Pacifica
When Richard Night first imagined Pacifica as part of his Coronado City, as an entertainment district with theme parks. It survived as his vision better than most of the city during the Mob Wars, becoming abandoned more than corrupt. When corporate order was restored, Pacifica became home to liberals praising individual freedom. Which easily applied to them as they were wealthy enough to retain that freedom from corporations.
While it was still its own city and not just a suburb of the larger Night City, it employed Militech to keep the peace along with regular law enforcement. As a result, most people felt comfortable partying on the beaches here with no more than a warning to keep the noise down. Unless they disturbed one of the wealthier denizens, in which case they might be mowed down with little thought. Like everything, life here changed with the Fourth Corporate War.
People fled the more dangerous parts of the city to either Rancho Coronado or Pacifica, hoping the smaller towns would be safer. But the sea itself became dangerous as various autonomous killer drones patrolled the water and toxins were released. Then came the Night City Holocaust and the nuke that destroyed most of City Center and irradiated swaths of the rest of the city. Refugees arrived in Pacifica by the thousands, resulting in it growing several sizes but also collapsing most of its economy.
The 2040s saw renewed potential in what Pacifica had been designed as. The infrastructure was relatively unharmed by the holocaust bust cheap to buy. The Playground by the Sea theme park was built and drew additional attention. This interest triggered a boom in the 50s and going into the 60s. Luxury resorts were built along with entertainment venues and corporate showrooms. When Haiti was destroyed, it provided an influx of cheap labor. But, as is so often the case with hopeful projects in Night City, the dream came to an end.
The Unification War saw combat near Night City, and recruiting citizens, almost immediately. It's was in the free state of Northern California but right on the border to the federalist Southern California. At the end of the war, a Militech garrison had fought its way into Pacifica and the combat destroyed parts of the district. When NIght City mayor Lucious Rhyne called in Arasaka and forced the Arvin Accords, the leader of the garrison, Kurt Hansen, refused to back down. He used the Accord's provisions about Night City granted special status to prevent any major player from throwing him out.
Coastview
The northern parts of the district were its most affluent in its heyday, but completely overrun by refugees in the 30s. When the Playground was built here, it revitalized the entire area. The first major investments focused on Clearview (named for a ranch once located there). When more and larger investors took interest, they built inland, creating Serenisand (later known as Dogtown), but Clearview was still imagined as the destination for the average consumer. Perhaps no building is as much a testament to this as the Grand Imperial Mall, next to the Playground. It's an oversized shopping complex that looms over its surroundings. It's also broken and shot up ever since abandoned along with everything else during the Unification War.
Dogtown (formerly Serenisand)
Dogtown is special enough to require a whole text on its own. Fortified barricades block every path in or out, with only two guarded checkpoints for those with permission. Kurt Hansen rules with an iron fist through his Barghest paramilitary group. It's a good place to disappear, not a great place to be.
West Wind Estate
When plans were made for Pacifica as a destination, West Wind was intended for permanent residents. More areas were planned, of course, and hotels were still intended to be part of the estate, but West Wind Estate focused on everyday life. It even got a tunnel that provides a direct commute by car to Wellsprings. However, much of the area never got further in development than rebar and concrete shells of buildings. Even what was finished looks like there's something missing. The only parts that stand complete are what remains from the time before the gold rush.
