What's your take on 'Urban Fantasy'?

"W Franklin Ave" by Me

What's your take on 'Urban Fantasy'? is a question that is being posed on Graeme's Fantasy Book Review.

Here is my take on the subject. Urban Fantasy in my mind is the result of taking High Fantasy elements and transporting them into a city setting. Much of what is categorized as Urban Fantasy today also happens to be modern. This means that the urban setting is today or some range of 1985 to the present or near present future.

However, to me, Urban Fantasy need not take place in the modern or real world. The only requisites necessary are, that the story take place in a city or urban area, and that some of the Fantasy elements are used (Magic, Questing, classic D&D races, a struggle between good and evil, to name only a few).

Some of my favorite recently read modern examples of Urban Fantasy:
The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams
From a Whisper to a Scream (Key Books) by Charles de Lint
Looking for Jake: Stories by China Mieville
War for the Oaks: A Novel by Emma Bull

Dork Alert! – I’m a very big fan of Modern D&D. I don’t get to play very often because of the popularity of the original. My only complaint with the Modern D&D system is guns. On the flipside, I love that a character can shop for weapons at Home Depot and Ace Hardware for a Mastercraft sledgehammer, crowbar, or my personal favorite the Fubar (however, I would have to spend a exotic weapon feat to use it). End Dork Alert!

What I don’t like is that modern Urban Fantasy has become haunted with vampires, werewolves, and tattooed emo Barbies with super powers (yet I love tattoos, I’m a strange complex person).

For other opinions see: What's your take on 'Urban Fantasy'? or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Fantasy.

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review, this was a great prompt! Thank you!

NaBloPoMo