I 'gave-up' and started farming...

I think both ways can work. I personally do not like the farming look of all the houses smashed together for miles on end, but to each their own, this said I do have duplicate buildings, as I was building I realized, wait, this is city, why would there only be ten houses. So I built some communities, but they all have their yards, no houses of the same type next to one another and so on, I also decided in so many cities you do not have just one fast food restaurant, but I space those out as if in a real city.

Again, it is a game you play. You have to do what you have to do to enjoy it