I’m itching to play something like Cities Skylines, but also something that isn’t just about growing and growing, rather building within certain (spatial?) limitations and/or solving problems or something. I hope this isn’t a contradiction, but I’d also like if it had a bit more focus on individual buildings and livability rather than optimizing car traffic, if that makes any sense. I guess i’m looking for something that is a bit more than just a city sculpting sandbox, but less than a full blown metropolis-society-simulator.
Have you tried the “Scenarios” in CS? The OG SimCities also have this and is more or less what you’re asking for. It’s the normal game, but you start with a premade city and have specific goals you need to complete to win. My favorite in SimCity was the brownout+flooding caused by everyone in the city simultaneously flushing their toilets during half time at the equivalent of the superbowl at the local stadium.