The Dutch

The first thing you must know, is that there is no such thing as 'the Dutch'. There are countless different groups, each with their own personality. You may know of the Dutch as a typical blunt people, but this mostly applies to the city dwellers. In the countryside, people are less direct than that.   It gets even worse when you get to Flanders, where being straightforward can easily be considered offensive. If you want a business deal there, keep the sam muzzled, or else you will not get much repeated business.   Lastly, we have the Frisians. They already were a proud and stubborn lot before their province drowned, with their own language and culture. Both the refugees and those that remained, still keep that mentality. This translates to a disgust of the central government, as they feel the country has let them down with the failed land-reclaiming efforts.

As a dense country, there are quite a few roads and railroads connecting everyone. In the time you get through Seattle traffic, you can cross most of the country by car. Cities use buses, metrolines, trams and more to let everyone get around. And GridGuide can be found everywhere except the damaged north, even the main roads in Amsterdam are properly supported.   Lastly, of course, one has bicycles. Even after economical downfalls and more power to Megacorps, bicycles are still supported in most places. Plenty of folks still bike to work, with a proper raincoat just in case.   Also, fun fact. While road rage is definitely a thing, paradoxically it is barely an issue in Amsterdam. Turns out that when you have so many criminals assassinating each other, being suspicious on the road simply gets you killed. So even the biggest hotheads know to behave in Amsterdam.

Maybe because it is because we are such a small country, with a population even smaller than Rhein-Ruhr, but we Dutchies tend to stand together in various ways. Even when we do not get perfectly along, that bit of national and regional pride means we work with each other and often try to find a nice balance between our individual needs.   All around the country, you will find places where various groups work together. The Dutch Penose runs shared safehouses that they all protect, in Frisia you have pirates and farmers work together to protect their homes, while Europort has Megacorps united in an alliance against Saeder-Krupp. Common interests and making trade-offs, that is what makes the country run.

With the occasional disaster wrecking the country, and the constant growth and expanse, housing always has been constructed one neighborhood at a time. But these buildings go wide, not tall. The Megacorps may love their skyscrapers, but the people tend to mostly live in lower buildings. In many areas, shops and bars will take one or two floors, then above you will find just a few floors with apartments, and a penthouse floor for richer folks.   Old houses are popular among the rich, the more centuries a building is old, the more prestigious it is to possess. The most extreme cases involve rich folks, often suspected to be dragons in disguise, owning entire historical forts and castles. At least they take good care of them.