Seen largely as a shimmering jewel of technology and forward thinking industry, Metropolis is a major contender for being mantled as one of the world’s greatest cities. A shimmering example of human ingenuity and creativity, the City of Tomorrow stands omnipresent when compared to other fictional DC locales.

According to main DC Comics fictional canon, Metropolis is one of the largest cities in the United States. The area in which it was established was discovered in 1542 by the Italian navigator Vincenzo Gnanatti, who was then in the employ of the Dutch. The city was first settled in 1634 by Dutchman Paul De Vries in the area now called “Old City.”

The settlement prospered around the area’s natural harbor. By the Revolutionary War, it was large enough to serve as a major source of manpower for Washington’s army.

Quick Facts

The years following America’s independence were particularly fruitful for the growing city. First called De Vries Village, then Hunter City, and then New Oberstad, the city expanded rapidly to the surrounding islands and the mainland, eventually encompassing six separate boroughs and devel­oping into one of the nation’s busiest seaports during the mid-to late 19th Century. The six boroughs joined together in 1896 to incorporate as the unified city of Metropolis.

Metropolis also served as the terminus for many railroad lines to points west and boasted one of the largest points of entry for the waves of European immigration during the 19th and early 20th Centuries. As early as 1775, the city was home to a host of courageous book and newspaper publishers. Today, it remains a center for the media, rivaling New York City for East Coast dominance of broadcasting and publishing worlds. It also serves as host to numerous prestigious schools of higher education, including the University of Metropolis (which was founded in 1817), Nordham University, and the Metropolis Institute of Technology.

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Metropolis is also famed as a center for commerce and finance, beginning with P. Randall Jeffries’ First Metropolitan Bank, established in 1783, and through to today; a variety of the bank’s corporate headquarters are housed in the towering skyscrapers of the city’s Central Business District. Side-by-side with banking, investment, insurance and commercial concerns, Metropolis is also recognized as an entertainment and fashion capital.

Metropolis presents an ever-changing face to the world. An ever-growing and thriving city, Metropolis continually outpaces the rest of the country in new commercial construction. Many architectural innovations that were soon to become national trends in construction and urban planning were first attempted in Metropolis.

Despite its being a national and global center for business, financial, education, entertainment and media concerns, Metropolis is most famous for the man many people call the “First Citizen of Metropolis,” Superman.

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Notable Landmarks

Like any notable center of human life, Metropolis is recognized instantly by the following landmarks. Any of which are instantly thought of as great symbols for the city. There are many significant landmarks in Metropolis, but here are the city’s most famous.

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City Government

Metropolis is divided into six boroughs, which were once-separate cities that merged into the fully incorporated City of Metropolis. The boroughs are represented on the City Council by two elected officials, the borough president and a councilperson. The mayor is elected to a four year term and chairs the City Council. The boroughs of Metropolis are linked by unified services and utilities.

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The six boroughs

Encompassing approximately 125 square miles, spread over three islands and the surrounding mainland on the banks of the Hob’s and West Rivers, the city of Metropolis is home to a population of around 11 million, all living in its six boroughs: Queensland Park, Bakerline, St. Martin’s Island, New Troy, Hell’s Gate and Park Ridge. These boroughs are informally divided into a variety of neighborhoods.

New Troy is one of six boroughs of Metropolis and is located in the heart of the city. As the City of Tomorrow’s most recognized and documented borough, New Troy Island plays host to all of the action the city’s has to offer. With gleaming towers reaching towards the future nestled comfortably among historic brownstones and classic structures, this area is likely to have something for every visitor and resident alike. Let’s explore the islands neighborhoods.

Often called the center of Metropolis, the Central Business District is home to many large conglomerates, including major financial institutions and businesses ranging from communications and service industries to technical companies and fashion and entertainment. There can be found the headquarters of Lexcorp (the multinational conglom­ erate founded and owned by Lex Luthor), Wayne Financial, Eagle Oil, RAMCO, Brysler Motors, Hawkes Industries, Big Belly Burger’s corporate headquarters and so much more. LexCorp Tower is the city’s tallest freestanding structure.

