Huh, I had no idea that having them all in one place would force them to stick there. I was planning on doing a one neighborhood thing, but now I think I’ll have them spread out all over my island. Thanks for alerting me for this.
I have 2 neighborhoods on my island, divided 6 and 4, in the central part. I live up in the top corner on my own. RS, the shops, and museum are nearest the airport.
Yes, they hang around their houses, but they also wander to all the corners of the island. As mentioned, they do like the paths, but I see them in my open areas quite often.
I had originally planned a neighborhood also since I saw a lot of people doing that, but I ended up spreading out all my villagers across the map - not specifically for the reason I don't want them congregating in one area, but I use their houses as decoration as well, ie. Merengue's home exterior is an outdoor cafe, Blanche's is in a Japanese rock garden, Dom's cabin is in the forest surrounded by trees and mushroom furniture, etc. I think it brings a lot more charm to my island and I'm glad I did it this way, personally! And it's an added bonus they all seem to wander all over the island rather than just their own little neighborhood.
My island has several biomes, and I placed villager houses in the biomes that fit them. For example, Ankha and Lucky live in the Desert, while Coco and Tangy live in the Jungle.
From my experience, villagers tend to hover around their homes, or the RS plaza (or, for some reason, a certain stretch of beach that they tend to wander towards). I've had time where they've wandered far from their homes (once I even caught Julian on my secret beach!) but it's very rare.
The way I opted to set up my island keeps my island lively, though. It wasn't the main reason I set up my island like I have (Personally, I just really dislike the look of having all homes in one area) but it's a nice bonus. Basically, I set up small "neighborhoods" across my island, usually with 2 houses a piece, though a few villagers live by themselves (I have a small beach area that's somewhat cut off from the rest of my island where I usually have one house). This means, when running around, I'll usually run into villagers in most areas on my island. The ones I DON'T usually see them in make sense- I rarely see them by my meteor crash site, for example, or deeper in my forest. I also have my main area around the RS plaza (and, because of how my island is laid out, the airport entrance) with the shops and, just north of them, the museum (and I'll probably do an amusement park past that, once the update/DLC is out...). This means my villagers often wander near the shops and the museum. Again, it wasn't intended, but it ended up being perfect because my villagers hang around the areas that make sense and seem convenient, while only occasionally visiting the more rural areas. My actual goal is spreading them out was a more aesthetically pleasing (to me) design that reminded me of older AC games, where villagers move where they like and you just need to work around them. They were usually pretty spread out, or occasionally with a neighbor or two, in those areas.
It's changed a bit since I've uploaded it, but my DA can give you an idea of how I've set things up, if that might help. OBVIOUSLY I'm not saying you must set your island up exactly like mine, but maybe it can give you some ideas?
Putting this in a spoiler since my post is probably too long already, lol. IDK if this will help, but I figured I'd post where my homes are, and where the owners tend to hang out. So, here are my current "neighborhoods" and solo homes. First, solos-
-Purrl lives in the "luxury" spot that features a makeshift "moat" w/ bridge and has a large yard. It has easy access to the beach and isn't too far from the plaza/shops. She tends to wander her yard, the beach near her home, and towards the plaza/shops (the area between her home and the plaza is set up as a fair area that changes seasonally).
-Lopez lives on the isolated "islet" where he has a private beach and a good-sized yard. He usually can be found near the museum, south of his home, or the shops, south of the museum. He occasionally hangs out in his yard or the plaza.
-Marty lives by the main beach and sort of in the fair area, to the west of my plaza/shops. He usually can be found wondering the fairgrounds and near the plaza/shops. Sometimes he wanders past the shops to the museum, and sometimes he wanders east of his home, where Purrl lives.
-Peggy lives just behind the fairgrounds, behind a farmer's market, and in front of my orchard. She has a farm that features a "yard" that looks like an overgrown field (she can't focus fully on her farm, after all, because she has other dreams as well). She can sometimes be found in her yard, but usually wanders south, across the bridge, to the fairgrounds/plaza/shops area.
Neighborhoods (2 homes each):
-There's a neighborhood behind the shops, between them and the museum. It has two homes with very small yards. Antonio and Apple currently live there- they usually hang out near the museum entrance, their yard, or the plaza/shops main area. Sometimes they walk along the nearby beach (Antonio seems especially fond of the beach)
-Two ho
