Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related FFQ: How far is Metropolis from...

How far is Metropolis from...erm... Gotham?

I'm sure this isn't the best place to ask, but I figured maybe someone would know.

I'm trying to work things out for my crossover ficathon story -- and the way Elisabeth had set hers (which is my starting point), Lois seems to live and work in Metropolis, but Bruce Wayne is still in Gotham, so I kind of need to figure how long a trip would be for her to get from the Planet to Wayne Manor.

I had her go from one place to the other in a different story, but I couldn't have cared less about the distance between the cities at the time, so I still have no clue - and this time, it affects the plot, so...

I always thought of Metropolis as New York and Gotham as Chicago, which would make it about 800 miles.

But I know that NYC does exist in the L&C universe (it was mentioned in Man of Steel Bars) and I think Chicago may have been mentioned at one point as well, in which case - heck if I know!

Lisa, who gets a little dizzy at the fact that in some universes, Metropolis is apparently in Kansas.

Gotham was mentioned in the series too but it may have been a not serious reference [that is so not the way I want to word that but I can't think of how I do want to]. Lois is going on about him being Sman I think and Clark says I don't think they heard you in Gotham City and sort of gestured in the direction were they were taping a Batman movie IIRC.

Here it says they're 'within' driving distance [whatever that means] and sometimes twin cities across a bay. This is the same info as the wiki but without the ( in the link which the boards won't allow.

Here has some info too. Very interesting .

So it seems you can have them where ever you want .

Carol

Well, I have maps and suggestions over at World of Lois & Clark

Metropolis is on the Atlantic Coast and the maps shown in L&C indicate it may overlay the RL New York and the L&C New York is smaller and a short distance away. In the DCU, Metropolis is in NY State (which makes NY a very crowded place.)

Gotham is also East Coast (Which is a very crowded place in RL.) Gotham could well overlay any city north of Virginia. (Cinncinnati, Philadephia, Boston, tucked in between any of the above.)

Driving distance is usually defined as 'easy' driving distance - no more than an hour or so away by car (which can be between 30 to 90 miles depending on traffic, roads, etc.)

Clark's definition of driving distance is likely to be longer than Lois's - Midwesterners from small towns frequently drive more than a hour just to go clothes shopping.

Yeah, Metropolis is their depiction of NYC and Gotham of Chicago -- but on a map, Gotham wouldn't be that far away from Metropolis.

Yeah, that's what I believe, too... Like Gotham is in New Jersey, or something. Thanks for the links, Carol!

I know Metropolis is supposed to be right near the Atlantic -- it's like that in all the movies, afaik. So that's what I usually go by. Screw Smallville and Metropolis, Kansas. That's just stupid, now.

And this is what Gotham looks like, according to DC, but... where the heck that is, really. I dunno. *lol*

I thought there might be some more "factual" info someplace... heh.

I guess I'll go with the cities across the bay thing and figure there's a ferry between both. And pretend that'll be enough. *giggles*

Thanks!

In my vast knowledge base of these things, works for me.

Carol [who has seen SR but doesn't think she's ever read a Superman or Batman comic and never watched any of the Batman movies]

We've had a couple of previous threads about the locations of Metropolis and such. There was one I was thinking of that I can't seem to find, but I did come across some useful stuff in a couple of others.

http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=000458

http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=000085

And, linked off the latter, I found:

http://dailyplanet.iwarp.com/map.html

Which lists (under "Geography") the distance from Metropolis to Gotham as 150 miles.

Also:

http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/comics.php?topic=comics-racfaq#location

According to that, Metropolis is in Delaware and Gotham is in New Jersey. But that's only semi-official.

Ahhh! Thanks Paul!

That list is from Mayfair Games for their RPG - DC has since disavowed this list - in the current DCU, Metropolis in in New York State. Gotham varies but is somewhere fairly close, as is NYC. Just for giggles I checked those distances at http://dailyplanet.iwarp.com/map.html against my atlas - 900 miles (approx) from Chicago and 220 (approx) from NYC is Boston. (or it could be about 50 miles due east of D.C.)

