gumgnome
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Post by gumgnome on Jul 19, 2009 8:24:41 GMT -5
Surely there is more than one high school in Sunnydale anyway? We hear about Kent Preparatory School in "Reptile Boy" so I'm guessing there are several. How big is Sunnydale meant to be, population-wise? I don't know about America, but I live in an English town of approx. 180,000 with at least a dozen secondary schools (that's what we call high school), so surely there would have been several others even before Sunnydale High was destroyed?
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Jul 19, 2009 10:59:58 GMT -5
Actually in "All the Way", Dawn confirms she's a freshman:
JUSTIN: So you're like, what, a sophomore?
DAWN: (laughs) I wish.
JUSTIN: Uhhh, freshman.
DAWN: Yep, way down there at the bottom of the rung. Actually? Kinda under those little rubber feet they use to keep the ladder steady.
So early in season 5 it confirms she's 14 which makes her pretty old for her grade. We're assuming she has a summer birthday and in Season 6, when she was 15, she was a Freshman.
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Skeptic
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Post by Skeptic on Jul 19, 2009 13:05:20 GMT -5
Surely there is more than one high school in Sunnydale anyway? We hear about Kent Preparatory School in "Reptile Boy" so I'm guessing there are several. How big is Sunnydale meant to be, population-wise? I don't know about America, but I live in an English town of approx. 180,000 with at least a dozen secondary schools (that's what we call high school), so surely there would have been several others even before Sunnydale High was destroyed? Sunnydale is supposed to be very near Santa Barbara, CA, which has a population of about 400,000. Whenever they've looked at maps on the show, they show a map of Santa Barbara. So, I've just always assumed Sunny-D was a "bedroom community" of Santa Barbara, meaning that a lot of people live in Sunnydale and commute to Santa Barbara for work. Bedroom communities usually become that because they are just a few minutes' drive to the main city, and are generally smaller, and quieter. People tend to also choose them because they have good schools and safe neighborhoods for the kids. I don't know that I'd call Sunnydale safe, though, but it seems safe enough during the day... I always just assumed Sunnydale was something like that - and that the population was probably somewhere under 50,000. The town I live in right now is 70,000, and it feels a little big for what I imagine Sunnydale would be. ETA: When Sunnydale High went poof, I'm sure that students were just bussed out to other districts in the surrounding area. I'm not sure how they do it in the UK, but here, where you live (among other things) determines where you go to school, and if one isn't available, you contact the local school board to see where your child needs to be registered at. But I'm guessing that because several hundred kids were suddenly left without a high school that summer, that the school board actively reassigned students before the next school year. |
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gumgnome
Junior Vampire Slayer
Who has got the button?
Get out of my BRAIN![Mo0:1]
Posts: 970
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Post by gumgnome on Jul 20, 2009 6:58:21 GMT -5
Thanks for the info UnKle! The UK is fairly similar. You have to be in a school's catchment area to be eligible to go, unless it's a private school, or you're very smart!
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Post by buffyfan21 on Jul 20, 2009 19:03:42 GMT -5
According to the Sunnydale sign, population is 38,500
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Post by snizapman6294 on Jul 20, 2009 19:40:48 GMT -5
that always bothered me... that there were approx 40,000 people and only one starbucks? the town i live in has like half of that... and we have 6... always have. and that's pretty much all we have other than acme and blockbuster.
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drusillacakes
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Post by drusillacakes on Jul 21, 2009 0:13:55 GMT -5
Yeah you would think they need more caffeine from all the demon-kicking/running away from. Wait... there's a Starbucks in Sunnydale? You mean the Espresso Pump?
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Post by Midnight Butterfly on Jul 21, 2009 7:24:55 GMT -5
Yeah you would think they need more caffeine from all the demon-kicking/running away from. Wait... there's a Starbucks in Sunnydale? You mean the Espresso Pump? They mention in Chosen that there is a Starbucks in Sunnydale. |
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Post by buffyfan21 on Jul 21, 2009 12:08:50 GMT -5
Yeah. Sunnydale makes itself out to be such a small town yet they seem to have so much. Bus station, airport, train station, museum, Zoo, theater, mall, mimi golf (although in one ep Xander says they don't have a golf course, figure that one out?), The Bronze, Roller rink, Wal-Mart (as eluded to by Xander), Joyce's art gallery, etc. I'm sure there is a lot more that has either been referenced or seen but I am drawing a blank at the moment. My point is that for a small town Sunnydale sure does have a lot. And miraculously it all seems within walking distance. They may only have one starbucks, but they do have the espresso pump as well. I hail from a small town where we really do only have one starbucks, but, like in Sunnydale, we also have a competing coffee place. Despite my town's small size (seemingly much smaller than Sunnydale), I could not imagine walking everywhere. For a small town, Sunnydale sure is cool. I want to move there! Of course, there's the fact that I would probably end up dead. Plus, Sunnydale is now a smoking crater in the ground.  So maybe not. I think I'd rather move to the pre "Chosen" Sunnydale... |
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Post by Midnight Butterfly on Jul 21, 2009 13:19:48 GMT -5
Can I move thre too. We could build our own house there  |
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Post by buffyfan21 on Jul 21, 2009 18:27:42 GMT -5
Sound like a plan to me! Although I would really like to live in Buffy's house. I love that house.  |
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Nicholas
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Post by Nicholas on Jul 21, 2009 20:27:35 GMT -5
Dont forget the town had TWO colleges in it, like the one talked about in Reptile Boy. It also had a beach/dock, yet when the crater was shown...no beach.
