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Switchtrack Alley

Some parts of Roxbury have recovered from the urban desolation of the 70s more than others. The run down and desolate stretch of urban decay known as Switchtrack Alley is probably one of the worst bits of Roxbury, overcome with poverty and gang-warfare (not to mention other, darker things). It was also, back in the 60s, home to the struggling Van Buren family. Timothy Sr., his young wife Elizabeth and their child Timothy Jr. stayed in the neighborhood until 1975 when they finally got the opportunity to leave the crime-ridden hellhole behind them forever. What memories mother and father shared of their birthplace had long since been tainted by the slow change of the neighborhood due to crime and poverty. Yet to young Timmy, taken away by the Gentry to Faerie, those memories were everything. When he returned to Boston in 1999, he returned with a drive and a passion to see his birthplace renewed.

The Alley

Nestled as it is between Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, The Alley was once a very important part of town. Multiple train routes through the city met at the old switchtrack, supporting warehouses and various businesses, with apartments and houses nearby that were if not prestigious at least filled with respectable folk with solid work. With the advent of the interstate highway system, and rails diminishing importance, the neighborhood slowly started to rot from within. Those who could got out, and those that remained watched a once healthy part of town become cancerous with crime and poverty, work drying up and crime filling up the cracks in the social contract.

The center of the neighborhood is, of course, the old rail station itself. Surrounded by dilapidated warehouses and unused support buildings from when the area was in better shape, the central switchtrack itself is still in use, if fallen on hard times. Now a days traffic rarely comes even close to matching the theoretical capacity of the station, though given how much of the old equipment and track has fallen into disrepair its hard to tell what the actual capacity might remain. A small skeleton crew runs the station and oversees what business it does get and they do a good job of keeping their little part of the station running. Once upon a time there were people keeping track of the rest of the site in shape as well, but over the years, large swaths of the station have become overgrown and wild - or simply suffered from negative attention from various squatters and gangs.

Most of the businesses near the railway have long since failed, with singular exception being an old cafe that still serves some of the workers and a few of the lucky warehouses. The rest of the area around the railway consists of a few blocks of boarded up businesses and ruined warehouses. The area itself is stuffed full of the homeless and destitute, and serves as the primary stomping ground of the Switchblade Disciples, who hole up in an old abandoned warehouse that they've completely taken over. The edges of the area also host a few old apartments that once housed railway workers and now serve as tenements where far too many people are crammed into badly maintained apartments by greedy slumlords. Further out can be found various run down houses which once housed the families of railway workers. Now these houses just rot away, taking the families that now live there with them.

A bit further from the center of the desolation, things aren't hit quite as hard. The people find what work they can, often having to rely on the single bus route that heads out to slightly more robust parts of Roxbury, and abject poverty is held at bay by at least a paycheck or two. Some are even "lucky" enough to work for some of the local employers: the most legitimate ones being McDonalds, a call center, an old battered Roche Brothers supermarket, and the local blood bank. Others work for one of the more predatory employers, or for one of the more criminal enterprises. The Drug Trade, in particular, has become a large source of income for the locals (and a blight on the community itself).

