Ask the readers: why urban fantasy?

My second favourite blog has an Ask the Readers post once a month. As I only post twice a month this isn't going to be anywhere near so regular. However, today is a great day to start an ask the reader discussion (mostly because I forgot it was my blog posting day - where has the past fortnight gone?)

So, I figured I'd start with: why urban fantasy?

Why do you like urban fantasy, and if you prefer it to other types of fantasy, what in your mind makes it seem better?

In My Opinion:

I enjoy epic fantasy (I like the Wheel of Time, for example) and I enjoy comic fantasy (big Terry Pratchett fan) but I do seem to set urban fantasy above them. I love the Dresden Files, for example.

It could be that because not everything is made up, it becomes somewhat easier to relate to, and I can connect to it on more levels. It could be because the hero can often be any Jack or Jim (or Jane) off the street, (I think part of the Harry Potter appeal was that any of the readers could have been Hermione, the greatest witch of her generation) I can more easily picture myself as the hero (you do that, right? Please, if you do, admit to doing it in the comments, or I'm going to look really, really weird).

Most likely, it is a combination of both.

Over to you:

My last post had 12 comments. So today's challenge is to beat that. Come on, let's get a real discussion going. Is urban fantasy your favourite? Why is it /not your favourite?

Tell us all...