I like my shoes slightly big with a decent amount of room across the ball of the foot. And I like shoes with laces so I can tighten and loosen them as necessary.

I wear my shoes summer and winter. In the summer, I wear thinner socks so the shoes can be a bit tighter, but then my feet can swell a bit in the heat so I want to be able to loosen them off. In the winter, I wear thick socks so my shoes need to be looser to accommodate the socks and give my toes lots of wiggle room.