A specific Normative Location Theory procedure, called hyperbolic approximation (HAP), is suggested as a possible "new" initial-configuration strategy for multidimensional scaling in the city-block metric. First, the performance of this strategy was investigated using fourteen simulated data sets. Second, the scaling in Euclidean space of actual data that have underlying city-block structure was explored. Although HAP is comparable to existing procedures for generating initial configurations for multidimensional scaling, the scaling results of the simulated data reverified that the city-block metric is prone to local minima. The conflicting results within the second investigation suggest that further study is needed. (Author)