In what can only be assumed to be some
urban renewal project gone wrong, civic engineers have uprooted the
bushes and
foliage underneath the overpass the
Georgia street viaduct makes above Main Street as it noodles down to
Prior Street, doubtless to make some sort of action against the local
rodent population.
(Less undergrowth = less places for rats to nest, breed, steal shiny things off to and foment decay, revolution and epidemic from.)
Where there once was lush (if, granted, vermin-infested) flora there remained nothing following the nocturnal bulldozing but an arid wasteland of sand, as hostile to the eye as it is to members of the rodentia family. So, some bureaurocrat deemed, we'd spruce up the eyesore a bit with some greenery. But waitasec, wasn't the greenery the problem in the first place? Well, yes and no. The sand remains en lieu of plant life, but it's green sand.
I'm sure if there's any sort of animal that likes living in copper-rich areas, we'll be hearing from it in fairly short order. "Well, we solved the rat problem but in the process we've attracted 2d8 rust monsters, compounding our troubles - you see, the rats (even the Sumatran ones) are only one hit die beasts while a rust monster has cause to give even a fifth level party worry!"