After getting the info from drivingblind today the burning alpha playtesters have began brainstorming about how they want to create their own cities for the game.

I am doing this as well.  

I live in New York City, which is both a good and bad thing for this type of game.  There are so many neighborhood and cultures in the city (and the surrounding boroughs) that I am very excited about the prospect of seeing what we can created.  On the other side, New York City can be a big daunting and you want to make sure you get the feel of it.  That could be either very easy, or a bit difficult.  The funny thing is of my main group, five of the six of us are transplants from other places (one from Maine, one from Oklahoma, one from Pennsylvania, one from Connecticut, and one from all over).  Only my friend Henry has lived in NYC his entire life, mostly in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  

So, I got to thinking about New York City and what it has to offer and here are just a few notes.

1.  It is a city of culture.  You can literally choose from MANY different races and culture.  That is nice when dealing with a supernatural aspect of things.  
2.  It is a tough place to live.  The summer's and winter's are harsh (mostly due to the fact that most people do not drive, so they are out in the elements more).  Which also would make you more of a target.  Rent can be very harsh, and I don't imagine the city I am creating in the game would be any different.  Combine that with the supernatural aspect of a Red Court vampire feasting on you and well it can be a handful.
3. I love the idea of doing something with the Statue of Liberty.  Having the ley lines run through it and it being the center.  I also would like to make it almost a place of safety from the creatures of the night.  My thought is when it was commissioned from the French, it was financed by someone that had ties with the White Council and the statue was actually "blessed" in some way.  I am early in this thought.
4.  The twin towers.  I can imagine that would be a place that comes up in the game.  9/11 was horrible and I would never do anything to remind people of that, it would be more of a setting than anything else.  You cannot think of NY without thinking of that horrible day almost 7 years ago.  Having known people that died in the Oklahoma City bombing, I can sympathize with the pain in this.
5. The subway system is another place that can be used almost like the way Butcher uses the tunnels under Chicago.  A lot of things you could do with the NYC subway system.
6.  You have some other cool areas.  Chinatown, Coney Island, Times Square, Yankee Stadium, The West Village, to name just a few off the top of my head. 

Those are just a few thoughts as I tried to sleep.