Fowler Avenue is a quiet street in the middle-class suburb of Lynbrook, New York. Or at least it was until Frank and Marie Barone moved into number 319. With the uncharacteristic help and even more uncharacteristic generosity of Frank Barone, his second son Ray Barone was able to move into number 320, right across the street, with his wife Debra (who was pregnant with their twins), and oldest daughter Ally. At the time Debra was all for it, emphasizing the virtues of having grandparents living across the street who could be prevailed upon to help out with what would soon become a family of three kids. She also expressed a romantic hope that she could draw closer to her mother-in-law. Ray was the only one who foresaw disaster looming; he pointed out the whole point of living several miles away from his family was that they were, in fact, living several miles away from his family. Defeated, he decided to allow her to find out for herself.
Fowler Avenue is the setting for most of the action in the series. Nearby neighbors, the Parker family, feature a lot, as do other neighboring families who are ambivalent about having Frank and Marie on the street.