Thread: Need to Decide on A City

So I am looking for a city to base my new project in. Can I have some help with some ideas of cities?

• In the United States
• Experiences both a sunny season and snowy season, also has a rainy season
• Not too big, has maybe one or two high schools, some offices, some shops, and some bigger stores
• Inland
• Has a fair amount of woods/forest
• Not home to any major US attractions

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you,
Ian

Podunk, Vermont

Sounds like a lots of places in Pennsylvania though you'd only have one high school in a place that small or (even more likely) the kids would have to bus at least 20 mins to 45 mins to the nearest high school. There has been a pretty major move over recent years to close down small local schools and send kids to bigger 'superschools'. It is not popular with a lot of people but it's public school system so they pretty much do whatever they want. There are also cyberschools (which came into existence partly because of the above).

You might just want to make up a name for your place and put it somewhere in the western part of PA. Pay attention to major landmarks and cities otherwise I think you pretty much have it.

We don't get a rainy 'season' though spring can be pretty rainy. Summers, hot and humid; winters, snowy with periods of freezing ice or rain. Topography, lots of big rolling hills in the western/center of the state.

Plenty of trees. Look up what "Pennsylvania" means.

Sounds like the state I've just moved to, Arkansas. Though the snowy season is mostly Jan. and Feb. and the snow doesn't stay for more than a week or so. I think Foxee had a good idea, make up your own city and place it in an area that fits your requirements.

Pennsylvania would work or anywhere north of the Ohio River. If you get out onto the plains and rocky mountains, it's probably too dry for your requirements. I would put the population you want at 30,000 - 50,000 people. I once lived in a town of 80,000 that had two high schools, one small mall, one each of the major retail outlouts like K-mart and Walmart, etc but no professional sports teams and it was rare when a major touring entertainment came to town. I went to college in a town with 10,000 permanent residents and 25,000 college students. There was no mall, one high school, two supermarkets, and there was a Walmart, but no K-mart that I remember. Unfortunately, all of the towns where I have lived have been too warm, dry, and treeless for you. C.M.

Oshkosh, WI. Population is about 60k, two high schools, moderate sized city with the amenities you're looking for. Driving distance from lakes, forests, middle of nowhere farmland. All the features and comforts you could want. Vast changes in the seasons, plenty of snow/cold/sun/humid weather to go along with the trees and other flora of the region.

Okay, you have gotten a lot of good suggestions, but I want to put in my vote for Ohio. We have all the seasonal variation you could want. We have forests, though not as plentiful as Pennsylvania. The middle of the state is fairly flat, but we have rolling hills in the south if you're into that kind of thing, and I can't think of much in the way of major U.S. attractions in that region.

You can't see us, but we all have our fingers crossed. It's a slow day in Ohio...and in my imagination.