Traffic/Development Problems

[deanej 2]

I got fed up with my last city and will start a new one.  The major problems that I had in my old city that I don't want in my new city are:

• Traffic Congestion: Some streets would get full of traffic and traffic noise would go up.
• Commute Time: Sims take jobs on the other side of town even if there are jobs next to their house.  If the people in the US were my sims, the would work in Russia and China.
• Residential Development: This was very slow and eventually nonexistent when my city got to 65,000 sims.
• Aging Population: At least half of my population was over 50.  Was this a problem, and if so, when/where should I put in health care in my new city?

How do I fix these?

[ephorex_77 0]

Date: 12/18/2005 5:36:30 PM Author:deanej

I got fed up with my last city and will start a new one.  The major problems that I had in my old city that I don't want in my new city are:

• Traffic Congestion: Some streets would get full of traffic and traffic noise would go up.
• Commute Time: Sims take jobs on the other side of town even if there are jobs next to their house.  If the people in the US were my sims, the would work in Russia and China.
• Residential Development: This was very slow and eventually nonexistent when my city got to 65,000 sims.
• Aging Population: At least half of my population was over 50.  Was this a problem, and if so, when/where should I put in health care in my new city?

How do I fix these?

quote>

Don't worry deanej, I'm sure we can help you improve your gaming experience.

 

Now...let's start addressing every point. For traffic congestion, I've noticed you used the word 'streets'. Whether or not you actually meant 'streets' I don't know. But if you're still using streets, I suggest that you change them all to roads, or even one-way roads, unless of course, you're going for the suburby look (the area shouldn't suffer from much congestion anyway ). You could also consider implementing other modes of transportation for instance MT (mass transit), avenues and highways.

 

For commute time, it's normal for people to go to another part of the city or even another city altogether even though there's a job next door. That is, unfortunately, how the game works. Various programs improve on this pathfinding, but the inherent problem is always there. The best way to reduce transit times is to streamline your transportation network. (Nice use of real world situation btw. China, US, Russia?? )

 

The last two points can be dealt with in this one paragraph. The reason you have an aging population is due to the fact that you don't have a large population. I've built many cities before, and I've always noticed that cities <50,000 or thereabouts always tend to have a population that ages much more quickly. So basically, to combat this aging population phenomenon, you need to increase your population. You can increase your population by zoning more and more. This might sound simplistic, but region play (going back and forth between cities) and zoning according to demand can really help development. Also consider upgrading city services in order to make your city more conducive for growth.

 

Hope that helped!! Good luck with your city.

[deanej 2]

Yes, it was streets.  It was a large map, so most zones were low density.  Unfortunatly, Sims usually abandoned because of commute time.  Also, it was the only city in the region (with R not developing when zoned.  This started when the population was around 10,000.).

[deanej 2]

In my new city, I am starting to have the same residential development problems.  My population is only around 7,000.  What causes it and how do I fix it?  I attached the RCI demand graph.

[-HITMAN- 0]

Hey there. I have had the same problems as you. I have downloaded this NAM and it adds more realistic commute times on the roads as well as other great things.

Perhaps you should download it to.

 

[bat_mantis 1]

Date: 12/18/2005 5:36:30 PM
Author:deanej

Residential Development: This was very slow and eventually nonexistent when my city got to 65,000 sims.

How do I fix these?

quote>

This has been a problem I've run into on alot of my cities. As population goes up I think you just get to a point where you need alot more incentive bring more people into your cities. Try building more parks and green spaces, planting some trees, increasing education and safety, and just generally making your city a nicer place to live.

Usually when my cities reach ~30-40,000 (I'm a guy who prefers the mid-size cities) I do a massive downtown redevelopment where I add alot more museums, maybe build a hospital if it's needed and especially build lots and lots of new recreational areas like parks. It gets expensive, but if you want to get over the 100,000 hump it's worth it.

[Sam 163]

Date: 12/27/2005 5:32:43 PM
Author: deanej
In my new city, I am starting to have the same residential development problems. My population is only around 7,000. What causes it and how do I fix it? I attached the RCI demand graph.

quote>

According to your RCI chart you need to zone for quite a bit of farm land, and provide for a little manufacturing industrial, and also provide for quite a lot of low wealth residential.

This is assuming that all your tax rates are neutral (7-9%) If you have heavily taxed one sector eg dirty industrial then the demand will not be representative of the number of jobs (or residents) actually required to allow your city to grow.

I suspect from your RCI chart that this is your first city in the region (?), and that you have provided schools and you may have some medium to high wealth residential (this may even predominate in your city)? If this is the case then the strategy above should be effective. Again this is assuming neutral tax rates.

You have plenty of demand for low wealth residential so you haven't hit a demand cap yet for R$ (demand would be zero if you had). You may have hit the cap for R$$$ as this cap is much lower. Parks help relieve residential demand cap.

However you should try to balance your residential so that you have at least R$ 50 -100%, R$$ no more than 40-45% and R$$$ no more than 10%. Otherwise you will run into trouble with a stalled jobs market.

The jobs will depend on the numbers, wealth proportions and education of your residential population. For example young cities, particularly those with low wealth and education, need mostly farming and dirty industrial jobs, but little if any commercial or high tech industry. Manufacturing industrial is needed as your city becomes more educated. Larger and more wealthy and educated cities will start to need some commercial and high tech industry.

However, in all cases the RCI demand in one city will be affected by all the neighbouring cities, and commute times and traffic congestion will also be important.

[deanej 2]

I didn't know agriculture had much of an effect in development (I always assumed it was optional).  As for balancing residential, I'm not quite sure how to do it with any precision - what are the ideal tax rates for that?  Right now it is about that but will probably change as the city grows.

(Sorry about the long response time.  My computer was in for repairs.)

 

UPDATE: The farms had no noticable impact, but having more complete services did.  Also, using medium density helps.  However, only 25% of the map is filled and low density still has development problems and rich sims sometimes don't find jobs and abandon.  High tech demand fluxuates even though education is high and the amount of low and medium wealth R sims is the same.