Pelican Town is Stardew Valley‘s most iconic location. After all, it’s the town your character lives (and potentially meets their future spouse) in! But…would Pelican Town actually work in real life?
Stardew Valley has captured the hearts of many gamers – me included.
Listen, I’ll admit that I’ve spent a couple hundred hours in the game. I never seem to get past Year 2, though…I always want to remake my farm for whatever reason. But, I still play a ton.
Another thing I’ll admit is that I tend to spend way too much energy over-analyzing how video games, present company included, would work in real life. Like, Animal Crossing: New Horizons could never be sustainable long-term; non-human villagers aside, the food scarcity issue alone would cause major issues.
With that being said, let me offer the following extremely-inplausible-but-I-keep-thinking-about-it scenario: what if we placed Pelican Town, the game’s central hub, in the real world? Would it thrive? Or would it face challenges too tough to overcome?
Maybe it’s a silly thought to have (actually, it is indeed very silly) but gosh dang it, I know you’ve thought about it at least once or twice. I can’t be the only weirdo that has, right?
Without further ado, let’s find out the logistics of this town’s survivability via a way-too-deep analysis of its demographics, economy, and services.
Want to play something different? Click here!
Would Pelican Town Thrive in Real Life?
Population
Demographics
Okay, let’s start with the fact that Pelican Town is a little… well, demographically challenged.
There are only 30 human residents of Pelican Town (I’m not including Krobus, sorry) outside of the farmer, which is already tiny to begin with. Heck, the smallest town in the United States is Monowi, Nebraska with only one resident (their mayor, no less) but that doesn’t make it self-sustained by any means.
As far as the age split of our tiny town, we’ve got an overwhelming number of adults and senior citizens (in fact, 53% of the population is over the age of 40), and just two kids, Vincent and Jas. There is no dedicated school for them, perhaps due to the small population, which begs the question – do Pelican Town kids all get homeschooled? Or do they go to some out-of-zone educational facility? (I feel like this is answered, I just can’t remember.)
So, what does that mean for the future of Pelican Town? We might need a few more diaper changes and a lot more baby-making. If not, we’ll have a population crisis faster than you can say “Pierre’s overpriced produce.” At least your farmer’s able to contribute a few more kids post-marriage, though they never seem to age past the terrible twos.
Substance Abuse
Ah, yes, the Saloon. A place where every night is Saturday night, and some folks are just a few sips away from a one-way ticket to Hangoverville.
While it doesn’t necessarily affect whether or not a town can exist and succeed, substance abuse issues within a town (which in Stardew Valley’s case is purely alcohol) can definitely make it more difficult to do so.
Pelican Town takes it to a whole new level, with 6% of their residents being confirmed alcoholics – if other substances are included, that number increases to 13%. The town’s preferred hangout being a bar certainly doesn’t help this.
Unfortunately, the Saloon is the only entertainment option in town…at least, when you start. A movie theater can be unlocked, but only after completing the community center (or completing Morris’ community upgrades, assuming you’re a corporate shill).
Services
Transit
We all know that Pelican Town has some serious transit troubles. For personal vehicles, all we see are a few Jojamart trucks, Sebastian’s bike, and Lewis’s pickup. Do horses count as vehicles? Maybe we can count those for now. They do take you places at a faster pace than walking, after all.
Don’t get me started on public transit – all you’ve got are a train you can’t ride and a single bus that doesn’t work until it’s unlocked in the community center. Maybe the warp totems count too, but those are placed by you and no one else seems to use them, so I wouldn’t personally consider them.
So, yeah, you need strong legs to get around the valley. Not ideal if you’re disabled, like George, or…well, want to get anywhere faster than 4 miles per hour.
Shopping
Pierre’s General Store and JojaMart โ those are your shopping options in Pelican Town. Two stores! It’s like trying to survive on a diet of just carrots and cauliflower. We need variety, people!
I know food’s important, but where the heck are people buying computers, cars…heck, even clothes? Surely not from the Hat Mouse. Is Emily making everyone’s clothes?! I have way too many questions here and not enough answers.
Housing
Pelican Town has a housing crisis, and it’s not even cool tiny homes or eco-friendly treehouses. It’s more like zero vacancies, and the bachelor(ette)s still live with their folks. I’m lucky I could get a shack (and ample land) from Grandpa!
There are several NPCs we see that work in Pelican Town, like Gunther, who don’t (appear to) have anywhere they actually live – this makes me believe they commute to work, which must be a pain considering the aforementioned lack of public transit. I’d assume, if given the chance, they’d live more locally!
So, to make room for more people, we need to get creative without bulldozing the town’s charm. How about mixed-use buildings with apartments in the community center’s neighborhood? There’s so much green space here ripe for development. Or even Cindersap Forest…my farmer’s chopped down all the trees there, anyway. Come on!
Economy
I’ll keep this section simple: Pelican Town’s economy isn’t exactly booming.
The job market is as competitive as a fishing tournament with one fishing rod. We need more opportunities, people! Tourism could be our saving grace, as we’ve seen with how popular our festivals are, which could boost existing small businesses and create more jobs.
This would be less of an issue if Pelican Town were clearly the suburb of a more major metropolitan area (like Zuzu City). Pelican Town’s isolation might be charming in a video game, but in reality, it’s an obstacle. We need access to bigger cities for jobs, education, and, well, civilization. Again, better transportation sure would be nice…
Solutions
So, what the heck could we, in theory, do to give Pelican Town the boost it would need to thrive in real life? I have three suggestions that, while not perfect, could get us started on the right foot:
Diversified Funding and Economic Growth
Lewis, it’s time to actually do something as mayor (hosting festivals is the bare minimum, dude). Let’s seek out more reliable funding sources and give incentives for more businesses to come here; ideally, ones with less alcohol.
Public-private partnerships and infrastructure grants could provide the stability Pelican Town needs to thrive. Maybe then, we’d get more sustainable businesses, like clothing stores and cafes…something.
Housing Crisis Mitigation
We’ve got to tackle the housing crisis head-on – after all, the population can’t grow if there’s nowhere for people to live. Mixed-use developments, apartment complexes, and innovative housing like tiny homes could be the answer.
There’s the Cindersap Forest and the land surrounding the community center – unless they’re under some sort of state park status (which I doubt given you can just chop trees down willy-nilly there), these are great places to start building some new houses!
Infrastructure Investment
Better transit is essential for both quality of life and access to services Pelican Town can’t provide. The vacant land near the train station could become a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) with denser development if we establish a commuter rail service. Or, dang, more buses. Bicycles, even. Something!
Lewis, my guy, my dude…if I have to walk across town for an hour just to go to the grocery store, there’s a problem.
Ever wondered what makes a cozy game…well, cozy? Click here!
In conclusion, Pelican Town from Stardew Valley would have its fair share of real-world challenges. But with creative solutions, diversified funding, and a dash of quirky charm, it might just become the cozy, thriving community we all dream of.
I’ll be honest, though…Zuzu City sounds more poppin’, so if this were the real world, I’d probably just go there. Sorry (not sorry)!
Leave a Reply