Dilemma: So when I started the game I decided that I didn’t want to restart over and over to see different layouts and that I would just choose from the first 4 that were offered. I feel as though I got a pretty good one and I was happy with my choice. However, the more I play the game and the more my island is developing, I have different ideas for my island and I’m unsure of what to do. I’ve spent a good bit of bells moving houses and such but now I’m regretting my placement. I’m also having this feeling of hopelessness that my island won’t be able to be the perfect vision I have in my head due to my layout. Part of me thinks that maybe starting over would be best but also that’s soooo much work that I would be losing and I’m so invested in my current island. In order to get what I want though, I would need to redo my entire island through terraforming and moving buildings. That amount of work and bells is so overwhelming to me, even though I know it’s just a game. Sorry for the long post but I just need some advice/tips on what to do! What do you think? Please help

I kinda had the same problem because I didn’t knew that the river mouths and the plaza are stuck to their position. Since I don’t TT I just went with it and spend some time thinking about a design that would fit. I’m actually very happy with my current town now.

I think the main things you should consider and/ or try are;
-Do you TT? (If you do you’re easier to go with a restart)
-Do you consider achievements important and do you have a lot of achievements that takes specific work?
-Can you make your current layout into something you would like? (There are some online map making tools, so you can design before you actually make it)

If you’re stuck to a single specific design as perfect town you’re most likely better of restarting.

Kelvin, thanks for the reply! Good to know I'm not the only one. To answer your questions:
I don't TT either so I really don't want to restart. I do consider my achievements important and I have worked on alot of them. I do actually like where my plaza and river mouths are, it's just to figure out my river. I initially liked the design but now I'm finding I don't have enough land to do what I want. I did try to decrease the amount of river but I'm still unsure about what I have going. Did you use an online map tool? if so, which one? I've never used one before

It sounds like you’re best of just making adjustments rather than restarting all over.
Try Happy Island Designer by GitHub to play around designing a map you like. Don’t waste hours on it to get the exact looks of your town in each square (A1, A2, A3, ...), just get something similar and expand to see if you feel it’s nice or bad. I made a sketch in 1 minute of my town and played around with heights and rivers. Keep the houses and shops in mind though.
If you’re talking about missing like 2-3 lines of squares somewhere you might want to invite a friend over to see if he/she can think of something.

when I started terraforming my town it felt like such a huge daunting task, and as I was doing it I felt like I was ruining my town! I pushed through it though because I'm stubborn, and now I'm starting to get to a point where I'm liking what I've done

I think my big advice tips would be:
1) break it down into smaller, more manageable areas so you don't get overwhelmed
2) don't worry about your town being ugly while it's still a work in progress. that's just part of the process
3) don't make any of your ideas too precious and don't be afraid to scrap work you've done. one of the biggest pitfalls I see people fall into all the time both in AC and art in general is that they won't give up on things that aren't working. instead, use it as a way to find a new creative solution. you might like what you come up with better than your original plan

Be resourceful! Chiyoko nailed it with suggestion #3 - use creativity to come up with a new solution! Use the possibilities/limits of your current design and come up with something even better. You could even get input from others in the form of suggestions so you can 'get out of your own head.' Curious how it comes out!

Have you unlocked terraforming? Outside of the river mouths, I'm not particularly sure there is anything else you're incapable of editing! Get your town to three stars and unlock terraforming, then see if being able to customize the land and sea might help your uncertainty! There are several online tools available to help give you an idea to craft the perfect island!!