Forum sub-boards?

[Thalia]

My only problem with downtown, midtown etc is that you still have to figure out which board a place is in. Though there's no reason a pinned post with a description and list of popular locations wouldn't work. Downtown is an Americanism, if that matters (it might not). I had to google exactly what you meant.

I quite like option 4, or at least a personal residences one somewhere

Admittedly, when I'm looking for a thread, I go through my char profile and look for their last post lol. I rarely navigate through the boards, and only need to use the different forums when figuring out where to post something.