Sierra: Difference between revisions

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'''Sierra''', officially the '''City of Sierra''' ({{lang-cd|Cidade da Sierra}}), is the most populous city in both the [[Verona|Commonwealth of Verona]] and [[Cartadania]], as well as the center of the [[Palm Coast metropolitan area]]. With a 2025 census-estimated population of 8.7 million across its {{convert|2678.1|km2|sqmi}}, Sierra is one of the most densely populated major cities in the nation, with {{convert|3260.9|PD/km2|PD/sqmi}}. Situated in [[Northern Verona]], Sierra is known for its semitropical climate as is much of the rest of Verona, as well as its ethnic diversity, sprawling metropolis, and as a major center of the Cartadanian entertainment industry.

Located in a large coastal basin, Sierra covers an area of about {{convert|2678.1|km2|sqmi}}. The city is also the seat of [[Sierra County, Verona|Sierra County]], the most populated county in the country, with over 15 million residents. Sierra is the center of the Sierra metro area, with 21 million residents, and is part of the larger designated [[Palm Coast metropolitan area|Palm Coast area]], the most populous in the nation with a 2025 population of 37.8 million.

{{See also|List of schools in Sierra Independent School District}}

[[Sierra Independent School District]] serves all of the city of Sierra with a student population around 1.3 million and nearly all of the district's 600+ schools are fully accredited. It is not coterminous with county lines, instead serving it's own juristdiction. The school system is the largest in Verona, and the 2nd largest school system in the nation (based on student enrollment), second only to the statewide school system of [[San Rícardo Department of Education|San Rícardo]]. The City of Sierra Department of Education operates the Sierra City High School for the Arts.

Several small sections of Sierra that were recently annexed are served by neighboring [[Bridgeland ISD]] and [[Mirada ISD]]. Though Sierra's city charter has a provision requiring all city residents to be served by a single school district, the city's government has not enforced this provision, nor has it made motions to press Sierra ISD to annex the portions of the city within those districts.

The Sierra Public Library system is the second-largest municipal library system in the country, operating 72 public libraries in the city of Sierra. It has a collection of approximately 53 million books and other materials. Though it is a separate entity, because Sierra County (and consequently, the city of Sierra) is part of the Palm Coast Consortium of Metropolitan County Governments (PCCMCG), members of the Sierra Public Library and Sierra County Library can utilize a limited degree of services within the other 13 member library systems.

There are two public universities located within the city limits: [[Verona Commonwealth University|Verona Commonwealth University, Sierra]] (VCU Sierra), [[Verona Commonwealth University|Verona Commonwealth University, Oceanview]] (VCU Oceanview), and [[University of Verona|University of Verona, Sierra]] (UVA Sierra).

Private colleges in the city include the Cartadanian Film Institute, [[Kaur Institute]], Cartadanian Academy of Dramatic Arts (Sierra Campus), Chanel University of Medicine and Science, Sierra Film School, Louis Hertford University (LHU is also the parent university of Hertford Law School located in Sierra), Odros College, Odros College of Art and Design (OCAD), Northern Verona Institute of Architecture (NVI-Arc), North Verona Law School, University of Northern Verona (UNV), [[Verona Institute of Technology]], and Woodside University.

The community college system consists of twenty-nine campuses governed by the trustees of the Sierra Community College District, including East Sierra College (ESC), Sierra City College (SCC), Sierra Harbor College, Sierra Mission College, Sierra Pierce College, Torino College, Sierra Southwest College, Sierra Trade-Technical College and West Sierra College. They are commonly referred to by campus number (e.g., Torino College as SCC 21)

The city and the rest of the Palm Coast metropolitan area are served by an extensive network of freeways and highways. The Alexandria Transportation Institute, which publishes an annual Urban Mobility Report, ranked Sierra road traffic as the most congested in the United States in 2005 as measured by annual delay per traveler. The average traveler in Sierra experienced 72 hours of traffic delay per year according to the study. Sierra was followed by Los Suenos, Alexandria, and Tuscany, (each with 60 hours of delay). Despite the congestion in the city, the mean travel time for commuters in Sierra is shorter than other major cities, including New Venceia, Westchester, and San Joaquin. Sierra's mean travel time for work commutes in 2006 was 29.2 minutes, similar to those of Los Suenos and Alexandria.

The [[Palm Coast Light Rail]] serves six of the seven counties in the Palm Coast area. It is operated by the [[Palm Coast Metropolitan Transit Authority]] which, in turn, is overseen by [[Verona Department of Transportation|VDOT]]. In downtown Sierra, it uses city streets, while outside the central portions of the city, the line is built on private rights-of-way. The system currently has eleven lines, but two lines, outlined in a five-line system approved by voters in a 2017 referendum have yet to be constructed. The Uptown Line, which runs along Sutton Boulevard in Uptown, was under construction as a bus rapid transit line—the city's first—while the University Line has been postponed indefinitely. The light rail system saw approximately 63.6 million boardings in fiscal year 2016.

A section of Sierra International Airport in the A Terminal.

Sierra is served by three airports, two of which are commercial that served 226 million passengers in 2015 and managed by the [[Palm Coast Airport Authority]]. The Federal Aviation Administration and the state of [[Verona]] selected the "Sierra Airport System as Airport of the Year" for 2008, largely because of its multi-year, $6.2 billion airport improvement program for all four major airports in Sierra.

 

The primary city airport is [[Sierra International Airport]] (SIX), the second-busiest in the United States for total passengers, and fifth-busiest worldwide. Sierra International currently ranks third in the United States for non-stop domestic and international service with 246 destinations. In 2006, the United States Department of Transportation named SIX the fastest-growing of the top ten airports in the United States. The Sierra Air Route Traffic Control Center stands on the Sierra International Airport grounds.

Sierra was the headquarters of Ecinis Airways until its 2010 merger with Lavanda Airlines with headquarters in [[Venceia]]; regulatory approval for the merger was granted in October of that year. Sierra International became Ixnayan Airways' largest airline hub. The airline retained a significant operational presence in Sierra while offering more than 1600 daily departures from the city. In early 2007, Sierra International Airport was named a model "port of entry" for international travelers by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The largest commercial airport is Bordeaux-Columbia International Airport (named Curaçao International Airport until 1967) which serves an overlapping jurisdiction with Sierra International Airport. Columbia International is also [[Premiere Airways]] central and largest hub. It is the largest international air gateway in the world with an annual 115 million passengers passing through its terminals. In 2015 Omega Airlines launched service from a new international terminal at Columbia airport to several destinations in Coscivia and Punth.

Sierra's third airport is Pacifica Airport (a former U.S. Air Force base) used by military, government, NAA, and general aviation sectors.