Downtown Metropolis is often referred to as the heart of the city. A bustling urban landscape full of life, luxury and commerce. Sitting right in the epicenter of downtown stands the heart of Metropolis, the Daily Planet building. The Planet building hosts the city’s leading media outlet of the same name, which pulses information to the citizens of Metropolis through their multimedia platforms. Because of this, downtown also has the distinction of being the communi­cations and graphics capital of the world.

Originally the property of printer Gustav Grimes, Downtown is filled with steel and glass mid-rises that house many of the world’s acknowledged geniuses of graphic and commercial art, architecture and communications. Headquartered there are Metropolis’s premiere daily newspapers the DailyPlanet, Daily News, Daily Star, Metropolis Eagle and communications conglomerate Galaxy Communications.

Renamed Hob’s Bay (Suicide Slum) in recent years by city planners seeking to bring about a revitalization of this dilapidated section of town, this area retains much of the squalor that made it infamous. Politicians decry Hob’s Bay as an eyesore, due mainly to the 19th Century tenement buildings which still stand, albeit just barely, to house the city’s indigent poor, the criminal element, and those lost souls who have disappeared through fate or design.

The streets of Suicide Slum also teem with the homeless of Metropolis. It is an area best bypassed by tourists. The rude bars and theaters that dominate its streets are suitable only for the thieves and smugglers who inhabit the neighborhood. Bibbo Bibbowski’s famed Ace O’ Clubs sits in this district.

The Tomorrow District is the result of “Tomorrow Avenue,” a city street that housed all of the city’s leaders in technological advancement’s, including the founding branch of S.T.A.R. Laboratories. As the world of tech grew, so too did the district. Now taking up a decent portion of the city’s skyline, the Tomorrow District stands in awe representation of human ingenuity with its futuristic architecture.

Centennial Park is located directly in the center of the city and plays host to the famed Superman Statue. In the DCEU, the area around the sprawling natural landscape is often referred to as the Hero’s Park District. It stands as a monument to the lives lost during the Black Zero event.

An abréviation for the Art’s, Jewelry and Shopping Districts, the Culture District serves as an enriching environment to the city of Metropolis. Glenmorgan Square (Metropolis’s version of Times Square) sits comfortably as the crossroads of Metropolis and numerous department stores, fashion organizations and other shopping venues are located here. Metropolis’s premiere gambling house, Utopia Casino, and the famed Blaze Comics can be found in this district.

Midtown is the glamour and shopping center of Metropolis. Expensive condominiums, high-rises and luxury apartments overlook Metropolis Park on the north side of Midtown. Some of the world’s most expensive department stores and shops line Midtown’s famed Fifth Avenue, which bisects this exclusive neighborhood. The Historic Landmark known as Hammersmith Tower, recognized for its enormous Art Deco adorned clocktower, stands proud in the epicenter of this neighborhood.

Metropolis’ Chinatown district is a locale featuring architectural buildings and markets influenced by and filled with Asian culture. It has been known to be a haven for magic-oriented groups and forces.

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Even though it’s not full of such big city bustle as New Troy, Park Ridge holds character like no other Metropolis borough. Mostly residential, this stretch of Metropolis witnesses less tourism than most. However, it can be a wonderful place to live. Let’s explore the two starkly different neighborhoods.

Racine once had the distinction of being Metropolis’s haven for artists, but, with its discovery as an area offering good living spaces for low rents, it was soon overrun with the city’s rising executive and business class. As a result, the living spaces were converted, rents increased and trendy and inexpensive shops, restaurants, clubs and apartments began to dominate. The artistic community began to migrate into Pelham. Today, Racine is nearly inaccessible to all except the city’s most wealthy citizens.

Vernon is a working-class community of single-family homes and brownstones. This area was named in honor of one of Metropolis’s founders, Peter Vernon. A neighborhood known for the peaceful coexistence of its ethnically diverse population, Vernon is regarded as one of the city’s fmer middle-class areas. Vernon Plaza, the city’s first enclosed shopping mall, was erected here.

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Queensland Park is Metropolis’s largest district taking up the entire opposing southern shoreside of New Troy Island. Its historic nature can be found in the famed brownstones, museums and colleges located in the borough. Outside of Queensland Park sits the sprawling southern Metropolis suburbs.

