Cities that need heroes

[Hermit]

While thinking with mild amusement that 90% of all Marvel's universe was in New York City (Which only makes sense, that's where the company is), and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Millenium City; I began to consider filling out a few NPC hero teams in other parts of my own universe. Also, looking at where a new PC group might start up once this campaign in MC died (I'm such an optimist*S*)

Population came to mind chiefly (though not solely) as an indicator of which cities might more logically have them. So I did a quick and sloppy search on the net to find the ten most populated cities in the United States.
While the top three were no surprise, the others after didn't seem to be used much in games at all.

The list is :
1) New York City, NY
2) Los Angles, CA
3) Chicago, IL
4) Houston, TX
5) Philedelphia, PA
6) Phoenix, AZ
7) San Diego, CA
8) Dallas, TX
9) San Antonio, TX
10) Detroit, MI (Which, in 5th CU is gone, MC on it's place.. so let's bring in the runner up)
11) San Jose, CA

It looks like Texas alone could handle 3 or 4 more teams in it.

Has anyone used any on this list besides the top 3 for their campaign settings?
For that matter, I fully recognize population isn't everything. What would be your list of top ten super heroic cities in the U.S, and why? (IF you feel so inclined, this isn't a quiz*S*)

I left out the cities outside the United States, no insult intended there.

[MilkmanDan]

Well, DC's an obvious choice for multiple regions. While not top-ten, it's got a large population plus is an attractive target for all sorts of symbolic reasons.

Plus I live there, so, ya know, it's even more attractive as a setting for me. "You blew up the 7-11. No, you know, the one at the corner of Cedar at Route 29. Yeah, the one that always has the sour raspberry Slurpees."

[Law Dog]

Some A$$hole down at Marvel decided that at least for the southwest, the villains would be "themed". Anybody remember the abominations that were Cactus, Gila, Sunstroke and Butte (the Butte of all jokes). I'd like to plant my foot in this idiots groin. If they designed New York villains according to this nonsense, we'd find Taxi-Cab Hack, the Mugger and Smells-like-Urine Subway Dweller as part of the villains that Spidey and Daredevil would be facing.

[Supreme]

A friend of mine maintained that a city can only "support" one hero per million population. Though super-heroes can come from such an un-urban setting as Kansas, they are drawn to large cities to combat crime and other evils. If a city has too many heroes some of the heroes will get bored having no crime left to beat and move on to another city. Going by that math, most of California has no supers for most of the 20th Century.

[BNakagawa]

Although it doesn't appear on the list, SF is probably a prime candidate.

More important than the simple population of a city, you should consider the greater sprawl. Taken as a whole, the bay area ranks pretty high on that list. Broken into individual cities, only San Jose makes the list and even then, only because Detroit has been obliterated.

$0.02

[Hermit]

Actually, that's the interesting thing... San Fran is one of the "3 most active cities" mentioned in the 5th CU book (Right along with NYC and Chicago). Likely for the reasons you mentioned.

I guess a good deal of it is how glamourous/exciting a city seems as portrayed in most medias. Since most media is based (correct me if I'm wrong) in NYC or California, those are the cities we'll see folks using for superheroes.
I imagine New Orleans and Las Vegas might also be prime spots for the 'glamour' effect.

[Uncle Shecky]

Originally posted by Hermit
Actually, that's the interesting thing... San Fran is one of the "3 most active cities" mentioned in the 5th CU book (Right along with NYC and Chicago). Likely for the reasons you mentioned.

Or maybe because Darren Watts lives in San Fran. He's handing out super powers like candy!

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Uncle Shecky
Or maybe because Darren Watts lives in San Fran. He's handing out super powers like candy!

Yeah, but wouldn't Greensboro NC have a lot more super heroes then as well? Or is Steve just not as generous?

Hmm, though it WOULD explain why Ben works for peanuts... much like Green Lantern, he must recharge himself and Darren is the living battery for much of the DoJ. I mean, we THOUGHT Watts was just Darren's last name, but what if it's a clue to the secret power source?

[winterhawk]

In a stroke of ultimate geekiness, I researched the 2000 Census and calculated the number of heroes in the largest population centers in the U.S. of at least a population of 500K I think I based on one hero per half million people, rounded up.

City #/Heroes
New York 21
L.A. 16
Chicago 9
Baltimore/DC 8
San Fran 7
Boston 7
Philly 6
Detroit 5
Dallas 5
Houston 5
Miami 4
Atlanta 4
Seattle 4
Phoenix 3
San Diego 3
Denver 3
Minneapolis 3
St. Louis 3
Cleveland 3
Sacramento 2
Orlando 2
Tampa 2
Indianapolis 2
Kansas City 2
Las Vegas 2
Cincinnati 2
Columbus 2
Pittsburgh 2
San Juan, PR 2
San Antonio 2
Norfolk 2
Portland 2
Milwaukee 2
Birmingham 1
Mobile 1
Little Rock 1
Tucson 1
Bakersfield 1
Fresno 1
Stockton 1
CO Springs 1
Hartford 1
Jacksonville 1
Palm Beach 1
Sarasota 1
Honolulu 1
Ft. Wayne 1
Wichita 1
Louisville 1
Baton Rouge 1
New Orleans 1
Springfield 1
Grand Rapids 1
Greensboro 1
Raliegh-Durham 1
Omaha 1
Albuquerque 1
Albany 1
Buffalo 1
Rochester 1
Syracuse 1
Dayton 1
Toledo 1
Youngstown 1
OKC 1
Tulsa 1
Allentown 1
Harrisburg 1
Scranton 1
Providence 1
Charleston 1
Charlotte 1
Columbia 1
Greenville 1
Knoxville 1
Memphis 1
Nashville 1
Austin 1
El Paso 1
McAllen 1
SLC, Utah 1
Richmond 1

[Mayday]

I'd think Seattle a good place for a game with Microsoft right there. I was in a WoD game set just north of here and so researched the area a bit. Its nice.

Also, Silicon Valley/California. They have useful resources and good climate, plus Hollywood is just over there for hiring staff to memorialize your epic takeover of the world. With a good movie or two, you might even become popular in the process. Wouldn't the heroes just hate that.....

[Trebuchet]

El Paso is bigger than Minneapolis and St. Paul combined with it's 570,000 people. So we should have at least 2, and you gave Minneapolis 3. If you count El Paso's sister city of Juarez which is as close to El Paso as St. Paul is to Minneapolis (Right across a small river you can literally wade across), Mexico, with a population of between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 then this area should rate at least 4 if not 5 supers.

Viva El Paso!

[Hermit]

Poor Captain Knoxville... all alone. *Sniffs*

Nice list. Very useful your geekiness.

[Captain Super]

I've always set my campaigns in the nearest major city, Detroit or in college days, Indy. Although the glamor of NYC and LA might be intriging for some, there is nothing better than a fight in a major metropolitan area where all of the players have seen the locale with their own eyes.

(For those of you who have visited the very limited joys of Downtown Detroit . . .What a blast when the Spirit of Detroit Statue came to life and destroyed the people mover and the Joe Louis fist, and moved to destroy Joe Louis Arena before its destruction)

[winterhawk]

Originally posted by Hermit
Poor Captain Knoxville... all alone. *Sniffs*

Nice list. Very useful your geekiness.

Thanks...Now if I could only convince my gf of that :P

[ZootSoot]

Miami just seems a great city for supers. You got sun, sea and sleaze all together there. Its got urban gloss, redneck charm, racial unrest, decadence and cocaine. It's a great package.