I'm not overly satisfied with Sunset Valley's layout, and I can't download Riverview. Are we ever going to be given blank maps/templates, or are we stuck?

Ohh, I believe we will. In time, young one, in tme.

You can change the layout of the town by going to Edit Town under "..."

The way the game is programmed, I don't think we'll ever be able to create custom maps. Because the amount of time put into their creation is exponential... Collectables have to be placed, along with trees, areas for random events, different jobs shops and restaurants. It's the same reason we can't see inside the community buildings. The game is already taking a lot of power to grow the entire neighborhood up. I think that's another reason there's a set number of lots in each neighborhood. Because the game can only handle so many sims at once.

But at the same time, not being able to edit the neighborhood is like a step back all the way to Sims 1... Boo.