I watched the the behind the scenes video on the show, and I think it answered some questions that keep coming up in the forum. Regarding the town of Mapleton, it is described as a small New York suburb, and the cast describes it many times as a "small town" so we are to assume it has a hamlet feel, but is not that far from New York city. This is common on the East coast, where small towns exist very close to major cities. Mapleton lost 100 people on 10/14, and that is a higher percentage for the town than the 2% worldwide.
Regarding the Guilty Remnant, the cult is described as a "new" cult just "starting to form" all over the world, so it is not local only to Mapleton and it has not been around for that long. The GR is described as non-crazy people/business people/parents who made a choice to join. Their premise is that life is over as they know it. There is no meaning in the way they used to live, and they will not offer distractions or allow people to carry on as if nothing happened. They want to remind people of what happened because there is peace in the truth, and everything else is utter nonsense. They judge people who want to return to their lives, and they want to provoke as much aggression and hatred as possible.
Holy Wayne is not considered "new," and is much more well known in this world. When the show starts, he is at the height of his powers and a fugitive.