Southern Shore

The aptly named Southern Shore area covers the land below the Albian River, running westward along its lower bank from Downtown. This stretch of suburban flat-land (known simply as “the Shore,” to city residents) is one of upper middle class family houses, surrounded by the schools, strip-malls, shops, and service conveniences that cater to their wants and needs.
Residents of the Shore are typically college-educated professionals, many of them working their first real job while raising their firstborn in their very first house. Every day, they send their kids off to a progressive-curriculum school, catch a bus or a car-pool to work, grab a quick Thai lunch between filing reports, then return home to begin the cycle anew.
While Shore residents represent an almost bewildering array of racial, ethnic, and religious demographics, they largely subscribe to the same covenant of suburban conventions. Hybrid vehicles, solar panels, and recycling bins are commonplace, as are designer dogs and youth soccer leagues. It is an area where more problems are dealt with by homeowner’s associations than the police department, and the head of the parent-teacher-student organization wields more practical power than the mayor.
The relatively affluent and highly populated Shore houses the workforce that forms the backbone of such important local concerns as MarsTech, Inc., Nolan Aircraft, and KessKorp. As such, it receives more than its share of attention from the local government and media. The seemingly constant parade of city politicians, patrol cars, and Action News Team vans ensure the Shore’s crime rates stay low, and any other municipal difficulties are swiftly brought to the public’s attention before being swiftly dealt with by the powers that be.
In the midst of all the Shore’s contented sameness lies a true city landmark, the Van Sant Drive-In, a still-operating ozoner founded in 1950 and now on the National Register of Historic Places. During the warmer months, families flock there to enjoy old-fashioned double-features, the playground, and the snack bar’s famed “Chihuahua” sandwich—a diet-destroying combination of corn tortillas, pimento cheese spread, onions, cabbage, chili, and jalapeno peppers.

Type

Neighbourhood

Location under

Emerald City