This is all new to me, and I don't have CAW, so I am limited on what I can do.
The main thing that I find frustrating is when I create the town I like and start a new game, I will get the default one. Not the one that I want.
How I want and hope to set it up is in MF, my favorite town. I don't want the buildings I add or use to replace the default ones to be so out of place it change the feel of the town.
Most small towns, villages, have a main street that has the businesses on it; the grocery store, bookstore, spa if they have one (usually just a beauty parlor though) a upscale (fancy) and casual dinning close to the movie theater.
Military are usually in larger areas, not in a small town, but for the game, the careers, I think it needs more than an office in the City Hall; there you would find the recuiting offices for all the branches.
So a military base is needed for the game.
I want to get rid of the ugly rabbit hole businesses and place on the same area as City Hall and the Park the different buinesses. In another area I would place a small diner, such as the one in SV as residents outside the town main area, maybe near the baseball field so those who don't want to travel to town can find a place to eat at. The criminal headquarters, to me the saloon from AP would fit in nice, placed outside of town in a remote location it would fit in.
I don't have the late night, or other type of expansions, just Pets, WA, and Seasons, and RV from the download from EA, but they give me what I see fits into a village, some of those would just not fit.
The same with RV, there are some that I like but some that are a waste of space.