If you're here, thanks for taking a look. I'm trying to work out a home city for the main character of a story I hope to eventually get published. The story predominately takes place in urban environments, sprawling metropolises and such. Which is where my problem arises.

Having never lived in a city and thus having nothing to pull from for a specific location any city picked for the character's hometown probably just wouldn't be done justice. I want the story to feel like it could be in our real world, or at least an only slightly distorted mirror of our world. So the question is: Do I still try to use a real city and likely flub up or make up a city?