What do you look for in a good town layout?

[TangledBowties]

So, there is probably a thread out there about this already, but I'm thinking about restarting my town.
They layout I have now if just all over the place and I can't seem to figure out how I want to landscape ect. So if I do restart I'll need to find a good layout.
What do you guys look for in a good layout? (I need some ideas :/)

 

[Nayab]

Hmm. I like to have a few divided areas for separate "zones". You saw my town yesterday, though I don't know how well you'd remember it On the east side of my village, I have the Town Hall at the center of the northmost tip of a large land area. I made this area into a "civic district" with the police station, a player home as a "recreational center" and the town plaze in the south. I then have a narrowish strip of land on the south with the majority of my animal houses, which I've lovingly dubbed "Animaltown", with my house on a little peninsula west of Animaltown, somewhat isolated from the animal villagers to reflect my importance!

In the center of my village I have a relatively large "field" with my fruit orchard. I treat this area sort of like farmland (headed by grouchy Farmer Cyrano, who lives in the southwest near the bridge to Animaltown) but I'll probably end up making a public park in the northern section of the field. A very narrow strip in the northeast that I've made into a camping ground (Campsite, Camping Cot, and Picnic Blanket when I finally unlock it). In the northwest I have my sister's house, Re-Tail, the Roost is being built, and one animal house.

Basically, I like having several areas I can make into these "zones" so my town has several districts.

 

[TangledBowties]

Hmm. I like to have a few divided areas for separate "zones". You saw my town yesterday, though I don't know how well you'd remember it On the east side of my village, I have the Town Hall at the center of the northmost tip of a large land area. I made this area into a "civic district" with the police station, a player home as a "recreational center" and the town plaze in the south. I then have a narrowish strip of land on the south with the majority of my animal houses, which I've lovingly dubbed "Animaltown", with my house on a little peninsula west of Animaltown, somewhat isolated from the animal villagers to reflect my importance!

In the center of my village I have a relatively large "field" with my fruit orchard. I treat this area sort of like farmland (headed by grouchy Farmer Cyrano, who lives in the southwest near the bridge to Animaltown) but I'll probably end up making a public park in the northern section of the field. A very narrow strip in the northeast that I've made into a camping ground (Campsite, Camping Cot, and Picnic Blanket when I finally unlock it). In the northwest I have my sister's house, Re-Tail, the Roost is being built, and one animal house.

Basically, I like having several areas I can make into these "zones" so my town has several districts.

Interesting idea. I really like your setup.

 

[Adaberny]

If it's crowded it won't work for me. I've had 2 previous towns (plus the fact that I am perfectionist to extremes) and as soon as a space started looking crowded and stuffed I lost all interest with the town

 

[TangledBowties]

If it's crowded it won't work for me. I've had 2 previous towns (plus the fact that I am perfectionist to extremes) and as soon as a space started looking crowded and stuffed I lost all interest with the town

Thanks for the input!

 

[glow]

I like having a "plaza" area with the tree nearby townhall & not too far from retail. I really hate ponds (my other town has 4 -__-) my town has 3 and it rly takes away precious pwp space. I'm quite particular about villagers houses, I want them all to line up (preferably by animal type) and I like my house to kind of be central to everything else. oh and I like putting the campsite by the beach C:

 

[TangledBowties]

I like having a "plaza" area with the tree nearby townhall & not too far from retail. I really hate ponds (my other town has 4 -__-) my town has 3 and it rly takes away precious pwp space. I'm quite particular about villagers houses, I want them all to line up (preferably by animal type) and I like my house to kind of be central to everything else. oh and I like putting the campsite by the beach C:

Yeah, I get that whole pond thing, my current town has three and they're all in weird spots. I've never really tried plot resetting because it seems like it would take a long time to get them in the right spot. But maybe I'll have to give it a try this time around.

 

[visibleghost]

the river shouldn't be too big. not too many ponds (one or two is fine)
re-tail, plaza and the town hall shouldn't be in weird positions. ye.

I don't like to have too many permanent rocks, but when I got my second town I reset the map for a while and got a really good one, but it has like a ridiculous amount of rocks! I liked it though so I kept it, and now I just have to work around it.

I think if you have an idea of what you want with certain PWP areas (campsite area, playground etc.) it will get a lot easier. good luck :>

 

[TangledBowties]

Thanks!

 

[heartdrops]

I prefer a river that takes up less space, kind of in the center of the map so there aren't any narrow strips of land. I wanted one long beach to make fishing easier. Re-Tail by the dock for convenience, although this one isn't a deal breaker and I like a semi secluded area by the beach side waterfall to plot my house down. And less than 3 ponds with none being by the town tree and train station. I'm kind of picky. :x

 

[TangledBowties]

Yeah, I understand the river thing. My river currently has a small strip of land off to the right and one of my villagers decided to move right in there taking up all the space. XD

 

[RoseNitemare]

I feel that what I look for always changes, but I think I've narrowed it down a little.

