Editing Paradise City:Urban Geography (section)

===Westside Jungles:  ”The Firepits”.===

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The Firepits, as the name suggests, have been repeatedly gutted by fires set by destructive residents.  The area, mostly built of a cheap flammable plastic, is riddled with burned-out areas, sometimes stretching for blocks.  There are still plenty of unskilled corporate workers living here, and there has been some effort to rebuild areas that have been destroyed.  However, too many of the locals seem set on destroying anything that they can get their hands on and most of the corporations who own land here find that it isn’t worth their while to try to rebuild.

Transport:  Transport facilities vary widely depending on the area.  In zones where the corporations manage to keep some kind of order, there are workable bus systems and subway stations.  There was once an extensive subway network here, but so many stations have been destroyed that the subways are of little use apart from getting into and out of the Firepits.  In areas where the corporations have failed to keep order, residents have no services at all.

Police:  The police here are not hired by the city, but the corporations who house unskilled workers in the area.  The local inhabitants are not considered particularly valuable by the corporations they work for, and the corporate police do not go to great trouble to protect them, nor their environment.  They do their best to keep the vandalism and destruction in check, but they are badly under-funded and under-staffed.  The corporations do maintain the outer wall very carefully, to ensure that residents may be passed through check points and scanned for weapons (and especially explosives).  There are plenty of streets where police just do not go, if only because the buildings are so trashed that they are not worth trying to protect.  Officers here are typically issued with a submachine gun, an auto-pistol and a stun baton.

Gangs:  There is not much money to be made here, although the gangs do a reasonable trade in drugs.  Still, for many of the residents of the Firepits, there isn’t a lot else to do than fight – most of the legitimate entertainments were driven out of town by arson and vandalism.

Organized Crime:  This is not very valuable territory and local crime-lords often resemble bandit kings more than businesspeople.  Trouble with gangers is frequent and sometimes devolves into open warfare.  Structure is usually feudal, with the most powerful bosses ruling over numerous semi-autonomous local barons.  An over-boss is known as an “archbishop” here and a boss as a “bishop”.  One bishop may owe allegiance and service to a more powerful bishop, but there can only ever be one “archbishop” in an organization.

Entertainment:  The locals have unrestricted access to the internet, so drink in all the mindless entertainment that television has to offer.

Sports:  The lawless streets of the Firepits play host to almost every strange sport that the locals can think of.  It has been established that causing explosions or crashing large numbers of cars tends to bring police helicopters, but other than that, almost anything can be done.  The area is famous for televising a sport called “Killer” involving contestants stalking each other with firearms.

Points of Interest:  

Near to the highway stands the vast hulking gray form of the Paradise City Rehabilitative Penitentiary, known on the street as “Purgatory”.  Conditions inside are famously brutal and death is common.  Executions are held at the prison and often televised by the highest bidder.  The prison is a prime recruiting ground for criminal organizations and major gangs and war between different groups is an ongoing problem.  Recently, some inmates have been offered early parole in return for joining the military and serving in foreign wars.  The prison is run by the city government.  Prisoners captured by corporate security in the lockdowns or jungles are more likely to be sent to a privately-run corporate prison.
          
“The Mars Project” is the name locals have given to a fenced-off area of four ruined blocks purchased and owned anonymously.  Inside the fence, clearing up the area, are what appear to be robots.  Guards with sub-machine guns and bad attitudes refuse to engage in discussion, or even to allow residents anywhere near the area.  Three different local gangs have now tried to assault the compound, presumably just to show that it could be done.  None of them got very far.

Weapons:  Weapons other than melee weapons are forbidden.  In practice, there are large desolate areas of the Firepits that someone could probably walk through carrying an assault rifle without being noticed.  Police will not tolerate non-melee weapons being openly worn, but with a little Streetwise, it is possible to obtain small arms such as handguns and sawn-off shotguns, generally weapons of LR 3 or above.

Smuggling:    All citizens wishing to enter the territory must pass through checkpoints where they are scanned for illegal items and cyberwear.  The system is not effective in detecting drugs and is only semi-effective in detecting weapons – a sizeable trade in small arms (generally LR 3 or above) takes place over the border.