City names

Icons

This is a general thing, but it's for an Icons game I’m planning.

It seems to me that for a city-based superhero game you can go real or fictional. Real has the advantage that all the maps are available and the stuff is right there. Fictional has the advantage that you can include new stuff as needed and mould the city to fit your needs, your themes. And, of course, you can do both, starting with a real city and modifying it to your needs.

I am inclined to a fictional city in this case. I might change my mind; I won't be asking for players for a few days, so there's a chance for me to change. But right now, I'm thinking that I want to be able to shape it. I might use a real city as the basis but I plan on changing enough stuff that it might as well be a fictional city.

Here's what I want:

• A four-colour mood. Not necessarily Silver Age, but some goofiness might sneak in.
• A zoo (got an adventure idea that requires a zoo)
• Waterfront in case somebody comes up with an aquatic hero
• Some kind of university or lab, because we'll need some experiments.

Actually, Chicago is a good fit for what I want, although it's entirely possible to get too grim.

So I've talked myself into using Chicago.