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Philadelphia is a city at the east coast of the UCAS - former USA. The city's name is often shortened to "Philly" and it's also known as the "City of Brotherly Love".

Districts[]

The sprawl of Philadelphia is broken into eight main districts. Philadelphia, while resembling the structure of major city sprawls, is not technically a sprawl but rather a compilation of cities that blend into one another. Unlike in Spawls like Seattle and New York, the area between districts is far less developed and it is not uncommon to for these areas to be less densely populated.

SR Philly map

Shadowrun Philadelphia map

Philadelphia Central City[1][]

This section of Philadelphia is what has traditionally been known as Philly in the 5th world. It has several distinct sub-districts or large neighborhoods that

Philadelphia is composed of twelve districts, each of which contains multiple neighborhoods and will be covered in greater detail later. For now, the following will have to tide you over.

Center City[]

AKA The city center aka the true Central City, this is the keystone upon which Philadelphia operates. Here you’ll find the best museums, city hall, Market East, and Chinatown. It’s also the centerpiece of the “Philadelphia Safety Network”, aka Big Brotherly, the omnipresent intrusion of cameras, Sin scanners, and other high tech methods of tracking anyone and anything that dares enter the section.

South Philadelphia[]

South Philly is generally known for being crime-ridden and poor, as well as a Mafia stronghold and where Mayor McCarthy established the racial ghettos of the Tiny Tir and Tuskerville. The section is roughly 60% Metahuman, with some areas facing a 90% ratio. Despite the reputation, there are parts of South Philly that are quite civil, most notably the SoSo area. (SoSo for South of South) that marks the transition between Center City and South Philly.

Southwest Philadelphia[]

The blue-collar section of the city, Southwest Philly is known for the extensive dock region and light to heavy industry along the river, most notably a series of oil refineries and the Philadelphia international Airport. With less than 0.01% of the area covered in trees, Southwest Philly is a shadeless hellhole full of sewage stench during the summer.

West Philadelphia[]

The Megacorps rule western Philly, pure and simple. Olympus Tower, the NovaNet Spire, the Renraku Skyplex, and many, many more, this is where the big boys play. There’s lots of corporate associated areas, of course, such as apartment complexes, shopping centers, and restaurants, but office space is everywhere. Center City is the home of the Philadelphia government, but the economic engine is squarely in Western Philly.

Lower North Philadelphia[]

A cultural center, lower north (which refuses to be called LoNo) has long been a source of Philadelphia’s musical scene and liberal colleges. It also became a magical conclave, with a gentrification program started by local magicians. The Lower North’s southern border has been edged into by Chinatown, while the north borders the Zero.

The Zero Zone[]

Best known as “The Zero”, the Zero Zone is a circular area split evenly between lower and upper north Philadelphia, filled with disaster. The entire area is walled in and was left to rot by Lone Star and Mayor McCarthy. Formerly an industrial area, the Zero was home to several ‘factory communities’ ... when the factory at the core was closed, the community would fall apart. As one factory after another closed after the Crash, the entire area fell into economic ruin, where it had previously been damaged by being the refugee center for New Yorkers. McCarthy had the entire section walled off and used it as a dumping ground whenever riots grew out of hand. These days, it’s a pot of misery and despair, a feral anarchist zone where the strong prey on the weak. The only law in the Zero is a gun.

Upper North Philadelphia[]

A pretty bland area, truth be told, the Upper North is poor without being tragic, a simple low lifestyle full of rowhouses and a steady BTL and drug scene. The Yakuza have chosen the area to form a stronghold, spreading out gambling dens and prostitution rings. There are quite a few small, unaffiliated gangs in this area, which the Yaks will have to deal with.

Kennsington[]

A very diverse area, even for Philadelphia, Kennsington is having a gentrification explosion, with the formerly drug-riddens treets having been largely cleaned up by the Dwarven Mafia and an influx in neveau rich, thanks to the Wireless Revolution. Quite clean and equally peaceful, the mafia here has largely taken a more traditional role of a business association, rather than a crime family, and took large steps to deal with the street gang problem and, most notably, the drug and Btl abusers on the streets, The entire area features dozens of cultures and languages and is a model of cosmopolitan life. The vast majority of Philadelphia’s Dwarves have moved to Kennsington, pushing the lifestyle average from low to middle.

Roxborough/Manayunk[]

The largely white, largely human, largely middle class section of northwestern Philadelphia, Roxborough (Never “Rox”) and Manayunk (Which hates the term “Yunkers”) is also home to many sprawling estates and small mansions. It generally has a small-town New England feel, and is home to most of the media darlings of Philadelphia. As one of Lone Star’s best moneymakers, this district is quite well patrolled.

Germantown/Chestnut Hill[]

Another suburb of Philadelphia, not as wealthy as Roxborough/Manayunk, but with a strong educational background, this district is the home of dozens of universities, parochial schools, and academies. Mount Airy, a neighborhood here, is particularly well known for near seamless racial integration as well as being the domicile of governmental officials who have to live within the city borders. Mayor Lebowski lives here, as do several judges and other city notables. Residents of this section tend to be more liberal than most other sections of Philadelphia, spurning large chain stores for local ones.

