The "Supernatural" Route

Many seem to think that the urban bit in UF binds you to a single city but I don't think this is the case at all. There are a few stories which go out of the same city that I have read. Rachel Caine's weather warden series flies all over the US from what I have read so far and while her Morganville Vampires series is sort of dependent on the city of Morganville for its setting (with good reasons why characters never leave) there is one novel which takes the characters out of the city and deals with the issues they face when forced to go back.*

So I see no problems with setting your story anywhere in the world and changing locations. One thing to avoid, however, is your novel turning into too much of a 'travelogue' where you basically spend too long describing the locations and not getting on with the action and also making sure that there are good reasons why you use each location.

*For those who are not aware of the Morganville series, it is based in a town in Texas which was established as an experiment in how humans and vampires could live together. One of the many issues in the design of the experiment is that neither the vampires nor humans are allowed to leave the town without the express permission of the Founder (the head vampire) and there are magical and physical procedures in place to prevent this (cars break down as soon as they drive out of the city limits, phone and e-mail and internet use is monitored and so on).

Kevin Hearne is doing this with his 'Iron Druid' books. The first three were set in Arizona, but had side-trips all over the world (and into other worlds, too.) Looks like the main character has to leave Arizona in the next book, or at least his comfortable city life.

I'd be really wary of following any 'unspoken' rule in UF, which is running the risk of becoming fossilized under layers of accepted tropes.

Why not do a road trip fantasy? One of the enchantments of UF is the sense of place a good writer can create, using a real-world setting as a frame for otherworldly action. Route 66, though large parts of it no longer exist, is a collection of settings instantly recognizable to any fan of Americana. The Pacific Coast Highway and Blue Ridge Parkway both run through areas already rich in history and folklore.

Ann Aguirre's Corinne Solomon series takes place in different cities, because the MC travels in order to do her work.

I like the idea of UF that uses multiple locations, and making it work comes down to characters. Most people live in one place and aren't nomadic. If it works for your MC to move from place to place often, then I say go for it.

Darkshore said:

Could a novel take the "supernatural" route? In most urban fantasy that I have read each novel takes place within a single city. If your at all familiar with the series Supernatural, the majority of the show is spent on the road and going from place to place across America. I have an idea for my main character in my current W.I.P to have a need to be on the run by the end of the first novel and I'm just curious what the opinions would be about an urban fantasy novel that takes place on the road rather than in a defined city?

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As you can tell by my avatar, I rather enjoy that show.

The novel I am working on also does not take place in one city, but in multiple places. It has urban fantasy elements and supernatural elements, but I think of mine more of contemporary fantasy than urban fantasy. Some people define CF the same as UF, and others don't. i would say it depends more on the tone of your story rather than the location. If it has that urban fantasy feel, yet you move around a lot, it's still probably an urban fantasy.

I'd just write what you love and then worry about the subgenre later. I was going nuts trying to figure out what mine was and it was holding me back. Sounds great though