LnC varies from the DCU in the orientation of the island (or possibly peninsula)of New Troy - in the DCU, New Troy's long axis is oriented East and West - on the LnC maps, New Troy is oriented North and South.

I'm thinking the distance between Metro & GC is half the distance between Metropolis and Neverland.

c.

In an old Justice League of America, when Earth-Prime developed it's own superhero, several members of the JLA of Earth-One got sucked into that universe. Superman looked down and said something like this.
"I don't see Metropolis or Gotham. Where Metropolis should be are large number of overgrown suburbs to the North of NY City and where Gotham should be is a over populated souther section of Boston." or something like that.
James

Oh that is funny, Paul posted a link that has the actual dialog in it. Hmmm, so, it is true that memory is the first to go...

Did you hear that? It was the sound of my technical advisor changing his tune.

When I wrote New Faces; New Year (or whatever it was called--I'm really not good with names), I asked James where Gotham was. He didn't bat an eye. He said, "It's in New Jersey." Which is why I wrote, That means that my answer is


Elisabeth
edit: Oops! Forgot to mention that my Metropolis has always been New York City.

Not to steal your thread, Miss Moon (even though I obviously am), but if you follow Paul's link it says that Smallville is located pretty much where Topeka is and has a population of 90,000 people. Somehow I don't think the population on Lois & Clark had that many people. James was working on an as-of-yet unpublished work where he picked out a city based on how many days ride Sheriff Kent said it was to Wichita. He also put the population at less than 10,000.

Elisabeth

In the Superman Homepage, it gives the following for Gotham

Gotham City: New Jersey (I rest my case)

However, I nearly had a brain failure when I read...

Smallville: Kansas, 50 miles west of the I-70/I-35 interchange on I-70. The population is given as 90,000 btw.

NO FREAKING WAY!!!!!!!

There is NO way that a town of 90,000 could possibly have a downtown like what we saw in LnC. Heck, it couldn't even touch what was in the comic books in the 70's.

btw, that location is in the suburbs of Topeka.

I personally, think that Abilene, KS fits the bill better, based on information from Tempus Fugative.

Yeah - 90000 is WAY bigger than what we saw. We live in a town of 12000 that much better fits it [though not in KS]. Even that seems big though. I tend to think more of Mayberry type place [a quick Google search indicates 1200-2000]. They could still have their own schools etc drawing from the surrounding county. Googling Abilene... that seems much closer too.

Carol

hehe - yeah. And I'm keeping that, as is. No worries. I just kinda need two people to be in the same city at the same time for some reason and... erm... one of them has neither super speed, nor the power to fly. *lol*

...and you know what? Actually, I think I just solved my problem while I was writing this. hehe!

The biggest problem in establishing where Gotham and Metropolis and the other DCUverse cities is:
Every single writer at DC, for movies AND for LnC had them in a different place. (We're not even mentioning Smallville putting a city of 10 million in a state that that barely has that population.)

The art people for LnC were using NYC as their basis. (There is a map in Shadow of a Doubt where the art people didn't even bother to change the name of the Hudson River to West River (it's very clear.)) And The maps from the Return of the Prankster are clearly the south end of Manhattan.

It's even worse for Smallville, KS - some writers at DC put it as a very small, virtually unchanging farm town, others have it as a good sized city.

In LnC, Smallville is obviously a very small farm town. (But then, the art people decided to use pictures of New England in the long shots.)

For the location of Smallville from Tempus Fugitive: The green band is 120-160 miles from Kansas City.

yes, and if you notice, Abilene KS is just on the outside of your nice little green line...

James

From Abilene it would be a real hard ride to KC for a wounded man, but with a fast horse, it would fit the parameters given. (4 days ride). My personal preference is down by Neodesha, maybe even as far south as Independence - mainly due to the presence of the James Gang in Smallville not all that long after robbing a bank in Liberty, MO (I figure they would be heading south rather than west since they were hiding out and heading for Oklahoma/Texas at the time.)

You've always had a ruthless ability to reason, Dandello.

I think James also picked Abilene because of their creeks (which he wanted in his story) and quarry (I don't even remember which episode that was from).

wow - this has been an education, reading this thread. Plus we get a map!
But seriously, I didn't think this was a gripper thread topic but it really has been interesting to read.

