Build pretty landscapes for any building in SimCity 3000

Contributor/author(s): Dirk Matthys

This trick usually works best on older cities with high land values. Also note that this trick does not use any cheats (namely, the "building plop" cheat); it is completely legal and legitimate.

I recently found a way to give your rich people more gardens. When land values are growing in your light residential areas, you will start seeing those little castles popping up in the middle of a nice green lawn, they even have a fence with gate! The green lawn tiles are sometimes replaced with a tennis court or a swimming pool.

Unfortunately, the computer's choice of high land value light residential housing is a bit limited. So I came up with this:

Wait till the houses with lawns pop up, and then wait until the fence is complete. It may take some time; the computer continuously reshapes those areas. I think there must be at least areas or 4x4 or 5x5 tiles for that look. As soon as the fence is complete, press the pause button and make all fence tiles historical, then continue the simulation. The lawn, tennis court, and pool may be OK, depending on how you like them, so go ahead and make them historical too at will. Then, demolish the house. Now rezone where you want a different house to appear in the lawn. You can use a 2x2 or 3x3 for medium residential, 3x3 or 4x4 for dense residential. Land values should be high (or better), and the nice buildings of the other population densities will pop up in the space you created.

Tip: the fence is the most critical. It is not easily generated completely by the computer and takes time (destroying buildings around it may help). After employing this trick, the whole city, even denser areas, will look greener. Of course you can also place your city hall or the mayors' house in the fenced area.

See also
Building a garden city
Realism tricks for buildings and general aesthetics
Build a very big wall