Got my current list. The town mods are my most stable - since they don't really change and are mainly textures. I avoided ones that did interiors as that can cause issues with certain relighting mods. If you use lanterns of skyim you may see a few double lanterns in rare cases (I only saw one, at the inn in Falkreath) - although MannyGT just provided a great update that lets you configure the lanterns so I disable them in towns - I mainly like them on the roads.

Anyhow here is my favorite town list. They are almost all from Steam workshop. For whatever reason that is where the best ones seem to live. Funny in a way as I have 84 mods now and the only ones from steam are my town ones. A few might have a nexus version but in a way I rather like keeping them separate so haven't really checked Nexus. I like individual ones myself as I get more control over things.

tavesolitude.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=84637410
tavefalkreath.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=92628430
tavewindhelm.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=89797363
taveriften.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=80844987
betterwinterhold.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…/?id=120066793
bettermorthal.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…/?id=118237919
betterdawnstar.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…/?id=119800618
the autumn of whiterun.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=81082097
riverwoodenhancedplugin.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=75827207
markarth_plus.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=73915674
tos_oakwood_hf.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…/?id=100934504
tos_laintardale.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=92628430
treehouse.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…s/?id=82036578
bettercitiesmorebees.esp http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…/?id=126713579
Hut-of-'kreath http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…/?id=128615687

I will be the first to say these are NOT realistic although I consider them lore friendly in that it fits the theme of the game. What I mean is in many cases the towns are loaded up with foliage … and most towns would be bare and probably pretty dirty all things considered … but I am playing a fantasy game with dragons so I like my towns to be very picturesque :-)

If you want a mod that does a "gentle" job of updating many of the cites check out the one by Dex which is more subtle and far less busy: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile…tails/?id=8022

Anyhow there are a ton but the above are the favorites I settled on over the last 3 months while I waited for Dragonborn to come out and my current big playthrough. I even learned enough modding to make my own custom race (Nord Wolf-Blooded) and a custom companion named after my dog that passed away last summer. I am sure he would approve as I made him super big and fierce

A few more shots as well since I am a screenshot nut.