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Skeptic
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Post by Skeptic on Jul 21, 2009 22:31:31 GMT -5
Sound like a plan to me! Although I would really like to live in Buffy's house. I love that house. It'd be pretty awesome if Sunnydale were an actual place. It'd probably have a thriving Buffy tourist business. I know the house they used for external shots is real, but I'd feel really creepy going to see it and feeling all fansquee over it. I guess they tore down the lot they used to film the downtown scenes (the cinema, coffee shop, wedding dress store)? If I had the money I'd buy it and turn it into a holy site for pilgrimages or something. Btw - thanks buffyfan21 for confirming Sunny-D's population. I totally knew it felt about that small. While it is still close enough to Santa Barbara and LA to share traffic and business. One Starbucks, though? I know they've got 43 churches and 12 cemeteries... |
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jellymoff
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Post by jellymoff on Jul 22, 2009 0:08:28 GMT -5
Dont forget the town had TWO colleges in it, like the one talked about in Reptile Boy. It also had a beach/dock, yet when the crater was shown...no beach. I always assumed that they went to the coast to another town to go to the beach (perhaps Santa Barbara, in fact). In some ways, Sunnydale is like Springfield (the Simpsons). It has whatever they need for the story! Oh, and a note about Starbucks, Xander calls Sunnydale "A one Starbucks Town" in "Welcome to the Hellmouth". |
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gumgnome
Junior Vampire Slayer
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Get out of my BRAIN![Mo0:1]
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Post by gumgnome on Jul 22, 2009 5:44:35 GMT -5
Sound like a plan to me! Although I would really like to live in Buffy's house. I love that house. I know the house they used for external shots is real, but I'd feel really creepy going to see it and feeling all fansquee over it. I guess they tore down the lot they used to film the downtown scenes (the cinema, coffee shop, wedding dress store)? If I had the money I'd buy it and turn it into a holy site for pilgrimages or something. That would be sooo cool! You could make a little Buffy amusement park nearby and make mega-bucks too! |
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Post by buffyfan21 on Jul 22, 2009 11:55:09 GMT -5
Btw - thanks buffyfan21 for confirming Sunny-D's population. I totally knew it felt about that small. While it is still close enough to Santa Barbara and LA to share traffic and business. One Starbucks, though? I know they've got 43 churches and 12 cemeteries... I totally had to look that up (I am good, but not that good  ). I found a screen shot of the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign (Ya know, the one that Spike is so famous for plowing down with his car? ). I would love to go and see the actual house someday. What it must be like for Buffy fans who live in that area and pass by that house everyday. I do feel sorry for the owner, though. She must get tired of people standing outside of her house and taking pictures all the time (I heard it was an elderly couple who live there). At the same time, though, she agreed to let her home be used in a popular television show, so I guess that kind of thing goes with the territory. Though she probably had little idea of the impact it would have (I read somewhere that she agreed to do it as a way to make some quick cash after her husband had passed on). Didn't she open up her home to the public a year or two ago, allowing fans to come in and tour her house for like $20 a head or something? I wish I had been there! I know they used the actual interiors of the house in S1 and part of S2 (except for Buffy's bedroom of course, which was always on the studio lot). Didn't they begin to design sets that closely matched the interior of the house? I think I remember that being mentioned on the DVD somewhere. Anyway, it really is a lovely home. How surreal it must be to pass by there everyday, knowing it is such an iconic place in Buffy history. In some ways, Sunnydale is like Springfield (the Simpsons). It has whatever they need for the story! Agreed. Small towns are never quite realistically portrayed on TV... Downtown Sunnydale sure did have a lot. Theater, bank, sporting goods store? Magic shop. Something I've always wondered, was Sunnydale meant to have two magic shops or was the magic shop in early seasons meant to be the same one used in S5? It would make sense to have more than one given that it was Sunnydale... |
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Post by snizapman6294 on Jul 22, 2009 12:05:30 GMT -5
even looking at the crater i was thinking... IT'S BIG ENOUGH FOR THERE TO BE STARBUCKS ALL ACROSS THE LAND! AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE!
and Xander always refers to Sunnydale as a "One-starbucks town"
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Post by Emmie on Jul 22, 2009 13:13:14 GMT -5
Here's something from the transcript for Bargaining: Cut to: exterior of the Sunnydale Junior High. A big sign reads, "Welcome to Parent Teacher Day." So during Season 6 Dawn is in Junior High. This kinda contradicts the line from Tough Love about her already having K-8 dropped into her head by the monks before she's in school for Season 5, but eh - they could have just retconned her to be a Freshman for Season 6. So: Season 6 - Freshman/9th grade in Junior High. |
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Post by Midnight Butterfly on Jul 22, 2009 15:33:11 GMT -5
Here's something from the transcript for Bargaining: Cut to: exterior of the Sunnydale Junior High. A big sign reads, "Welcome to Parent Teacher Day." So during Season 6 Dawn is in Junior High. This kinda contradicts the line from Tough Love about her already having K-8 dropped into her head by the monks before she's in school for Season 5, but eh - they could have just retconned her to be a Freshman for Season 6. So: Season 6 - Freshman/9th grade in Junior High. Karma for clearing that up Emmie. Thanks ;D |
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Skeptic
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Post by Skeptic on Jul 22, 2009 17:30:14 GMT -5
even looking at the crater i was thinking... IT'S BIG ENOUGH FOR THERE TO BE STARBUCKS ALL ACROSS THE LAND! AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE! HAHAHAHA... Too right!  Ohh, thanks for the laugh, I really needed that! *walks away, still giggling* |
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