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New Haven is a fictional modern day city set in the state of Virginia. The city was founded around an old church tower built in the 17th century, so some of the buildings that haven't been torn down date amongst the oldest in the nation. The city itself is about a hundred miles west of Washington, D.C. The current population of New Haven is approximately five hundred thousand.
The city itself is plagued by a layer of a thick, rancid fog mixed with pollution from the meat packing plants on the south side of town that never seems to lift. It makes traffic slow and bogged down in the best of conditions, and strangles the feeble plant life that grows in the city. The predominant green to be found here is that of mold and fungus growing anywhere it can find root. The lack of sunlight tends to also give the residents of New Haven a distinctive pallor, and many of them have breathing problems and a distinctive New Haven cough, as the pervasive mold and the pollution take their toll.
The fog is probably a large factor in the high crime rates within the city. The endless, stifling weather promotes an attitude of apathy and despair. There are no take back the night campaigns here, no police dedicated to cleaning up the streets. The darkness within the city limits brings out the darkness in the souls of its residents. New Haven rates as the #2 city for suicides, just after Seattle, and #4 in murders for the nation.
The fog ends as the city gives way to the forests to the east. One might think that the natives would spend more time there, or even expand into these areas simply for the sunlight, but all attempts thus far have been unsuccessful. The forests here are dangerous, and wild animals have been known to attack unwary hikers in search of light and solitude. There seems to be a dedicated underground of eco-terrorists, as well, as any attempts at developments in the forests on the east side of town have been fraught with accidents. Those wishing to commune with nature will have more luck in the Cedar National Park to the south and west.
The primary industry in New Haven are the meat packing plants on the south side of town. The city also hosts the New Haven University, a private school with its (in)famously quirky Borges library, the historic Grosvenor cemetery, and the church tower, which serves as its only draw for tourists.