Milwaukee in 2070, Outline of my vision of Beer City in 2070 Options

['Sconnie]

Feel free to give me any feedback and corrections if there's anything here that does not jive with canon.

Keep in mind this is a VERY early draft, I've not gotten into the local gang or syndacate scene yet.

I: Milwaukee Sprawl

A: Basic information

i: Basic info

1. Population breakdown by metatype typical for The UCAS.

2. Police services provided by Knight Errant, with the exception of theWSU campus, which is policed by Lone Star.

3. Fire Service provided by Franklin Associates

4. EMS Service provided by DocWagon, 100% coverage, guaranteed response time five minutes

ii: History

1. Brief summarization of history up until 2055

a. Brief history from founding in the 1800s to 2001

b. Megacorps snap up abandoned and established factories in the Menominee Valley and other induistrial areas of the city in the wake of the Shiawase Decision, creating patchwork of extraterritorial zones that shape that area to this day.

c. VITAS outbreak kills relatively few in Milwaukee thanks to effective containment.

d. Night of Rage. Racial tensions are inflamed, and prompts "Human Flight" to suburban neighborhoods in neighboring counties (Waukesha, Ozaukee, Jefferson, Washington, etc) throughout the next twenty years. Parallels to "White Flight" of the 1960s and 1970s.

e. Order of St. Sylvester opens up a Thaumaturgy department at Marquette University shortly after its founding
2. 2055: Large increase in population due to influx of refugees fleeing Chicago during the Bug incident.

a: Refugee influx greatly increases Milwaukee's population, particularly the meta population. Racial tensions sparked once again.

b: Even amongst humans, Conflict between native Wisconsinites and Chicago refugees reflects traditional animosity between the two cities and paranoia running rampant in the wake of the Bug Incident.

c:Refugee camps along I-94 south of Milwaukee eventually absorbed into the city during early 60s; eventually Racine and Kenosha swallowed up as the city limits extend to the state line.

3: SURGE

a: SURGE hits Milwaukee, and ignites prejudices, particularly in outlying suburbs, which saw inexplicably high numbers of people affected.

4: Rise of Wisconsin State University

a: Shortly after the Crash of '64, Megacorps concerned about the rising influence of various left wing, anarchist, environmentalist, and assorted anti-corp policlubs based out of Madison sink billions of nuyen into improving UW-Milwaukee to create a competitor to the University of Wisconsin in a more corp-friendly environment.

b: When improvements are completed in 2066, UW-Milwaukee secedes from the University of Wisconsin system, renaming themselves Wisconsin State University.

c: Wisconsin State quickly develops a solid reputation as a good school for biotech and engineering, thanks in part to a few strategic extractions of University of Wisconsin faculty, thus sparking a very intense rivalry between the two institutions.

d: Lone Star used underhanded tactics to win the contract to police the campus and stifle any groups likely to cause trouble for Wisconsin State's megacorporate patrons. Knight Errant, who handles policing for the city and thought they had a lock on this contract did not take the decision very well, and often hires shadowrunners to sabotage Lone Star's efforts.

C: Relationship between governments of Milwaukee (Wisconsin) and South Milwaukee sub-sprawl (Illinois)

i. Inspired by the precedent set by Gary, IN, the State of Wisconsin attempts to annex South Milwaukee through adverse possession in 2070, but is thwarted by Illinois State Government.

ii. Relationship between Two city governments: South Milwaukee does what Milwaukee tells it to do, much to the chagrin of the locals.

D: Neighborhoods

i: Outlying suburbs outside Milwaukee County

1. Already well established by White Flight a century earlier

2. Houses middle-to upper middle class corpslaves

3. Population overwhelmingly Human

4. Area is a bastion of anti-meta sentiment. Getting pulled over for driving while meta is commonplace. Humanis chapterhouses in almost every community.

