Shady Sands

Shady Sands, often called Shady in slang or NCR as a general term for the capital, is the capital of the New California Republic. Located near the US-395 and the Owens Valley, it is also a center of trade in between North California and Southern California.

Economy
Shady Sands sports a rather diverse economy thanks in most to its location in the wasteland.

Trade
Trade has, since 2196, by far become the most important economic branch for the development of Shady Sands. A miniature Hub, it has, by 2281, been an instrumental stopping point for the caravan routes between North and South California for some 85 years.

Water
The presence of an aquifer has been important to Shady Sands since its founding in 2098. It has fed the city's farms and the water is an important tool in many of the other industries in Shady. The city has also likely exported water in similarity to the Hub's system of water trade.

Metal Processing
The geology in the Shady Sands area is rich in the igneous intrusive rock Granite, which is rich in the minerals silicon and aluminum, as well as containing a higher trace level of uranium than normal. Due to aluminum, a light and malleable metal, being evidently useful in the wasteland, it's not out of the question that the city, to at least some degree, has an aluminum processing industry. It is also likely a light source of uranium, due to uranium being four times (20 ppm) as present in granite than in other (5 ppm) rock.

Exponential Growth Model
We know that the population of Shady Sands was 200 in 2161 and went up to 3000 in 2241. This gives a decent starting point for an exponential growth model, the only question is when the population of Shady Sands exited its period of stagnant growth.

All the math for the following models can be found here.

Low Estimate
The low estimate assumes that Shady Sands began growing right after the Vault Dweller solved the town's. This isn't completely out of the question, as it is possible that this was the town's only issue causing its stagnation, due to its severity. Using the time of growth resumption as 2161, Shady Sands' population would be around 11,600; a 3.4% growth rate.

Middle Estimate
The middle estimate is the least likely scenario of the two. This scenario takes the idea that the city began growing at the foundation of the NCR, in 2189. This scenario is unlikely because even though Shady Sands had a lot of attention at that point, Aradesh was still wary of trading or opening up to the other states in the NCR. Anyhow, this scenario would put the NCR's population around 24,100; a 5.2% growth rate.

High Estimate
The high estimate of Shady's population, also being the most likely one, assumes that the growth began once Tandi fully opened up trade with the other states after succeeding her father in presidency in 2196. This model results in a population 33,300; a 6% growth rate.