I'm noticing a lot of housing will not evolve
"because they lack access to a local market".
What makes a market "Local"? How many squares
away?
Often, a market will be literally next door when I get
this notice. I've got fully-staffed farms, fishing docks
and granaries cranking out food, yet the markets frequently
state that they have nothing in them! I place markets right
next to granaries, and it makes no
difference!
I've tried using the "overlay" thing, and it's incredibly confusing! I just want to click on the
builiding, and a little colored circle comes out showing the range of influence!
I've gone very high on all of the mission criteria, way over mission requirements, except prosperity and population. Looking at the map, it's obvious that this is some kind of a joke. The amount of real estate necessary to maintain the population in a fashion that will win the scenario simply does not exist.
I suppose I could go through the drudgery / staring-at-paint-drying proceedure of waiting for population density to increase, but I'd rather pick up the pace.
I've managed to get this far into the game by pulling a "dirty trick" to finish a scenario--- building up city attractions so that they will cause a huge immigration,
an influx that will bump me over the mission requirement, but knowing full well that there is NO way those attractive resources could EVER be maintained, or the people fed once they get to the settlement. I don't like winning that way.
I'd really like to see a mode in which it does NOT cost money to fix your mistakes, to demolish buildings.

As several of us said in your previous thread about zones of influence, there is no such thing in Caesar 3. DarrkPhoenix gives good advice here on how to solve your problem.
I use a residential block built around a fountain:
1. Put a fountain in the middle of the block.
2. Surround the fountain with two squares of gardens.
3. Surround the gardens with two squares of housing (I usually put one-square services like barbers and engineers on the corners of the outermost square of housing).
4. Surround your residential block with road.
5. Place services around this residential block.
The houses will expand over the gardens as they grow.
For a much more methodical layout, try Caesar Heaven's page of housing block layouts. Some of the layouts include advice on where to put services.

access to any improvement (temple, market, entertainment) is granted by a worker passing the house. One way to make market workers pass houses is to set a granary or stock yard (pottery, wine, furniture) at one end of a housing block. Place your market all the way at the other end of the housing block. The worker has to pass the housing on the way to the granary or stock yard to get supplies, and passes the houses on the way back tot he market.
Granary-bath-house-house-house-house-temple-market
something like above should solve some of the market issues. Try to limit road intersections since workers always seem to go the wrong way at intersections!

I used to have this problem by making the mistake of putting small gardens along the road. The road walkers inevitably cut across, thereby reducing influence. I also recalled, when this game was released initially, someone wiritng in a simple patch, for a roadblock. I found this very useful in some cases. This patch has disappeared in the sands of time. :P

I'm just reminiscencing. :D