So I figured out how to win the economy

[Bubs McKenzie]

So starting out, you have to be very careful with where you keep residential areas because they're very dependent on good services. You're going to end up trying to focus them into a neat core around your first district. Tax rates should be pretty low and demand for industrial will be high, so you then surround those first districts with purely industrial zones because they pay huge taxes without needing much services at all (They do fine with just gas all the way to late game). Your city will look actually look a hell of a lot like the older, inner part of Detroit with the industrial donut around your downtown. When industrial demand goes up, just spit out another industrial zone because they pay themselves off very, very quickly while maybe only demanding cobblestone roads.

So far, the game has pretty much no penalties to industry sprawl, which is kinda killing the balance that makes this strategy so easy.


PS: there's no reason not to have mixed zones over residential, so make sure to do that in your non-industrial places.

[Masterhummel]

If i didn't upgrade to sewer/electricity at some point, my businesses would fall behind. (i.e. 'can't expand'). And eventually go bancrupt at thebeginning of era III. Didn't happen to you?

And yes, citizens don't seem to mind to live in a -20 health -20 enviroment hellhole.

[Molybdane]

Have you had any issues with traffic in your industrial areas, or did you have to upgrade any roads to keep going into era 3 anf beyond?

[zombieking_FTW]

Originally posted by Masterhummel:

If i didn't upgrade to sewer/electricity at some point, my businesses would fall behind. (i.e. 'can't expand'). And eventually go bancrupt at thebeginning of era III. Didn't happen to you?

And yes, citizens don't seem to mind to live in a -20 health -20 enviroment hellhole.

How do you know that sewer and electricity have an affect on busniesses and they arent just a waste of money?

[Masterhummel]

Originally posted by zombieking_FTW:

Originally posted by Masterhummel:

If i didn't upgrade to sewer/electricity at some point, my businesses would fall behind. (i.e. 'can't expand'). And eventually go bancrupt at thebeginning of era III. Didn't happen to you?

And yes, citizens don't seem to mind to live in a -20 health -20 enviroment hellhole.

How do you know that sewer and electricity have an affect of busniesses and they arent just a waste of money?

Well, if you research them and hover over the icon in the science result screen it says 'Strenghtens industry'. If built, buildings start to expand into their next 'tier'. However, i don't know if that results in an actual plus in income in the long term.

[Entropic]

Originally posted by Masterhummel:

Originally posted by zombieking_FTW:

How do you know that sewer and electricity have an affect of busniesses and they arent just a waste of money?

Well, if you research them and hover over the icon in the science result screen it says 'Strenghtens industry'. If built, buildings start to expand into their next 'tier'. However, i don't know if that results in an actual plus in income in the long term.

They produce higher quality goods that sell better. I think what matters is the cost-benefit so grids should probably be built in the largest areas first for cost efficiency. The rate doesn't seem to go up based on district size but then again, I always tend to build the largest size.

[Bubs McKenzie]

Originally posted by Masterhummel:

If i didn't upgrade to sewer/electricity at some point, my businesses would fall behind. (i.e. 'can't expand'). And eventually go bancrupt at thebeginning of era III. Didn't happen to you?

And yes, citizens don't seem to mind to live in a -20 health -20 enviroment hellhole.

Are you talking commerical or industrial? Commercial needs more services from what I've seen, but if taxes are below like 15%, I've never had a problem with industrial going out of business.

Originally posted by Molybdane:

Have you had any issues with traffic in your industrial areas, or did you have to upgrade any roads to keep going into era 3 anf beyond?

Yeah, you need cobblestone then asphalt if you move density in those areas up (Which I'm not sure if that's worth doing). They still make bank then.

There's a bit of a sticky traffic point where cobble is your max level and chokes industry until trams (which requires electricity and is hella expensive) or asphalt.

[Molybdane]

Then again, electricity is required by industries to upgrade anyway + you can add the much cheaper electric lights to an industrial district to boost city-wide appearence.

Also, I've just strted a new game following a method similar to yours, just districts and services only. No infrastructure and no density upgrades in era 1 and the city is much larger and more fiscally sound than my previous attempt.

Finally, don't neglect your commerical area's. They provide not only jobs and income, but some of the services residents require too.