Originally Posted by
unavaca
Cool. Is it possible to get one even if you don't live close to a border? San Francisco puts my right smack dab between Mexico and Canada
You can apply from anywhere, but the interview offices are all at the border or at major Canadian Airports. The thought is that as a (primarily) CDN-US card, you would be near one of those centres at some point.
My recommendation is to apply and once you receive your pre-clearance, look for a seat sale to one of the Canadian cities to coincide with an interview date. As a bonus you can explore a new city for a day or two.