Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Omaha in the Shadows - Part Two of Several

Omaha: The Big Picture
For a midwestern city, Omaha has quite a bit going on. Business, culture, entertainment, education - it's all here. If you want something a bit different from the same-old-same-old in Denver or Seattle, then Omaha is definitely the place for you!
- Some anonymous wageslave's tourism spiel

>>>>>[Yeah, Omaha's got a lot going on, folks. We've got a dragon living somewhere out south of town who likes to play with trains; a relatively benign underground community (when they're not at war with Knight Errant or the Star); an overpopulation of corpdrones and their overlords; a small propaganda war going on between the bigots of Humanis and the SJWs of the Metahuman League; and for entertainment, there's always a firefight or two in South O if you're brave enough to go there. But don't just take my word for it. We'll let the population figures and the rest of the info speak for itself...]<<<<<
 - Kuroneko (08:03:37/10-11-77)

Omaha in 2077
Population: 1,760,562
Human: 83% (roughly 1,461,266)
    White: 83%
       Jewish: 2%
       Irish: 7%
       Italian: 3%
       English: 4%
       Czech: 3%
       German: 18%
       Polish: 3%
       Swedish: 2%
     Black: 13%
     Hispanic: 3%
       Puerto Rican: 3%
       Aztlaner: 83%
       Cuban: 2%
     Asian: 1%
       Chinese: 19%
       Vietnamese: 8%
       Asian Indian: 14%
       Japanese: 15%
       Filipino: 12%
       Korean: 13%
       Hmong: 4%
       Hawai'ian: 2%
       Guamanian: 2%
     Amerindian: 1%
 Elf: 2%
 Dwarf: 1%
 Ork: 14%
 Troll: <1%
 Other: 1% 
Source: The Shadowrun Wiki

>>>>>[Omaha's strength lies in its diversity, regardless of what kind of drek Humanis and other groups of bigots try to sell you. Sure, there's friction - but whenever you get a big number of people in any one place, there's bound to be someone rubbing someone else the wrong way. Despite the divisive flashpoints of the past and present, Omaha has always managed to come together and sort things out for the better.]<<<<<
 - Hardtop (08:16:55/10-11-77)

 >>>>>[*golf claps* Wonderful. Now maybe you'd like to explain how that diversity involves forcing the majority of this city's metahumans to live in the North Barrens. If you can call existing in that hellhole living, that is.]<<<<<
 - Tank (08:23:12/10-11-77)

>>>>>[Actually, the North Barrens have the second largest population of metahumans at 50%. South O has the largest at 55%.]<<<<<
 - FeloniusMonk (08:34:00/10-11-77)

>>>>>[North, south, it doesn't matter. Poor is poor. You don't know how bad it is until you've lived through a winter where the snow and wind came through your bedroom wall and dinner was a coupla sewer rats your brother bought off some dwarf in the Underground.]<<<<<
 - Tank (08:36:05/10-11-77) 

Omaha: Beginning the Breakdown
Like any other city guide, we've broken Omaha down into a number of regions. Even though we're known by some as "The Little Sprawl on the Prairie", Omaha is still big and can be confusing to even someone who's lived here since birth. To make things easy, we'll start with Downtown, also known as "The Box". 

Welcome to "The Box" (Downtown)
By Big Red

Original map by Google Maps, Photoshoppery by me.

Population: 300,000
  • 80% Human
  • 10% Elf
  • 5% Dwarf
  • 2% Ork
  • 1% Troll
  • 2% Other

Security Rating: AAA to A
Patrolled By: Knight Errant

The Box is a 16-square mile AA zone that takes up the whole downtown area, the borders are pretty much the River to the East, 50th street to the West, Center Road to the South and Lake Street to the North. This area includes most of the corporate headquarters and housing, the Old Market, Midtown Crossing (totally misnamed), Evo/Buffet Park Omaha, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Clarkson Medical Center, Creighton University, Henry Doorly Zoo/UNO Buffet Parazoological Center of Research, and the Evo Convention Center.

This is the most corporate area of Omaha serving the corps almost exclusively. This area is pretty locked down with KE patrols on every other corner, cameras everywhere, drones, and even more corporate security. This is also where the Midwest Stock Exchange moved to after Chicago shut down. Prepare to be harassed if you look out of place.

Because of the cold winters and the fact that most of the area is new construction, the buildings have been interconnected with covered bridges and walkways between most of the larger buildings. It is said with the right ID You could walk from the ballpark to Midtown Crossing without ever going outside, of course you would be subject to security checks as you went from building to building, as well as extraterritoriality rules.

Don’t have a nifty corp ID and a SIN? No problem. There's always the Omaha Underground. The OU is a series of old sewers and utility tunnels that run through the downtown area. Maintained by a gang of dwarves calling themselves the Market Rats and used by the shadow world in order to breach the tight security of The Box, there are countless entries and exits in the Old Market and some of the older buildings in town. Beware though, while KE does not patrol the OU, they are aware of it. Also, the place is crawling with devil rats and other nasties. Use it at your own risk. Also don’t forget to leave a gift for the Market Rats, you may not see them, but believe me they'll know you're there.

>>>>>[Yeah, I've heard rumors that Evo has taken to dumping some of their less successful "experiments" in the sewers and river. Combined with the new critters from the SURGE it's a whole new wild kingdom down there.]<<<<<
 - Mr. Myth (04:09:45/10-12-77)

>>>>>[Suuure they have, Myth... and you're a regular Merlin Parkins... or is it Markie Stuffer? Maybe you should post some of those blurry pics you're so fond of showing us with your stories...]<<<<<
 - Thunderfoot (04:10:00/10-12-77)

>>>>>[Maybe you'd like to accompany me on my next trip to the Underground. I could always use someone to act as bait.]<<<<<
 - Mr. Myth (04:10:50/10-12-77)