Speaking with Brent & Brett, a group flophouse may be on the table. Here are my suggestions for where we should look and for what.
Location: Englewood (CAS Sector) - no specific address
-Area has a "college town" feel; small eateries, bookshops, and so forth. Finding a top floor or a studio we can rent out and pay cash for isn't going to be hard, given the nearby U of Denver. Landlords will be used to people coming and going at odd hours and having to leave on short notice. Likewise, given the conditions there, finding something like the
Essex Studios (in Cincinnati) we can simply evict the previous tenants from shouldn't be TOO difficult. The downsides are that it's an active drag trafficking area, and low-rent housing means moderate-to-high street crime. It's also further away from the Hub, so crossings to and from the border will take longer.
Location: Approx S Quince St and E Kentucky Ave (CAS Sector) - adjacent to Fairmount Cemetery
This area is a light industrial area with several motels partially converted into housing. What that means for us is that it's a large area which is already separated into individual units. It's VERY near the UCAS border crossing into Aurora and fairly close (about 4 miles up Highway 83) to the border crossing into Souix space. It's also fairly close to the Hub. Interestingly, it's got a large lake and a major cemetery (about a mile square) within walking distance, meaning we'd have multiple escape routes. Basically, it's off the beaten track, but close enough to it that it's not inconvenient.
Location: Golden (Pueblo Sector) - no specific address
Home to the Colorado School of Mines (presuming it still exists) and the Coors brewery (which does still exist), the main draw for this area is the fact that it's a good combination of mid-income housing and light industrial and storage concerns. Picking up an abandoned or "for sale" building that no longer services the Coors brewery shouldn't be terribly difficult. Plus it has the "coming and going" bonuses that Englewood does. Downsides are it's distance from other sectors, and the fact that really, only I-70 services the area. Getting out without having to go cross-country (and there's a LOT of good-sized parks and preserves over there) could be a problem. Interesting fact: this area has the highest Angelo population in the Ute sector, a plus and minus. Plus: we won't stand out for not being Amerindian. Minus: they don't send in PCC security very often; residents have to contract for private security, which means we could be walking into a protection racket and potential exposure.
Location: Commerce City (Sioux Sector) - somewhere in the block bordered by I-270, I-76, E 74th Ave, and Hwy 6
Another predominantely industrial area, this place features VERY few creature comforts, but a high degree of anonymity. Basically, Commerce City sucks so hard due to low-income housing, a light/heavy industrial mix, and pollution that security forces who aren't assigned to a specific site don't really go there. The only really upside is that it's the only place in the Sioux Sector which is conveniently placed to access any of the OTHER border crossings and the Hub which is also going to be lax enough, security-wise, to let us do what we do. Basically, if we have to live in the Sioux sector, this is the place to do it.
There's nowhere "good" in the UCAS sector. We have our choice between the high-security Montabello area, the Aurora Warrens, or places far away from anything important. If we had to pick somewhere, I'd look at the area around Tower Triangle (I-70b and Tower Rd), just for ease of access into the CAS Sector...but it's the best of a series of crappy options.
My favored picks are both the CAS Sector choices. Both have their pluses (and Tabby, my main contact, does biz in the CAS Sector). I like Englewood for the creature comforts, but the area near the cemetery is, frankly, a more secure site (even if we'll probably be more conspicuous there moving in). Thoughts?
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Topic: Group Flophouse? (Read 2699 times)