Parks

As your city increases in density, parks are even more critical, offering the masses a place to gather and gain happiness.

Everybody wants a park in their neighborhood. No, seriously. Everybody wants a park, and they won’t hesitate to tell you at each opportunity. In addition to fulfilling the demands of a nature- and activity-starved public, parks are a great way to increase land value, encouraging the construction of higher wealth residential and commercial buildings.

Sims like parks because it gives them another place to gain happiness, whether they have money or not. No shops? No worries, they can always get happiness from a park. Furthermore, parks give kids a place to release childhood energy and teenage angst, decreasing the chances they’ll turn to a life of crime.

Some parks can even attract tourists, benefiting nearby commercial buildings. So listen to the public—they know parks will make their lives better. It’s high time you get the picture too.

Basic Parks ( )

These small parks offer a variety of outdoor activities for kids and adults. They’re small, cheap, and have little to no impact on land value. Build these parks within walking distance of low wealth residential areas to offer Sims another way to gain happiness.

Blacktop Park

• Cost: 100
• Operational Cost: 10 per hour
• Visitors per day: 12
• Description: Just enough room for foursquare and hopscotch.

Swings Playground

• Cost: 100
• Operational Cost: 10 per hour
• Visitors per day: 12
• Description: Swing time! Higher!

Rides Playground

• Cost: 100
• Operational Cost: 10 per hour
• Visitors per day: 12
• Description: The perfect spot to drop the tykes off if you want to have them spun or bounced!

BBQ Pit

• Cost: 100
• Operational Cost: 10 per hour
• Visitors per day: 12
• Description: A handy spot where random Sims can put meat to fire surrounded by foliage. What could possibly go wrong?

BBQ Pavilion

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: Add a faint whiff of mesquite and lighter fluid to your park.

Water Park Playground

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: Kids will love splashing around in this fun, watery playground.

Small Field

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: Hope you like grass, because there’s a bunch of it here!

Small Field with Parking

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: Not every open field of grass has convenient attached parking! Raises medium wealth land value.

Medium Field with Parking

• Cost: 1,600
• Operational Cost: 160 per hour
• Visitors per day: 192
• Description: Not quite enough space for a game of two-hand touch and too many trees to fly a kite. Just enjoy the nature! Raises medium wealth land value.

Large Field with Parking

• Cost: 1,600
• Operational Cost: 160 per hour
• Visitors per day: 192
• Description: Perfect for rounds of paintball or just massive games of hide and seek. Raises medium wealth land value.

Sports Parks ( )

Feel like a quick pick-up game? Or maybe you just want to grind rails and work on your aerials. These sports parks encourage Sims of all ages to get out of the house and channel their inner athlete. Build these parks in neighborhoods where you want to encourage the growth of medium wealth buildings.

Public Tennis Court

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: Tennis, anyone? Sims will love playing tennis matches on your new court! Raises medium wealth land value.

Basketball Court

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: You’ve got outside tickets to watch ballers take the rock to the hole! Raises medium wealth land value.

Volleyball Court

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: Catch every service and spike with a volleyball court in your city! Raises medium wealth land value.

Medium Skate Park

• Cost: 800
• Operational Cost: 80 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: Ample ramps and plentiful pipes fill this skate park to the brim! Raises medium wealth land value.

Large Skate Park

• Cost: 1,600
• Operational Cost: 160 per hour
• Visitors per day: 96
• Description: Put those empty swimming pools to rad use! Raises medium wealth land value.

Soccer Field

• Cost: 10,000
• Operational Cost: 600 per hour
• Visitors per day: 180
• Description: Sims will hit the field to play soccer. Raises medium wealth land value.

Baseball Field

• Cost: 10,000
• Operational Cost: 500 per hour
• Visitors per day: 150
• Description: Play ball! Kids who join a junior baseball team will be less likely to start shoplifting. Raises medium wealth land value.

Nature Parks ( )

Who doesn’t love the sound of birds chirping while taking a leisurely walk along a flower-lined path? These nature parks offer Sims a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and relax in a quiet, serene environment. Plop these parks in neighborhoods where you want to encourage the construction of medium wealth buildings.

Pond

• Cost: 200
• Operational Cost: 20 per hour
• Visitors per day: 12
• Description: Ducks, mini-boat regattas, or just poking at lily pads; the options are nearly endless. Raises medium wealth land value.

Wavy Path Park

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: Craft your very own custom, easy-to-escape maze! Raises medium wealth land value.

Straight Path Park

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: Help your Sims walk the straight and narrow with this handy park. Raises medium wealth land value.

Colorful Path Park

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: The flowers help you not wander around in circles. Raises medium wealth land value.

Tall Tree Row

• Cost: 100
• Operational Cost: 10 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: Add some green between your heavy-polluting buildings to at least make it seem like you’re making an effort to be green.

Short Tree Row

• Cost: 100
• Operational Cost: 10 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: Add some green between your heavy-polluting buildings to at least make it seem like you’re making an effort to be green.

Medium Path Park

• Cost: 800
• Operational Cost: 80 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: This spacious park has ample paths for ambling and a lovely bed of colorful flowers. Raises medium wealth land value.

