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What would you want in your perfect town/village/city?

I have been thinking about this, and I would want a bookshop that specialises in cozy fiction, a Chinese restaurant that does dim sum, and a historic watermill restored to working condition that grinds local flour.

Plus a whole bunch of other things on my list, but what’s on yours?

#conversation

#conversation
This entry was edited (Sunday, August 16, 2026, 6:22 AM)
in reply to Emma the Curious 🧐🏳️‍🌈

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JB 🐎

I’m ready to move into your town! Sounds heavenly!

I can imagine that attracting a fab independent baker. Maybe a nice coffee shop to go with that and the book reading.

Deffo would love a “green heart” to the centre of the place - a mix of nature and public space for a variety of uses. Maybe some wild edges. Some large areas of natural shade. Would likely need to be all artificially planted and designed, but would get better year on year as things mature. Could have fruit trees and things like that. Quiet areas. A little stream running through…

And some art being celebrated… somehow. Lots of kinds of art. Especially to help bring people together.

This entry was edited (Saturday, August 15, 2026, 8:05 AM)
in reply to JB 🐎

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Emma the Curious 🧐🏳️‍🌈

@AnAutieAtUni Oh yes, definitely a bakery mine sells excellent cinnamon buns, but it’s ok, because there’s lots of great countryside to roam through, including hills, a forest, lakes and at least one waterfall,

And a solar farm of panels that are raised up with a community garden underneath.

Oh, and I had an exhibition space that hosts travelling museum and art exhibitions, so you get a constant stream of interesting stuff.

@JB 🐎
in reply to Emma the Curious 🧐🏳️‍🌈

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Aethon

Forge, carpenters shop, cobbler, tailor/dressmaker, grocer, library.

The ability to source almost all your needs from people who you know and trust, and who can repair the things they made, is much under valued.

Specialisation does require concentration of resources (weaving, metal production etc) but close to home for common items is cool.

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DFX4509B (Joshua Mason)

I've actually drawn this already in a fictional setting, but things like an outdoor art space, a town pollinator garden, a nice place generally to hang out in, and parkettes among other things. Basically, what I think would be nice to have in a town is already depicted in the artwork I included in this reply, minus the anthro bunnies obviously because anthro animals are of course a fictional construct, but the stuff I'm depicting is the stuff that would also be nice in a real town.

Ooh, sliming booths scattered around town for friend or family photo traps would be fun too, as long as ponchos are supplied to protect people's clothes of course.

Of course things like never-ending art installations that the public is perpetually free to add to at will, like, say, a fence mural that can be constantly added to like I depicted in my outdoor art space drawing, would be nice as well.

'Hanging out Downtown' A group of bunnies are hanging out downtown as a tram rolls by. The yellow-green store in the middle is a record store because its storefront looks like an upside-down cassette tape, while the blue store to the right of it is an art supply store and the purple building to the left of it is something random. The street itself is paved with red bricks while the tram track is light blue. Do you want to go on a tram? This was drawn in oil pastel in a sketchbook and shot through a Lumix GF2 with a Vivitar Series 1 19-35mm f3.5-4.5 FD-mount zoom lens mounted to it.
'Fun at the Parkette' A pair of bunnies are playing at a parkette in the town center. The amenities shown range from a hopscotch grid made from stepping stones that kids in the community made over time, a dirt pit which had previously been played in, a flower bed, and a slide. Off screen are a swingset, an arts and crafts corner, a water play area, and a spigot and hose that kids can use to either water their flowers or turn the dirt pit into a mud pit at their leisure. There's also grass growing in around the stepping stones for the hopscotch grid. This was drawn in oil pastel in a sketchbook and shot through a Lumix GF2 with a Vivitar Series 1 19-35mm f3.5-4.5 FD-mount zoom lens mounted to it.
'Playing in the Outdoor Art Space' A group of bunnies are playing in the town art space. One of them is fingerpainting, another is throwing a pot on a portable pottery wheel, a third is making a construction paper collage, and a fourth is drawing on an easel. The fence is painted with various artwork that the town made over time and is meant as a continuous project that the community can add to at any time, and to the right is a purple art supply shed which had its foundation pad purposefully made bigger than the building itself for the community to sign with pawprints surrounding it. This was drawn in crayon in a sketchbook and shot through a Lumix GF2 with a Vivitar Series 1 19-35mm f3.5-4.5 FD-mount zoom lens mounted to it.
'Checking Out the Pollinator Garden' A brown lop bunny is checking out the town pollinator garden. To the left a white bunny is just vibin'. There are stepping stones the community made placed in the dirt, and some bees flying around, and part of the fence for the town's outdoor art space is in the background. This was painted in watercolors, acrylics, and watercolor crayons in a sketchbook and shot through a Lumix GF2 with a Vivitar Series 1 19-35mm f3.5-4.5 FD-mount zoom lens mounted to it.
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Idle Stories

My perfect city would be pedestrian-first, not car-first. Walkable not just in distance but also infrastructure: shaded paths and few crossings. Where children can walk to schools by themselves and stop at a park, playground or ice cream kiosk on their way back. Public transport and local shops. Libraries and maker spaces...
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Ash O'Kesta

I want a manifestation of a Buy-Nothing swap shop. Like Goodwill, but for free to take or use, or just borrow as needed. A Makerspace to repair things and build and restore. A café for gathering, attached to a well-funed library. Public art in as many forms as possible. Flowers and free, clean water.
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