It's not a town, it's just a little oasis on the edge of a river.
I used the gras and desert tiles from Romancing SaGa 3. The palm is from an REFMAP set and the water is from FF6. I ripped the house from Arabian Nights: Sabaku no Seirei Ou. But i don't know where I ripped the fountain from. :/
I don't see any problems with the lifelessness. Mother 3 hadn't either that much npc's (i think...) or birds and whatsoever.