City Refusing To Grow

[Medvednic 0]

I have a 130 k city, mostly R$$ with CO$$ and $$$ jobs, (the neighbouring 3 cities are educated R$, R$$$ only city and ID city).

prob is that the R$$ city has a huge demand for R$$ but started to have negative demands for CO$$\$$$ and IHT, the sims there are highly educated, the commutes are low, I've built several rewards that should help boost business, I have a medium airport, what to do now? I want to be able to grow my city and provide my sims with jobs... maybe I need to build a university? or maybe it is something that has to do with demand caps?

please help me...

[baertooth 330]

Sounds like you need to build more R$$ housing. That's what they want and as more R$$ sims move in, the need for C$$ jobs will grow. As for C$$$ and HT, they're mostly exist for R$$$ sims and if you want more demand for them, you need to build more R$$$ housing. I probably say this too much but use the Make Historical check in the buildings properties to freeze buildings at a desired wealth level. Almost all of my major buildings in my cities are frozen and it does take time, but it's worth it because I have nearly zero delapitation and abandonment.

And if you didn't know, The Farmers Market and both the stadiums have excellent R$$ cap relief, the Stock Exchange is great for R$$$, the Convention Center is great for C$$ and C$$$, and the Advanced Research Center and the University are great for HT cap relief.

[crazyhorse21 0]

note this is pasted from http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/914834/28952:

(soz about the lengh but its all relevant)

In all four SimCity games, there's always been one problem that stumps most

rookies and many vets alike (myself included). Unless you've got a tiny city or

are ridiculously lucky, you will come to a point where the city will simply

stop growing. Your education levels will level out, your hospitals will be

exactly where you want them, all zones will be filled but no more will be asked

for, and you'll be getting a steady income with average-or-less complaints

about tax rates. The city becomes stagnant as far as growth goes; it becomes a

sticky trap, where nobody comes in, no one leaves, and everyone reproduces

enough to replace the dead. The stickiness is what I call the "Peanut Butter

Point." Get the pun? Ha ha ha!

A-hem. Anyway, the Peanut Butter Point is deadly, because you may think your

game is over. It seems that if you try to make any additional zones or other

things, no one wants them. If you take stuff away, then you're defeating the

purpose. What's the point of continuing? Of course, you can always start a new

city, but I don't like doing that until every single tile within city limits

has a purpose.

Okay, let's say you've got a good-sized city going. Even if it seems no one is

moving in, you may not have hit your Peanut Butter Point yet. Here's a

checklist...

-Are ALL your schools funded enough to avoid overcrowding?

-Are ALL your hospitals funded enough to avoid over crowding?

-Are ALL your libraries and museums funded enough to give the people what they

want?

-Do you have enough police stations and fire stations to cover your whole city?

-Do you have enough jails so they have room to accommodate more prisoners?

-Is your trash amount under your capacity?

-Are you getting few (if any) complaints on the tax rate?

-Are all zones and buildings powered and watered?

If the answer to any of those questions are no, then the problem(s) is/are easy

to fix. Of course, if you answered yes to all those questions, here's the

second (shorter) list...

-Are ALL your zones set to maximum density? (assuming you want maximum density;

farms can't be in areas that dense, of course)

-Do you have an airport complimenting your commercial sector?

-Do you have a seaport complimenting your industrial sector? (assuming you've

got water access)

If the answers to those questions are "yes" also, then you've hit your Peanut

Butter Point.

+-----------------------+

|8a. What To Do About It|

+-----------------------+

The Peanut Butter Point is not the end of your game; in fact, it's the start of

a whole new set of challenges. I personally love dealing with it.

The first thing you need to do when hitting that point is not to panic. In my

rookie days, I used to think that the reason people weren't coming in was

because there was something wrong with my policies. So, I lowered tax rates,

issued more ordinances, built tons of parks, and generally threw in a whole

bunch of stuff to make everyone happy... or so I thought. Between the lowered

tax and new ordinances, though, my money well quickly ran dry.

The question you're asking by now is, how can you make your city overcome that

Peanut Butter Point. A common phrase in comedy and the entertainment industry

in general is "Leave your audience wanting more."

Concentrate on what is RIGHT in your town. There is very, VERY seldom the

perfect city. If you've hit the Peanut Butter Point, it's not because the city

is too bad, nor is it that your city is too good; it's because there's too much

of a balance between what you have right and what you have wrong. I hate saying

this, but for the sims' own good, the best way to make your city get out of its

sticky trap is to piss everyone off.

Before starting, make sure you have plenty of cash. This method can get a bit

expensive.

Find the best part of town. Just check the map and look for whatever place has

the highest land value and highest city aura. If you have multiple spots, pick

an area that is pretty big, but not the biggest. Call this place "Ground Zero."

Find out why the land value is so high; it's usually high education and low

crime. Grab the keys to your trusty bulldozer, start that MF'er up, and give

the kiddies a permanent vacation from school--break open the jails too, while

you're at it.

I know it sounds crazy, but trust me. Let the city be confused for awhile.