~I like having a 'town square' sort of area, so having the town hall, the tree, and retail close together is nice. brownie points if they're near the station. i usually also put the cafe and police station near there.
~I sometimes like big open spaces if I already know what to do with the area. if I don't have any plans for it, then I just end up getting lost in all the space and never know how to divide it up into sections or whathaveyou.
~lots of ponds can be great if you love water, but they do take up space. they're really nice if you put your house near them though and make really pretty garden additions. Having two of them close together can be really pretty too.
~I like having an upward 'peninsula'. I usually put my house up there so that I have my own private little space. another option is an upside-down 'U' in the river. Just somewhere that I can put my home.

other times i like just picking something that 'looks good' and challenging myself with figuring out what to do with what I have.

 

[Shinylatias]

I normally look for the town hall next to the event plaza, with a smaller river for the residents to live on the other side of. Then I have that big, wide, open space for landscaping.

 

[TangledBowties]

I feel that what I look for always changes, but I think I've narrowed it down a little.

~I like having a 'town square' sort of area, so having the town hall, the tree, and retail close together is nice. brownie points if they're near the station. i usually also put the cafe and police station near there.
~I sometimes like big open spaces if I already know what to do with the area. if I don't have any plans for it, then I just end up getting lost in all the space and never know how to divide it up into sections or whathaveyou.
~lots of ponds can be great if you love water, but they do take up space. they're really nice if you put your house near them though and make really pretty garden additions. Having two of them close together can be really pretty too.
~I like having an upward 'peninsula'. I usually put my house up there so that I have my own private little space. another option is an upside-down 'U' in the river. Just somewhere that I can put my home.

other times i like just picking something that 'looks good' and challenging myself with figuring out what to do with what I have.

Great ideas!

- - - Post Merge - - -

I normally look for the town hall next to the event plaza, with a smaller river for the residents to live on the other side of. Then I have that big, wide, open space for landscaping.

Thank you!

 

[happymayor]

The only thing that REALLY bothers me is when there is a big strip of beach that you can't get to without swimming to it! It's so inconvenient!

 

[fuzzynumber9]

My first town had retail up near the gate and I got used to it and I've tried to have towns where retail is elsewhere and I just can't live like that so retail being up next to my gate without any ponds or anything between them is an absolute requirement.
The rest is very dependent on my plans for the town. Usually I like town hall and plaza to be near each other, and I really don't like isolated beaches so out of five towns I have only one has that little mini beach with no ramp. I prefer a vertical lower ramp but I tend to settle for a horizontal one if everything else is where I want it to be.
I consider the flow of the map, I use paths so I look to see how well I can connect the gate area to my beach ramps, are there distinct areas that could end up being "dead zones" that I'll have to force myself to visit? (Like because of town hall or awkward pond placement).
I usually pick maps with minimally curved rivers because I like more open space to work with, and I really don't like the rivers that double back on themselves horizontally, I just don't like the way they look for some reason.
I also prefer a river that empties to the south, but it's not something I will reject an otherwise good map over.
Once I pick a map I'll run around before I settle on it to make sure the rocks don't seem too prohibitive, and because I play a bunch of towns I had fruit preferences, I worked it out so I have a town with each fruit, though if I played fewer towns that would be less of a deal breaker.

 

[RainCrossing]

These are what I resettled for! Ignore the m's, it's just what I achieved in my new town (◜◡◝).
Layout - big land m
Circle grass m
Apples m
Green or brown train station m
Any but blue town hall m
Town Hall perfectly below the plaza m
South facing waterfall m

 

[Athelwyn]

-the fewer ponds and rocks, the better
-Re-Tail close to the train station, and Town Hall nearby as well, so the ugly yet necessary buildings are clustered together and I can use the rest of the real estate for things I choose
-a distinct nook for my mayor's house
-I love a south-facing waterfall
-the town tree/plaza not against a cliff edge or mountain wall! It is this way in my main town of Ruddyoak, and it drives me nuts! I can only plant trees or bushes around three sides of the tree, and I feel like it looks sloppy that way.

*Oh! And I love when a town has a private beach. It's especially fun when someone leaves something cool on their private beach in a dream town, and provides a wetsuit for the dreamer.

 

[nerdatheart9490]

This isn't my town, but it's my favorite map. A huge beach, and the river bends to make that "U" shape in the middle. I always put two bridges on opposite sides with a fountain in the middle. It makes a nice little park area.

 

[Soot Sprite]

Hmm well I like Re-Tail to be by the Train Station, and the Town Hall and Plaza to be next to each other on the top half of the map... I'm picky, and want all my villager houses to be on the lower half with a river pretty much dividing the top and lower half xD