5. Archconservatives and Republicans vie for political control. Recenttechnomancer crisis has given the Archconservatives the upper hand, however in the months since things have quieted down,the Republicans are beginning to take back ground.

ii: North Shore (Mequon, Bayside, Fox Point, Whitefish Bay, Shorewood)

1. Home to local old money and corp execs.

2. A number of corp execs who work in Chicagoland live in these neighborhoods.

3. Knight Errant coverage very high, many execs hire extra security.

iii: Northside

1. Very rough part of the city.

a: Gangs commonplace

b: Knight Errant will not go to the rougher Northside neighborhoods unless there is a very good reason. And when they do go in, they go in heavily armed and armored. This goes double for Metcalfe Park.

c: Good place for Shadowrunners to go to lie low for awhile

2. Populated by lower class wageslaves.

3. Majority of Milwaukee's SINless live in the area.

4. Northside's population very diverse

5. Havenwoods

a: Old State Forest located in the middle of a Northside.

b: Unusually high mana levels in the forest.

c: Dunkelzahn Institute for Magical Research maintains a facility on the grounds of an old Army Reserve base adjacent to the forest and maintains a heavily fortified perimeter around the forest.

d: Drivers along Sherman Boulevard report strange sights.

e: Rumors of unusual spirit activity

f: Megacorps eager to know what the DIMR is guarding.

6. Metcalfe Park

a: Had a history of being one of the roughest neighborhoods in Northside.

b: Local Urban Brawl team (Milwaukee Maulers) chose Metcalfe Park neighborhood as the Mauler's home ground for the 2069 Season. Local residents "relocated" by various means

c: Entire Neighborhood a devastated wasteland.

d: After the Maulers relocated to Kenosha, local gangs rushed in to claim turf. Minor gang war erupts and has only recently died down.

e: Large population of squatters in area, including a few anarchist collectives.

7. Rufus King High School

a: Academically, one of the best public high schools in the UCAS with a 96% graduation rate

b: Known for its extremely diverse student body

c: Received a very large endowment from the Draco Foundation per Dunkelzahn's will in the late 2050s

d: 80% of all graduates attend university.

iv: Wauwatosa

1. Lots of Megacorp R&D and industrial facilities. Pretty well much every one of the Big 10 has a prescence here.

a: Evo Research Arcology located next door to WSU Medical School and Froedert Hospital.

2. Home of Harley-Davidson

a: Harley-Davidson remains independently owned. Ares and Saeder-Krupp have been trying to acquire H-D for decades, but have had no success due to each other's interference.

b: Annual biker festivities attract casual riders, motorcycle enthusiasts, and more than a few go-gangers.

v: The Menominee River Valley

1. Industrial heart of city.

a: Entire region patchwork of extraterritorial zones.

2. Lots of dumping into the river

a: Dumping makes facilities frequent targets of direct action from eco-rads.

3. Home to the Milwaukee Brewers, 2070 Augmented World Series Champions

vi: Westside

1. Many parts were once high crime areas.

a: Gentrification in the 1990s highly improved the area

2. Lots of middle and upper middle class people share this neighborhood alongside tightly regulated light industry.

3. Miller Brewing Company dominates the western edge of this nieghborhood.

a: Miller recently acquired by Horizon

4. Home to Marquette University.

vii: Downtown

1. Local megacorp offices Dominate the skyline.

2. Home to WSU

3. Parks all along the lakeshore,

4. Home to the Harley-Davidson Arena and other concert venues

5. Home to many clubs, bars and restaurants

a: The Safe House,a club with an Espionage/Shadowrunning theme, too obvious for all but the most inexperienced Johnsons.

6. Summerfest and the other summer ethnic festivals

a: Ork, Elf, Troll and Dwarven festivals have had a history of drawing in racist elements from the outer suburbs looking for a fight, however this has died down in the last ten years or so.

7. Turner Hall

a: The Turners evolved from a German-American social and athletic organization to a group dedicated to the training and development of young adepts.

b: Training focuses on physical skills such as jumping, tumbling, and gymnastics skills as well as martial arts.

viii: West Allis

1. Corp offices mixed with light industry.

ix: Southern Neighborhoods

1: Mostly lower middle class wageslaves live here

x: Jones Island

1. Former industrial and port complex

2. Knight Errant has entire peninsula cordoned off due to Toxic Spirit activity.

3. Group of Toxic Shamans live in the former Kazubes Park

4. Ruins of Hoan Bridge litter the landscape

a: Knight Errant destroyed the bridge in 2058 due to troubles caused by Toxic shamans

