Run out of money before getting any citizens

[Andrew]

Done this like 5 times. Start map -> build a road -> residential area -> commercial area -> electricity -> water -> negative account balance and growing more indebt. Any advice?

[Roger]

Start small. Build only a few residentials, a waterpump, a sewage thingie and a wind turbine. Then your citizens will pay taxes. And if they want commercial (the blue bar at the bottom) then you build commercial. And if they want industry (the orange bar at the bottom) then you build industry.

And be carefull roads are really expensive at the beginning ^^

Just start small and this all won't be a problem.

[Leorga]

Start smaller. I had the same problem from the start. Can't grow too fast. Electric lines, roads, everything costs money to upkeep.

[Lone Atreides]

Make sure to micromanage your funding, especially on water and electricity early on. You should be fine at 50% at first, then just gradually increase as the need increases until you get to 100%. Also try not to build too many roads as those have mainenece that cannot be adjusted. Keep it simple (also low density). It took me until about the 3rd milestone to start seeing profit. I saved at each milestone and did have to use the first two type of loans to get to a decent profit.

Also don't worry about education right away, or even police if crime rate is still low. And personally right away I would start with a water pump (not water tower as people can get sick from those from ground pollution).

[Rasseru]

Build a few roads. then only one electricity, water and sewage building. Add ton of residential area, commercial area, and have some industry. Make sure every thing is hooked up like water and power. Do this in slow speed and your city should be making money.

[rovaira2]

Make sure you have a connection to the highway. You need one connection coming in to your city from the highway, one going out to the highway, and an intersection between the two so they can turn around.

If you don't do this part nobody actually moves into the buildings even though buildings are created.

[WGB24]

go for wind power plant to begin witn use cheapest road type use water tower at the start make sure you zone industry cut the service budget so you are paying only for what you need

[Lone Atreides]

Oh and only use the most basic 2 lane road at first. You can always upgrade later when you have money coming in. It will allow you to build more roads so you can zone more. And ignore it if you go bankrupt, decline the bailout and keep trying a bit longer. I was offered it twice and still managed to begin seeing a profit.