Residential Abandonment

[Kenigan 0]

Hey all,

I've been an active, yet somewhat of a beginner.  The city I've been working on as of late has been growing nicely, with a large commercial district in the center, industrial south of that and across the river to the northwest.  Both I and C areas are bordered by residential of all kinds and sizes, however, I don't understand the mass abandonment in  the residential areas...

I'm sure it's something simple and easy; I believe I've provided for everything, health and education are second-to-none, watered, park'd and I have transit everywhere...

I've been upgrading surface streets/roads as-needed, yet I have huge sections of blacked out buildings...

Any suggestions? Or should I be doing something else?  Posting screenies?

[Strategist01 0]

well, the sims don't like to live near industrial, so make a a residential block out of the way of the industrial. that should help...

[Dizastrow 4]

Look at your commute times for your Sims, if its taking a long time to get to work, they will move elsewhere.  Do you have a university in your city?  These always stimulate growth as well. 

[Kenigan 0]

I have gone out of my way to keep R away from I zones AND I do have a university. Growth in the 'older part' of town is good and I have excellent results, but I don't understand the lack thereof elsewhere. The usual threshold of 'too long a ride' is 90 minutes right? Or have I missed something. I have the cash, should I do an overhaul of my infastructure and transit system or should I simply start over and try again? I'd hate to do that...

[Livin in Sim 83]

Hi, Kenigan,

Welcome to Simtropolis.

I have no idea if this is your problem, but I was having abandonment due to lack of water for lots that required it.  Water towers and pumps gradually age just as power plants do, but there is no warning from advisers.  If you click on the water source it will tell you in the query if it is becoming inefficient. 

Sounds like you have plenty of jobs for R$ in your industrial areas, right?  The newer parts of town will most likely have R$, at first anyway.  Do you have the NAM?  It improves commuting greatly.

If none of this helps, screenies can say a lot.

Enjoy the game.

--Liv

[Kenigan 0]

Thanks for the help Liv. I've made sure everything is watered and I've watched over my watering holes as closely as I watch the hospitals and education systems. I also have the most up to date NAM that came out in April this year and I did notice a slight change in the commuting habits, but it seems that it was a short lived improvement. As soon as I figure out how to upload the right sized screenshots I'll do so.

Thanks again!

Ken

[toroca 162]

Is it a specific wealth level of residents that are abandoning? If it's mostly R$$$, then your taxes on them are probably too low, because the unmodded game tends to move more of them in than the available jobs can support.

[Kenigan 0]

I was just doing some checking and I believe that's its mostly R$$ that's doing the abandoning...

[toroca 162]

In that case I have less advice. I've never had a problem with the middle wealth sims abandoning one me, so I'm not sure what the cause might be.

[Dizastrow 4]

If commute times are the problem, try using more bus stops.  I usually put a bus stop on the corner of every single block in my cities.  It greatly improves my transit and allows Sims to get to work quicker.  Now, if your city is HUGE, bus stops might prove ineffective and you might want to think about building some highways or subways.

[Keegan V50 15]

Hi Kenigan...actually this happen to me before...and the main cause i wanted my city to grow faster so i zone high density residential instead of starting with low density residential...that might cause a big stir to your R$$ coz they have no demand from the types of zones that you are zoning...like R$$(medium density residential)...

residential zones only can develop when they feel safe and secure...like building a police station,fire station and a hospital near them....but if you built city jails,federal prison or the most thing people make this mistake...building a disease research center near their homes....disease research center produces a small number of radioactivity around its lot...if you built this near their homes...they will start to riot and the the zone won't grow to be medium or high wealth residency (R$$ or R$$$) and that zones desirability will crash down rapidly...

if this happen...then either that neighborhood will be abandoned or it won't grow...

[Kenigan 0]

I do have a lot of R$$, and those are the zones that are abandoning. I have some R$$$ and they're doing well, and I have started to develop open spaces into R$, but even those zones are either not developing at all or abandonment is nearly as bad as the R$$.

I have an excellent school system, healthcare and emergency services. There's sufficent water, the pollution is way down (Both water and air) and I have a very good mayor rating. I know I'm having trouble with commute times and I'm starting to believe that's the major culprit to my dilemma.

I honestly don't know if I should revamp my transit systems, or what, but I have the budget to do nearly anything on a grand scale...maybe I should start with more busses perhaps, and then maybe introduce some more train, EL and subway stops...

[Keegan V50 15]

Then just avoid building medium density residential(R$$)...maybe ur city is now in the eye of high wealth sims....

build high density residential(R$$$)...and watch them develop...when the no job signs appear on the building....that means ur city is lacking in job and not enough commercial zones...

build a country club if u have unlocked it...then more (R$$0 and (R$$$) sims will start to grow...

check ur tax though if u rise it too high it might be a little troublesome for them to live...or to develop...

dont give up...go ahead and try ur best...