Chapter 409: Chapter 189: The Shadow of Prosperity (Part 5)
"If you can control rent and provide affordable housing."
"If you can offer job training and dividends through worker cooperatives."
"For a worker in Detroit who’s been unemployed for two years and watched the bank foreclose on his house, Pittsburgh is paradise."
"All you have to do is open the gates and get the word out."
"They’ll pour in like a flood."
"And think about what this means for your political future."
"These new migrants, these people you’ve rescued from despair."
"When they settle down in Pittsburgh, when they get their first paycheck, when their children walk into the schools you’ve fixed."
"They will become your most loyal, die-hard supporters."
"You will completely change the demographics of Western Pennsylvania."
"You’ll have an army of voters that belongs to you."
"At that point, forget just being a Mayor. You’ll have a lock on the governorship."
Ambition gleamed in Leo’s eyes.
This was a strategy out in the open.
A strategy that used development to resolve conflicts, that used growth to overwhelm scarcity.
If there aren’t enough local resources to go around, then expand the pie.
If local rents are rising, then attract more people, create more wealth, and launch larger-scale construction to stabilize those costs.
He was about to launch a modern-day "Go West" movement.
Only this time, the destination wasn’t the West—it was Pittsburgh.
"Alina."
Leo suddenly spoke up.
"Your tenants’ union, how many members does it have now?"
Alina paused, taken aback. She didn’t know why Leo was suddenly asking this.
"A few hundred, maybe. Mostly neighbors from the area."
"That’s not enough."
Leo shook his head.
"I need you to expand it."
"Not just in the Brooklyn District. I want you to reach out across all of Pittsburgh, and even contact people outside the city who are looking for a chance here."
"I want you to help me establish a ’New Residents’ Relocation Service Center.’"
"I’ll provide you with funding and office space."
"Your mission will be to help newcomers find affordable housing, connect them with job opportunities, and solve their children’s schooling issues."
Alina’s eyes went wide.
"Are you serious? You want to encourage *more* people to come?"
"That’s right."
Leo gazed out the window.
"If housing demand outstrips supply, then we’ll build more houses."
"If there’s more work than we can handle, then we’ll hire more people."
Leo took out his phone and dialed Sarah’s number.
"Boss? What’s going on?"
"Sarah, I need you to adjust our promotional strategy for the next phase."
Leo’s voice carried an undeniable tone of resolve.
"Stop all the ads about attracting business investment."
"We don’t need to beg big companies to invest anymore. Capital will catch the scent and come on its own."
"We’re changing direction."
"We’re recruiting people."
"I want you to produce a new series of promotional videos and run them in Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia—run them in every Rust Belt city with high unemployment."
"Tell them Pittsburgh is hiring."
"Tell them we have construction jobs that pay thirty US Dollars an hour and long-term contracts for dock work."
"Tell them we have rent control, public daycare, and free job training."
"Change our slogan."
Leo watched his own reflection in the car window. His eyes held the greed of a predator, but also the passion of a builder.
"It’s no longer ’Revive Pittsburgh.’"
"It’s ’Make This Your Home.’"
"It’s ’The Final Bastion for the Working Class.’"
"I’m launching Operation Homecoming."
"I want to draw all those wandering souls to Pittsburgh."
On the other end of the line, Sarah was silent for two seconds before letting out a gasp.
"My God, Leo, this will overwhelm our city!"
"Then let it,"
Leo said coldly.
"Only by bursting can it be reborn."
"Get to it, Sarah."
"I want every blue-collar worker in the United States to know that as long as they have a pair of hands and still want to work,"
"Pittsburgh is their Jerusalem."
He hung up the phone.
Leo leaned back in his seat.
Alina looked at the young Mayor.
She had originally thought he just wanted to solve the immediate rent problem.
But he wanted to move the entire world in.
"You’re a madman," Alina muttered.
"Maybe," Leo said with a smile. "But in a world this crazy, only a madman can accomplish great things."
’Mr. President.’
’Since we’re building an ark,’
’we might as well fill it with people.’
’The more, the better.’
Roosevelt’s voice held a hint of a smile.
"Now you’re getting it."
"When you have the population, you have everything."
"Now, let’s see just how much ambition this city can hold."
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