The Old City was the location of the first settlement in Metropolis. Originally known as De Vries Village and later, under British occupation, Elizabethtown, the area became known as the Old City following the American Revolution. Though no longer the center of Metropolitian life, the Old City has been designated as a national historic site.

It is a major tourist attraction for its many accurate recreations ofthe Colonial lifestyle, including its most famous attraction, the old abandoned waterfront, which has, in recent years, been rebuilt as North Street Seaport. The Seaport serves as the site for the annual Metropolis Fourth of July celebration.

According to legend, North Bridge played a significant role during the Revolutionary War when local resident Peter Vernon delayed invading British troops by destroying their access to New Troy from the Metropolis mainland. Today, North Bridge is a thriving middle-class commu­nity situated around Vernon Memorial Park.

Filled with old, once-exclusive homes and small apartment buildings, Pelham has developed into the home for Metropolis’s artistic community. In addition to offering large, converted loft spaces in which artists can ply their trade, it also features affordable housing to up-and-coming young artists and designers and is the center of the city’s trendiest art galleries and clubs.

Most of Metropolis’s colleges and universities are located at Mount Royal, including the Metro University of Art (established in 1896), Metropolis Institute of Technology (1903), Metropolis State University (1817) and Nordham University (1842).

Newtown has been declared an Historic District by the National Landmark Commission for its post-Civil War brownstone architecture. It is also the location for most of Metropolis’s major museums, including the Superman Museum, the Dave Mauer Pavilion and the City Museum. Once a crumbling neighborhood of rooming houses, Newtown experienced a major renaissance in the mid-1970s when young urban professionals began buying and renovating its rundown brownstone homes.

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Bakerline is home to Metropolis’s largest seaport and is widely accepted as the city gateway for consumer goods. It’s the City of Tomorrow’s import and export center and serves as one of the main economic driving forces for this urban utopia. North of Bakerline is a developing suburban stretch.

The “Beacon Hill” of Metropolis, Hampstead’s wealthy, old­ money residents can trace their Metropolitian ancestry back to the earliest of the city’s settlers. Located on the southern seaboard, most of Hampstead’s stately old homes are nestled atop the hills and palisades overlooking the ocean.

Long an area famed for its traditions of the free press, Stillwater serves as the site of the printing facilities for all of Metropolis’s daily newspapers as well its nationally-known publishing firms.

Once a French-Canadian settlement, Lafayette retains the distinct flavor of its Gaulish roots. More like a neighborhood of New Orleans than Metropolis, the majority of Lafayette residents speak French as their first language. The area is famed for its French restaurants and French-inspired architecture.

Located on the far northeastern edge of Metropolis, Oaktown has traditionally been a neighborhood of immigrants. Though lacking any significant political power, the residents of Oaktown nonetheless have fierce civic pride in their rundown neighborhood, keeping one step ahead ofthe forces that threaten to turn the area into a slum.

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St. Martin’s Island’s small-town feeling brings Metropolis back to it’s roots. With the Islands airspace nonnegotiable, most of the landmasses structures stand short when compared to the rest of the city. The borough planned it this way to allow a modest escape from the ever pacing city they are incorporated into.

Uptown is home some of the cities most luxurious manors and estates. The stately Luthor Manor sits on the shoreline of the island overlooking the ocean. The historic Glenmorgan estate, which is sometimes opened for tours, sits besides the Luthor Family home.

East Side is a growing business and shopping centric district. Retrofitted strip malls, trendy restaurants and so much more sit within this district. It’s also home to some of the city’s most prestigious private schools.

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Hell’s Gate is a family centric amusement center and suburban landscape. Its humble foundations celebrates the islands history while familiarizing its residences with the understanding of their past.

Senneville serves as Metropolis’s resort area. This neighbor­hood offers a wide range of recreational activities such as fishing, swimming, and sailing. This area also has beachfront resort hotels (some offering legalized gambling) and amusement parks that could rival Disneyland in size and diversity.

Teaboro gained its name from its pre-Revolutionary War participation in protests against the unfair tea taxes, when the citizens ofthe area burned down the warehouses of the East India Tea Company. Today, Teaboro is the site of Metropolis International Airport, which is one of the nation’s three busiest airports.