a 'good' or 'bad' map are all subject to interpretation. how do you like traveling around your town, are you able to work around rocks / lakes or would you rather just have less? does shape of grass matter to you or type of fruit, or would you rather have great starting villagers instead.
'good' or 'bad' are always preferences. there is no real 'better' or 'worse' map.
i like looking for open space and a river that isn't really curvy. i try to find straight rivers and open space for me to do things with villagers and PWPs. it's also nice having retail close to the train station so that it's close to main street and train station if you plan to do trades/sell villagers/turnips. the lake placement is important too bc you don't want it blocking your paths. it's really all preference though.
people seem to like maps that have 1 pond (the one thats near retail) and as few rocks as possible. small strips of land are bad and everybody hates on pears. plazas in the middle and no private beaches are favored.
I have one long beach and then a tiny little part of it cut off, I like it since I can just bury the pitfall seed there and no one can fall into it haha
I like mine because it has few ponds (1-3, I can't remember) and you can connect Main St. to the Plaza to the Dock in a straight line. Re-Tail is very close to the train station and town hall is up out of the way, as well. Basically everything I was looking for as I reset. :3
I did really want a vertical river end, to get a waterfall that faces the camera, but this layout is good enough without that. I also got apples as my main fruit, which is pretty nice!
A good map is what you make of it. I don't like plazas that are immediately off the train station though usually. My first town had one and it bothered me.
What makes a good or bad map is pretty subjective so it just depends on your personal tastes. For me, I like having a lot of secret places so that means little strips of land for PWPs and little islands. I'm not picky though so I just chose the first map I got and I'm happy with it.
Personally, I like having a large lake in the river that's centered, and I hate when the the river deposits into a waterfall if there's a little sliver of beach. Also I like long beaches so I don't have to check 2 different beaches.
The only things I personally look for in a map is an interesting river shape (I got one that's like a little staircase, I think it's so cool) and no more than two ponds as they do take up quite a bit of space (although I have 3 in mine lol). I don't mind what fruit I have (although I do hate pears irl), what grass I have, or whether my waterfall is facing south, north or upside down and inside out. Like previous posters have said, a town is what you make of it. You could find the 'perfect' map with all the apples and blue roof-train stations you like, but unless you're willing to put in the time and effort and be creative, you'll always be unsatisfied with your town. No you personally, though, I mean the 'royal' you