xi: Greenfield/Greendale

1. Home to Milwaukee's elvish community.

xii: Mitchell Field

1. Milwaukee's main airport

xiii: St. Francis and Cudahy

1. Lower Middle Class neighborhoods close to Mitchell Field.

2. More wealthy and well-to-do neighborhoods closer to the lake.

xiv: Former Refugee Camps

1. Located along the small towns dotting I-94 between the state line and southern Milwaukee neighborhoods.

2. Now largely abandoned.

3. Many camps have a background count due to the intense negative emotions of the displaced.

xv: Racine

1. Sprawl's main port facilities relocated to Racine due to troubles on Jones Island

2. Significant decrease in ship traffic since Calumet Harbor in Chicago was reopened.

xvi: Kenosha

1 Kenosha's Chrysler-Nissan plant produced the famous Nissan-Chrysler Jackrabbit.

2: When Chrysler-Nissan discontinued the Jackrabbit, they decided to build its replacement in a newer facility with greater automation.

3: Most of the support jobs dried up when the plant closed, and the population moved either to More Northerly parts of the sprawl or to the Chicagoland Area.

4: Milwaukee Maulers bought the old factory and chose the old factory as its home ground in 2070 season.

a: Rumors that Ares, who owns the Maulers wanted the Factory out of commission to keep Chrysler-Nissan from coming back to Kenosha.

5: Kenosha has an active black and gray market scene due to its proximity to Chicago

a:Camping and survival gear stores do very good business in Kenosha.

6: Kenosha often used as a jumping off point for forays into Chicago.

[Wesley Street]

xvii: Sassy women who can make it on their own.
1. Opening doors and bumping into each other
2. Glove on conveyor belt...


...I got nothing.

['Sconnie]

xvii: Sassy women who can make it on their own.
1. Opening doors and bumping into each other
2. Glove on conveyor belt...


...I got nothing.

Heh. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

[Jackstand]

e. Order of St. Sylvester opens up a Thaumaturgy department at Marquette University shortly after its founding

While I don't know that this couldn't happen, I think that it would be unlikely. Marquette is run by the Jesuits, not by the Church as a whole, and the Sylvestrines are a separate order. The faculty, of course, aren't all Jesuits, or even all Catholics, but I'm not sure that a particular department would be administered by another order. There might be toes stepped on.

3. Home to the Milwaukee Brewers, 2070 Augmented World Series Champions

The Brewers?! Win a World Series?! I suppose in the Sixth World anything can happen. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) But please tell me the sausage races still don't permit augmented athletes, do they?

vii: Downtown
...
2. Home to WSU

You seem to know the area pretty well, and I'm guessing from your name that you may be another local, so, since the current campus is not downtown, this caught my attention. Are we to take it that the campus has spread to the point of connecting to downtown, or vice versa?

a: The Safe House,a club with an Espionage/Shadowrunning theme, too obvious for all but the most inexperienced Johnsons.

I'm glad to see that the Safe House made it in. The magic bar in the back might be even better if they have a real magician tending it.

7. Turner Hall
a: The Turners evolved from a German-American social and athletic organization to a group dedicated to the training and development of young adepts.
b: Training focuses on physical skills such as jumping, tumbling, and gymnastics skills as well as martial arts.

This is also a neat little piece of Milwaukee. Might the Turners also have their own initiatory group? Did they ever finish restoring the ballroom? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

2. Significant decrease in ship traffic since Calumet Harbor in Chicago was reopened.

I've wondered if this would be the case. Chicago gained its dominance in the region largely because of its role as a major rail hub. Since rail travel isn't nearly so much of an issue in the 2060s and beyond as it was two centuries before, I'm not sure how much it would spring back after a disaster like the destruction of the IBM/Sears Tower and the Bug City outbreak. Granted, O'Hare is a major air hub today, but I expect that some of the traffic would diminish in light of those events.

I would expect that Mitchell would expand to handle more flights, and that Milwaukee would become a more attractive port, since, by air, there wouldn't be a lake in the way of rail shipping, and it's closer than Chicago, since ships coming into Lake Michigan do so from the north.

a: Rumors that Ares, who owns the Maulers wanted the Factory out of commission to keep Chrysler-Nissan from coming back to Kenosha.

This brings a question to mind. Ares also owns, of course, the Ares Predators Urban Brawl team. Can the same party own more than one franchise? Is there a conflict of interest? Or are the Maulers a "minor league" team, or something like that, and therefore not in competition with the Predators?