Factions

• Boston Rail Consortium keeps a skeleton crew at the old switchtrack, mostly staffed via non-locals. When locals are hired its usually for simple brute labor, and their salary is typically lower than that offered to other non-local employees. Most of the business conducted is just low-cost storage in various warehouses, as the station mostly deals in heavy freight. Except its employees visiting a nearby cafe, the BRC contributes little to the local community.
  • Station Chief, Roland Whitley, can be found at the station several times a week and knows all the people who run things at the station. While hardly important himself, per se, he is the most important BRC official in Switchtrack Alley. He's utterly unconcerned with matters that don't have a bearing on the BRC's interests, but does harbor some ambitions toward bettering his own position in the Consortium.
  • Security at the station and warehouses is low, but very diligent and professional. They regularly patrol any warehouses currently in use, and keep an eye on the station grounds themselves at all times. They're known for being particularly "unkind" to any troublemakers, and as a result most of the local gangs and other criminals know to leave them alone.
• "Big" Buisness in Switchtrack Alley is mostly predatory, or at least exploitative. Markups on items are common, and service tends to be bare minimum. The preferred buisness model is based on acceptance of and profit from the areas degeneration, thus encouraging "Rent to Own" furniture and electronics, places to get loans, pawn shops and liquor stores. Still, these businesses offer employment for some of the locals and do contribute positively to the neighborhood to some degree.
  • The largest employer is probably Roche Brothers, who has maintained their hold in the neighborhood since before its degeneration. The store has definitely seen better times, but the manager keeps it from being marked as 'underperforming'. Prior to the coming of the Community Center, it was probably the most central location of the neighborhood, and still maintains a certain gravitas unrelated to its actual function.
  • The McDonalds in the neighborhood is a bit of an underperformer, but manages to remain none the less. It's location at the edges of the neighborhood help isolate it from the area somewhat and it sees some business from other parts of Roxbury. It's a decent employer and a common hangout for area youth, lying in the center of the territory of the Hermanos Negros.
• Robert "Bob" Groethe owns most of the big tenements in Switchback Alley, as well as some in other parts of South Roxbury. The premiere "Slum Lord" of the area, Bob cares very little for the neighborhood and only seeks to profit from its inhabitants, but none the less provides a vital resource in the form of cheap and easily obtainable lodging. The Groethe family were once involved in the railway station as well, before Bob's grandfather sold his interest to the BRC.
  • The Groethe Tenement Empire began with a core of apartment complexes that once serviced railway employees, but with the decline of the railway and the degeneration of the neighborhood, Bob's father restructured things to ensure that the buildings remained profitable. Bob himself has bought a number of struggling apartment complexes and duplexes, as the property values in the area have plummeted, and converted them toward his more profitable business model.
  • A few other tenements, or even nicer places, manage to survive in Switchtrack Alley. These are mostly the ones that refused to sell out to Bob or his father, and the Groethe family is always interested in acquiring such real estate and expanding their local monopoly.
• Local Buisnesses have suffered greatly since the 60s, as Roxbury as a whole and Switchtrack Alley in particular sinks into its urban mire. Those businesses that do survive, or that have started up since then, are as tough and hardy as the people that run them. The primary priority of these inner city entrepreneurs is always the safety of their families and businesses first with staying in business a close runner up. These businesses also tend to be family businesses.
  • The local Bar, Malloneys, is one of the most persistent landmarks in the neighborhood but only bares the slightest resemblance to its distant past. Currently run by the grand-daughter of the original owner, Malloneys serves watered-down drinks and a small selection of food, as well as providing a certain "dark hole in the wall ambience". Reba is careful to keep any drugs out of her bar, but doesn't otherwise hassle criminals.
  • Freshman's Fine Liquor is one of those businesses that has sprung up more recently, in the 80s, run by a small puerto rican fellow who has already killed three people for trying to rob his store and who brooks no bullshit on his territory. Actually calling the liquor "Fine" isn't strictly accurate, but its certainly better than its main competitor, Ajax Liquor. Both stores, though, essentially offer a cheap buzz.
• Mamma lives in a ramshackle fortress just a ways outside of Switchtrack Alley in one of the slightly better parts of Roxbury (slightly better, mostly, because of her presence). Rich enough to be a power in Roxbury, stubborn enough not to leave for a better part of town, Mamma's presence is felt throughout all of Southern Roxbury and parts of Jamaica Plain. She knows most of the local families, is probably the largest "employer" in the area, all while remaining something of an enigma to the locals.
  • Nobody really knows much about Mamma; she keeps to her privacy. She arrived in the area in the 90s, slowly coming to the attention of the area. Everyone inside Roxbury (or interested in affairs within Roxbury) knows that she's there, but few know exactly what she's up to or how she acquired her money, giving birth to many rumors and legends - from the fanciful to the occult.
  • Mamma is known, in particular, for her arrangement with many of the children of Roxbury. In exchange for $10 to $30 a week to the family, she gains a child to act as her gopher. They run errands for her, deliver parcels, and generally act as her hands in the neighborhood.
• The Gang situation in Switchtrack Alley is, on the service, pretty uncomplicated. The Switchback Disciples dominate everything, and everyone else stays out of their territory. As for the gangs themselves, they tend to be territorial in nature, and mostly stay out of the drug trade (at least as active participants). Most simply set up shop in some of the worse parts of town and make themselves home there, supporting themselves through theft and a buddy system, engaging in regular street-level crime.
  • The Switchblade Disciples are the premiere gang of Switchtrack Alley, operating out of an old abandoned warehouse as if it was their private fief. They roam over the entirety of the neighborhood, except for the railway station, keeping themselves busy via everything from mugging to robbery. They consider themselves the Kings of the neighborhood and usually are more than willing to take what they want, and brook no insolence from others.
  • The Hermanos Negros are probably the main rivals of the Switchblade Disciples, dwelling in the lower reaches of the neighborhood and extending into Jamaica Plain. A strong Hispanic gang with roots in the community, heavily territorial and not quite as involved in crime as the Disciples, the Black Brothers are a strong force in the parts of town they dominate. They could even be said to serve a social role. The Black Brothers are also one of the first gangs in the area to have a number of ex-military members, and serving a tour of duty has become something of a fad among the gang.
  • The Street Rats are more of a Scavenger Gang than a Territorial gang, being less organized and more prone to violence and low-level crime. Widely feared in the parts of town they frequent north of Switchtrack Alley (near the areas dominated by Mamma, in fact), the Rats tend to accept all races and creeds, as long as the member is willing to prove himself to the leadership of the gang. The Rats penetration in the Alley is mostly disturbed by the dual strengths of the Disciples and the BRC, both of which lay between them and the neighborhood.
• Drugs. An undeniably important part of the Switchtrack Alley, bringing both a large amount of money and a number of jobs into the community, the Drug Trade is alive and well. Historically having benefited from the relatively low police presence in the area, and the support of the community, a fair amount of Boston's drug trafficking comes from Switchtrack Alley where its cut and packaged. Dealers also do very well in the area.
  • The main thrust of the drug trade in the area is run by Jeffe Litelle, a local with a sizable enterprise all over the south of the city. Jeffe has benefited from the recent destruction of one of his rivals, albeit not to as large a degree as his main rival, and is currently in a high cycle with steady profits. His organization grew out of a gang and still has many gang-like features, with "my drug buisness" as its territory.
  • Jeffe's main rival, Bradley Donnley, has little penetration in Switchtrack Alley itself but has gained a bit of a foothold in nearby parts of the town after the destruction of the Loyalist-run Drug Organization that was responsible for the distribution of Crimson. Neither side has come to blows yet, due to increased police presence and the fact that both organizations are stretched already, but its not impossible for this tension to explode into violence.

