[World Builder... Sunday?] Shadows of Rochester, NY

First things first, big props to u/ReedRex for his contributions to this subject and to u/S_Jeru for inspiring me to submit this as a WBW thread on its own.

Secondly, I'm not one for writing in character, so much of the information here will be a combination of clinical, point-of-fact information and chaotic stream of consciousness "wouldn't this be a cool idea" spit-balling. Given enough to work with, I may be inspired to continue into the Finger Lakes Region, and Central NY/Syracuse. My knowledge of the Southern Tier, the Adirondacks, the Mohawk Valley, the Hudson Valley, etc. are all extremely limited.

Thirdly, maps. I've heard people love maps.

• Where is Rochester in relation to the rest of the state? [Here]
• Where are all these suburbs in relation to the city itself? [Here]
• Where are the city districts located? [Here]
• Wait, where are those other places you mentioned, like the Mohawk Valley? [Here]

Finally, the original thread where the discussion between u/ReedRex and myself took place is [here]

The City of Rochester

---

Rochester and most of western NY saw large population increases with the NYC earthquake early in the century.

As a result of the growth and expansion of both the electronics sector and the education/medical sector, Rochester has enjoyed an economic boom. One could compare it to Silicone Valley in the late 20th century.

On Corps

• Early in the 21st century, Kodak, Bausch & Lomb and Xerox merge into a single conglomerate. Their primary focus is optics, which include cybereyes, cameras (CCTV, photo, video, trideo), imaging scopes, goggles, glasses and contact lenses.

• The University of Rochester, through its affiliate hospitals Strong Memorial and Highland, become the de facto medical care facilities for the region. They have advanced research programs into the treatment and prevention of magical disease, as well as a partnership program with Kodak, Bausch & Lomb and Xerox into advanced human-cybernetic interaction, advanced AI driven Autodocs, and the research and treatment of "cyber psychosis".

• Wegmans Food Markets continues to expand across the Eastern Seaboard. By the 2050's if you went grocery shopping in the Greater Rochester area, and likely anywhere in NE of the UCAS you did so in a Wegmans grocery store. It's also probable that any mid to fine dining you did was in a Wegmans restaurant, and if you're not keeping your nuyen in one of the big banks, you're keeping it at the Wegmans Federal Credit Union.

On Points of Interest

• The Genesee Brewing Company has been around in one form or another since 1819, so it would still produce Genesee beer well into the 2070's.

• Monroe Ave would probably be an epicenter of all things debauchery and depravity, even more so than it is today.

• Nick Tahou Hots will remain because any future without Garbage Plates is not a future I want to live in.

• Both the Dryden and the Little theaters will remain, and continue to show "vintage" 2D films as a part of the historical and cultural preservation efforts of Kodak through the George Eastman house.

• I could see a few Ghoul Ghetto's If the city is used heavily for Magical disease research. Perhaps North Side of city. I can see downtown polarizing even worse then it is currently leaving Southeast side very wealthy and corporate and Northwest doing the opposite. Redeeming factor for Northwest might be the large tracks of Kodak that could be production facility etc for our New Cybereyes Mini-Corp. Would be good to see some life, even if corporate, back in this area.

The Suburbs

---

• Pittsford may well become a fully gated suburb and/or "corp town", with checkpoints and Knight Errant/Lone Star, (or regional equivalent), ensuring the SINless keep well away from the upper crust of society.

• Henrietta would be an even more diverse melting pot of culture and community than it is today. With Metahumans from all over the world attending U of R, MCC, St. John Fisher and RIT, you'd not only start to see full fledged "Chinatown", and "little Italy" districts pop up, but also the "Ork Underground" and the Elf/Dwarf equivalent.

• I actually placed Pittsford as a Gated Corp town as well. East Rochester I have a large Commune sitting on that rejects most Corporate influences. I didn't originally see Henrietta as the spot for diversity mostly because I see it as kind of a giant strip mall as is. But I see the reasoning and see that perhaps it could happen.

The Outlying Areas

---

• Southern Teir / Finger lakes region / Northern PA etc are all a Magical wilds. This area is all very natural to begin with and There are few discussions of magical wilds directly in the UCAS.

• I use Ithaca and Cornell specifically as a Magical research and development center. Cornell Hill Lit up with magical phenomena during the awakening. Magic Hotspot. Its is the middle of the magical wilds as well.

• Binghamton, also in the middle of the magical wilds is a heavy trafficking center for magical goods coming out of the wilds, both legitimate and...less then legitimate. Large Magical drug manufacturing town. Its tendency to flood was compensated for with a second level to a lot of the city that a SINers get to live on, a large SINLess population lives down on the flood plane. its a good place to hide from those who might need to find you.

• Some quick comments on South of Rochester. I placed the Magical Wilds going all the way up the finger lakes and ending at most of there northern edges. This leaves Canandaigua as a border town right on the Magical Wilds. This could be a northern hub for the smuggling operations coming out of Binghamton / Owego dealing with magical goods. I ran a small run that included a street gang that had taken over the old abandoned water park there.

• Wayne County, completely oblivious to any change or development in the world at large, continues to produce apples and rednecks. (I'm a 315er, so I get to make that claim).

• Cumorah would continue to be a site of pilgrimage for Mormons, and the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant will continue to attract attendees by the tens of thousands. The pyrotechnics and other special effects will be supplemented or outright replaced by magic.