['Sconnie]

While I don't know that this couldn't happen, I think that it would be unlikely. Marquette is run by the Jesuits, not by the Church as a whole, and the Sylvestrines are a separate order. The faculty, of course, aren't all Jesuits, or even all Catholics, but I'm not sure that a particular department would be administered by another order. There might be toes stepped on.

Makes things more interesting.

The Brewers?! Win a World Series?! I suppose in the Sixth World anything can happen. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) But please tell me the sausage races still don't permit augmented athletes, do they?

Heh, my vision was that Horizon picked up the Crew when they bought out Miller, dumped a drekton of nuyen into the team, and built themselves a dynasty in the making. Besides, if Today's Brewers keep improving, they may win a title in the next few years!

You seem to know the area pretty well, and I'm guessing from your name that you may be another local, so, since the current campus is not downtown, this caught my attention. Are we to take it that the campus has spread to the point of connecting to downtown, or vice versa?

I'm actually living north of Green Bay now, and it's been a VERY long time since I've been to Milwaukee. My knowledge of the city comes from a Rand McNally map I bought at my local ShopKo and family I have in the area.

I'm glad to see that the Safe House made it in. The magic bar in the back might be even better if they have a real magician tending it.

Heh, even though I've never actually been there, I had a friend who worked there during the summer, and told me all about it. This place is perfect for Shadowrun.

This is also a neat little piece of Milwaukee. Might the Turners also have their own initiatory group? Did they ever finish restoring the ballroom? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

I've thought about that. I think it's very plausible that the American Turners might have a secret initiatory group.

I've wondered if this would be the case. Chicago gained its dominance in the region largely because of its role as a major rail hub. Since rail travel isn't nearly so much of an issue in the 2060s and beyond as it was two centuries before, I'm not sure how much it would spring back after a disaster like the destruction of the IBM/Sears Tower and the Bug City outbreak. Granted, O'Hare is a major air hub today, but I expect that some of the traffic would diminish in light of those events.

O'Hare's still a pretty major hub in the Shadowrun universe , as it was located well outside the Containment Zone, if I remember Feral Cities right.

I would expect that Mitchell would expand to handle more flights, and that Milwaukee would become a more attractive port, since, by air, there wouldn't be a lake in the way of rail shipping, and it's closer than Chicago, since ships coming into Lake Michigan do so from the north.

I toyed with the idea of having a significant UCASAF presence at Mitchell to deal with smugglers heading from Chicago to the Twin Cities eventually bound for Seattle, but decided that they'd be based in Madison insted.

This brings a question to mind. Ares also owns, of course, the Ares Predators Urban Brawl team. Can the same party own more than one franchise? Is there a conflict of interest? Or are the Maulers a "minor league" team, or something like that, and therefore not in competition with the Predators?

I don's see why not. There's precident in RL. IIRC, Anschutz Entertainment Group owns L.A. Galaxy and Dynamo Houston in MLS, and Eisbären Berlin and the Hamburg Freezers of Germany's top pro hockey leauge, .

[Walknuki]

Alice Cooper approves.

[Wesley Street]

Makes things more interesting.

It's your game and you're welcome to run it how you like but you asked for canonical information. As was already pointed out Marquette is run by the Jesuits. The Order of St. Sylvester serves the Catholic Church directly as a society of protection and defense. They're defense-minded, not education based, and it's highly unlikely they'd instruct non-Catholics in an public setting.

[Jackstand]

It's your game and you're welcome to run it how you like but you asked for canonical information. As was already pointed out Marquette is run by the Jesuits. The Order of St. Sylvester serves the Catholic Church directly as a society of protection and defense. They're defense-minded, not education based, and it's highly unlikely they'd instruct non-Catholics in an public setting.

Well, it is still a private, Catholic school. It's not entirely a public setting, though there are plenty of non-Catholics in attendance.

[Generico]

You might want to add so indents/bolds/underlines to that first post.
Pretty much impossible to skim to one section.

['Sconnie]

It's your game and you're welcome to run it how you like but you asked for canonical information. As was already pointed out Marquette is run by the Jesuits. The Order of St. Sylvester serves the Catholic Church directly as a society of protection and defense. They're defense-minded, not education based, and it's highly unlikely they'd instruct non-Catholics in an public setting.

I was under the impression that the Sylvestrians were the major users of magic in the Church, and was not sure if the Jesuits would get involved in the teaching of magic.

