Contributor/author(s): S. Siefken
You have built a thriving city. The economy is strong and your sims are happy. Your utopia seems invincible. Then it happens. Your commercial and industrial demand drops. Sims leave your city in droves. Buildings become abandoned and your city practically becomes a ghost town. You try everything. You add more parks, add more connections to neighbors, zone according to the RCI indicator, but to no avail. The frustration level rises, and you start thinking "it must be a bug in the program."
Hang on a minute. Is it really a bug? Here is my theory on why the great depression happens. Keep a close eye on the population graph. You will notice how the percentage of population at a given age changes over time. As the population of your city stabilizes and the sims become healthier, the workforce percentage ranges from 50-60% of the total population. As long as the workforce population remains above 50% your city will continue to grow or remain stable.
However, once every 200 to 300 hundred years you will notice something happen. The majority of the population will either become old (retired) or young (still in school). The workforce population will drop below 50% (I've seen my percentage drop as low as 44%). As soon as that happens your commercial and industrial demand will drop because businesses cannot find enough workers to meet their needs. So the businesses start to pack up and leave town. Suddenly the sims who are available to work can't find any jobs, so they start to leave town. You are in the midst of a depression with no way out. You cannot change the population percentages (even if you zone more residential). The only thing you can do is wait it out. Usually the depression ends when the large young sim population matures and enters the workforce. This usually means you have to wait 20 to 50 sim years for this to happen. Once your workforce population rises above 50% your economy will strengthen and the sims will move back into your utopia.
So next time your in the great depression, check your population graph. If the workforce percentage is below 50%, don't sweat it. Just wait awhile and your utopia will recover strong.
See also
Life expectancy at 90: dire implications!
Dealing with the Great Depression
Avoiding the Great Depression all together
The Great Depression - result of aging population?
Preventing depressions
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