Granite City, Colorado is a fictional town used in a number of games by Austin as a consistent location, and as such there are multiple points in time where this setting might be used. As such, we list the elements that exist at various points in the timeline, along with some information about the interactions of major players within the city at these time periods and campaigns that make use of this material.

Granite City was originally named for and founded upon a series of major quarries used to provide granite, marble, and other stone materials throughout the Colorado area. Over time, the natural resources available have expanded to include the forests nearby, a scenic area that was eventually declared a national park, a major oil refinery and drilling operations, a nearby uranium mine (closed in 1965 due to environmental concerns), and various other mineral resources.

Southside is a rundown region full of low-rent businesses and low-income housing, although some 'dirty' businesses conduct industrial manufacturing in the area. It is also prime territory for criminal activity.

The northern end of town, near the old rock quarries, was a focus of industry until the 21st century, when it gradually switched towards high-tech manufacturing and biotechnology center, with middle-class housing areas and well-secured storage facilities rounding out the region.

The tourist trap section of town, middle to east, plenty of legalized gambling, strip clubs and other adult entertainments, as well as further vices as they become legalized (or less conspicuous illegal vices; prostitution from within office storefronts, for example, hidden drug parlors and other seedy entertainments); plenty of motels and hotels, as well as tourist centers giving directions to the Granite City Quartz Caverns, the Granite City National Park, the traveling circus that visits and stops there one month out of the year, and so forth.

The ritzy side of town, with high class establishments and high class entertainments; this is also the place where those not quite wealthy enough to live in Goldrock live in fancy houses.

The living place of the wealthiest men and women in Granite City. Seldom open to the common folk without an invitation, this area is marked by white picket fences concealing high-security sensors and defenses. Goldrock has its own private security force in addition to GCPD contacts.

A military base outside of the town proper, the National Guard outpost is there to maintain order; occasionally National Guard operatives have been deployed to Granite City to help restore order in the wake of rioting or massive labor strikes, or to provide additional defense in times of crisis.

Granite City has an elaborate underground tunnel system, first established in the early 19th century as part of mining operations in the area. During World War II and the early stages of the Cold War, these tunnels were used as a ready-made underground bunker system, with connections throughout the city and to the local National Guard base. As the war scare simmered down, some of these tunnels were eventually expanded and repurposed into the city's primary public transit system, a series of underground trains that can transport people to any district in town as well as connecting to several major train lines.

More interesting subway statistics, and important information relevant to the overarching plot, will be added as time goes on, or as characters learn more. For now, it's good enough to know the subway lines:

• Red Line.
• Green Line.
• Blue Line.
• Orange Line.
• Purple Line.
• Yellow Line.
• Black Line.
• Pink Line.

In the Near Future era, it eventually is replaced with a maglev system, with the responsibility of maintaining the network being allocated to Samuel Luke Station. For some reason, this doesn't lead to significant repairs or upkeep of the station itself.

A little diner located on the edge of town, roughly two blocks away from the road leading to Granite City National Park.

A no-frills diner across town, known for good food and novelty salt and pepper shakers at every table. Friendly rivals of Ursa Minor.

The University of Colorado public university system's local branch, CU Granite City, was established in 1936, and has the second broadest series of courses in the UC system. It conducts a variety of federally and commercially funded research projects, and is known for running human-subject testing on a regular basis for CU Denver projects as well. This is the location to focus on for the University campaign setting.

The Student Office is one of the oldest buildings on campus, dating to before the university was officially incorporated, and to the early days of Granite City itself. It is made of solid granite, thought to be quarried locally, and looks very imposing and impressive to newcomers. To most students, the computer network remains dated (Windows XP is still in use), the building is understaffed, and those who do staff it don't really look like fellow students.

Colorado has a number of officially recognized national parks, and this is one of the oldest. Sections of the park have trail segments that connect to the California National Historical Trail, and the park is marked by large sections of rough rock face and difficult climbing.

Park details cadged for now from the Black Canyon national park, more information here. Give me a nudge if there's aspects of import to list, or details to add.

A maglev station in the Southside district of Granite City, Colorado, that was originally designed by Samuel Luke, a brilliant artist and architect. It has since fallen into serious disrepair, and seems to contain far more than its share of secrets. It is nine levels deep, with the ninth being a maintenance level that is inaccessible to the public, and has many side doors, corridors, and passages. It is notable for having a broad variety of angelic architecture and artwork, most of which has become defaced over the years since its original installation.

Per their Wikipedia page, Samuel Luke Station was built as part of a contract with Granite City by famous architect Samuel Luke. Samuel Luke was responsible for construction of the maglev stations of Granite City between 2036 and 2042. These stations were retrofits of original subway stations - Samuel Luke Station was originally Southside 3rd Street Station - converted to the new maglev system. While most of the stations follow traditional values decided upon by the Granite City Civic Aesthetics Commission, the station named after Samuel Luke was designed entirely by the architect, and he was given free reign over the structure and decor. As such, in addition to being a major reconstruction and remodeling project, it was also a major artistic project. The aesthetics of Samuel Luke Station seem centered around Christian mythology, although it is noted for having a variety of other influences, including Gnostic tradition and Jewish mysticism.

