When to build high density buildings and offices

[Glitcher]

I disagree with most of your post. There really isn't that much space to build, because the extra tile unlocker is actually useless. The game can't even run the simulation for 9 tiles, let alone 81, it runs out of assets somewhere around 7 tiles.

What? So how does squeezing your city together help your game if you claim you can't fill all 81 tiles anyway? That literally makes no sense.

Further, real cities use grids. Nearly every modern city is based on a grid design, with deviations for natural terrain. Only in cases where cities were large and developed pre-industrial revolution do you get crazy looking road designs, so this mostly effects European cities. Take a look at every major american city- it's going to be a grid unless the terrain is terrible (Seattle, San Francisco).

*snicker* That's a very, very American perspective. You should try looking outside your country to other cities to see what most road layouts are really like. Anyway, I think your city looks fine. There are grids, but at least you veer away from them in different districts and follow the river. Any traffic problems you're experiencing with this layout can be mitigated by analyzing vehicle routes and providing alternate paths. I've got a whole spaghetti network of highways for that and my traffic flow wavers between 87% and 92% with a population of 85'000.

 

[SchwarzKatze]

Avoiding the hyperbole, one of the big problems with a grid layout like that is that you have no arterial roads (roads are either overbuilt or underbuilt for the traffic they need to carry)

False. Just use one or two rows for them or , you know, 3d planning.

 

[Person012345]

The bit about American city planners dropping grids isn't really true. Some examples:

NY: https://www.google.com/maps/search/google+maps/@40.7311023,-74.0068349,14z
Chicago: https://www.google.com/maps/search/google+maps/@41.8474314,-87.6728575,13z
Phoenix: https://www.google.com/maps/search/google+maps/@33.457928,-112.0790704,14z

Phoenix in particular is quite a young city, it's population having exploded in the past 30 years or so as retirees flock there, but if you fly over it it's one of the most perfectly grided cities you will ever see.

Heavy grid use is also not exclusive to the States:

Tokyo: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@35.6930211,139.8005414,15z
Mexico City: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@19.4635149,-99.1266739,14z
Santiago: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.5167903,-70.6483372,14z

look at all those beautiful grids!

The main benefits of grids are efficient use of space and ease of navigation. In densely populated areas where mass transit can be cost efficient (most of europe), there's less pressure for the later as car use is much less. But that still doesn't stop some of the most densely populated cities in the world (the 3 non american ones i linked up there) from using grids quite a bit.

The maps would be more helpful if they showed a breakdown of what parts were built when. And yes, I know gids aren't only used in the states. It's just more prevlant there. Like I said, grids have upsides and downsides.So it stands to reason they would be used. But they're not ubiquitous in cities, nor inherently superior, they're not some "new" style of thinking that surpasses the old. Grid layouts were adopted long before the invention of cars and they continue to be used in some places because they believe that the upsides suit their needs more than the downsides are a problem. But this won't always be the case and many of the upsides to grid layouts are pretty irrelevant in Cities Skylines. If you like them aesthetically that's fine but they're not just the default for new construction. Also, Tokyo is not a grid city. Having some straight lines doesn't make a grid layout.

 

[Person012345]

False. Just use one or two rows for them or , you know, 3d planning.

Larger roads in a grid can exist, but people need to be encouraged to use them, they're not inherently superior to any other route.

 

[SchwarzKatze]

Larger roads in a grid can exist, but people need to be encouraged to use them, they're not inherently superior to any other route.

Just make it a highway and build perpendicular roads on another level.

 

[Black_Shade]

*snicker* That's a very, very American perspective. You should try looking outside your country to other cities to see what most road layouts are really like.

Well, I lived in France for several years and traveled all over Euroland and now live in Australia. I travel internationally about 15 times a year for work. It's a pretty safe bet I've seen and driven on a lot more road layouts than most. I can also tell you that in terms of driving and just getting around, grids are definitely superior. You make a wrong turn on a grid, it's very easy to get back to where you're going. You make a wrong turn on a road in southern France and you're pretty much screwed. And you're going to make wrong turns, because they don't even have street signs. Navigating pre google maps must have been an absolute nightmare.

I'd go so far as to say you the way the the roads are laid out in southern Europe make driving pointless, as the roads are almost useless. Best thing to get to get around is a scooter. Or use mass transit if you're a masochist and have loads of time to waste... French and Italian trains are always late. Always.

 

[Person012345]

Well, I lived in France for several years and traveled all over Euroland and now live in Australia. I travel internationally about 15 times a year for work. It's a pretty safe bet I've seen and driven on a lot more road layouts than most. I can also tell you that in terms of driving and just getting around, grids are definitely superior. You make a wrong turn on a grid, it's very easy to get back to where you're going. You make a wrong turn on a road in southern France and you're pretty much screwed. And you're going to make wrong turns, because they don't even have street signs. Navigating pre google maps must have been an absolute nightmare.

I'd go so far as to say you the way the the roads are laid out in southern Europe make driving pointless, as the roads are almost useless. Best thing to get to get around is a scooter. Or use mass transit if you're a masochist and have loads of time to waste... French and Italian trains are always late. Always.

I imagine that depends on the location. Anywhere I've been it's fine if you know what you're doing. You're expected to know the rough route to your destination before you set out, is it normal in america to want to go somewhere and just start driving with no idea where it is, relying on road signs? We do have road signs in britain, but they're not exactly intended to show you where every single location within a city is and I can't even really imagine how that would work. The main roads, landmarks, etc. yes which is generally enough to get where you want to go. Funny that I've heard for inter-city travel america doesn't tend to label where things actually are and you're expected to just know the highway junction you're supposed to exit at.

But yeah, as I said, navigation is one of the big benefits to grids. That being said, discouraging foot/bike traffic and encouraging car traffic is not generally seen as a positive in most contexts. Public transport really varies, generally if it's privatised it's going to be terrible, otherwise it varies. I don't know many train services that aren't underground that serve predominantly intra-city travel though.