Danger Zone One

(Continued from Section 7C)

BEWARE THE BULLDOZERS?
WHY YOUR BLOCK COULD BE NEXT
Arie Skye, Pallad City Post

With the upcoming urban renewal of Pallad City’s dilapidated districts, opinions are decidedly mixed. “We need to clean up those areas,” says Ethan Moor, an autotaxi driver who often frequents the area, “the slums are havens for crime. Drugs, prostitution, murder, you name it. It also brings the neighboring districts down, both in property value and overall quality of life. They’re an open sore in this city that needs to be treated.”

Nora Bethel, a teacher at Pallad City High School, disagrees. “Where will all the current residents in these renewal zones go when they’re pushed out? Outside of these so-called slums, relocating to other districts in Pallad City is just too expensive. If you build everything for the rich, where does everyone else live?”

“There’s no cause for alarm,” Mayor Neville said in a statement last week. “We have everything worked out and the Urban Development Committee is in capable hands. We’re going to make sure everyone is happy. These aren’t proposals we write up over a weekend, or stamp an approval on them without taking things into consideration. Everything goes through a lengthy process to make sure we’re doing right by everyone.”

Feiss remains doubtful. “The politician’s job is to make sparkling promises—but what they say is rarely what they do. The People’s United Foundation isn’t going to stand idle while Mayor Neville and his paid crony, Ward Egol, displace hundreds—if not thousands—of Palladians.”

Danger Zone One. Story by Midnight. Art by Tanabata Usagi.