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Portland In Brief
| Population: | 1,012,000
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| Local Telecom Grid Access: | (NA/UCAS-NE) 207 |
| Per Capita Income: | 32,000¥ |
| Below Poverty Level: | 8% |
| On Fortune's Active Trader List: | 2% |
| Megacorporate Affiliation: | 28% |
| Felonious Crime Rate: | 13 per 1,000 annum |
| Education: |
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Climate
Maine's climate is characterized by rapid weather changes, large ranges
of annual and diurnal temperatures, and great differences in the same season
in different years. The basic weather pattern results from the state's
location in the path of frontal systems coming from the west. Differences
in temperatures and precipitation exist between the north and the coast.
The average annual temperature ranges from 4 degrees Celsius (40
Fahrenheit) in the north to 7 Celsius (44 Fahrenheit) along
the coast. The most marked differences are in the winter when northern
Maine has January averages of -12 Celsius (10 Fahrenheit) and
the coast averages -7 Celsius (20 Fahrenheit). Summer
temperatures are more uniform over the state with July averages of about
20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit). Precipitation decreases from
117 cm (46 in) along the coast to 97 cm (38 in) in the north.
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>>>>>[A
lot of that has changed with the mana storms though... Personally,
I blame the dragon.]<<<<< |
Getting There
Portland is the largest single city in the state of Maine (UCAS). Situated
in New England but north of Boston, it is at the upper reaches of the east coast's
macrometroplex. By virtue of this location it is both easily accessible
from nearly any point nearby, although it is less directly accessible internationally.
BY PLANE
Flights run daily into and out of Portland International Aerospace
Center (PIAC). Formerly Portland International Jetport, its facilities
were upgraded in the early 2040s in order to accomodate increasing and
an expected increase in traffic. PIAC is capable of handling STOOVs
and most orbital shuttles, although it rarely handles such aerospacecraft.
Most of the major commercial and freight carriers have at least one vehicle
moving through Portland every day.
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>>>>>[Take
note: Portland is now THE choice for departing orbital flights outside
of Detroit. You can bet your datajack that there's at least one
Ares Pegasus and one Icarus going out of there each week.]<<<<< |
BY ROAD
Portland is just one of the many stops along Interstate-95, the unifying suspenders
of the east coast's macrometroplex. From points north and south of Portland,
I-95 is the route which leads to it, though signs will indicate that to exit
into the city, one needs to turn off onto the I-295 spur. I-295 runs through
the city, with exits into the downtown area.
BY SEA
Portland has the largest amount of sea traffic in the UCAS north of
Boston. Portland Harbor is a busy seaport, catering primarily to
freight ships and oil tankers, although it also serves dozens of ferries
and other ships every day. Portland Harbor also boasts an extensive
wharf for privately owned recreational and charter vessels.
BY RAIL
Although Portland is not directly connected to the BAMAXpress (Boston-Atlanta
Metropolitan Axis eXpress maglev train service), connector trains do make
their way from Boston to Portland everyday, with more trains during the
high traffic hours in the mornings and evenings than during the rest of
the day. Nevertheless, at least one train leaves per hour from Portland
to Boston.
On Arrival
Laws & Law Enforcement
WEAPONS
Strictly enforced laws concerning firearms are in force all over the
state of Maine. All firearms must be registered and a hardcopy of
that registration form must be kept with the weapon at all times.
Automatic weapons are prohibited, and handguns require additional licensing
fees on top of their registration.
CYBERWARE & OTHER IMPLANTS
All implants, whether of a cybernetic or biological nature, must be
on file with a licensed medical practitioner. Implants installed
within the state of Maine must be on file with the installing physician;
those installed outside of the state of Maine must have registration or
similar information on file with the individual's personal physician.
Visitors in the state must have all implants indicated on their passport.
Any implant which is not on file will be disabled by the proper authorities
(if possible) until it can be examined and registered. Superfluous
implants are taxable under Maine state excise tax laws.
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>>>>>[This
really doesn't mean much. It's really too hard of a law to enforce.
But you better watch out if they do catch you with gear implanted in a
shadowclinic.]<<<<< |
CYBERDECKS
The Maine State Telecommunications Authority (MSTA) monitors Grid activity
during all hours. Although much telecommunications traffic goes unnoticed,
ignored, or overlooked, all cases of reported or flagrant abuse of Grid
access privileges are investigated. Any operator found guilty of
abusing their legal privileges while connected to the Matrix will be punished
and fined accordingly, including any operator discovered to be suppressing
the signature of their cyberdeck.
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>>>>>[Again,
this is a tough law to enforce and watch out if they catch you.
Still, there are a couple of reasons this law is so laxly enforced.