So how far is it? Miles? (kms) Mode of travel? Time? What if you're driving with a significant other and you stop for an n-fic moment? Or just lunch? What if you have a 'funny thing happen' en route?

So really how far *is* it between Met. & Smallville?

c.

One time zone and half a continent. (sorry, I'm in a bit of a hurry this AM)

I love some of the names on the map.

Looking for a good place to stop for an nfic moment, carol? How about halfway between Coyville and Climax.

LOL

c.

Well, according to Google Maps, from Topeka to NYC it's 1,255 mi – about 19 hours 53 mins. So add a little bit for the outside of Topeka, and roughly plus or minus however far it is from NYC to Metropolis.

I don’t think so. I thought Gotham City (like Metropolis) was supposed to be a substitute for New York City. New York City is even called Gotham sometimes.


So does Gotham City - remember the ep where Superman says something about Batman? He used one of Batman’s nick names.


Makes sense to me. In Batman: The Beginning (Did I get the title right?), Bruce Wayne refers to Gotham City being on an island (like Manhattan). But I think that’s the only time I’ve heard that reference.


I’ve rather thought of it that way before, too. I say that both must be somewhere in the northeastern US. But, hey, why not be creative and put Gotham City in Canada? New York State does border Canada, but I wouldn’t exactly say that’s a short drive (from NYC to the Canadian border). But then New Troy doesn’t really exist so you make it work.


Oh, wow, very interesting, James.


But Smallville is a small town. And 90,000 is not a small town. It bugs me that on the show Smallville, they have a sign that gives the population at around 50,000. That is also not a small town. I know folks from LA and NYC might think that’s small but when it comes to the Midwest, it’s not. Now I live in a small town - 1000 people.


I so agree. As I mentioned above, folks from LA and NYC (including the DCU writers) probably don’t really understand what a small town is.


Yes, that’s great description. A town down the road from me looks very much like Mayberry and Smallville. And the population of 1200 - 2000 fits exactly.

Sunnydale (Buffy) had a population of 38,500 at the start of season 2 and 32,900 towards the end of season 7, mostly due to large numbers of people either dying or deciding to live somewhere else because they don't want to be eaten. And even at its smallest it was obviously a MUCH bigger town than Smallville.

I once lived in a small town that was about 10,000 people (and about an hour from Metropolis, whoo!), and even that town seemed bigger than the Smallville we saw. Then again, I visited a town in New Jersey that was 15k, and they had a town center that seemed sort of like Smallville, while another town in PA that I lived in had almost 10k that had some nice quaint areas that were Smallville-like. So it could all depend on the layout of the town.

In my experience it also depends on how close the towns are together. There's a town in Iowa that has a population of less than 200 but is surrounded by a much bigger city. It doesn't feel very small. A town surrounded by country feels much smaller than a town of the same population just a few miles away from the next town.

Elisabeth

Thank you all for this thread .

I needed to know how big an average farm is in Smallville. By using Neodesha as a reference point, the average farm size in that area is something like 450 acres. For my purposes, the Kent farm is about 640 or a square mile so a bit bigger than average but not huge [like the 1100+ average in other counties].

FWIW, if you need a job, apparently Neodesha is hiring .

Carol

Was looking up some stuff and came across these...

Neodesha Statistics

History/Geographical Info as well as local attractions.

Miss Emma\'s Diner - there's a bunch of other stuff on that page, mostly different businesses. I think it's kind of funny - all the construction stuff [painting etc] have the guys' first names like: Herder & Huff Painting (Charlie & Gary)

Anyway - shows that that section of KS could have the trees etc that we see on the show.

Carol

I'm reviving an old thread because I came across some interesting info while reading the script for GGGoH. Apparently Smallville was supposed to be located in Lowell County, Kansas. Of course there is no Lowell County, but there is a Lowell Kansas, which is located just to the south of the green line on the little map above. The Lowell County stuff must be canonical from pre-L&C lore because it apparantly (however you spell that) is also used in the show Smallville.


Elisabeth