developing the city

[jtgasv 0]

ive been playing for a while and ive been trying to figure out how to take a city ive been working on for a while and add a highway into it.  or how to design a city so that highways and mass transit can be added later.  so far the way ive been trying it is to work it in from the start but thats too costly.  

the question:  how do i start a city so it can be developed further later on?

[Geronimo 4]

You could save some space for further developement by leaving it open, maybe plant some trees or something. Or you have to demolish like in RL. Use subways in your dense areas. And try to plan ahead, it makes it much easier later!

[Yeah_Right 2]

first lay down your highways if you are going to go large scale.

When you reach downtown u can do all the little transit stuff later.

Just lay down your highways first, and make branches into suburbs etc

[Geronimo 4]

@Yeah_Right: quote from OP

so far the way ive been trying it is to work it in from the start but thats too costly.quote>

[jlvannat 0]

What I've been doing to solve that problem is for my highways, I start them off as avenues with limited intersections, or create a free-flowing avenue with exits and onramps built with one way roads. I don't typically zone any commercial along the sides of these avenues either because I know eventually when I highway is placed, those commercial zones won't be able to be reached by sims.

For mass transportation lie ground rail and elevated rail systems, I leave a block between residential areas and roads so I can put them in later if I need to. Don't be afraid to destroy some stuff in the process, as long as it benefits the greater majority.

There is no one way to prepare for the future higher capacity transportation except to take it slow and have a goal set in mind for the future. I spend most of my time playing the game doing just that.

[hawkpride147 1]

i go with the RL approach...i build normally with a plan...if the need arises for a highway or mass transit line that i haven't planned, then i do my best to work it in...i'll be back in a fer with some screen shots of one of my new highways that was placed much later in the city's construction...a highway that wasn't planned for but was very needed to provide much better traffic flow in my city. there are significant differences in its appearance between it and my planned highways.

[Maxis92 11]

I usually do it the "realistic way".

I build my city to a reasonable size. Then when traffic gets unbearable, I plan a highway system & whoever's home is in the way will be lost.

The population loss rebounds nicely in no tine.