Life in the Slow Lane: 10 Memorable TV Small Towns

Smallville, Kansas

Even with a decision made by the show’s producers to adopt a “no tights, no flights” rule, the television Smallville was a typical Kansan town that was transformed—in the years following Clark Kent’s arrival in a meteor storm—from “Creamed Corn Capitol of the World” into “America’s Weirdest Town.”

POINTS OF INTEREST:  The Kent farm, Smallville High School (home of the mighty Crows), The Talon, Luthor Mansion (surely the only Scottish castle in all of Kansas), and LuthCorp Fertilizer Plant Number Three.

LIVABILITY: A handsome and prosperous little burgh, Smallville has more than its share of extraterrestrial-borne weirdness (like a two-headed puppy and those crazy powers of Clark)—we’d opt for the urban lifestyle offered in nearby Metropolis.

REAL-LIFE INSPIRATION: First appearing in a 1949 issue of the Superboy comic book, Smallville was presented as a typical small town in Middle America, in which Clark Kent would form his values.

SHOOTING LOCATION(S): The show was largely produced in Canada—most of it taking place in Burnaby, a city near Vancouver that offered locations that could double as both Smallville and Metropolis.

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