as long as one is relying on build-menu buildings, only the most effective buildings of their class should be built, e.g.

particularly decorations shouldn’t be built, those eat up all the aids which are far more effective on supply or at least cultural buildings.all buildings you can build via the build-menu(except barracks and RQ-supply buildings like Alchemist) are bad and should gradually be replaced with event- and great buildings.Layout advice threads are still fine and not banned. It would be great if everyone here would share some of their top tips/best advice in the comments so that we can make this thread a great resource for people looking for help with their layouts! (The only real downside is that the site/app is currently built using Flash which means it doesn't work on mobile.) It's also great for figuring out how to get around impediments in your Japan/Viking settlements. It's amazing and I have almost as much fun messing around in that as I do in the game itself. Drag, drop, delete, add buildings you don't yet have, etc. It lets you import your city and mess around with the best layouts in a really convenient way.

My best advice: Check out the free and awesome FoE City Planner tool. The advice is almost always the same, so I figured it might be helpful to some if we created a thread with the best general tips that these people might find helpful. I've noticed that some of the most common threads here are from people looking for advice on how to maximize their city by optimizing its layout.

Forge empire city planner