How to describe a small town ?

A dim glow of a few small candle lit cottages, looked cosy, but is it??

The town was small. Model railway small. The sun was a lamp situated in a corner of the room, illuminating nothing but floating dust. The gas stations dried up years ago, the house lights welcomed only flies and the lamp posts, etc., were encrusted with decades-worth of dried dogs' urine. But it's my town. My home, so if you don't like it smoke me a kipper and get thee to a nunnery. I spurn you and your kind. Where's the bus station?

The town below was awakening to the to the new day as lights randomly blinked on here and there and you could almost hear the chorus of a hundred coffee makers burble to life, in a few minutes shop keepers will be sweeping their sidewalks, and school crossing guards will be in place to welcome the kids, dreaming of summer, to the next day of school. When the streetlights snap off, the roads will fill with workers dragging themselves to work.

How late at night and how large a town?

Street (strings of beads( and house Lights glowing , especially those from businesses like the gas station. Dark patches. Greys and blacks. Some outlines of trees and buildings.

Update: Have you seen a town from a hilltop? At dawn, in winter, it is a medley of greys, blue greys, and blacks against a medley of whites. The streetlights are either a pale yellow, like butter, or a pearl white if the sun is rising  If the sky is still dark, the lights are brighter and whiter  That's what I see first: the darkness in the west but fading into the greys and blues in the east  Then the street lights and the moving reds, yellows, whites of the early risers' vehicles' lights moving slowly to the stop lights or behind a sbowplough  I'd see those lights next because I would be attracted by the movement.  The gas station is open early, so I would see a square of bright light from the garage/office and one at the pumps  The lights from the highway - moving and stationary - snake in the distance. Beyond lies Lake Ontario, with the glows from the cities along the shoreline. From the Escarpment,  Toronto looks like a pearl glow version of the Emerald  City of Oz. The  CN Tower and the lighted square rectangular skyscrapers beside it are unmistakable . When the sunlight hits them they glow like polished steel and gold, even from far away across the lake. It's breathtaking  sometimes.  Back on my side, there are smaller squares, blurred, of the bedroom and kitchen lights. The  lights close to the hill where I  stand are clearer, of course, and I can see the outlines of tree branches.

You see, that's the winter morning view from the north edge of the Niagara Escarpment. If I was looking down on the city of Hamilton, I  would see a wide carpet of lights below me, some distinct and some a great glow where I  could decern some colors and details and there would be the curve of the lake in the shadows beyond all that light.  If I  was standing on the south side of the Escarpment, I'd see a different view below. If I stand in summer where I stood in winter, I  would see a lot more green when the sun rises. You need to imagine the season and the weather when you describe your view.