Research, research, research. That's it. Go on the Old Farmer's Almanac site (if this is the US), and look and see what time sun rise and sunset is/was (their archives go back for decades), see what the weather is/was like, if they get snow, or rain, or whatever.
Then research what kind of plants grow there. What kind of plants are planted in an urban setting. Are there abandoned lots or are there mini-parks and community gardens? Lots of 'urban blight' or lots of gentrification?
Who has immigrated there? Is there a large Ethiopian community, or a long-settled Chinese community? What whiffs of regional cooking will you encounter in apartments, alleys, and along the street outside of restaurants?
Google image is your friend. Look at *all* the pictures. Ones taken professionally by the city for the tourist board or whatever, and ones taken by tourists. Read people's 'vacation reviews'. Look up stuff like public transportation, taxis, etc. Are there big buses all over the place or do people ride bikes? How about subways or elevated trains?
That thing on google where you can look at street level, pictures taken by a person or car as they drove up the street? Use that, too.
Ask on a comm like little_details if anyone lives there and what the 'vibe' of the city is, what certain parts are like, that kind of thing.
And relax, too, because car exhaust and over-full dumpster in summer smell the same from New York to San Fran, so some thing you don't have to worry about too much.
Anyway, that's what i do. Takes me several days before i tackle the actual writing, but once i'm satisfied that i've done enough research, i just go for it. Nine times out of ten, it'll be just fine.
Oh, and - even the smallest town generally has a google map, and you can get street names off of that, and usually at least one or two 'main street' type pictures that give you an idea of what the town is like and such. And then look on their Chamber of Commerce page, you'll see the names of some of the prominent businesses and such, if there is a hotel or any restaurants, that kind of thing. There won't be a *ton* of info, but i'll give you a sketch of what it's like.
You got some *very* good advice here in the comments. :)
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Then research what kind of plants grow there. What kind of plants are planted in an urban setting. Are there abandoned lots or are there mini-parks and community gardens? Lots of 'urban blight' or lots of gentrification?
Who has immigrated there? Is there a large Ethiopian community, or a long-settled Chinese community? What whiffs of regional cooking will you encounter in apartments, alleys, and along the street outside of restaurants?
Google image is your friend. Look at *all* the pictures. Ones taken professionally by the city for the tourist board or whatever, and ones taken by tourists. Read people's 'vacation reviews'. Look up stuff like public transportation, taxis, etc. Are there big buses all over the place or do people ride bikes? How about subways or elevated trains?
That thing on google where you can look at street level, pictures taken by a person or car as they drove up the street? Use that, too.
Ask on a comm like little_details if anyone lives there and what the 'vibe' of the city is, what certain parts are like, that kind of thing.
And relax, too, because car exhaust and over-full dumpster in summer smell the same from New York to San Fran, so some thing you don't have to worry about too much.
Anyway, that's what i do. Takes me several days before i tackle the actual writing, but once i'm satisfied that i've done enough research, i just go for it. Nine times out of ten, it'll be just fine.
Oh, and - even the smallest town generally has a google map, and you can get street names off of that, and usually at least one or two 'main street' type pictures that give you an idea of what the town is like and such. And then look on their Chamber of Commerce page, you'll see the names of some of the prominent businesses and such, if there is a hotel or any restaurants, that kind of thing. There won't be a *ton* of info, but i'll give you a sketch of what it's like.
You got some *very* good advice here in the comments. :)