How do you build your city?

[Vikingstål]

An easy question; Do you build your city close to the town center in early game and then move the buildnings around for better layout, or do you just keep expanding and never move any buildnings around for a more "organic" city?

[MedeaFleecestealer]

I never move stuff around myself. TC gives some desirability as it goes up so always worth having it near your housing.

[MustangMR]

I have a general layout I usually follow, though the direction things grow in will differ depending on terrain. I start with housing on the best side to grow housing into and start laying down roads and houses in that area, sacrificing a lot of the town center bonus for houses around the town center. Then I start an industry section a ways away from any houses with the firewood maker and grow industry in that direction. Then I fill in with the rest of the buildings which are often industry buildings that don't decrease desirability like the cobbler. And then farms are usually a fair distance away but closer to the housing sections, but it depends. Barns, windmills, etc... will be on the other side of the farms. Later on I build the vaults, forges and a storage house near the town center that will be the center of my defenses with walls around all of that and towers to defend all the gold.

Gets a little boring, to be honest. Need to think of some variations on that theme to keep it interesting.

[Falsted]

Yeah, I typically build a road right around my TC at the start of the game (box in the TC with the road), and then save a 5 tiles radius around the TC for storage buildings and root cellars. I then later wall that whole initial area in (inner keep :P) so the main storage areas are protected by the TC and towers inside, then I build out from there with housing on whichever side makes sense etc, with housing going in one direction, and industry in the other.

[Vikingstål]

My next map, I'm planning on leaving a big patch infront of the city center unbuilt so i can build a town square and have tier 3 statue right infront of it, among other things. but also have the tradingpost and market right next to town sqaure to get the right feel.

[Wish Bear]

i plan my city long before i build it....i check where resources are...where fertile land is....then i build my city....i always like to have my city edge butted up against my farmland and the industry on the opposite side of the planned city.....i usually plan my cities to be at least 2-5 market's large....and plan my layout about the same as in the guide here on steam ;)

most of the planning is based on pathing and walking distance.

[Flavalicious]

I free style but I always leave some blank space between the houses so I can add in decorations for desirability later on.

[maddwarf]

I build cities pretty erratically, kinda how I think they'd grow naturally. I try to keep an industrial area to avoid bringing desirability down, but I have no qualms with dropping a neutral desirability building (ie cobbler) right in the midst of housing. I put nightsoil collectors somewhere between housing and farms. Mine may not be the most efficient layouts, but they appeal to me.

[Porky]

i come up with a vague idea of how I want to start, and then adapt as i grow- i move everything eventually until I get it all just how I want it, and then move it all again :P I'm a terrafroming addict, not so much the super fort death trap, but using the terrain both as defense and to make laborer travel time more efficent- current map of 600 pop, i've moved my town center twice and the beginning market 3 times :P The second market expansion to get to tier 4 was pretty stable and thought out for insudustry, but im about to start a third expansion to claim more teritory and fully lock down 1/4 of the map. Thanks for asking, interesting to see how others play.

[gardengirl712]

I move things around ALL THE TIMES! Sometimes multiple times if I find I didn't like the last move decision. LOL