['Sconnie]

You might want to add so indents/bolds/underlines to that first post.
Pretty much impossible to skim to one section.

I tired it, and it distorted the larger hunks of text to the point where it looked like drek.

[JTNLANGE]

As a life long Milwaukee resident. I like it. Kinda of what I had in mind when I run Milwaukke with my group. Sort if Chicago north due to the Bug City incident.

Trevor

['Sconnie]

As a life long Milwaukee resident. I like it. Kinda of what I had in mind when I run Milwaukke with my group. Sort if Chicago north due to the Bug City incident.

Trevor

Things will eventually change, as Chicago progresses towards getting back on its feet.

[the_real_elwood]

Things will eventually change, as Chicago progresses towards getting back on its feet.

I would imagine that by 2070, the Chicago area is pretty much back to being the business hub in the area, even if the former containment zone is still pretty much a wasteland.

[Wounded Ronin]

You know what would be hardcore? If someone made an extensive neon cyberpunk-themed Deus Ex mod kind of like Redsun 2020, except it was set in Milwaukee. It would be something like, "Soul crushing cyberpunk distopia in Milwaukee with lots of neon."

[Jackstand]

That would be the raddest thing ever.

[Blackout]

Didn't know if I would ever find this again. I just want to say thanks again for putting this together.

[yesferatu]

I like it overall. There's a lot going on in this post.

1. You may want to add a stronger Amarind presence.
The Ho-Chunk has a toehold in Milwaukee which would only grow stronger.
Wisconsin is packed with slighted tribes who would be more than happy to regain their ancestral lands after the Great Ghost Dance.
I have chosen to Awaken Devil's Lake (Spirit Lake) and a couple other locations in the wilderness.

2. I also made the wealthier cities (Brookfield, Mequon, Waukesha, Glendale) into KE patrolled gated communities.
Corporate enclaves might make better sense, but I can definitely see those communities closing their borders when the fugees start moving north.

3. Milwaukee is notorious for segregation, I can only imagine how much worse that gets after UGE and Bug City.
I kept South Milwaukee mostly for the hardier races while Shorewood/Glendale/Whitefish Bay attracted the wealthier elf families.

4. I based my Evo subsidiary on Epic's campus in Madison. I named the corp Echelon and incorporated the UW school system.
Madison for biotech, Milwaukee's UWM&M for arcane arts.

I wish Catalyst would expand Milwaukee as a storyline city. It easily has almost as much potential as Denver or Seattle.

[Kyoto Kid]

...back in the SR3 days I drafted up an overview of M'waukee and Wisconsin.

Basically due to the city's strong Germanic roots, S-K had a major presence there including an arcology in the old Third Ward. Much of the central area was gentrified (along similar lines to what S-K did with Salzburg in Austria) and the city reclaimed it's title as the "Machine Shop to the World". The city forged strong ties with both the AGS and Austria (due to S-K's presence).

Several old long standing names like the The Chalmers Group and BradleyCorp resurfaced along with new ones such as I-Motive, and Marathon AeroTek (something needed to happen with underused Mitchell International).

As to sports I had the Braves returning to the brew city after the Brewers went under following the crash of '29 with the Admirals going NHL while the Green and Gold still played in up in Lambeau field.



...I'll be back a bit later with more as lunch break at the day job is over.

[Blackout]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I live out in Bay View Milwaukee and these are some great ideas. People are making their characters right now so we will see how everything pans out.

Oh and in another post someone found this fantastic map. MAP

[Kyoto Kid]

...grew up not to far away in Town of Lake just north of Mitchell Field. Always wanted to GM a campaign set in the hometown but out where I live (TT...er...Oregon) people seem to prefer Seattle instead (running in the Tir - at least before the crash - can make for a very short career).

After I burned out on Seattle, I set a campaign in Europe which actually went over surprisingly well.

However, still have a soft spot for the ol' Cream City.


Now I have to go dig up my notes and dust them off again.

[Kyoto Kid]

...bloody hell. The new version of Firefox just ate everything I wrote by overwriting the tab my response was on instead of opening a new one like it was supposed to. I had just spent over two hours distilling and entering data from my old Milwaukee sourcework. Going into "History" in the tools menu only brought up an empty text window as If I just clicked on the [Add Reply] button.

Really PO'd and wanting to shoot someone from Mozilla in the face right now. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

...I'll be back later.