 How do you envision the Barrens?, Kowloon or 9th ward? |
  |
 Apr 26 2007, 05:02 AM
Post
#1
|
|
|
Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 164 Joined: 9-December 04 From: former Bug City, now CFS Member No.: 6,875  |
Hey, I was wondering what the Redmond Barrens look like now. I mean, do they look like this?
|
 |
 
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 11:17 AM
Post
#2
|
|
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Barrens is certainly inspired by Kowloon, but think it's in much worse condition. Mix kowloon with images of 1945 Berlin, and you probably got it right.
But not all the Barrens is uniform, there is alot of difference between the section bordering better areas where turist goes to see the barrens, and glow city. |
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 11:23 AM
Post
#3
|
|
|
Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,009 Joined: 25-September 06 From: Paris, France Member No.: 9,466 |
I don't think it looks like this.
Redmond Barrens is not that dense. I think it's mostly what's left of big corporate buildings from before 2029 and shanty-towns. If you want that go to Hong-Kong, it's back! (according to Runner Havens) |
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 12:10 PM
Post
#4
|
|
|
Ain Soph Aur Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,477 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Montreal, Canada Member No.: 600 |
Take a look at a google earth or other satellite image of Redmond. There's hardly anything there, it's a quiet suburban place with lots of open space. The Barrens pretty much looks exactly like that. You can add a few extra buildings, cheap appartment complexes built to hold the NAN refugees that came in, a little like that image, but that's about it. The Barrens ain't an urban jungle.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 12:11 PM
Post
#5
|
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 113 Joined: 11-July 06 Member No.: 8,863 |
i am thinking it looks like the city in soylent green or blade runner.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 02:27 PM
Post
#6
|
|||
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Well if you look at Seattle today it probably looks as much like the Seattle metroplex as 18th century manhatten looks like 20th century. Ok, overstatement but the point is that the city has expanded into the suburbs, thus the lots of the suburbian homes would be replaced by large industrial and residential homes. I got the impression Redmond was heavily populated until the first crash, thus it would need apartment blocks, coffin hotels etc. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Apr 26 2007, 02:43 PM
Post
#7
|
|||
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 811 Joined: 30-January 07 From: Portland, OR Member No.: 10,845 |
I Have to agree with Friend, despite what it may look like now, alot has changed in 63 years. Thinking on it, I have always viewed the barrens as an urban jungle. Though would Redmond be more fun if it were spread out? Unfortunately I think that would make it easier to maintain, and it would not have developed into the lawless state it is. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Apr 26 2007, 03:22 PM
Post
#8
|
|||
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...me too. I went back to my old hometown a couple years ago & decided to do a pilgramage to my old neighbourhood. ...My grade school was torn down & replaced by an apartment complex. ...the corner grocery is now a duplex flat. ...the railroad tracks a block away from my old house are now a freeway spur. ...both maple trees in the yard have been cut down. ...there is a garage in the backyard now. ...the "Humpback" Bridge (Norwich Ave - over the aforementioned replaced railroad tracks) is gone. ...The old "400" line (named after an express train run by the Chicago & Northwestern RR) is now only one track. It used to be two & no passenger trains run on it anymore. ...my savings & loan is now a "Useless" Bank (US Bank) ...the Rexall Drugstore is now some hoite toite boutique. ...The old Sentry Supermarket is now some discount flea market/antique shop. ...and I just read that the Catholic Academy is being sold to developers who will build Condos on the site. All this happened in a span of less than 7 years. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Apr 26 2007, 03:39 PM
Post
#9
|
|
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,512 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 392 |
I think that a better idea of what Redmond looks like in 2070 would probably be to look at what all the steel and coal towns in the Eastern US look like once the local plant shuts down. Everyone loses their job and either moves away and finds a new job or else stays there and is stuck below the poverty line.
Another great example would be to imagine what would happen if all the factories in Detroit shutdown within the span of a year (probably less in Redmond due to crash but takes a while for a corporation to die). You think it is dirty and crime ridden now? Imagine what it would be like for all those who are stuck there. City of Industry in LA might be another good example. Just mile after mile of factories, refineries, and warehouses. Mix in the usual crowd of criminals, drug dealers, prostitutes and those that are interested in that crowd and you have a good image of what the functioning parts of Redmond are like in 2070. |
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 03:49 PM
Post
#10
|
|
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...Grew up in Milwaukee. (referred to as "The Machine Shop to the World") Saw a lot of this go down back in the 70s. Fortunately in the 90s things rebounded.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 03:56 PM
Post
#11
|
|||
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,512 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 392 |
This is why I'm surprised that Seattle seems even gloomier and more economically depressed after the Crash than before. Runner Havens mentions a few times that Seattle has become a world leader in AR programming after 2.0 yet all the neighborhoods seem to be in a slump (except Bellevue). You should be seeing some economic rebound. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Apr 26 2007, 04:17 PM
Post
#12
|
|
|
Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,078 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 67 |
I don't think the Barrens have quite the urban density that the Walled City has. While it's true that Seattle has grown a great deal by 2070, the Barrens are the remnants of what fell apart after the first Crash, so it would not have built up quite as much as Downtown has. Now Downtown will look much more like Blade Runner.
As was posted earlier, the Walled City is very much back in 2070 Hong Kong and is very much like the old Walled City, but worse. |
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 04:17 PM
Post
#13
|
|||
|
Hoppelhäschen 5000 Group: Members Posts: 5,807 Joined: 3-January 04 Member No.: 5,951 |
..if you can have perfect virtual walls - why pay the keep-up for the real ones? ;) |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Apr 26 2007, 04:19 PM
Post
#14
|
|
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...heck Seattle was on the ropes in the 70s & Early 80s (when I moved there) after the Boeing meltdown when the Feds pulled the plug on the SST & the nation went into a recession. I barely missed the days when owners of apartment buildings and complexes were offering several months free rent if you just signed a one year lease.
