FOR THOSE who have tried the video game, SimCity, there’s always that initial god-feel sensation as you slowly create your own bustling metropolis. Always from an eagles’ viewpoint (the first version that is), you witness that, once you have set up a new place, ant-like dots (which are supposed to simulate people) instantly appear, as though intent on gobbling up the place. The next step to do then would be to improve on what you’ve created in order to accommodate the growing and insatiable mob.
On many points, the same is true in real life. I remember in 1991, when the mega food chain with its bee as mascot, put up its first branch in Bolton, Davao City, the line of customers on its first days, started from its doors, extended up to San Pedro and almost turned full circle back to Bolton, through what was then known as Crooked Road.
In the coming years, whenever a new establishment, i.e., a shopping mall or another restaurant was put up in the city, there was always sure to be a huge flock of people, short of a stampede, that hovered over the place before, like a stirred nest, things eventually settle down again. Apparently, the same goes with people’s taste for novelty and the arts. A famous musician who has played here many times, once said, Davaoeños, aside from being a picky and sometimes whimsical lot, are prone to frenzy over novel things but also fast to drop one like a hot potato.
At this observation, it always begs the question, isn’t that the same with all peoples everywhere? Truth is, SimCity, if one has tried playing it, captures us down to the last nose hair.
In this ground level where we all are, a new feature has been put up in our SimCity universe and once again everyone’s abuzz like crazy dots running about. The coastal road project, that long-ago plan hatched in the early 90s (but allegedly put aside when funds for it were allocated to Pinatubo victims), has finally seen fruition. For more than a year, when it was still closed to traffic, it had first become a long stretch of heaven for local joggers, bikers and other early risers who just wanted to see the sunrise and a view of majestic Apo.
On the day it was finally open to traffic by no less than the president, the city mayor and other dignitaries, that all transformed and took on the feature of a huge magnet, as practically almost all vehicles slowly gravitated towards its breadth to sample its fresh roadways and get another perspective of Davao Gulf. Beyond SimCity eyes however, where this fixture is just like an additional new toy, the reality of it as being a much-needed road, not only for the city but the region, has got to be the most significant development yet, with more to come in the near future.
