club Le Du'massé is located in the mall's ground floor, but as of now it has yet to be moved to the newer, larger mall in Langenthal West.
Next to the LWFC is the bustling Times Plaza, often described as "Langenthal's meeting place". This busy square sees Langenthal's multiple tram lines converge and act as a transport hub connecting it to the bus and monorail lines of the city. This is also where SV1 meets SV3.
Because of this, it's no wonder why the district has a reputation for being prone to traffic accidents. In 2018, Langenthal Lifestyle declared it "The busiest place in Ihazon".
Downtown also houses The Parliament of Ihazon, the High Courts, and Ampersand Corp's Ihazonan headquarter, as well as Langenthal's very first building.
Langenthal West
West of Downtown and Commerce is Langenthal West, a once mostly residential district that has in the last decades seen a huge facelift in terms of growth and development. Due to its history, the district is mostly known for buildings of civil nature, such as Langenthal Church and Langenthal Fire Department as well as the district's two large schools, Langenthal Primary School and West Highschool.
In later years, however, the district has seen a large rise in investment. More and more stores have popped up, including the West Mall, giving competition to Commerce's reputation as a shopping centre, but investment has also been made into offices after Syllabary Inc. built its headquarter here, the Giggle Tower.
Southern Langenthal
Ascribed to be Ihazon's most central transport hub, this is where Central Station and LIX are located, connecting the city's monorail, tram and bus lines with the country's rail lines as well as neighbouring countries through international flights.
However, the distrct is also home to the subdistrict Southern Residential, the city's largest suburban area.
Langenthal North
Testament to the city's large growth during the 60's, Langenthal North is a district compromised mostly of residential hi-rise towers, marking it as a densely populated residential district.
After the modern nation of Thoiria was founded in 1961, following the 1960 Parliament Coup, Langenthal saw for the first time since the early 1900s a population decline as flocks of people moved to the newly founded country. Closely linked to this is likely the city's lack of housing prior to this point, driving housing prices dramatically up.
To counteract this, subsidies were granted to incentive housing constructing. As a result we saw the rise of Langenthal North, a district solely focused on housing as many people as possible.
The plan was a success in terms of bringing about more affordable housing, causing a population surge to happen, however, soon after it would become apparent that this rapid growth was not without its consequences. The large concentration of people living in Langenthal North mostly had jobs outside the district, as Langenthal's Industrial District was still the primary source of workplaces in the city, and the city's infrastructure was soon overwhelmed.
It was after this, towards the middle and end of the 1960s, that the city oversaw large investments into its infrastructure, giving rise to SV2 as a commuter road between Langenthal North and Industrial District, as well as SV1 and the innovative monorail line for commuters to Gruvania further beyond.
Uptown
While the city's youngest district, Uptown has become one of the most populated, next to Langenthal North. While not as rapid in development as its older brother, Uptown is a sign of the growth in the 90s, featuring dense low- and mid-rise townhouses with a plethera of shops and services nearby.
Uptown also houses Langenthal's Northern Port.
West of Uptown is the University in Langenthal, Ihazon's largest university. While the university has a long history, it saw great expansion in the 90s during the growth of Uptown, becoming modernised and expanded to house a much larger capacity of students.
Industrial District
Since the beginning of Ihazon's industrial age from 1907, following the arrival of Togfan, the Industrial District of Langenthal quickly became the primary economic driver of the country. After the opening of Langenthal Steelworks in 1916, together with the rapid expansion of the country's rail network linking the district with other industrial areas, the district only grew in importance.
Only after the rise of the service economy in the 60s, as well as the large growth of technological development in the 90s, did the district start to diminishs in value for the city's economic output.
Eastern District
Since its upspring in the early 70s, 'Eastern District has been closely linked to the city's growing upper class; however, as a place for wealthy residences, its history goes back much further.
The main district closely resembles Uptown in architecture, and house many stores and companies. Some other buildings are also placed here, such as Library of Langenthal, Langenthal Underground Radio and Speech Mark Hospital.
The district also housed Watr.Wud™ until it was closed and moved outside the city. Despite the famous film grounds being moved, Watr.Wud™ Hotel remains as one of the city's most esteemed hotels.
Eastern District is home to the two subdistricts Grafd and Watr Hills, both areas known to house the richest individuals of the country.
Underground District
Underground District, often called The Underground, is a series of underground tunnels and areas originally built with the intention of reducing reliance on outwards expansion. The project was soon after cancelled and most of its areas sealed off. However, some of them have remained open as underpasses, with one area being refurbished to a nuclear fallout centre.
The project was largely seen as a failure and has become a "festering place for crime," according to local pollis.
Demographics
well you know tthere's all buncha people livin here
avg household population is 2 and occupancy rate is around 80%
then a paragraph about how langenthälers are whiny and entitled but ultimately hard working and kind at heart (although you wonder how kind a people who constantly walk around armed can be)
Notable Residents
Several prominent Ihazonan individuals have a residence in Langenthal, whether permanent or not.