One enterprising individual rented a billboard & put up a sign that read "Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn out the lights?" Yeah the "Emerald City" had its hard times as well. |
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 04:21 PM
Post
#15
|
|||||
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,241 Joined: 10-August 02 Member No.: 3,083 |
That's not exactly how economics works, I'm afraid. The U.S. markets have been going up, but regular joes like myself didn't see a dime of that money. The city I live in (Oakland) hasn't really improved much, despite businesses in the surrounding areas experiencing record numbers (Google, Genentech, and Yahoo are all in commute distance). Trickle-down economics doesn't really work. Presumably the people who benefited from the AR boom are located mostly in Bellvue (makes sense; that's where the rich people fled to when things went bad, right?). Given that "legit" people in Shadowrun tend to live in self-sustaining enclaves (basically walled communities with malls inside), and usually ones owned by their employers, any wealth they accumulate is going to stay within that closed system. The mom & pop diner owned by that nice ork couple at the edge of Redmond isn't going to see a dime of that money, no matter how good their homefries are. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Apr 26 2007, 04:26 PM
Post
#16
|
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 834 Joined: 30-June 03 Member No.: 4,832 |
Redmond in SR I imagine as being more like mexico city, flat shanty sprawl rather than vertical sprawl.
SR's older books don't tend to take into account the topography of redmond, it is pretty much contained in two or three valleys. Though those books also label the whole 40 mile stretch from bothell to puyallup as redmond. |
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 04:30 PM
Post
#17
|
|||
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...political aside... Once saw a great cartoon on the Trickle Down theory. It had old Ronnie Raygun standing with his schlong out, pissing on a map of the country. The caption read "The Real Trickle Down Theory" |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Apr 26 2007, 04:31 PM
Post
#18
|
|
|
Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
i tend to draw inspiration from Escape from New York. less skyscrapers, but otherwise pretty similar.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 05:13 PM
Post
#19
|
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 906 Joined: 16-October 06 Member No.: 9,630 |
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 05:26 PM
Post
#20
|
|||||
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,241 Joined: 10-August 02 Member No.: 3,083 |
Opposition to 'trickle down' economics spans both parties in the U.S. Didn't Bush Sr. call it "Voodoo" economics? In any case, real-life economics aside, wealth distribution is even more problematic in the 6th World, given that the rich and the poor don't even interact with one another on a day to day basis anymore. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Apr 26 2007, 05:56 PM
Post
#21
|
|
|
Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,883 Joined: 16-December 06 Member No.: 10,386 |
I think Kowloon's a great example of what a terribly rundown and abandoned Arcology could devolve into, given enough time. And I think for Redmond, there's some merit in a comparison, but I think "sprawl" is a more appropriate visual than the sheer density of Kowloon. And Puyallup I would think would be far different, since the place isn't worth bothering to build anything that big to begin with. Puyallup is all about shanties, acid rain and getting shot over clean water, the way I imagine it. Anyway, in either case, I envision squatters there being practically nomadic outside of places like touristville. With the constant acid rain (especially in Puyallup) and various groups trying to run a monopoly on utilities, I would think the population there would constantly be shifting from one squat to the next, constantly trying to leech power and water from whatever grid someone's got (temporarily) up and running. That's why the few communities that are truly united (think the Plastic Jungle farmers) are willing to fight tooth and nail against all comers to hold onto a good location, even against the corps if they have to.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 06:12 PM
Post
#22
|
|||
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...indeed he did which as I remember caught a lot of the Reaganites off guard. As to the gulf between the plebeians & patricians, it is already pretty bad in RL. the Middle Class (which I used to be a member of, has almost gone the way of the Triceratops. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Apr 26 2007, 06:52 PM
Post
#23
|
|||
|
Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,883 Joined: 16-December 06 Member No.: 10,386 |
Yeah, I keep finding that out the more I travel. Being from Minnesota kinda sheltered me a lot in that regard- compared to a lot of states, the cost of living and the per capita income actually match up pretty well. Even just spending some time one state over in South Dakota and finding out that over 10% of the population lives below the official poverty line was kind of crazy. And that doesn't even begin to touch the people who are lower class but not quite qualifying for the government's official poverty criteria, (which is a pretty dang low number, btw). Not to mention... how many of you people have checked out the statistics on California housing relative to that of other states for a similar home? It's absolutely ridiculous. If you're below upper middle class, you can probably kiss your dreams of home ownership anywhere near the city goodbye. Luckily Cali is probably the most extreme example of this you can find, but I somehow doubt the general housing trend will reverse any time soon. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Apr 26 2007, 06:55 PM
Post
#24
|
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 906 Joined: 16-October 06 Member No.: 9,630 |
Hey I'm from Minnesota to.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26 2007, 09:55 PM
Post
#25
|
|
|
Ain Soph Aur Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,477 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Montreal, Canada Member No.: 600 |
No, the Barrens are mostly empty. The original Seattle Sourcebook had regionnal maps that detailed urban developement, and the Redmond Barrens map had very little urban development. "Touristville" would have many large, dirty, deprecated appartment buildings and would be generally much more urbanised. This is where the bulk of the Redmond population that hasn't gone completely feral lives. Outside, you have long highways, and patches of buildings. Mostly just dead grass, dead trees and trash, though. And road gangers that skin you for being on their turf.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 19th April 2024 - 09:00 AM |
Topps, Inc has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video and/or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Shadowrun. Topps, Inc has granted permission to the Dumpshock Forums to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and/or any proprietary materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not affiliated with the Dumpshock Forums in any official capacity whatsoever.