Preparation before Expanding

Before expanding, I try to make sure I have all my people ready and have enough food to clear everything out of the way. Being organized, I make wide roads along planned out paths even before buying the land. I sectionalize my areas also, one with trade buildings, one with social, and one with houses. I use decorations like crazy to make it look nice, but it's hard to keep up with. Does anyone else do something similar to this?