I have 6 bikes and I still chose the compromise method. Once I figured out my riding style was better suited to a wider spaced cassette regardless of touring or town riding. I tried a bunch of gearing changes and came to the conclusion I needed a small granny gear in the front and a range of larger gears in the back to climb loaded. That range also worked fine as town gears as long as I left the center ring road gear sized. And the big ring is what a big ring does, moves you down the road fast when not loaded. I found my town riding now just staying on the center ring and using all 9 gears in the back sequentially for 90% of my riding. I personally don’t miss the double shifts.
If your town riding is less leisurely and more race oriented then I say two bikes and a tighter cluster. The other reason I say two bikes is touring bikes tend to take on weight with racks and fenders etc. and a good touring bike has heavier built wheels and frame and maybe a little more relaxed geometry.
What I found is all the nice features in a touring setup made me happy when town riding also. I have a very light road bike but most of the time I grab the tour setup bike.
Just for comparison I run 26-42-52 by 12-36 (9sp) with 700 wheels.