Me again, I've found some kind of solution.
I only just started having this problem (not being able to edit town/move etc after attempting to adopt a pet via the phone).
After trying everything, including trying to kill and reset sims, quit the game etc, the only way I could carry on with my game without losing any of the neighborhood was to use the cheat "moveobjects on" and delete the Sims in the household. The house then becomes inactive and you are able to click on Edit Town. I just decided to leave that family and play with a previous one in that neighborhood.
This may only help some of you. I realise some might have only just started the game, leaving you with no other families to play on.
I've literally only just done this so for now I don't really have many answers other than this. Hope this helps anyway.
Also, EA are useless for answering questions.