Ys Old Town

In Old Town:

the streets are twisting lanes;
upper storeys overhang them;
cobblestones are lumpy;
people are more numerous;
their garments are cheap;
they bear marks of work and sometimes of ill health;
but there is no hunger or poverty;
no smell of refuse or unwashed bodies;
sea air, smelling of salt and kelp, blows here as throughout the city;
there are gulls overhead;
the area is compared favorably to Londinium (the capital of a later Empire);
ancient Shrines and a pre-Ysan Menhir are respected and preserved;
there are cheap hospitable taverns.

An ideal city where even the slum does not sound so bad.