First of all, with all the electronics experimentation that goes on around
there, the Portland Grid is constantly bombarded with weird "transient
noise" and Matrix anomalies. Second, MSTA wages a silent war against
corporations maintaining PLTGs (sort of a "hurt ego" thing). In
their opinion, people who go to the trouble of suppressing a deck's signature
or more than likely after greedy megacorps with PLTGs anyway -- placing
those users out of MSTA jurisdiction and in a way doing them a favor in
their "silent war."]<<<<< |
ILLEGAL AND ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCES
The state of Maine has a no-tolerance law in effect concerning controlled
dangerous substances. Any individual caught with possession of a
CDS faces mandatory minimum sentences and/or heavy fines. Legal substances
include alcoholic beverages, marijuana, and tobacco products. Alcoholic
beverages, though strictly controlled, are widely available, unlike marijuana
and tobacco, whose sale is discouraged and therefore confined to special
stores. Individuals caught operating a vehicle under the influence
of alcohol or marijuana are handled severely and the act is considered
premeditated.
Emergency Numbers
Emergency Medical Service: 911
Police Emergency: 911
Fire Emergency: 911
Smog/Allergy Warnings: 211
Telecom Information: 411
MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
Portland has fine medical services, both publically and privately funded.
Of the 24 hospitals and major clinics in the immediate area, Maine Medical
Center in Portland is the largest. A world class facility, MMC is
outfitted to treat all forms of illness and boasts over two dozen practitioners
who are fully bonded to perform procedures on magically active patients.
Emergency medical service in the area is known to be extremely efficient
and fewer than 10% of emergency call patients in Portland have died in
the past five years. Also DocWagonTM and similar emergency medical
service providers are well-represented in the area, with one in three Portland
residents paying client fees to such companies.
LEGAL ASSISTANCE
While Portland boasts some of the lowest instances of racial prejudice
in the UCAS, some still exists. The North American Civil Liberties
Union maintains offices in Portland, as does the Ork Rights Committee,
Metahuman Civil Liberties League, and the Organization for Native American
Equality. All of these organizations offer free routing service through
the 411 telecom code to the switchboards of their local offices.
Getting Around
The people of Maine are a very self-sufficient, mobile people and the population
of Portland is an excellent representative of that. Biking, walking, and
mass transit are the preferred modes of travel within the city. For travel
outside of the metropolitan area, car pooling is extremely popular among those
who do not feel physically fit enough or have time constraints which do not
permit them to ride their bike.
BUS
Within the city limits the bus is one of the preferred means of maneuvering
around Portland. The bus lines serve the downtown area, as well as
most of South Portland, and parts of Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Westbrook,
and Falmouth.
Average fare: 1¥
CAR
The roadways throughout the Portland area are largely well-maintained, although
the icy winters lead to the rapid deterioration of nearly all routes.
The power grid system for electric powered cars is extremely well maintained
due to the state government's advocacy of them as a cleaner way to travel.
The power grids are complete throughout the downtown area, South Portland, and
the major thoroughfares, and extend partially into the suburbs. The most
heavily travelled thoroughfares include I-95, I-295, Route 25, Route 77, Route
302, and Route 1. Also, visitors need to be warned, travel on I-95 and
its extensions means you will encounter Maine Turnpike tolls. Average
cost: 2¥ (for the Turnpike)
FERRY
Ferry service operates regularly out of the harbor. The ferry provides
access to the islands in the Casco Bay where small, private residential communities
and a few businesses maintain themselves. Average cost: 5-10¥
AIR
Although most individuals cannot afford local air travel and the government
highly discourages it, several air taxis are available in the Portland
area. The chief operator is Portland Sky Express, with its small
fleet of helicopters and tilt-rotor aircraft offering services all over
the state and up and down the coast. As of 2055, Portland Sky Express
also features LAVs in their fleet. Average cost: 115¥
Basic Portland Economics
Portland is perhaps one of the few cities left in the world where it
is not only common to make exchanges in hard currency, but expected.
The people of Portland do not seem to approve of the credstick system.
Although credsticks are accepted everywhere, expect to receive a hard time
unless you can produce a wallet with cash in it. Not only does Portland
encourage the use of hard currency, they also encourage the use of UCAS
dollars. Although the nuyen is accepted as per global standards,
because so little nuyen is actually in a tangible format, expect to pay
and be paid in UCAS dollars.
| 1.00¥ | $2.20 |
Entertainment
You may be thinking, "Now that I'm in Portland and know how to get
around and behave, what do I do?" Well, Portland features a great
many things attractive to a great many people. Downtown Old Port
features all manners of bars, coffee shops, restaurants, and nightclubs,
as well as art galleries, stores, street vendors, and more. Local
sporting events include an NHL team-- Portland Pirates -- and a AA minor
league baseball team, the Portland Sea Dogs. Also, within a reasonable
area there are all forms of entertainment from the Grand Tridome Theater
in Westbrook to wilderness refuges north of the city to an amusement part
in Old Orchard Beach. Plus, with Boston only about an hour away on
the maglev, you'll never miss a single thing in New England.