Points of Light

The Seventh Congregational Church was once a small humble seeming church, with boundless empathy and a desire to see the neighborhood changed for the better, but little resources or drive in order to actually accomplish this goal. More recently, though, this has changed for the matter. First, the Reverend Isaiah Neely largely took over the running the Church, bringing his youthful zeal and charismatic voice to the Church. Second, Timmy Apperson, a Dorchester philanthropist with an interest in the area co-opted the Church as a means of helping the community with boundless support for its new Reverend and his vision. The last several months have seen a great deal of growth in the congregation, the construction of a new Church, and the addition of a Church-run shelter and soup-kitchen to the Seventh Congregational's assets.

Boston's Office of Jobs and Community Services has similarly taken a long-overdue look at the neighborhood, spurred on by the interests of JCS-Caseworker Sonja Freewind and Timmy's own efforts and aligned to city-wide efforts at urban reclamation. Run by Director Steven Harrison, a long-time veteran of the office with ties to the community, the JCS's efforts in "Switchtrack Alley" (they prefer the old name: Stony Brook) are just getting started. With the help of powerful backers who helped buy and refurbish some old buildings, the brand new Stony Brook Community Center has opened its doors and promises to be far from an empty gesture. The JCS has made sure to hire some local people, supplying some government money to the neighborhood, and has a number of options available that people are beginning to show interest in.

Lastly, the much battled Ellis Mendell School has begun to show some small improvement in attendance and conditions at the school. In addition to more ambitious plans with the start of the new school year, a number of summer programs were put into effect and are receiving a bit of attention. Timmy's closest contact in this area, Principal Cynika Adams, has a firm sense of where she wants to go and a number of education-related ideas. It's just a matter of getting her the backing! Efforts have been slower with the nearby Egelston Community High School, where those older neighborhood kids that don't drop out of school end up. The Egelston faculty largely didn't take Timmy all that seriously at first, but talks over the Summer will hopefully be more fruitful and open up additional options.

Important Figures

• Jason Whitley, The Station Chief for the BRC, in charge of the organization's presence in the area.
• Robert Groethe, the Slum Lord of Roxbury, who owns most of the low cost housing in Switchtrack Alley.
• Reba Malloney, the owner of the singular remnant bar in the neighborhood, "Malloneys".
• Isaiah Neely, the Reverend of the Seventh Congregational Church, is one of Timothy's closest friends and allies in his crusade to clear up the neighborhood. The Reverend had just started a heavy handed campaign of preaching against the evils he saw in his community and antagonizing the local gangs when Timmy encountered him. Though there were initially some disagreements, both soon saw in the other a powerful ally in achieving their ultimate goals. The Reverend has benefited from a guiding hand to help restrain his more zealous nature, while Timothy benefits from the passion and faith that Isaiah can bring to bear.
• Benjamin Pinnion, the long-time friend and right-hand man of Isaiah, Ben is fortunate enough to hold one of the respectable jobs at the railway (which rarely hires locals). Like Isaiah he never really thought about leaving Switchtrack Alley, hoping instead to give back to his family and ensure their safety. He's not always convinced that "cleaning up the place" is the best way of going about this, however. Usually Isaiah can talk him around to his way of thinking, but since running into Timmy, Ben has become a lot more independent minded.
• Ishmael Neely, Isaiah's father and another Reverened of the Seventh Congregational Church, is a asset to the cause if only because of his greater knowledge with the neighborhood and his close personal relationships with many of the people that live within it. While Isaiah can move a congregation with his firey words, Ishmael can speak quietly and in open friendship, getting things done with somewhat more subtlety and digression. He's probably the most reluctant of Timmy's allys, though, and Lordykin has noted that he is - at heart - a Coward.
• Cassia Pinnion, Benjamin's little sister and "black sheep" of her family, has been running around with gang bangers since she was 14. While obstinately a Viuda de los Hermanos Negros, Cassia has been out of the gang life for several years while remaining somewhat distantly connected. She's been Timmy's closest contact with the Hermanos Negros, however, and is the only one who understands his desire to 'civilize the gangs'. She's also betrayed a good knowledge of the neighborhoods rumors and superstitions.
• Steven Harrison, the Director of the JCS efforts in the Alley, and an expatriate of the area himself.
• Fredricka Barns, one of the locals hired to manage and oversee the Stony Brook Community Center, a hard talking woman with a background in administration.
• Cynika Adams, Principal of the Ellis Mendell School, the Alley's local elementary school (though it serves other parts of Roxbury as well).