• The filming began on locations in Culver City and Burbank / California.
• The school scenes were filmed at John Muir Junior High [seasons 1 & season 2], then at William Burroughs Highschool and later at Culver City Highschool.  See newspaper article.
• In Episode 26 (Wayne on Wheels), the exterior shots of the shopping mall were filmed at the Stonewood Shopping Center in Downey, CA.  See note by John Hughes.
• Episode 93 (Broken Hearts and Burgers) was filmed at "Smokey Joe's" in Studio City, CA.
• The Ice Cream Store scene of episode 102 (The Test) was filmed at "Swensons Ice Cream" place in Studio City, CA.

But many people asked where the writers wanted "The Wonder Years" to happen.

In my personal opinion, the series could have taken place in almost any American suburb. And this can be very well the intended message, that the atmosphere and the stories could have happened anywhere in the U. S.  Many people of that generation can therefore identify with Kevin and his time.  This opinion is supported by the fact that neither the name of Kevin's home town nor even the state was mentioned through the whole series.

However, there is stronger evidence of a location in California than of a location anywhere else, all of this perhaps gotten into the show by accident.

• In episode 26, "Wayne on Wheels," Wayne opens a letter with his driver's license and the letter says

Wayne J. Arnold
86 ...den Place
Culver City  Ca. 90230
Parts of the street and city, shown in red here, are obscured by Wayne's thumb but 90230 equates to Culver City, CA according to the US Postal zip code directory. The actual address was that of the Wonder Years production office located at 8635 Hayden Place, Culver City, CA 90230.
• In episode 30, Jack Arnold's car has California license plates.
• In episode 68, Kevin's car has California license plates.
• Episode 37... It is supposed to be St. Valentines' Day in New York state, but the grass is green and the background vegetation wouldn't survive a New York winter.
• In episode 89, "The Lost Weekend," Chuck shows a fake ID in the liquorstore. The licence says: "Richard Piedmont. 303 Grant Av. Culver City, IA 02266. Valid from /1/71-1/1/72." The zip code is actually Boston, Massachussetts - not IA ="Iowa" and Culver City is in California with zip codes 90230-90233.
• In episode 46, Kevin compares Winnie's moving four miles accross town to moving from New York to Paris.  And in the final episode she does go away to Paris, could this be some foreshadowing here?  If so, this says that Kevin does live in New York.  But later in the episode, Craig Hobson says that all the guys at Lincoln surf.  Where would one surf, NY, or CA?  This clue points to California.
• In episode 105, Kevin is shown being introduced to Alice's father at his car dealership. If you look closely in the background of this scene, you can see the rose logo of "The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade" on the door of the business. This makes it a sure thing that "The Wonder Years" takes place in California...maybe Pasadena.
• In episode 106, Kevin mentions specifically the town of Hinkley. There is a town of this name outside of Los Angeles on the way to Las Vegas. It is conceivably close to Los Angeles for a nighttime journey.

• In episode 62, the small town of Hillsdale is mentioned. This could be Hillsdale close to San Diego, CA.  It is only 140 miles from Culver City where the Arnolds live (see episode 26). The highway then would be route 8.  But there is also a small town named Hillsdale close to San Francisco which does not fit the vegetation and is much farther away. No Hillsdale in the East would fit.
• The team of the New York Jets is mentioned in episode 112. However, we have already learnt from episode 17, that Kevin has never been to a Jets game, although wearing a Jets jacket.
• In episode 12, when Mr. Cantwell was showing a slideshow about earthquakes, Kevin raises his hand and says "That couldn't happen here, could it?" and then Cantwell does not say "YES".  Now you would think that by age 12 that they would know that such a disaster could strike, and if he didn't, wouldn't you think that Mr. Cantwell would say yes?
• In the same episode 62, upon consulting a map, Jack thinks "they are near Loudonville."  Later in the episode, Kevin mentions Route 22B. In the Rand McNally Trip Maker there are three Loudonvilles; New York, Ohio and West Virginia.  One Loudonville, NY is a suburb of Albany.  And just to the west is Route 22 (parallel to the NY border with CT, MA, VT).  This fits the Eastern concept.
• In episode 24, "Summer Song", Kevin's flirt Teri is from Albuqerque, which would seem to put it on the West although New Mexico is far from California. However, in the same episode Winnie was on vacation with her mum in Maine. The family vacation was mentioned to be in Ocean City. There are two more Ocean Cities in the US, one in Florida and the other in Washington State, both being far away from the the locations discussed here.
• In episode 92, "Back to the Lake", Paul tells Kevin to go down I-91.  I-91 is in the northeastern U.S.  It goes through Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut--all of which are 2000 miles away from California, the state that issued Wayne his driver's license. There is also an SR-91 south of Los Angeles which goes from Riverside, CA, to the beach.  It is called Beach Freeway in the western and Riverside Freeway in the eastern part.  It is about 60 miles long. Putting the letter 'I' before an interstate number is a western idiom. If Paul and Kevin were easterners on their way to scope out RISD, Yale or Amherst, they might have travelled "The 91" or "91" but not likely "I-91".

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