Suburbia Hell Concept

[Twyla 40]

Well, some people have been asking me about the building concept I refer to as Suburbia Hell - so rather than explain it a bazillion times over, I decided to make a post (hopefully in the right location).

Each Suburbia Hell Grid is 28x25 plots, so you can readily squeeze four of them into the smallest-size city. It's a handy way to minimize neighborhood expenses while maximizing service coverages - zero funding for ambulances and school buses.

The gray outline in the middle is the Water distribution system (in case it wasn't obvious).

NOTE!! - If you decide to use this for a 64x64 city, there are a few minor tweaks needed. Here's what the initial setup looks like for a small city:

(Click for larger image)

I used an open plain region for clarity, but you'll want to fill all the gaps with tons of trees (in God Mode, before you start the city).

For the inexperienced trying this build concept:

If you don't have the NAM Roundabouts you can just make small counter-clockwise loops with One-Way Roads instead. And if you don't have the Mas71 Roundabout Transit Stations (Sub & Bus) you can use normal Transit Stops (plus Parking Garages) just outside the SHGs, or forego them altogether - the Transit Stops are mainly for larger cities and inter-city transit.

Set your Industrial Tax Rates to:

• Agricultural ~ 13.0%
  
• Dirty Industrial ~ 11.0%
  
• Manufacturing ~ 9.0%
  
• High-Tech ~ 7.0%
  

and also enact the following Ordinances as soon as possible:

• Community CPR Training
  
• Free Clinic Program
  
• Clean Air Act
  

This layout quickly grows to over 15k population with only Low-Density Residential and Commercial (and Medium-Density Industrial), and they'll start complaining pretty early. With so much packed into so small a city Air Quality rapidly becomes an issue, and the balance between sufficient employment and environmental quality is a fine line to tread. Littering the place with tons of trees (as outlined above) helps forestall this until you're into High-Tech Industries, which don't pollute nearly so much as DI.

The central area between the Roundabouts is for your Civic Buildings - such as Fire & Police Stations, Mayor's Mansion & Statue, High-School and College (when needed), City Hall, etc. The empty space between this area and the Industrial Zones will become High-Density Commercial Districts before long.

The open spaces in the above layout are reserved for:

• When they clamor about Water Quality, drop a Water Treatment Plant in the 6x8 area at the bottom edge of the screen.
  
• When they clamor about the availability of Water, upgrade the Water Tower to a Pumping Station.
  
• When they clamor about Fire or Police coverage, plop a Large Station next to the central Roundabout - one station each will cover the entire city.
  
• When they clamor about pavement, put up the Parks as outlined in the first map - a Large 3x3
  
• When they clamor about Garbage, add a Waste-to-Energy Plant (in the Sanitation Menu) across the road from the Coal Plant. You can cut this Plant's funding to almost nil and it'll still burn away the Garbage.
  
• When the Police Station jails are full, add a City Jail at the border to the East or West, adjoining the Road. Don't worry about nuking a DI - you'll be starting into High-Tech by now.
  

In just five short years, you should be looking something like this:

(Click for larger image)

Population : 18,368

Income : $5,773

Outflow: $4,613

Balance: $507,412

[WDragon 8]

im sure this city wont work as well as it looks to be....

you need to work on the tax rate

[baumaxx1 0]

I gave this a shot on a stock Maxis game.

No DI formed, just manufacturing and with not much effort it turned into high tech.

It worked very well short term, but it wasn't sustainable.

Costs somehow spiralled out of control without any new development occurring after a long time period, the bus system deactivated for some reason. Roads got congested and commercial never really went high density. Only a few blocks went mid-high density but growth halted.

It didn't stop power and water from being used up somehow despite a lack of new development.

At the moment, congestion and massive debt is a problem; had to put in subways fairly early to solve it. There's a lack of greenery as you'd expect.

I could never reach that population and income with low density, let alone med and high.

It's a good idea, but it didn't work too well on its own.

Maybe make the 4 cross roads going out of town 2 1 wayers with a nature strip in the middle. Just means industry and residential will be back to back.

I'll also see if an adjacent city will help boost it.