<P> Arnold lives with his eccentric but loving paternal grandparents, Phil (Dan Castellaneta) and Gertrude (Tress MacNeille), proprietors of the Sunset Arms boarding house, in the fictional city of Hillwood . In each episode, he often helps a schoolmate or boarding home tenant solve a personal problem, or encounters a predicament of his own . Many episodes involve urban legends usually told by Gerald, such as superheroes or headless horsemen . </P> <P> Other characters include students and faculty at P.S. 118, Arnold's school, and citizens of Hillwood . Certain episodes focus on the lives of supporting characters, such as the tenants of the boarding house that Arnold's grandparents own . </P> <P> Hey Arnold! takes place in the fictional American city of Hillwood . While its geographic location is never revealed outright, some episodes suggest that the city is located in Washington State . Bartlett described the city as "an amalgam of large northern cities I have loved, including Seattle (my hometown), Portland (where I went to art school) and Brooklyn (the bridge, the brownstones, the subway)". Bartlett, having grown up in Seattle, based many of the show's events on his own experience growing up in the city . Evan Levine of the Houston Chronicle commented on the series' "backdrop of dark streets, nighttime adventures and rundown buildings, all seen from a child's point of view". </P> <P> Animator Craig Bartlett graduated from Anacortes High School and obtained a degree in communications from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington . During high school and college, he studied painting and sculpture at the Museum Art School in Portland, and his first job after college was at Will Vinton Productions, a claymation house . Originally, Bartlett intended to become a painter "in the 19th - century sense", but he became interested in animation during a trip to Italy . </P>

Where is hey arnold supposed to take place