Am I missing something or is this game forcing me to expand quickly?

[YoDaddy]

As my last topic said, I like to build small and get groups of small cities.

It seems this game does not want me to do that. For one it forces me to connect to the set location of the highway offramps, unlike the Sim City series I could build a road to the end of the map anywhere.

Also, it forces me to build near a river, to get water and dump waste. So I need to waste a lot of money starting either by the highway or by the river, and spending lots of money on roads and power/pipes to cover both.

Am I doing something wrong or is this how it is designed?

 

[redjericho3]

just build water towers rather than pumps if you dont want to be near water.

 

[Steve B.]

just build water towers rather than pumps if you dont want to be near water.

Yeah, but you still need to get rid of the sewage. The only way to do that is to dump it in the river. Would be nice if somebody modded septic tanks.