Downtown (Central Business District) "Ideas"

[JKRMC 8]

My Ideas

"Okay so, I've been trying many different ways to make my CBD look good in my city, but I have issues with it. I have a very widespread city with mostly one-two story houses or apartments taking up a lot of area. (Eight City Large City Tiles surrounding the central CBD. The CBD transition to housing & industry, and vise-versa, is very unsteady. I've tried to make it smoothe but it seems to sudden." -That's kinda something I've been thinking about lately, the city I'm building is going to take up at least those 9 tiles and I'm guessing since I'm making it widespread using Low Class Residential & Commercial outside of the center tile, and since I have no experience with zone transitions from low density to high density I wanted to ask, how do you guys separate zones from one another.

I thought I could maybe revert to a 5x4 block size closer to the center and once I get to a place where to different zone types meat I could take two block width and alternate them on each one. I kinda think this would make my CBD very blocky, and I didn't want to much of that.

[__A 792]

You could try using the extra cheats which gives you the power to plop whatever building you want.

[runnerguy347 30]

I have the same problem. While it does make the center of the city "blocky," many American (and some Asian) cities are like that. I've found that 6x11 blocks work well. These large blocks give you the option of adding a number of things: side streets, parking lots, tram/EL lines, strip parks; without sacrificing space for high-rise business.

Also, offsetting some of the blocks and not running long roads straight through, really helps break the grid without breaking it, so to speak. Leave the lengthy, straight routes to the avenues.

Just my 2 cents...

[elavery 1,013]

The transition from low density to high density is indeed difficult. Highways are a good way to divide the CBD from the suburbs. Also, parking lots and parks can work well. Just study American cities on Google earth perhaps.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Generally, I just let mine grow. I am not at all shy about letting a CBD overtake another neighborhood. After you have built a low density group, just rezone it when the demands for higher zones appear. Don't be afraid to clobber a residential area as needed.

[dazza262 133]

Stay away from the grid as much as possible. Getting some diagonal road and rail through there also gives it a more realistic look.

Let it grow naturally over time, Rome wasn't built in day.

[Cob92 360]

A blocky CBD is not a problem if you're making a US style city, but if you want something European that might be an issue. As for the transition from the downtown to the suburbs, just have a ring of medium density surrounding the downtown before development drops off into completely suburban forms. Even so, a rapid drop in density is typical of newer US cities in the Sunbelt, which tend to have clusters of office skyscrapers set in a field of low density detached buildings with very few intermediate areas.