Education problem

[Ltw 401]

I have a city which had some problems with demand, now the demand seems to be quite steady (though my R$ demand is always high and my R$$ and R$$$ is sometimes positive, sometimes negative). I've noticed that building housing for rich people is very hard, even with the right demand. I've build a low density zone with three schools in the neighborhood (of which one private school), lots of parks and a police station. I have even build the country club reward next to this zone to attract rich people. The neighborhood is located quite close to the CBD. Even though the desirability for R$$$ is perfect, R$ will be build.

 

When I clicked on one of these houses I noticed that the education rate was low. Looking at the map below that seems to be right (it's the zone on the upper left side).

 

 

However, there are enough schools close to this neighborhood so this problem should not occur, I've placed a lot of schools, libraries and museums in general and in the rest of the city education is quite good. The education rate is just below 200. I have even noticed that the museums I placed had a lot of visitors (I couldn't fund it enough) and the libraries where also quite popular. The schools show something completely different, schools aren't that popular at all. Normally I fund half or even 20% of the total budget and even then I fund too much. I have normal capacity schools and high capacity schools when normal schools aren't enough, I also have the Kerrytown college (the bat available on the STEX) and one City College, at last I have the University. My city has a population of 400.000.

 

Looking at the coverage you would say that the education would be very high (especially in the city center) but it still seems to be lower than expected. Even the schools in zones that don't have this coverage don't get close to their maximum capacity. The school on the right is a school that should provide education for a zone which has 150.000 people but it still doesn't have maximum capacity.

 

I wonder what is causing this inconsistency and how I can solve it.

[docj101 99]

Jobs could be part of your problem.  The living environment needs to be desirable as much as jobs need to be available for the $$$ sims.  You may think you have more $$$ jobs then you actually do.  Also there is always a need for the lower wealth sims to work in $$$ commercial and industrial buildings.  This means they will always be trying to live in your city and in higher proportions then $$$ wealth.  Plus with the high tech industry being glitched (without the fix) actually doesn't provide $$$ jobs.

 

Take a look at this photo; in the highlighted area is the jobs this building provides in detail.  The order is $, $$, $$$; notice how this is a commercial office $$$.  In it's normal query it says 1203 capacity and maybe you thought since it's a $$$CO that meant 1203 $$$ jobs.  However, quite the contrary; this building only has 179 $$$ sims working in it.  This photo illustrates what I am talking about.

 

As far as the education aspect is concerned, new sims always start out with low EQ.  $ jobs needing to be filled brings new sims to live in your town if they can't commute from neighbors.  Educating all of your sims is ensuring that you have a steady demand of R$ because as they educate they become R$$ and move to nicer areas.  Try to accommodate for all wealth sims, either in the city or with neighbors.

 

I hope this can help you diagnose your issue.

[Ltw 401]

Jobs could be part of your problem.  The living environment needs to be desirable as much as jobs need to be available for the $$$ sims.  You may think you have more $$$ jobs then you actually do.  Also there is always a need for the lower wealth sims to work in $$$ commercial and industrial buildings.  This means they will always be trying to live in your city and in higher proportions then $$$ wealth.  Plus with the high tech industry being glitched (without the fix) actually doesn't provide $$$ jobs.

 

Take a look at this photo; in the highlighted area is the jobs this building provides in detail.  The order is $, $$, $$$; notice how this is a commercial office $$$.  In it's normal query it says 1203 capacity and maybe you thought since it's a $$$CO that meant 1203 $$$ jobs.  However, quite the contrary; this building only has 179 $$$ sims working in it.  This photo illustrates what I am talking about.

 

As far as the education aspect is concerned, new sims always start out with low EQ.  $ jobs needing to be filled brings new sims to live in your town if they can't commute from neighbors.  Educating all of your sims is ensuring that you have a steady demand of R$ because as they educate they become R$$ and move to nicer areas.  Try to accommodate for all wealth sims, either in the city or with neighbors.

 

I hope this can help you diagnose your issue.

 

That could be a problem. The demand for CO$$$ has always been high, the total supply of CO$$$ jobs is also quite unbalanced, mainly caused by the CAM which wasn't fixed yet. I could build another big city next to this one and after that I can zone more commercial areas. I hope this would help getting my R$$ and R$$$ demand higher.

 

BTW: What kind of mod is that? I can't get this detailed information when I click on a building.

[docj101 99]

To see that detailed info you have to have the 'extra cheats plugin' installed.  Hold Ctrl+Alt+Shift and use the Query tool and then hover your mouse over any building, you will get detailed statistics.

 

To touch on something I mentioned previously, you can fix the high-tech industry so that it will provide $$$ jobs.  If using this fix with any mods that adjust growable lots it needs to be packed into the SimCity.dat.  That's what the forum topic linked below explains in much greater depth.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Wow!  I didn't know that trick with the query operator.  You definitely learn something new every day.  Thanks.

[docj101 99]

Wow!  I didn't know that trick with the query operator.  You definitely learn something new every day.  Thanks.

 

That is my favorite use of the extra cheats.  Being able to know exactly the jobs being provided allows you to really sculpt a town/city better.  I'm sure you can already think of some of the implications.  DrawPaths is a close second; being priceless for RHW.

 

Glad I could help!

[.anonyman 28]

It's not that schools are popular or unpopular. When the # of students drops off, it's because the nearby residents don't have any school-aged children, so there's less demand for that school. Neighborhoods seem to 'age' more quickly than in RL, so a player could go crazy trying to adjust funding, demolish and build schools as their Sims' needs change. But I guess museums and libraries do display a measure of 'popularity.' They work differently than schools, at least.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

For educational requirements try the Population by Age display.  Bright green needs schools.  Deep blue wants museums, art galleries etc.  Just replace the schools with post-ed stuff.

[Ltw 401]

To see that detailed info you have to have the 'extra cheats plugin' installed.  Hold Ctrl+Alt+Shift and use the Query tool and then hover your mouse over any building, you will get detailed statistics.

 

To touch on something I mentioned previously, you can fix the high-tech industry so that it will provide $$$ jobs.  If using this fix with any mods that adjust growable lots it needs to be packed into the SimCity.dat.  That's what the forum topic linked below explains in much greater depth.

 

Thanks! I will install that.

 

 

 

For educational requirements try the Population by Age display.  Bright green needs schools.  Deep blue wants museums, art galleries etc.  Just replace the schools with post-ed stuff.

 

The demand for museums was extremely high. The capacity was too low, even if I did fund it 110%. That flattened out when I got the big museum. Libraries are also very popular.

 

The demographics of my city aren't that good indeed, I have an aging population, which could lead to a problem in the future.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Start attracting new Sims.  For this you need R$ housing, probably high-rise tenements, and some schools near them.  Pick an industrial area and zone some 4 x 2 high density R and maybe some 4 x 4.