Oak Lane[]

Another Philadelphia suburb, Oak Lane is ethnically diverse, well integrated, and firmly middle class. Of note is both Philadelphia University and the large number of trolley and train yards in the area. Oak Lane is a center for mechanical and civil engineers, as well as riggers of all stripes. The area is predominately middle class, low in crime, but features the best urban brawl fields in all of Philly, as well as robot combat arenas and several small, private airstrips.

The Near Northeast[]

This is where Old Money goes, the aristocratic section of the Philadelphia suburbs. Large estates and farms, dedicated parkland, and sleepy, out of the way townships, scattered about from a lower rung of society. Fox Chase, in particular, is home to the wealthiest families in all of Philadelphia, while Frankford, the terminus point for the SEPTA line, has seen a huge upswing due to the Renraku compound, known locally as “Babel Camp”.

The Far Northwest[]

Largely composed of farming communities and retirement communities, the Far Northwest is only Philadelphia by a slender margin, serving as a residential community and home of several small research facilities. Of particular note was a former Universal Brotherhood compound, long since defunct and abandoned, as well as Sunbeam Circle, a gated Aztechnology community and religious retreat.

Camden[]

Mt. Holly[]

Trenton[]

Darby[]

Darby was hit hard by the earthquake in '55. Even after 30 years of investigation, nobody knows why this area was struck with so much devastation from the quake. Some theorize that there was something going on underground that weakened the stability of the area. Others suspect that and has since been known as the Darby dump by the locals.  It has never been rebuilt and very little infrastructure has been replaced.  Few people bother to spend time here.

KOP Mall[]

The King of Prussia area has become one huge mall complex with living areas for its employees.  It is an A corp in and of its own right that specializes in selling other corps products.  They have the largest selection of Ares products due to the large areas presence in NYC and in Central City.

Ambler[]

Travelers frequent Amber because of the luxury hotels that have been built here and its close proximity to the KOP mall and Central City Philadelphia.  Very few people live in this district but those who do are very well to do.

Ares Macroterritory[]

Organizations[]

The racist anti-metahuman Humanis Policlub is headquartered in Philadelphia.[2]

The public security in Philadelphia is contracted by Minuteman Security Services, a subdivision of Helter-Shutt, inc.[3] Security in Camden, however, is run by Omni Police Services. [4]

Corporations[]

Prominent Philadelphia-area corporations include, "Cigna Universal, Renraku, ITT-Rand, SmithKliner, Fuchi... Aztechnology, Kono-Furata-Ko International and their subsidiary Exotech Entertainment, and Minuteman Security Services." [5]

Culture[]

Sports[]

The city has a pro Baseball team in the Eastern Conference of the NBA, the "Philadelphia Phillies". A Basketball team from Philadelphia - the "Philadelphia 76ers" - is playing in the UCAS East Conference of the NABA. There's also a Football team - the "Philadelphia Eagles" - in the Eastern Conference of the UCAS League.[6] Back in 2025 the "Philadelphia Eagles" linebacker Mario Sanchez was the first player in the NFL, who played with cyberware replacements.[7]

Media[]

Exotech Entertainment produces a variety of simsense releases in Philly with their studio in Germantown. Their most successful productions include a series featuring Hermetic magic including The Summoning of Abbirleth and Night of the Enchanter. [8][9]

Crime[]

Underworld[]

Philadelphia is mostly controlled by the Big Five Mob Families of New York and New Jersey.[10] It marks the point were the territory of the Mueller Family from Washington, FDC ends and their turf begins. The Italian mafia holds complete control of the southern part of the Sprawl. [11]

The Yakuza have control of the casino sprawl in Camden and the majority of the sprawl on the south/east side of the Delaware river. [11] The Honjowara-gumi are the leading Yakuza clan in the area. [12]

While the Big Five Mob Families claim downtown as their territory, all of the other players of the underworld in Philly and the surrounding areas have a presence downtown.[10][11]

Gangs[]

The Walking Wounded are a street gang located in Germantown. The gang's leader in Philadelphia is a toxic gargoyle shaman.[13] [14]

Northeast Philly is the turf of the Death Angels gang. [15]

The Gloucester City industrial area of the Camden district is the territory of the Paradise Slayers go-gang. [16]

There is also a heavy presence of a variety of gangs in The Zone (what used to be Norther Philadelphia) including many "go-gangs, thrill gangs, ordinary street gangs, fleeting associations of skells and scum, humans and trogs, even elves. Strictly amateur stuff." [11]

In 2070th a new sect of the elf go-gang, the Ancients, is in a "cold-war" with the Humanis Policlub. They have taken control of what used to be historic Philadelphia, and have attracted a small population of elves to the city.

References[]

Nohat-wiki-logo This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Philadelphia (unofficial). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Shadowrun Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


External links[]

See also[]

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