They'll complain and yell about how crappy the town is, but believe it or not,

that's what you want temporarily. Take some money (in your coffers, if you can,

NOT a loan), and go to some land that is unoccupied. Start a "new city" over in

that corner. Pretend you're starting a new game, just with an inflated bank

account. Build a new, cheap power plant. Build some zones of all three flavors,

use streets instead of roads, avoid any police or fire coverage, and refuse to

give them any education. Meanwhile, head back to Ground Zero and take out a few

dozen parks or so... Do NOT re-zone or destroy any existing RCI buildings.

After a few months, the city aura and value in Ground Zero will just absolutely

plummet. However, your sims try to move across town before across the nation.

They'll see that new little area you've got developing in the corner of the

map, and they'll take interest. While they're thinking of the good ol' days,

cut off their water.

Back at the new colony, start giving the most basic of the Big Four Services:

one elementary school, one clinic (not a hospital yet), one small police

station, and no fire stations... well, maybe a small one, if you feel sorry for

'em, and to protect the power plant. You MIGHT already have a few people coming

in, but still not enough to make you get out of your trap.

After that little colony is established, expand it out. Again, pretend it's a

new city; just ignore that big mess of people on the other side of the river.

Build some parks and other recreational areas, and raise the zones' densities

now and then. Once it looks pretty solid, build a road that connects this

little colony to the main city. Get a subway connecting the two also if you can

to make any commuter stupid enough to make THAT trip happy.

People will start to come into the new colony SLOWLY. This is not an instant

method here, it takes some time. But, while you're biding that time, you can

help out other sectors. For example, one thing that's commonly overlooked in

SimCity 4 is your industrial zones' distances to freight access. They like

being close to extra-city connections, especially railroads. If that's not an

option, they want a freight station (linked to a railroad going out of town, of

course) that's very close by. Try to improve that too.

Eventually, the demand will be met for the colony, but because it was smaller

than Ground Zero, there will still be demand for the city as a whole. Your

instinct will be to start upgrading stuff around the colony (like bigger police

stations and such), but don't. If you feel the need to give them SOMETHING, let

'em have water. Otherwise, that's the ghetto of your city; let it suffer for

now.

So, to fill the rest of that demand, you need to restore Ground Zero. Work

backwards: give them back water, then parks, then their services. Do it slowly

enough that the area doesn't get flooded, but work fast enough that no one

forgets the place exists. I find that restoring one part of Ground Zero ever

three to four months works the best. In time, people who moved to the colony

will move back, or the newcomers who started in the colony will move into

Ground Zero. That will free up room in the colony, and it's STILL cheap land

for the poorer classes to afford.

Once Ground Zero is restored, start upgrading the colony to make it a full-

fledged suburb, or maybe a large city of its own. The main thing is to keep low

land value areas that are ripe for the poor to live in. This way, you're always

"leaving your sims wanting more." They want better education or whatever in the

new colonies; don't give it to them unless 1) it's all that's left for your

city borders, or 2) you have plenty of low-value area as well.

+-----------------------+

|8b. An Alternate Method|

+-----------------------+

The thing about the above method is that it's risky. If your Ground Zero is the

heart of the city, then everything will end up collapsing, and you may never

recover. It's ridiculously expensive too, because you'll be going on

abbreviated taxes until everything gets restored.

There are a couple more tips I can offer if you don't want to risk the above

technique, or you don't have the cash. This is a little less sure and slower,

but if the sims don't bite, you won't lose nearly as much. The basic thing is

that you still have to force the sims' polygonal hands. There's no Utopia; all

cities can be improved. You have to isolate one part of the city and make it so

damned attractive that anyone who's anyone will want to live there.

Find an area like Ground Zero above, the best of the best districts in your

city. Double-check all its civic buildings and services. Check the roads and

intersections. Check freight times for industrial zones and commute times for

residential zones. Improve the obvious first.

Next, look for ANY spot of yellow on the crime map. It doesn't matter how big

or small. Take out whatever building is on top of the area no matter what it is

and plop down a large police station with $250/month funding. If there's a

region of parks, take them out and try to get in zoos or stadiums or something

bigger instead. Find the corner of the area that's just the SLIGHTEST below

maximum value, take out all buildings directly at the area, and purchase a

landmark to put there. If you put a landmark near that high-value area,

especially near the fringe, then you'll really make people want it.

You can also look to steal people away from other cities. Enact a few tourist

ordinances, give them a year to kick in, then zone and build a colony like I

stated above. The tourists will stop by and see your city, drool over it, and

want to be a part of it. Give them a place to go, and you'll have growth faster

than you can say "Choosy moms choose Jif."

Oh, one more thing. Get rid of any business deal buildings if you can, such as

casinos or toxic waste dumps. Large cities shouldn't need them, and you'll make

the general aura of the ENTIRE city better by tossing them. That alone can do

wonders for growth.

[Medvednic 0]

Thanks for the replays, but the problem is that, I have a huge demand for R$$ (in the big R$$ city), they show up, but there is no work for them, commute times are slowly climbing up, no job zots are starting to appear above some buildings, and abandonment occurs.

what to do?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Try lowering taxes on CO§§, CS§§, I-M and I-HT.  And add some development space for them.  This should get some more jobs.

[Medvednic 0]

i'll give it a try, altough there are plenty of C and I zones in my city, and the taxes are about 7.4 for each...

btw, I don't have any agricultural zones in my region, do you thing that by making a farming community I will see some positive changes?