Before Night City
Before there was a Night City, there was only Los Santos. Every street you drive today, every badge, every hospital bed and every fire engine once belonged to that city, and much of it still carries the old name.
To understand Night City, you first have to understand what it broke away from. This part of the history ends in 1984, the year the story of Night City begins.
The State of San Andreas
Night City lies in the state of San Andreas, on the west coast of the United States. It always has, and the split from Los Santos never changed that. Whatever name is on the city limits sign, its people are San Andreans.
The south of the state is city: a long stretch of coastline, a busy port and miles of streets running up into the hills. North of the city the land opens up into Blaine County:
- Sandy Shores, a dusty desert town on the edge of the Alamo Sea
- Grapeseed, farmland and orchards in the valley
- Paleto Bay, a small fishing and logging town on the northern coast
- Mount Chiliad, the tallest mountain in the state
- Fort Zancudo, a military base the public is kept well away from
Los Santos, City of Saints
The name Los Santos is Spanish for "the saints". It grew into the largest city in San Andreas on its port, its oil fields and, above all, the film studios of Vinewood, whose sign looked down over the city from the hills.
It was a city of extremes. Mansions in Rockford Hills and the Vinewood Hills, beach crowds in Vespucci and Del Perro, industry in Cypress Flats and the docks, and working neighbourhoods in the south of the city, all under one name.
The Los Santos Name
Before 1984, every public service in the city carried the name of Los Santos:
| Service | Name before 1984 |
|---|---|
| Police | Los Santos Police Department |
| Fire | Los Santos Fire Department |
| Medical | The Los Santos medical centers |
The name was painted on patrol cars, stitched on uniforms and fixed over the doors of City Hall, the police stations and the fire stations. Those signs are still there, and they are the reason so much of Night City still says "Los Santos" today. See Chapter 1: The Founding (1984).
City Hall
Los Santos was run from City Hall by an elected mayor. The last mayor in this story is Lorenzo Romano, who never got to serve: he was shot as he was being sworn in. His death is where the history of Night City begins. See Mayor Lorenzo Romano.
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