Need advice making commercial districts

[AoD_lexandro]

I have played this game for years but its only really recently that I have started to "get it" when it comes to making good looking and properly working cities. The thing I usually fail at is my commercial areas are badly laid out causing lots of bottle-necking, tails backs etc. I cant seem to get a "style" or technique to laying out that works well and looks right. I have residential and industry pretty much "down pat" and can layout an area with some nice style and a good network. Commercial though is always just an absolute mess.

So I ask you the forums for some inspiration in designs. Please show me some low density malls and shopping parks, & high density retail areas you have created. I need to get a look at a few and see how its done so I can properly work out my own method.

I thank you for your time.

[WhiteKnight77]

I tend to use grids for the most part. In one city, I am placing them on a 2 lane road with trees in the median and placing a 2 lane road behind them after they get built so I can place cargo spawn points at the rear for deliveries. It works pretty good.

Now the key is to force the game to build different buildings in your commercial zones. When second one grows of one already there, bulldoze it. Remember to make a store historic so it does not change as it levels up.

Something else to keep in mind is to zone different size properties as using just 4x4 zones will always spawn just certain buildings, when there are so many different buildings of other sizes. Check out the Gallery of Zoned Commercial Buildings[skylines.paradoxwikis.com] wiki page to see how different zoning sizes give you different buildings.

Here is a look at a couple of my commercial districts.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2962468096
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2984642162

[OneJasonBradly]

A small low density commercial, which is connected to the main neighbourhood pathway.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=786195064
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=786197704
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=861201003
it can be viewed in this video of that neighbourhood.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1276346177
This show the entrance/exit to another low density plaza/mall...
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=905913477
Another low com plaza. Path to the left and shows the two vehicle connection points.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=905913577

[AoD_lexandro]

Appreciated chaps, some good info there. Basically what I am seeing is that I am just building too big and the wrong way around (making streets instead of plazas). So I took your advice and tried to create a much smaller and quicker design for a mall. This is what I came up with ;

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3009395499

Just used the mall pack to get started but now I get the idea. Already got another generic area Im working on to make it more bespoke (ie gas station details / drive through markings etc.)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3009547547