Hi! I am writing a story and I need some help finding a city/town to base it from. I need something small, quiet, but just outside a larger city. (My main character works in a big city, but goes to the smaller town very often.) Trying to stay away from the south...no offense to the south, I am Southern. I am picturing a big house, big oak trees, big yard kind of place. So, what do you think?
Do you have a particular place in mind as you're writing? You don't necessarily have to name the town and city (unless that is somehow important to your story, but I suspect that if it were, you would not be asking this question). I'd say it's riskier if you pick a city basically at random (or via a suggestion on an internet forum), especially if you've never lived in or even visited the city.
I agree with Liz on this. If your MC works in the big city and goes to the small town often, and you are looking to draw reference points from specific cities or towns, then you need to have a good sense of not only the city and the town, but probably also the way that people in each view the other. For example, I live in Queens, which is part of the City of New York but was not before 1898. Hence, people in Queens refer to Manhattan as "the city". And while Brooklyn and Queens are the two boroughs of the city of New York located on Long Island, when residents of those boroughs say "Long Island" (or "the Island"), they are referring to the two counties of Long Island that are suburbs of New York City (Nassau and Suffolk). All of this would strike the outsider as minutiae, but it's the kind of detail that, when appearing in a novel, would lend a sense of authenticity. If you care enough to ask your original question, you are clearly looking for authenticity. So, my suggestion would be to stick with places you know, even if they're in the South.
... or you could make one up! I don't see anything wrong with just picking a spot and sticking a small town there. Authors have made up towns and even entire countries, that way, at least, you can make the town have whatever characteristics you need.
