RORY SALAZAR | Finance | Contact
Betoota’s Old City District has officially stepped into the 21st century with a dazzling 126-story solar glass skyscraper unveiling today.
The opulent marvel packs it all: a casino, bank, hotel, offices, three pools, five gyms, and a $27 million penthouse offering majestic views of the city far below.
Given Betoota’s flat topography, residents of the ultra-luxury penthouse can gaze down upon famous landmarks like BONA museum, the Betoota Dolphins Leagues Club Pavilion, and Remienko International Airport.
Further afield, residents can glimpse the burgeoning slums that are sprouting along the city’s edges. These slums are a natural response made by the many Betootanese who can no longer afford their shitty lives as the cost of living and housing crisis begins to bite.
During the picturesque sunset, the wealthy penthouse elite can turn their gaze westward, past Betoota Lakes, beyond the Heights and out toward the crimson horizon. There, they can observe the daily struggles of the ragtag residents of the slums. The unofficial community, made up of the more impoverished cohorts of the population like nurses, teachers and hospitality workers, provides a delicious urban
contrast to the more deliberate subdivision layouts of Betoota Grove and Roma Hills.
According to reports, squatters began to occupy the vacant lands here some nine months ago, where they then constructed shanties of salvaged or stolen materials like corrugated iron sheeting and milk crates. Filthy rich penthouse residents can gaze down upon this illegal povertyville from their lofty perch high in the clouds and be reminded of just how miserable it must be to be poor and middle class in the
world’s wealthiest country.
But the vista of joy is a two way mirror. The Old City’s new luxury skyscraper also serves as a beacon of hope to the smelly slum bludgers.
It whispers to them, “If you work hard, find a better job that pays more, you too can one day escape the slums and join us in the clouds.”
It’s views like these that can begin to bridge the gap between those on either side of the country’s increasing socio-economic divide.
