just to add a bit of incidental information, there are a few numbers that are reserved.
911 is for emergencies.. dial it almost anywhere in the country, and you'll be connected to the local police dispatcher, who can then send the police, one or more ambulances, one or more fire trucks, or some combination thereof. for safety's sake, there is no area code 911, and there are no other phone numbers that start with 911.
similarly, 411 gets you information. dial it almost anywhere in the country, and you'll be connected to an operator who can look up phone numbers for you. so, there is no area code 411 and there are no numbers that start with 411.
beyond that, 555 is reserved. there are no numbers that start with 555 except for 555-1212, which gets you an operator in that area code (so 617-555-1212 would get you an operator in the 617 area code, who could then look up numbers in that area code for you). because there are no numbers starting with 555 (and i don't think there's a 555 area code, either), numbers in movies and TV shows almost always have the 555. that way, no one will try to call the character's phone number (or, if they do, they won't get anyone).
there was a joke about that in a movie "last action hero." in the movie, a kid gets pulled into an action movie, and he spends much of it trying to convince the main character that it is a movie. in doing so, they spoof all the cliches ("i know... you'll be back." "how did you know i was about to say that?" "it's your tagline. you say that in all your movies.") relatively early on, he points out that the phone numbers of everyone they meet start with 555. so, he asks, how can it possibly work? that's only 10000 numbers for a city of millions. "duh," the response comes. "that's why we have area codes!"
anyway, there might be a few other reserved numbers. i'm not sure offhand. i just wanted to point these out so you could avoid 911 and 411, and so that you could make your own decision about 555 (go with the TV convention and use it or go with a number that actually exists).
as for metropolis, i'm sure there's some folc who knows the metropolis area code. it has to have been onscreen at some point.
if not, 212 is new york city. 917 was created a few years ago for new york city pagers and cell phones, but they ran out of 212 numbers last year. now there are homes with 917 area codes.
oh... 800, 888, and a couple other numbers are toll free (the person getting the call is charged. some companies pay a flat monthly rate, some are billed by the call). a few people got 800 numbers for their private homes so that their kids could call from college without needing to use a payphone or something like that.
900 is also a special area code. that's for companies that make their money from phone calls... psychics, "party" lines (where they have people, usually women with sexy voices paid to indulge whoever is calling), etc. you're billed more than the usual rate when you call a 900 number, and the extra money goes to the company that owns the number. in "a bolt from the blue," resplendant man had a 900 number.
think that's about it. hope some of this helped.
Paul
