*I'm not sure if this is doable, but I have an idea for a new zoned land type. Forest zones would automatically generate trees (of random type, like the god mode tree tool) and would spawn animals at a rate linked to the size of the zone. These would provide no income, but would provide a great increase in air pollution and provide recreation to sims (tents and campfires could appear every now and then to represent usage). Should be tied to the ranger station (which is otherwise useless?) somehow, such as protecting against fire or crime in a forest zone (fire/police stations having no effect in the woods).
*Another new zone idea; creative zone. Things like artist studios, independent presses/publishers, independent game studios, independent movie studios, etc. would grow here. This type of growth produces very low income, but increases a city's culture like a museum or opera house would. Higher income creative buildings would be large artistic studios and private art houses, which could only grow with the patronage of high wealth residential population (creative population stage should be linked to residential population stage, as they depend on patronage).
*Computer Centers. They provide the educational benefit of a library and the recreational benefit of a park, but they should be quite expensive.
*Vocational Schools. Much less expensive than colleges, but have an increased effect on industrial jobs and a decreased effect on commercial jobs.
*Homeless Shelters. Should have a scaling monthly cost like other government buildings. Built in a poor neighborhood, it produces a few jobs and reduces crime in the nearby vicinity. Makes it less likely that a residential building will become abandoned. Building in a high wealth neighborhood will anger the rich sims.
*Workshops: Provides jobs to low education, low wealth sims. Provides income based on how heavily it is used (more sims working=more money for the city), counts toward industrial-manufacturing jobs but produces no pollution. Makes it less likely that a commercial building will become abandoned. Building in a high wealth neighborhood has no effect.
*New ordinance (again, don't know if this is possible): Encouraged CCDW. Encourages sims to buy and carry defensive weapons. Reduces crime, isn't nearly as effective as police coverage but used in tandem with it is highly effective. The amount of crime prevention offered scales with the wealth of the area (low wealth sims can only afford cheap weapons, medium wealth can afford quality weapons and training, high wealth can hire private security).
*New ordinance: Vigilante Justice. Requires the Encouraged CCDW ordinance to function, gives law-abiding sims partial police power. Functions like having the entire city covered by police kiosks, requires a city jail to work at maximum effectiveness, still not as good as police stations since civilian sims don't have access to patrol cars and police helicopters. Should be cheaper than building lots of police stations, but moderately less effective.
*New ordinance: Volunteer Firefighters. Steeply reduces the cost of fire stations, but decreases their effectiveness by a bit as well.
*Project Purity. More expensive than regular Water Treatment Plant, but has no limit to effectiveness and increases desirability city-wide by making all sims happier. When built and linked to water pipes, city water pollution drops to 0 and stays there. If water pipes are built underwater, the sludge/oil/whatever that is around seaports will clear up as well.
*Sacrificial Chamber: Power plant that's dirt cheap, produces no pollution, takes up a 1x1 foorprint, and offers tremendous power output. The catch; it reduces residential population by 100 every month (possibly causing abandonment of buildings by removal of all residents). Causes an outrage among sims, land desirability drops steeply across the board.
*Underground roads and zoning; topside roads could transition to underground roads and a sub-level to the city could be build underground. Desirability would be low by default and difficult to raise, air pollution would have a much higher impact, trees would not grow. Subway stations linked to underground roads would act like surface-level train stations for passengers only while enabling use of the same subway system the surface has access to. Underground farms would grow various types of edible fungus as opposed to fruit and veggies.
*Air Purifier. 1x1 utility building with monthly cost. Strongly reduces air pollution in the surrounding area, roughly as effective as a 3x3 square of densely packed trees. Because of the monthly cost, would mostly be used underground, but the small footprint would leave more usable land in small size cities.
