Anytown, USA

A community that could be virtually anywhere

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your letter of the 15th. Since we changed our name, and this being an election season, we have heard from many candidates who want to make a campaign stop in Anytown, USA. As a result we have put together the following electronic letter to assist you in making your plans. Sorry to send you such a formal reply, but the volume of mail recently has caused us to resort to this. We hope the information listed below will be of use to you. Just click on the subject about which you want to learn more.

Sincerely,

John Key Board

City Manager

Here's what you'll find below:

• General Description
• Economic data
• Population & demographics
• Media
• Education
• Leaders
• Sites

Both the city and the surrounding county have undergone tremendous growth in recent years with the development of high tech businesses. The business have prospered because nearly one-half of the world wide web traffic flows through Cybertown. The business have primarily employed the low-end workers of the new cyber economy. Unlike Silicon Valley, most of the high tech work done here is data flow management and web traffic hardware maintenance. These new jobs have contributed greatly to the local economy. Nonetheless, some traditional manufacturing continues to play a role in the economic life of the community, with a few automobile component factories hanging on despite industry downturns.

Although Democrats held sway during the second half of the twentieth century, Republicans have dominated in past years. Party registration shows that both parties have about equal strength and that the city as a whole usually tends to support moderate candidates of either party. Wealthy neighborhoods, such as Lenox Heights and Pardue in the northern tier of the city, are unshakably Republican while union-laden, blue-collar Chatham Ridge and Bridgeton in the southern part of the city remain Democratic. Democrats have also found support in the large minority populations in central Cybertown.

Economic Data
Top employers

• HTTP Tech, 7,000-8,999
• High Speed Data 7,000-8,999
• Paddleton State University, 5,000-6,999
• Alyrun Engine Co., 5,000-6,999
• BIG Component Auto Parts 5,000-6,999
• St. George Hospital 5,000-6,999

Major Industry
web-related high tech, auto manufacturing, higher education, health care

Median Houshold Income
$32,304

Population and Demographic Data
Population
554,797

Race
69% white
23% black
1% asian
7% Hispanic

Age and socio-economic information
12% age 65+
43% married couples
20% married couples with children
34% college educated
57% white collar
27% blue collar

Religion
32% Roman Catholic
45% Protestant
18% Baptist
5% Other

Media
Anytown, USA Daily Times (daily, circulation 98,000)
Anytown, USA Insight (weekly, alternative, circulation 34,000)

WCYT radio station (country)
WCLA radio station (classical)
WROC radio station (popular)
WEDU radio station (NPR, affliliated with Paddleton State U.)

WNEW TV (ABC affliate)
WPUF TV (NBC affiliate)
WRAW TV (CBS affiliate)
WEDU TV (PBS, affliliated with Paddleton State Public U.)

Education
Paddleton State University has been a main catalyst for the community’s recent economic prosperity. Because of its premier role in developing the internet much of the new web traffic was channeled through Anytown, USA. Its sports team also represent a center part of the community’s life. Its basketball team, the Megabytes, won two state championships in the 1990s.

Anytown, USA City school, however, are not held in such high esteem as the university. The city’s schools are operated separately from the county school system. The schools lived through a massive court-ordered busing program in the 1970s and 1980s. Nonetheless, they remain considerably segregated. Schools, such as Northfield High School, located in the more affluent northern parts of the city are mostly white, sending 96 percent of their students on to colleges. The high schools in the southern part of the city are integrated, but the middle and elementary schools more closely mirror the racial composition of the neighborhood in which they are located. Southern schools, such as Douglass High School, serving a lower income students send only 50 percent of their graduates on to colleges.

In recent years two charter schools have been opened in the city. Known as CS 1 and CS 2, their performance has been carefully monitored and the media has reported extensively on their first year of operation.

Leaders
Anytown, USA has many community leaders. Among them are:

• Mayor Nimmo, 37, white, female, Democrat, a strong supporter of federal aid to cities and an opponent of enterprise zones.
• City Council President Cox, 45, white, male, Republican, opposes Nimmo on almost every issue.
• School Board President Wetheimer, 47, black, male. The first elected minority to the school board, balances all racial issues carefully, cognizant that he must maintain white support to remain on the board.
• UAW Local President DiFazio, 52, male, white, Democrat.
• Father Tuck, 58, male, white,runs the Church of St. Lima’s soup kitchen and after-school programs and is a strong pro-life leader in Anytown, USA.
• Reverend Sorauf, 36, female, white, runs St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Provides financial support to St. Lima’s soup kitchen.
• Rabbi Bornstein, 42, male, white, runs B’nai Brith Temple. A strong supporter of Israel.
• Chairman Everton, 68, Black, head of the Anytown, USA chapter of the NAACP.

Sites
These site are available for campaign stops:

• Northside and Douglass high schools
• Factories/Offices listed under employers
• City Hall
• Airport
• Church of St. Lima
• B’nai Brith Temple
• Anytown, USA First Baptist
• St. Luke’s