How to develop high-density buildings

Contributor/author(s): Stephen M. Fielding, edited by Wren Weburg

If you are interested in getting a very dense downtown or super-dense industrial section, here is a tip that may help.

When you get ready to zone a space of land for development, be sure to have it in dimensions of either 4x4, 6x6, 8x8, or some other mixture in between like 6x4 or 12x4. The important thing to remember is that the area should be factorable by either 3 or 4 (or preferably both). This will encourage 2x2, 3x3, and 4x4 buildings to develop. Also, if you want your city to look really dense but not like a major metropolitan area, simply settle for a royal truckload of 2x2 buildings rather than a moderate number of big buildings (i.e., zone for 2x2 buildings using high-density or medium density). Finally, employ the two techniques explained below: the movable government technique and the checkerboard technique.

The movable government technique

Whenever you want to build a neighborhood up from the ground to the sky, bulldoze your city hall and county courthouse down and rebuild them in that both in that neighborhood. Because both of these buildings bring such a nice aura with it, sims will be more likely to move into that neighborhood.

The checkerboard technique

When laying out your zones, if you want them to be particularly dense, lay them out in a checkerboard pattern. For instance, if you have a 6x6 space enclosed by roads, you can lay one 3x3 space out, and another diagonal to it. This will force the zones to max out in size at 3x3. Another way is to lay out 2x2 zones within the 6x6 space. As the appropriate buildings develop, mark them as historical so they won't be replaced with some other building, and when the checkerboard is developed, simply fill in the spaces with zones. These zones will also be forced to develop into 2x2 or 3x3 buildings (whichever you rigged it to develop) because there will be no room for the zones to grow into larger buildings.

These techniques, especially when combined, can work wonders for urban renewal. Also, if you like huge downtowns, this is useful in getting large 4x4's like Quigley Insurance or the 3x3 towers like the Gold tower and Kong tower.

When building a neighborhood, be fluid. Put a lot of parks in the area and then delete them after the buildings have been marked historical. You can also try moving your city hall around, seeding development, before finally giving it a permanent position.

See also
Overcoming growth obstacles
RCI building density table
Details on zone density and development
RCI building density table (detailed)
The invisible factor in land value determination
Funds: tax commerce without them leaving
Merits of 6x7 blocks
How to get towers early on
The map center effect
How to get the biggest buildings
Why residential demand stops growing