Technically, there is no story progression in this game, which is why the non-active households don't do much on their own. At one point a patch was put in, so that they at least now have jobs. (Not sure why that would matter, but for some it was a welcome 'fix'.) You can always play with the option "Aging On for Active Household, only." That may work to keep your town from dying off. I'm having a similar problem. I'm playing Pinstar's Legacy Challenge, and per his rules we can ONLY play the Legacy household itself. I'm not sure if it's against the rules to change the aging as I stated above, but it would thwart my interests even so. I count on my heir-apparent meeting his spouse in grade school. If the rest of the town doesn't age up unless I'm playing them, and that's not allowed in this challenge, then his sweetie won't become a teen, nor a YA when I normally have the heir marry and start his family.
