What size to zone your lots...

[Shukie 0]

Up untill now I've been zoning my residential and commercial area's mostly 3x3 and 3x2 wherever I want highrises to appear and it's working to a certain extent, since I'm getting some nice skyscrapers. When I take it one step further and try to make 4x4 zones, all I get are large, ugly malls. Is that because skyscrapers just don't grow on anything larger than 3x3 or because my city isn't ready for those things yet? What is the ideal size to zone for if I want those giant skyscrapers?

[Sketchley 0]

I'm not 100%, but I believe your city and region may not be able to support those large buildings. The shopping malls are simply lower C stage growables.

I've heard (and the city's I've made tend to prove it - once the region is large enough to support them) that 3x4 sized lots have the largest variety of giant skyscrapers. I suggest laying down 4 1x3 lots in a row, so that they develop faster, and don't remain empty lots until the region population explodes.

[hym 358]

In theory, the biggest skyscrapers are 6x6's, but in reality, it tends to be that the 3x4's and the 4x4's have the most success. Unless you have massive demand, it is difficult to get 6x6 skyscrapers in a city, so go with the 4x3 or 4x4 layouts.

[daniel01 0]

when i have high demand for comercial, i tend to zone either 4 x 4, or 4 x 3

daniel01

[Voulpiotis 4]

I zone 4x4 for regular skyscrapers and then (rarely) 5x5 and 6x6 for skyscrapers downloaded from the STEX, which are of course better!

[Shukie 0]

Thanks guys, I'll go with 4x4 and 4x3 in the future then when my city is ready for it.

[TEP 0]

How do you lay out, say, a 4x4? Do you have to make one big lot of 4x4, or will something like 4 3x1 and 4 1x1 behind them combine to one 4x4 when that size of buildings start to appear?

Yeah, I'm a newbie! 

[Vitruvius 0]

TEP: Holding down "Ctrl" while dragging out a lot with prevent the game subdividing it into smaller lots. You might also want to experiment with pressing "alt" while zoning - it brings up a different configuration.

[TEP 0]

Thanks Vitruvius,

I've got that, but I was wondering what the rules are for smaller R or C zones joining to bigger ones.