- Abigail Ambrose, chairman of Vales Union
- Dylan from West Langenthal, local celebrity
- Filbur Wifflington, president of Ampersand Corporation
- HyperDuck, renowned business horse
- Johan Slechtenberg, executive publisher of The Daily Evening
- Dr. John Who, Vice Mayor of Langenthal
- Johnny Puss Morgans, leader of the Liberals
- Kireant Orode, chief of LPD
- Bill Archer, chairman of Macrohard
- Tawg Birck, owner of Tawg Nuclear Energy
- Togfan, Governor-Mayor of Langenthal
- Vayne Mayne, owner of Mayne's Coffee
- Vincent Quesnay, former President of Ihazon
- Vivia Verozza, columnist in The Daily Evening and celebrity
Infrastructure
Energy sources
As the largest city in the nation, Langenthal draws an enormous amount of energy, spawning an endless debate as to what energy source the city should use.
From 2011, a large portion of Langenthal's power came from Langenthal Nuclear Power Plant until its shutdown in 2018. The power plant, whose goal was to lessen the city's reliance on coal power from Slouthceister Power's Northern Site, was less than popular among its residents. Because the power plant was situated in Downtown Langenthal, neghbouring commerce, in particular Femi Plaza, has lobbied against its presence before it was built. Owner of Tawg Nuclear Energy, Tawg, made no comments however mentioning the power plant's opposition when announcing the plant's decommission.
The quote from his press conference reads as follow: “Langenthal Nuclear Power Plant did not possess any risk of meltdown or leakage, and breach of safety was never a concern for our decision to replace it. As a Gen II reactor, it was simply less efficient than the newer generation of reactors. Our new power plant’s increased economic efficiency will ensure our energy prices be even lower than before, and for safe power to be delivered for the next ten, twenty years.”
While Tawg has made plans to build a new plant outside the capital, its final location is still undecided, and the city will have to rely on coal power for the forseeable future. Experts have pointed to this being a major factor for why the Greens won the most of Langenthal's votes in the 2020 Ihazon Elections and almost the entire election itself.
Tallest buildings
The world's largest building, Langenthal World Financial Center (LWFC) is located in Downtown Langenthal. Its height of 186 metres makes it visible from almost every corner of the city and subsequently a prominent landmark. However, Langenthal has a multitude of other sksycrapers that, while not as high as LWFC, still make for a staggering sight when viewed from the ground.
Transportation
With its staggering population of almost 17 million as of 2020, it is no wonder why Langenthal's transportation network is as diverse as it is.
Rail
Historically, the importance of the railway for Langenthal cannot be understated.
From its opening in 1910, the industrial freight line connecting Langenthal with Slouthceister has provided the city with a reliable transportation network for goods and materials. From 1916, when Langenthal Steelworks opened, the railway has been used to transport ore from Gruvania, fuelling the city with much needed steel. In fact, the line's success was so great that IRATE was exclusively a freight company until it opened for passenger traffic in 1946, and only then after The Parliament issued a passenger rail subsidy bill.
The freight traffic going through Langenthal on rail is very much still active, especially after the West-Ihazonan line opened, connecting Serland Aluminium and Landesgarten's port together with Seaport Slouthceister, allowing container traffic from one end of the country to the other. However, most people may think of the railway today as primarily a passenger commuting service.
Central Station, built in 1946 for the opening of IRATE's first passenger service, has been a central hub in the city since its conception. At the time critics found the massive station overkill, but time would show the station was built for the future. In fact, after the millenium change in 2020, the explosive population growth of Ihazon and Langenthal in particular would show the station to be dramatically underequipped for the modern commuter volume.
In 2017 the station got a massive overhaul, and it is now the reconisable landmark it is today. Part of this overhaul also applied to the rail line itself; the station was opened together with the newly constructed high speed line from Langenthal to New Summerset.
Apart from conventional rail, Langenthal also has an extensive tram network and houses the national monorail that spans to Trondheim.
Air
Langenthal International Airport, shortened LIX, is the world's largest international airport. Together with Central Station, it forms a transport hub that connects Langenthal's many bus and tram routes together with Ihazon's various passenger rail lines to the rest of the world.
Road
Perhaps infamously so, Langenthal's reputation is one linked more often than not to roads. In the 1960s and onwards, Ihazon would undergo a large surge in growth, especially concerning infrastructure. After the founding of Tinville in the 1970s, large motorways started popping up around the metropolitean area of Langenthal. At the beginning of 1980, Ihazon already had five major arteries throughout the country named Serveways, that would after the 2000s only continue to be reworked and expanded as population boomed.
Perhaps there is no better testament to Langenthal's near-obsession wtih roads than Interchange Island, an interchange that was built in 1979 but rehauled multiple times until its current incarnation (which is still currently under construction as of 2021).
Ancient History (adapted from ancient tapestries in Langenthal Church
Langenthal was once a small village, overshadowed by greater cities, like Trondheim and Summerset. Though undeveloped, The village was much more densely populated than that of the larger cities. The reason for this was that Langenthal was home to a ferocious beast: a slime. Many had tried to destroy the race of slimes, though their efforts were in vain, for the slimes re-popluated by breaking apart. All but one slime were killed, by the year 1485. This slime was ordered to be locked up for life by the supreme ruler, Notch. Just 1 year after being locked up, the slime was sentenced to a public execution in the city of Trondheim. However, the slime broke free and devoured the whole city. Notch and others fled to Tekkea, where they were safe, as the slime reduced all the cities to rubble. Notch did never retun. In the year of 1903, Langenthal was rediscovered by a group of explorers. Led by Togfan, the group managed to find and overpower the slime. Togfan's race moved to the country of Ihazon and set out rebuilding the cities. Togfan named herself mayor of Langenthal and made it the new capital of Ihazon. Langenthal is now the most developed city in Ihazon.