IN-GAME DATE
September 21, 9 AFE (10 BBY)(information here pre-dates events during games)
Caru City - Capital of Caru Province and Selvaris
"A quaint city to many visitors from the Core and Colonies region, Caru City is a well developed metropolis with a thriving infrastructure, community services readilly available, and employment opportunites for all who desire to contribute to our great city."
- Exerpt from brochure provided by Caru City Visitors Center-
As the capitol of the whole planet, as well as the province that bears its name, Caru City is on the site of the first settlement of the planet. Having seen many events and hundreds of different sapients making it their home over the last 1000 years, the city is a mixture of many different styles of architure and art. It is possible for a visitor to walk past a Gammorean eatery, a Twi'lek tattoo parlor, an upscale clothing store for Chadra-Fan, and a droid chop shop all on the same street. The city government goes to great length to point out their openness to any and all kinds to make lives for themselves here, and highlights many different success stories in their travel pamphlets. But the story that long-time residents will tell is different from the official version.
Caru City, more than any other on Selvaris, has the best shops, the best infrastructure, and the best services, but this is not as equally distributed as it may appear. Residents can easily point to the inequality across the city, with people waiting for the government to help them with basic needs they are obligated to provide living right next to wealthy merchants or celebraties. This has been going on so long that its become an accepted part of the regular culture on the street, and a thriving grey market exists providing the services the government takes forever to supply. While technically not illegeal to assist an individual acquire the mandated assistance, the methods many people go to can be seen in many different lights. But to make ends meet, many citizens have to use this back alley government assistance until the actual government gets around to providing it. To be fair to the government, the services they do eventually provide are better than can be gotten on the street, but many people can't wait the sometimes years for things to be processed. They only saving grace for many of these people is that the assistance moves at the same speed regardless of who the individual is. First come first served, no matter what, is the order of the day.
For the different regions of the city, many people put great store in where they live. Each region or neighborhood has developed distinct styles and behaviors, with noticable differences in accents and dress as obvious markers. An individual from Uptown, regardless of their actual economic status, will naturally view themselves as a better class oof people than those who live in The Cut or Old Town. And those from Westhaven... Well, you know what they are like...
The one major feature of the city that visitors have a hard time missing is The Cut. A canal built from the trench left from a dreadnaught that crashed when the settlers arrived, it is a feature and a region of the city used for many official functions. Feel-good events, statues and memorials, and public speeches are traditionally held around this waterway, as it makes a good backdrop. As the Imperial presence has developed recently, it has also become a regular location for protests and speeches questioning the Imperials' intentions. The area around The Cut sees sporadic efforts to reinvigorate it, but political will often gives out halfway through. As a result, the region of the city is full of rundown but well maintained tenaments and neighborhoods with new street lights and broken ferocrete streets.