Do you ever sit down to play Cities: Skylines or SimCity and think to yourself how you wish those games could advance you in detailed urban planning and design? Remember those SimCity commercials that had Adam DeVine acting as a SimCity mayor? Well, it appears those wishes and wild ideas became true recently in the town of Coulterville, California, as their new mayor Mark Skalberg took the seat. Skalberg has obtained expert skills in traffic laws and tax regulations, as well as irrigation, waste, and district management all because of the beloved city-simulation game.

Skalberg had worked at a McDonald’s and the local tourist office before deciding to spice his life up a bit, “When I applied to be Mayor, I knew I had to stand out. I’ve applied to a few other jobs too–and I always put my accomplishments in the game on my resume.” Skalberg believes that Cities: Skylines holds to potential to teach players about complex urban development and systems management:

“If you just start big, you’ll fall hard. You need to lay out the groundwork for your town, and start with the basics. In the game I lay out water lines, and make sure that the sewage is down river from where the water source feeds the city’s pipes. Of course there’s essentials, and a lot of people can do that, but it all comes down to the relationships between the different mechanics. When you have sewage, electricity, traffic, and district zones all vying for your attention, things become very complex. I believe managing these systems in the game have given me an edge over my competition in the work force.” — Mark Skalberg

The responsibilities of traffic management, district zoning, utility systems, and tourist attractions for Coulterville, California now rest on Mark Skalberg, but he seems to be having no problem with the transition from reality to game, especially since the population of Coulterville is only 201.

What do you think about Skalberg’s transfer from mayor of his digital metropolises in Cities: Skylines to mayor of his own town? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: News Loot

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