[@Aristocles]
As for the rules... A curfew, for sure, I would say. Like, in bed by nine and candles out by ten? Of course the no shoes indoors rule. Maybe add some nocturnal creatures to make rounds and keep the kids in bed or something. Fighting would be punished severely if done outside of training? Don't want a mad house, and with the mix of races, fights would likely be almost inevitable. And a strict schedule... 

The mage thing I think depends on the story. I have a roleplay with a friend where we're considering them basically a race, and they would technically be mythical or magical creatures. In Harry Potter, she even makes the distinction between Wizards/Witches and Muggles, with a whole big thing about pure-blood wizards! If you don't want mages, though, that's fine. Eliminate the magic-casters... well, other than whatever the elves would be capable of doing.

I think halflings and hobbits are actually different. Halflings are short people with great stealth and agility and often associated with thievery, right? Hobbits are short, peaceful hairy people somewhere between humans and dwarfs who live in holes. But one of the joys of fantasy is adding your own spin to it all! So OUR halflings could always be sprightly, agile boys and girls who don't wear shoes unless they absolutely MUST to fit in in a human setting a bit better. And who don't live in holes in the ground. What say you?