Sunnydale is the fictional setting for the U.S. television drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). Series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic Californian city, as well as a narrative parody of the all-too-serene towns typical in traditional horror films.
Sunnydale is located on a "Hellmouth"; a portal "between this reality and the next", and convergence point of mystical energies.
Environment
Sunnydale itself
Sunnydale's size and surroundings are implausible but justified given its origins — to sustain a human population for supernatural evils to prey upon. The town's founder spared no expense to attract a populace, and Sunnydale thus contains many elements of a large city — which the show's writers utilized fully for comic effect and narrative convenience. During the first three seasons, Sunnydale is shown to have 38,500 inhabitants, very few high schools, forty-three churches, a small private college, a zoo, a museum, and one modest main street. Even so, it has twelve gothic cemeteries. These cemeteries are so heavily used that services are sometimes held at night. Sunnydale is divided into five neighborhoods. The first is the entertainment district which contains the Bronze, Sunnydale's nightclub, which attracts some well-known artists despite a clientele consisting mainly of high-school kids. The second is the alleys directly behind Bronze which contain the town's excess supply of pallets and cardboard. The high school makes the third neighborhood. The fourth neighborhood is filled in its entirety by the large graveyard, and lastly the suburban residential sprawl is the final neighborhood. The abundance of very nice homes is made possible by low property values caused by frequent murder.
In later seasons it is revealed that Sunnydale contains a campus of the University of California system, as well as a profitable magic supply shop. The town is also seen to include a large park containing a creek and a lake, and one of its cemeteries is shown to be adjacent to a lake. Sunnydale has a number of parks: Weatherly Park, Glebe Park, Radcliff Park and Nelson Park are just some of the examples.
Sunnydale has a train station, a bus station, a small airport, and a small military base. There is also a seaport with a harbor deep enough to allow the docking of coastal freighters.
Directly beneath Sunnydale High School is a Hellmouth, a subterranean, mystical portal that attracts evil forces. This functions as a major plot device in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as it explains why vampires and other demons are so prevalent in Sunnydale.
Sunnydale possesses many common horror-movie characteristics, such as an abundance of dark alleyways, abandoned mansions and factories, and an adult population that is either clueless or perpetually in denial, in stark contrast to the demon-fighting, supernaturally aware teens.
By the show's seventh season, set in 2002–03, the city's population had fallen to 32,900. In the spring, the town was almost completely evacuated.
Sunnydale's surroundings
Sunnydale is somewhat isolated.
The town is situated near several acres of woods and forest, including Miller's Woods. Breaker's Woods is a 45-minute drive from town.
Sunnydale is located on or near the Pacific Ocean. An ocean port with several docked ships is nearby. Kingman's Bluff stands on a tall cliff overlooking the sea. There is a beach not too far away.
Close to or in Sunnydale is an old quarry house built beside a deep lake, located a few feet from a cliff edge. In addition, there is a hydroelectric dam in the vicinity of Sunnydale.
Within a day's drive of Sunnydale is a desert. It is stated several times that Sunnydale is approximately two hours' drive north of Los Angeles.
In the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("Chosen"), and also in the first issue of the Buffy: Season Eight comic book, Sunnydale is depicted being surrounded by desert terrain.
The episode "Pangs" reveals that Sunnydale is in the former homeland of the Chumash people, which is the area northwest of Los Angeles, centered on Santa Barbara County. The episode references a lost Spanish mission, which might be a reference to a historical mission originally located near Point Conception which was destroyed by an earthquake and relocated inland.
The episode "Shadow" (5.08) contains a telephone directory ad for the Magic Box, which uses an 805 area code. This would indicate that Sunnydale is located in Santa Barbara County, or possibly Ventura County or San Luis Obispo County (all are along the coast north of Los Angeles but south of Monterey).
