Goodneighbor

Goodneighbor, known as Scollay Square before the Great War, is a major settlement in the Financial District of Boston. In 2287, it is led by a mayor, John Hancock, and inhabited by ghouls, criminals, and other people who do not fit in elsewhere in the Commonwealth.

Background[]

Goodneighbor was founded in 2240 by criminals who were exiled from Diamond City. Since then, Goodneighbor has become a refuge for the unwanted of the Commonwealth, a place with no social classes or bigotry, and where everyone is equal.^{[1][Non-game 1]}

Following the election of Mayor McDonough in Diamond City in 2282, his exile of the settlement's ghoul population forced many of them to flee to Goodneighbor for safety. McDonough's brother, John, chose to self-exile himself to Goodneighbor along with the ghouls in disgust of his brother's actions. He was familiar with Goodneighbor due to his chem deals, and he even helped bring a few of the ghoul families to the town. However, most were unable to adapt to Goodneighbor's rough lifestyle and disappeared within a few weeks for one reason or another.^[2]

At that time, the town was ruled by a criminal named Vic who acted as a petty despot. John McDonough, having reached reached a particular low point in his life after seeing Vic murder a random drifter in front of him, ghoulified himself with an experimental drug. After going on a bender, he woke up in the Old State House in front of the clothes of American revolutionary John Hancock. As he says, the clothes "spoke to him," so he busted the display, took the outfit, and adopted the persona of "John Hancock." He then temporarily went clean, organized a militia, and procured weapons from K-L-E-0.^[3] Together, they managed to overthrow and execute Vic by hanging him from the Old State House's balcony. In front of the masses of Goodneighbor on the balcony, Hancock proclaimed the words "Of the people, for the people."^[4]

Afterwards, Hancock assumed the role of mayor and took charge of Goodneighbor, trying to make the rough town into one of neighborly appreciation, embodying the words he spoke on the balcony. The town has become the home of many drifters from the wastes. However, Goodneighbor is also a hub of crime, one of the reasons for the establishment of a security team called the Neighborhood Watch under Hancock's rule to maintain order and defend the town from raiders and rival organizations such as the Triggermen and the Institute, among others. Nevertheless, even with vigilantism encouraged and the presence of the Neighborhood Watch, criminal activity is commonplace in Goodneighbor, including murder, extortion, and chem peddling. Despite Hancock's reforms, Goodneighbor still holds a reputation as a rough and dangerous location by most in the Commonwealth and is home to an active organized criminal element in the Triggermen.

Layout[]

There are two shops near the entrance: Kill or Be Killed run by KL-E-0, who sells weapons, and Daisy's Discounts owned by Daisy, who sells general items. The Third Rail is the town bar, built out of the old Scollay Square station and tended by Whitechapel Charlie.

Inhabitants[]

Companions

• John Hancock
• Robert MacCready

Residents

Generic

• 19 drifters
• 10 Neighborhood Watch
• Various Triggermen

Notable loot[]

See respective location articles

Related quests[]

Notes[]

• The Triggermen of Goodneighbor dress and act like pre-War mobsters. People in Diamond City say "they come from the pressed suit and Tommy gun school of thuggery" and "in Goodneighbor two things count, style and body count."
• Goodneighbor residents are vehemently opposed to the Institute and their synths and show contempt towards the denizens of Diamond City, especially Mayor McDonough for exiling the ghoul population in the past.
• Goodneighbor can also be accessed from the collapsed section of the fallen skybridge by simply jumping down into the city, which forces a loading screen. Entry can also be achieved by using the jet pack power armor mod to jump over the main gate.
• Goodneighbor can be exited through the back of the alley behind Hotel Rexford by climbing to the highest vertical point of the power box and jumping across the trash bins and over the steel wall.
• Three Triggermen and the corpse of a drifter can be found in the above-mentioned alley. The former will attack upon being approached.
• There are three Novice-locked doors marked "warehouse" in Goodneighbor. Whitechapel Charlie in the Third Rail offers a quest (after browsing his wares) to clear these buildings of the Triggermen inside. As long as one sneaks into these buildings, nobody in Goodneighbor will attack upon leaving.
• If the Sole Survivor brings Piper to Goodneighbor, the Neighborhood Watch will comment she "is the dame that writes Publick Occurrences, right? Good stuff. I always did appreciate good investigative journalism."
• If the Sole Survivor brings Deacon to Goodneighbor, he will change his outfit to appear similar to the mobsters around town.
• If one enters Goodneighbor before joining The Railroad, Deacon can be found wandering around near Kill or Be Killed.
• Raising affinity with Hancock will eventually get him to mention that Goodneighbor was previously run by a criminal called Vic and his gang, who freely and cruelly exploited the drifters, including Hancock, for their own work. After a particular case of violence caused the death of a drifter, Hancock got drunk, found the clothes of the historical John Hancock, got inspired, and then led a militia to attack and destroy Vic and his gang overnight, after which he then became the current mayor of Goodneighbor.
• If the Sole Survivor steals the Fat Man, mini nuke, and ammunition in KL-E-0's shop undetected, the items will respawn after waiting a few days, allowing the items to be obtained multiple times.

Companion comments[]

• When at this location, companions make comments, which are activated at the entrance.

Appearances[]

Goodneighbor appears in Fallout 4 and is mentioned in Fallout Shelter.

Behind the scenes[]

• Quest designers who contributed to the writing of Goodneighbor as a whole included William Shen, Liam Collins and Emil Pagliarulo, who also worked on writing for mayor and companion John Hancock.^{[Non-game 2]}
• In the real world, Irma The Body (real name Mary Goodneighbor) was a burlesque performer who was filmed performing a striptease in the Old Howard Theater by Boston's vice squad. This tape was central to getting the Old Howard Theater shut down, generally marking the end of the Scollay Square district.^{[Non-game 3]} Her surname served as the inspiration for Goodneighbor's name, and her stage name is shared by the proprietor of the Memory Den.^{[Non-game 4]}
• In the game, the Memory Den's facade and marquee are based on the real-world Gordon's Scollay Square Olympia Theatre, although it is about a block and a half from the building's real-world location.
• Hancock's philosophy and Goodneighbor's slogan, "of the people, for the people," is adapted from the final line of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, in which he spoke of the struggle to preserve a "government of the people, by the people, for the people."

Bugs[]

Playstation 4 When entering Goodneighbor, jumping as you open the door can put your character in a suspended jumping animation. You can fix this by simply pulling out your weapon.^[verified]

Gallery[]

Goodneighbor exterior

Goodneighbor exterior

Kill or Be Killed and Daisy's Discounts

Kill or Be Killed

Daisy's Discounts

Old State House

The Third Rail

Memory Den

Memory Den

Scollay Square sign

Scollay Square sign

Hotel Rexford

Mayor Hancock

Chemistry station and Cooking station

Cooking station (southeast)

Cooking station

Central street

Alley inhabited by Triggermen

Street sign

Pre-release screenshot

Memory Den concept art from The Art of Fallout 4

Memory Den concept art

References[]

Non-game