Hey! I know this is an old and dead thread, but there is now a mod which can assist with this: Realist population revisited. Download the right one. The original and spin offs may crash your game. I am told its best used with citizen lifecycle rebalance, but that mod doesn't work for more that 65,535 residents. Please read the associated discussions on steam, as they show you how to edit the XML files so that the residential lots have different amounts of residents to the standard. IN THE BASE MOD, HOUSES CREATE HOUSEHOLDS ON THE BASIS OF THE NUMBER OF DOORS. This means that if you have created two invisible doorways for the cims to enter and exit the mod should give it two households. I hope this helps. Dense residential will contain more people, it is a standard side effect of this mod.
I tend to use it with Daylight Classic. In addition to its great graphical properties, it has a slider which affects Day/Night cycle, and it has great effects on making cims leave the house at the right time. On 1/8th speed I always get:
Increased power draw in the evenings before cims sleep (1900-2200 approx)
Increased traffic from 0700-2000, particularly at 0800 and 1800
Increased water usage during the day (I assume industrial lots use more?)