Pawnee (Parks and Recreation)
Pawnee, Indiana is the fictional city in which the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation is set. Since the show's start in 2009, the city's colorful history and inhabitants have been the joke or focal point for many episodes.
Overview
Pawnee is depicted as a typical mid-sized city in central Indiana, located in the fictional "Wamapoke County" about 90 miles from Indianapolis. Dialogue from the show and other officially licensed material suggest a population in the range of 60,000 to a little over 80,000.Pawnee's fictional history begins with its founding in 1817, which was very shortly followed by the driving of the Native American Wamapoke tribe from the land. The town is depicted as having an extensive history of abuses of the Wamapoke people and misogyny, which it celebrates in various murals on the walls at city hall.
Pawnee's twin town is Eagleton, Indiana, a smaller but wealthier adjacent community. Eagleton was founded by Pawnee's richest original settlers, who moved uphill shortly after Pawnee's establishment to found their own town. A mutual dislike between the communities has festered ever since. However, in "The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic", due to Eagleton's impending bankruptcy, Eagleton is dissolved and incorporated into Pawnee.
Pawnee is noted as being in Indiana's 10th congressional district, which in reality has been obsolete since 2003. In the May 2020 special episode of the series, Congressman and Pawnee resident Ben Wyatt is shown to be representing the 9th congressional district.
The town is shown to have many flaws and problems, including a raccoon infestation and an obesity crisis, the latter being mainly the result of the town's major employer being a candy company called "Sweetums". The populace are generally unsophisticated but have a high degree of civic engagement. Over the course of the series, in part due to the actions of Leslie Knope, the city's Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreation department, and her associates, the town's fortunes improve and Pawnee becomes a more desirable place to live.
Government
Like many small and medium-sized American cities Pawnee uses a council–manager government system, with several departments serving under a strong city council and a mostly ceremonial mayor, with a city manager running the town's day-to-day operations. Parks and Recreation focuses on the local government of Pawnee, in particular the eponymous department.Several of the main characters occupy significant roles in the local government. Chris Traeger is city manager in seasons three through six with Ben Wyatt as his deputy in seasons three and four. Wyatt succeeds Traeger as city manager until he is elected as the district's House representative. Ron Swanson is Director of the Parks and Recreation department for most of the series' run with main protagonist Leslie Knope as his deputy. Knope is elected to the City Council in the fourth season but is recalled in the sixth season.
Walter Gunderson became mayor of Pawnee in 1994, according to the book Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, and held the office until his death in the last season. After an exhaustive search for an interim Mayor, Jerry Gergich assumed the office and was then elected to 10 consecutive terms. Although the mayor of Pawnee exercises a fair amount of personal influence within the city, the office itself is largely ceremonial.
At the end of the second season, Pawnee had a serious budget crisis that eventually led to a temporary shutdown of the government. This storyline was inspired by the real-life Great Recession. The third season opened with the budget of every department being slashed.
Notable locations
- City Hall, sometimes referred to as Pioneer Hall, in season one, is the primary setting for the series. It contains the Parks and Recreation Department, as well as other departments and offices such as the Council Chambers and the City Manager's office.
- *The Fourth Floor of City Hall is the "creepy" floor that hosts the Department of Motor Vehicles, divorce filings, and probation offices.
- *The Third Floor of City Hall is refurbished by Ron Swanson, and Leslie later moves the location of her job in the National Parks Service there.
- Lot 48, originally a pit behind Ann Perkins house, was turned into a park after Andy Dwyer, Ann Perkins' boyfriend at the time, fell in and broke his legs.
- The Snakehole Lounge, a sleazy nightclub where many after-work functions are held. Donna Meagle is an investor, as was Tom Haverford before Chris Traeger made him sell his shares, to eliminate a conflict of interest.
- JJ's Diner, the unofficial meeting place for people in the government. It is Leslie Knope's favorite eatery, where she always orders waffles.
- The Bulge, a gay club. Leslie Knope became an inadvertent hero of its patrons when she "married" two penguins at the Pawnee Zoo with April Ludgate, not realizing they were both male.
- Food and Stuff, a store frequented by Ron Swanson, where he purchases meat and miscellaneous items, such as mufflers.
- The Glitter Factory, a strip club that Tom frequents. They serve an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet that Ron Swanson appreciates.
- Turnbill Mansion, the site of a historic wedding between a Pawnee Native American man and white woman, which became a "bloodbath" when knowledge of the wedding became public; the sole survivors were two horses.
- Paunch Burger, a local burger chain, known for their meat-filled sandwiches and absurd soft drink size choices.
- Sweetums Factory, a candy and junk food manufacturer owned by the wealthy Newport family
Reception
For example, Hillary Busis of Entertainment Weekly wrote:
Production
Despite Pawnee's Indiana setting, the show was mostly filmed in southern California. The exterior of the Pawnee government building, and several of the hallway scenes, were shot at Pasadena City Hall.For the maps of Pawnee in the show, the producers have used slightly modified maps of Christchurch, New Zealand and Muncie, Indiana.
Merchandise
Since the series' premiere, NBC has sold merchandise for the town of Pawnee. Shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, and other items were sold with the seal of Pawnee, as were shirts with Pawnee's slogan, "First in Friendship, Fourth in Obesity".In the episode "Born & Raised," Leslie writes a book about the town, titled Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America. After the episode aired, NBC released an actual eponymous book, filled with information about the fictional town. The author is listed as Leslie Knope, although it was actually written by show writer Nate DiMeo. In 2012, it was nominated for the Thurber Prize for American Humor.