PACIFIC CITY

HISTORY

Pacific City is the result of the vision and tenacity of one man, with a little help from the inadvertent actions of some time traveling heroes. In 1941, with the likelihood of the United States being drawn into World War II increasing, the military was looking for locations on the west coast to build up its capabilities and Nathan Madison, founder of naval contractor Pacific Industries, had an idea to meet the military's needs. Madison had identified a location on the Central California coast; the small township of Del Coronado had seaport potential and the industrialist proposed dredging the shallow Del Coronado Bay to accommodate naval vessels and installing a drydock. That way a navy base could be established where work could be done away from the established facilities, which were undoubtedly being watched by enemy spies.

The military agreed with Madison's proposal and started work on dredging the bay and building the naval facilities. Unfortunately Axis spies learned of the plans and a team of saboteurs backed by superhuman agents was sent to destroy the site before it could be completed. The dream would have ended there, and in one reality it did, but then something changed. In pursuit of the time traveling villain Per Degaton, the heroic Enforces of Justice found themselves at the Del Coronado site in 1941. Through their actions in stopping Degaton the heroes also thwarted the Axis saboteurs and history was changed.

In the new timeline the naval facilities were completed and played a part in American operations in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War. After the war that might have been it for Del Coronado, with the naval station facing decommissioning, but Nathan Madison had a vision. Looking at the rolling hills and the newly deepened port, Madison had a dream, a dream of a modern, ideal city. Madison convinced several of his industrialist peers to sign on, and with the provided financing the land around Del Coronado was acquired. The upper peninsula that was home to the current town was expended with the material that had been dredged from the bay and work began on Madison's dream city. The existing town would serve as a scenic downtown, while a new downtown core of modern skyscrapers would be built. Many of the investing corporations would establish headquarters in the new business core, ensuring a solid economic base. To house the planned influx of workers the existing outlying areas would be expanded into larger residential groupings.

The completion of the first phase of construction coincided with the real explosion of the post-war economic boom and the available of relatively cheap, modern housing lured veterans looking for a place to settle. New manufacturing centers were built in the city, drawing more people and further driving the expansion of the newly-created Coronado City. Unfortunately the expansion was happening faster than expected, and while Madison tried to keep a handle on things he began to lost control. While the original corporate backers were still onside some of the new entrants had their own financing, including some from organized crime. The Mob was looking for a chance to expand as well, and saw Coronado City as an opportunity. Madison's efforts to curtail the incursion of organized crime into his dream earned him some powerful enemies, and he was murdered in 1954.

The rest of the decade saw a struggle for power in the city between the original corporate backers and the Mob. The corporations controlled the civic government and the city center; the Mob controlled almost all service-related businesses. The City Police, caught between the opposing forces, could do little. The war for the city ended in 1962, when Nathan Madison's son James took his position as head of his father's company, Pacific Industries. James Madison rallied the corporate allies and brought in Federal law enforcement assistance and together they broke the Mob's control. The city was cleaned up, and to honor his father James proposed renaming Coronado to Pacific City, a proposal that was overwhelming accepted by the population.

The expansion of Pacific City continued, only slowing with the economic downturn in the 1970s. By that point it had become a major California metropolis, home to several west coast corporate offices, as well as manufacturing and technology sectors, plus a military presence as a legacy of its World War II origins. Today the city has a trio of major league sports teams in the MLB team the Pioneers, the Stingrays of the NBA, and an NFL franchise in the Diablos. Pacific City also has a campus of the University of California.

The present Pacific City is a product of its history. The downtown core is a shining example of a city looking to the future, and many of the suburbs are still wonderful places to live and raise a family, but some parts of the city never really left the shadow cast by organized crime. Today, the efforts to complete the cleanup started decades ago are being carried on by James Madison II, both as a corporate leader supporting charities and civic initiatives and in secret as the masked crimefighter Manhunter.

GEOGRAPHY

Pacific City is comprised of seven districts:

• Central Pacific City: A planned urban community built at on Del Coronado Bay and facing the Pacific Ocean to the west. Pacific City is a modern city ideal for the twenty-first century, its wide streets and modem towers home to over a million people, with another four-and-a-half million living in the greater Pacific City area.
• South Pacific City: This district is basically a heavily industrialized port area. It is home to an oil refinery terminals and shipping port, and is one of the areas that never quite escaped its Mob roots. Much of the district is slums of cheap, Mob-built housing from the 1950s and 60s and fading or abandoned manufacturing facilities that are often little more than fronts for organized crime or hideouts for some of the city's worst gangs.
• Overbrook: Overbrook is the city's richest district, built on the rolling hills that overlook Pacific City from across the bay and North Beach below. The area is the home of the wealthy corporate executives that work in the giant towers of the downtown core.
• Oceanview: Oceanview is an upper class residential area nestled between the the Pacific Ocean and neighboring Silver Canyon. Oceanview is a fairly safe place to live, and is the home of the recently restored Pacific Playland amusement park. The park brings tourist traffic from all over California.
• North Beach: North Beach is the child of Pacific City's World War II origins. The original US Navy base is still in operation and is headquarters to a seven ship Pacific naval squadron. Next door to the naval station is the headquarters of the US Army's 223rd armored battalion. North Beach is a military town, with most of the people living there being in military service at, or a civilian employee of, one of the two bases. These soldiers, sailors, workers, and their families are served by the stores and restaurants of the district.
• Silver Canyon: Silver Canyon is the ultimate modern suburb. Located in the south of Pacific City, on Highway 126, Silver Canyon is miles of suburban housing developments interspersed with shopping malls and schools. There you will find the employees of the multitude of corporations that call Pacific City home.
• Greendale: A light industrial area that lies on the east of the bay, Greendale has a little of everything. There is some housing in pockets of suburbia, but the hills of Greendale are dotted with numerous factories and other industrial facilities.

Points of Interest

1. Pacific Industries
2. McCartney Stadium
3. Fort Heywood Army Base
4. Pacific City Naval Station
5. Lake Park
6. Pacific City Metro Airport
7. Pacific City Zoo
8. Bayside Cargo and Container Port
9. Global Industries Refinery
10. Pacific Playland