City is flat and cold in the beginning (9)
I believe the answer is:
cleveland
'cold in the beginning' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'city is flat and' is the wordplay.
'city' becomes 'c' (this might be a standard abbreviation which I don't know about).
'is flat' becomes 'level' (synonyms).
'c'+'level'+'and'='CLEVELAND'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cleveland that I've seen before include "Northeast English county, created 1974" , "Ohio city on Lake Erie" , "Old county" , "Ohio's largest city" , "US President?" .)