Reclaiming land and funds

Contributor/author(s): Anonymous

If you have created an incredibly large or densely populated city, you know that all those Sims require so many government services. When you have filled up your city's land with zones and government property, it's time to reclaim land and funds.

• Destroy and distribute your emergency services property everywhere. Try to find the most efficient police and fire layout for your city. Put your jail on a man made island if possible. Don't be like Los Angeles and put your prison a few blocks away from City Hall.
• Destroy a few schools and colleges. Don't worry if they become overcrowded; they can handle a certain amount without becoming poor in educational quality, and it's more realistic. Then, distribute your educational structures evenly throughout the city. It's annoying to see a school on each city block.
• Destroy useless parks and recreation. If you have a park built on the coast, slash it. The coast itself will help raise land value (if the water's not polluted). Use those ballparks and large parks sparingly if you're aiming for realism. Distribute your remaining recreation and fill up the empty space with zones. Sure, land values will drop (which is more realistic), but there are other ways to increase land value.
• Water and garbage structures annoy the bejeebees out of me, since they take up space and have low capacity. Here's how to save your land: Very early in the game, make road and pipe connections to your neighbors. Take whatever deals they give you and run. You pay for their deals without feeling any financial effects, since you get used to paying for civil services and neighbor deals at the same time. When your city becomes enormous, you can build your own water structures and cut the neighbor deal (not to mention reclaim lost funds), or keep the deal and save land. And as for the garbage, let your neighbor have it if they want it so badly!
• Fill up the ocean with land. Really. If you have the cash and want to reclaim space, do what the Japanese do. Stretch out your land into the ocean, lake, etc. If you have an airport that's polluting and adding to the crime rate, create a man made island and put your airport there a la Kansai International, an airport built on a man made island in Osaka Bay.

Apply these tactics with transit tiles, low-growth zones, etc. I guarantee that you will get back land and money which was once used by inefficient government structures. Take back that which is rightfully yours!

See also
Making realistic cities
How to get rid of landfills