The station is a nesting ground of the criminal and seedy element, with two primary street gangs taking up residence in its tunnels and passageways - the Serpent's Youth and the SLS (Samuel Luke Streeters). The Serpent's Youth, while creepy, have yet to be considered a significant criminal threat, but the SLS has caused enough damage to the neighborhood that local activists are pressing the mayor to clean up the station.

The station has never been updated to deal with modern technology; its original network grid was set up decades ago, and is as decayed and defaced as the rest of the place. Trying to access the Net from within SLS is a bad idea, as the connection path is virus-laced and probably highly unsafe, if it even remains functional for long. Cell uplinks and similar devices tend to fail or malfunction starting at the third level, which is one of several reasons most 'business' tends to be conducted at the food court. The restrooms are almost never 'in order', and it's a bad idea to travel through the station after dark…

There are legends of some sort of grim man known only as the Cleaner, a man dressed in janitor overalls who hunts people who stray too far into the tunnels. Image searches for the face of the Cleaner crash computers. It is theorized that he may be connected to various murders of lone subway travelers late at night.

Ostensibly, the Second Chance Thrift Store sells overstock, factory seconds, closeouts, damaged goods, items bought from estate auctions, and so on; usually, they purchase goods (with no questions as to the legitimacy of their origin) at 10 to 20% of their value, and resell them at about a third to half value. The store is open from 6 AM to 6 PM every day except Sunday. Burglars, deliverymen, and wholesalers arrive or phone in to sell their goods first thing in the morning, while casual shoplifters and petty criminals tend to arrive in the afternoon.

The Second Chance is staffed by various apparently-low-wage employees who stock shelves and man the front registers. However, 'Second Chance' also refers to the fact that their protective aprons are actually quite capable of withstanding a bullet, beam, or knife if necessary, and all of them are at least passable marksmen and are well-paid for their services and loyalty. (Rumor has it that it is actually a training ground for organized crime where pickpockets and sleight-of-hand cons learn their art; watch your wallet carefully when near the shelf-stockers, and count your change carefully.)

The purchasing department consists of the manager, Zeke, and his two purchasing assistants, Lydia and Jake. Zeke handles most day-to-day transactions within the store; Lydia negotiates with factory buyouts and similar discounted goods; Jake works estate and police auctions. All of them have concealed-carry permits, due to the large amount of on-hand cash they carry to conduct business; Zeke has a double-barreled custom electrolaser/shotgun called 'The Shocker' as his personal tool of choice.

The Second Chance does sell projectile and beam weapons, and, separately, also sells ammunition. However, they do advise matter-of-factly that weapons on display require a criminal background check per Colorado state law before being sold. (With the unsaid suggestion that weapons -not- on display may therefore be available for the individual not interested in being checked as per the Individual Dealer Act.)

Several warehouses, garages, and storage facilities around town are rented out to store Second Chance merchandise that needs to be processed (whether legitimate or otherwise), as well as to provide a suitable drop site for clients who need to fence merchandise. Each warehouse is kept for six months and then cleared; usually these are staggered so that one 'clears' per month, and as such, there is usually a sale at the end of the month of merchandise that needs to move.

Jake occasionally offers courses in loss prevention for local stores and insurance adjusters, with the cooperation of the police department. It might seem mildly paradoxical, given that roughly 20% of their stock is of dubious origins, but it does have a positive effect in the community.

People can also request that the Second Chance keep an eye out for a particular type of item for them - some customers collect certain types of goods or resell them on the open market, while others may just want their missing lawn gnome back.

The Cedarview Behavioral Health Facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado was designed in 2037 by the architect Samuel Luke, and showcases old-fashioned gothic architecture alongside modern (for the times) principles. In particular, the fencing and structure of the facility are all black iron and granite, although the furniture was standard heavy-duty polyethylene and steel. The facility opened its doors in 2039, and operated for 51 years before being shut down in 2090 due to city budget constraints. Most of the contents were sold at auction, and the facility was closed shortly afterwards.

The facility has appeared in two major trivid pictures - “The Bloodletting” and “Nightmare Trip” - in its unoccupied state, and has begun to deteriorate over the years, due mostly to vandalism by the public. While working on “The Bloodletting”, director Ryan Moore reported unusual occurrences on the set, including 'odd whispers' and 'equipment malfunctions'. This was attributed mostly to attempts to market the movie, but the rumors started up again during the production of “Nightmare Trip”, which was claimed to be based on a real story about a group of college students who disappeared while exploring the facility, along with stories by some of the production staff and actors regarding personal experiences of danger while on set.

In 2115, the Colorado Paranormal Science Foundation was asked to visit Cedarview Facility to investigate rumors that the place was haunted. After a brief investigation, the Foundation confirmed that the place was sufficiently supernatural to rate a place on their Haunted Locations of Colorado listing. They have since made several return visits, including once during a filming of the 2107 season's fifth episode of 'Haunted America', to reconfirm the facility's haunted status.