Neighborhood Stories makes the game virtually unplayable.

I feel the same. For a while I had it turned on and didn't realise, when I got dream home decorator I'd go to do a job and find 7 people living in the tiniest apartments. Not only did it not make sense, it meant you had to speak to every single one of them to complete a job. The notifications though are so frustrating, you can mute the phone so you don't hear the noise but you still have to see the pop up. I wish you could block sims from calling!