On Wed, 24 Feb 2021 18:18:42 +0000, David Shaw <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

>All good points. If I may add my own questions:

>Was the port built in the middle of nowhere and the town grew up around it
>or was it built near to one or more existing settlements which then
>expanded and merged into each other?

Could be either, or even both. Sketch out your ideas of how it might look
in whichever model you choose, and send 'em on. Remember, I'll end up
picking and choosing to put together an amalgam.

>Was the port originally built as a civilian port facility or is it a
>converted military base or R&D/test facility?

Undecided. When I'm ready to start accepting stories, write it. Consider
the possibility that it might have been converted from a civilian airport,
as well. If you decide it was built ab initio, was it perhaps on the
burned-out area of, say, a Great Chicago Fire, or a London fire? Is it
behind dikes on a flood plain, or on built-up land from dredging the
seaport to handle larger ships? These are the ideas that I'm looking for;
the goal is to have a startown with people and stories to tell - so you
want the environment to be conducive to stories happening.

>What's the local geography like? Are there any natural barriers to
>expansion such as mountains, oceans, marshland etc?

OK, this is a question that really should have an answer... my call is that
since a starport whose startown looks like it's TL7-8 is probably also a
planetary transportation nexus, it's probably on a major river or seashore
(or bay/inlet).

However, just to "not-answer" the question, and leave it open for stories,
I'm going to remind you that, until 1847, Washington DC included what is
now Alexandria County and the City of Alexandria, in VA. So if startown and
the port are on a river, the city _can_ be on both sides of the river...

15km on a side is pretty large; remember, it's almost the size of DC.

>How old is the port? Has it been well maintained? Renovated? Rebuilt? Or
>has it been starved of funds and is now run down, grimy and old?

Old, but not decrepit. It's well-established, but not necessarily
high-traffic; it may see hundreds of ships in a month, not in a day. As a
class C port, it's unlikely to be handling anything much larger than
subsidized liners or fat traders, maybe the occasional merc cruiser -
figure that visiting ships top out at about 1000 dtons, maybe as high as
1200 - but mostly not.

It's never been renovated/rebuilt as a unitary project, but if a particular
building on it needed replacement or expansion, it was done. Some buildings
may be better maintained than others, although none of them should be in
such poor shape as to be dangerous.

>Is this the main port for the world or a subsidiary one?

This is _the_ downport for the world, i.e., the starport, not a spaceport.
There may be spaceports elsewhere on the world, but they're not important.

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