we can raise cities or raze them, it whispers

I routinely steal layouts for fic apartments and houses from places I've lived. I think of it in the same way as people who set their work in specific cities; why make something up when you've got something to know well ready to go?

[With an exception for Ed McBain, who set his 87th precient novels in New York City and called it Isola for, well, no reason that's ever been explained.]