Custom Post Type with metaboxes (no content) only?

To create a custom post type without the editor, simply omit 'editor' in the 'supports' argument when you register the custom post type:

$args = array(
    // only title field will be visible
    'supports' => array( 'title' ),
    // other args here...
);
register_post_type( 'cities', $args );

As for your meta data, that is a lot, but I wouldn’t say it’s too much. And you don’t need to create 30 meta boxes for 30 pieces of data, you can render all of the fields in a single meta box.

Think about how you’ll need to use that data later- If you need to query and sort on the data via a meta_query, then it should be its own field. But if there’s data that will only be displayed but not queried on, you can save that all as an array under a single key:

$data = array(
    'street' => 'fake street',
    'number' => 123,
    'fruit' => 'pears'
);
update_post_meta( $post_id, 'some_data', $data );

WordPress will take care of converting the array to a storable value, and converting it back to an array when the data is loaded.

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