Commercial zones

[Golfer76 0]

I've got some fairly large cities going in my region, well over 150,000 people. In both of them, I keep getting the message something like "Sims scout for offices". I don't remember exactly what it says, but it's something like that. I zone all three densities of commercial, using different sizes. I will even put some 4x4 and they start building almost immediately. If I click inside the thing from the adviser, it picks medium density. So I'm wondering what I'm missing. Is there a certain size I should zone for each building, 1x1, 1x2, 2x2, etc? I can get some fairly tall buildings, but either I'm doing something wrong, or just not zoning enough.

 

Thanks.

[SimMavGER 8]

Offices need a nicer environment than services - look for clean air, built plazas etc.

Just because your sims want something doesnt mean they will build it just anywhere.

[Ro-Bo 183]

That "Sims scout for offices" just mean that you have high demand for commercial. It doesn't mean there are problems. As for zoning, the tallest Maxis buildings are 4x4 (I think...) but I still use a lot of 3 tile deep zones (1x3,2x3, ect....). They the most flexible and easiest to grow.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The "Sims scout for office" stuff is just noise.  It seems to be the default "something" to put on the ticker.

[Ltw 401]

Commute time is also important. If you want to build high offices it might be worth considering building a subway-system. If your expenses aren't high enough of course. Cheaper ways of getting shorter commute times with public transport are heavy rail (the cheapest) and monorail/Elevated rail. You could also build bus-stops for door to door public transport. There are also bus stops on the STEX that could be placed in roads so that this doesn't take any real-estate. There are also subway stations of this kind on the STEX.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Actually the RTMT contains both subway, bus, and bus/subway stops on all the road top.  Current version 3.50+3.60 update.