Ok, did some research on the probable location of Morehead Hills.
Previously i always entertained the idea Morehead Hills could be or is located close to New York.
Lets see what we got:
Chuck states on friday 8th of May "(...) Morehead Hills and the surrounding tri-state area (...)"
From the english wikipedia:
Tri-state area is an informal term in the United States which can be used for any of several populated areas associated with a particular town or metropolis that, with adjacent suburbs, lies across three states.
Followed by a list of 23 areas commonly or occasionally referred to as tri-state areas.
If we assume the ambassador of new zealand is a regular at the carnation club
and he is not the ambassador of NZ to the United Nations, the club cannot be located too far away from his official residence which would be in this case in Washington DC.
The club cannot be too far away, because for obvious reasons he can't leave his duties unattended for a suspiciously long time.
The third clue we get is that Morehead Hills is quite likely a renowned University City since it hosts the elite St. Ives academy Lucy tries to get her boy into and of course a university Edwin is studying at.
The fourth clue is that Morehead Hills has a subway system, since a subway exit is directly located in front of the Clubs' entrance. Which implies Morehead Hills is a relatively big city populationwise, thus ruling out some prestigious university locations in Virginia, because they are too small.
From above mentioned wikipedia list i think the following two areas are the best fit for those assumptions, with the latter being the more likely one:
- The Philadelphia metropolitan area, the distance between DC and Philadelphia is roughly 200km (140miles).
- The area that includes Washington DC and the nearby parts of Maryland and Virginia is sometimes loosely referred to as a "tri-state area," although the District of Columbia is not a state. However, with the presence of Jefferson County, West Virginia, in the official Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metropolitan statistical area, the region, as defined by the US Government, does in fact include three states. This area is colloquially referred to as "the DMV" (DC, Maryland, Virginia).
The second option also includes the Baltimore metropolitan area also known as Central Maryland with a combined population of 2.7 millions. The greater Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area boasts an impressive 9.97 million residents.
These numbers are important because the club has to draw its high-class clients from a relatively large population base. It's not very likely that Charlottesville, VA hosts CEOs, actors, tenors and the like.
Especially for Kristoffer Jameson and his PMC it's very rational to be located close to the Capital, too.
Baltimore, which is located 64km (40miles) northeast of Washington at a reasonable distance, has indeed a subway (Baltimore Metro SubwayLink), with Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital being the city's top two employers.
Johns Hopkins University is a private (!) research (!) university and it consistently ranks among the most prestigious universities in the world. The cost of attendance per year is approximately $77400 (!) and acceptance rates were roughly at 10% throughout the past few years but dropped even lower in 2021 to 6.4%. Which would certainly elevate Mihirs importance and his role if he was a dean of this institution.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, which also has consistently ranked among the top medical schools in the United States in terms of the number of research grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health and other measures. The cost of attendance per year is approximately $66000 (!) (excluding living expenses, the school estimates a total of ~$90000 if you include them). This is the reason why the Clubs' job offer is too good to pass for Edwin.
And finally Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research (!) facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, widely regarded as one of the world's greatest hospitals and medical institutions. The Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the founding institutions of modern American medicine and the birthplace of numerous famous medical traditions. This would explain also the presence of Dr. van Doren and Sophia in this city, with his company near world class medical and biomedical research facilities.
With all this i am pretty convinced, that Morehead Hills is modelled after Baltimore, Maryland. It ties everything neatly together and shows that the carnation club may not cater to the absolut elite 0.1%, but definetly doesn't serve some backwater D-rank wannabees either.
What is your take on it?