Tree-Lined Walkway

• Cost: 800
• Operational Cost: 80 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: Beautiful trees and colorful flowers border this peaceful walkway. Raises medium wealth land value.

Wavy Tree-Lined Walkway

• Cost: 800
• Operational Cost: 80 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: Parks Department officials maintain that the landscaping crew was not drunk when laying this walkway. Raises medium wealth land value.

Large Park Path

• Cost: 3,200
• Operational Cost: 320 per hour
• Visitors per day: 192
• Prerequisites:
• City Hall
• Department of Tourism in the region
• Description: This well-manicured park has plenty of space for even the largest cities. Raises medium wealth land value.

City Park

• Cost: 3,200
• Operational Cost: 320 per hour
• Visitors per day: 192
• Prerequisites:
• City Hall
• Department of Tourism in the region
• Description: Even big cities need a sunny patch of greenery. Raises medium wealth land value.

Community Park

• Cost: 3,200
• Operational Cost: 320 per hour
• Visitors per day: 192
• Prerequisites:
• City Hall
• Department of Tourism in the region
• Description: Gathering place for local mime troupes by day and wannabe vampire gangs by night. Raises medium wealth land value.

Plant Forest

• Cost: 50
• Operational Cost: None
• Description: Plant a small forest amongst your skyscrapers to give the gnomes somewhere to hide!

Clear Forest

• Cost: 50
• Operational Cost: None
• Description: Clear cut forests to make way for your urban sprawl.

Plazas ( )

Even wealthy residents and office workers need a place to unwind after a long day of shoveling Simoleons into their bank accounts. These swanky plazas offer the perfect balance of trees, flowers, shrubs, and public art, helping even the most stressed Sims forget their troubles. Place plazas in areas where you want to encourage the construction of high wealth buildings.

Simple Walkway

• Cost: 1,200
• Operational Cost: 120 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: This wide walkway has a scattering of trees and bushes for a touch of green in the middle of your city. Raises high wealth land value.

Double Walkway

• Cost: 1,200
• Operational Cost: 120 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: This walkway is a bit wider than most, with shady tree coverage. Raises high wealth land value.

Flower Plaza

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: For when you love flowers so much you need a park filled to the brim with them. Raises high wealth land value.

Small Sculpture Garden

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: The plaque at the base reads “Pointless Oval-Henri Less.” Raises high wealth land value.

Medium Sculpture Garden

• Cost: 1,200
• Operational Cost: 120 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: The geometric sculpture at the center of this plaza is titled “Taxation Representation”. What does it mean? What does it mean? Raises high wealth land value.

Large Sculpture Garden

• Cost: 2,400
• Operational Cost: 240 per hour
• Visitors per day: 96
• Description: Gaze upon “Man”, a sculptural treatise on man’s eternal struggle with nature…and himself. Raises high wealth land value.

Large Urban Sculpture Garden

• Cost: 2,400
• Operational Cost: 240 per hour
• Visitors per day: 96
• Description: This striking iron Gordian knot sculpture is brought to you by Simfinity. “Simfinity: engineering everything”. Raises high wealth land value.

Urban Greenspace

• Cost: 2,400
• Operational Cost: 240 per hour
• Visitors per day: 96
• Description: Add a nice spot for overwhelmed office drones to soak up the sun on their lunch hour. Raises high wealth land value.

Tiered Urban Greenspace

• Cost: 2,400
• Operational Cost: 240 per hour
• Visitors per day: 96
• Description: It’s almost like there’s nature in the middle of your city! Raises high wealth land value.

Formal Parks ( )

A touch of water, in the form of fountains and reflecting pools, can make all the difference when searching for a soothing, stress-free environment. Or take in a live performance at the Amphitheater to escape the worries of the day. Place these parks in areas to encourage the creation of high wealth buildings.

Fountain Plaza

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: Flagstones. Fountain. Flowers. What else could you ask for? Raises high wealth land value.

Fenced Fountain Plaza

• Cost: 400
• Operational Cost: 40 per hour
• Visitors per day: 24
• Description: A gothic fence frames this small plaza filled to the brim with fountains. Raises high wealth land value.

Small Fountain Park

• Cost: 1,200
• Operational Cost: 120 per hour
• Visitors per day: 48
• Description: Beautiful shiny tiles and colorful flowers frame a simple fountain. Raises high wealth land value.

Reflecting Pool Park

• Cost: 2,400
• Operational Cost: 240 per hour
• Visitors per day: 96
• Description: Perfect for modern Narcissuses (Narcissi?). Raises high wealth land value.

Large Fountain Park

• Cost: 2,400
• Operational Cost: 240 per hour
• Visitors per day: 96
• Description: A massive fountain sits at the center of a dramatic plaza. Raises high wealth land value.

Amphitheater

• Cost: 4,800
• Operational Cost: 480 per hour
• Visitors per day: 192
• Prerequisites:
• City Hall
• Department of Tourism in the region
• Description: High-falutin’ smarty types gather here to watch plays and such. Raises high wealth land value.

Park Management

Plopping parks is easy enough, but it can also be costly for a city under tight budget constraints. Still, parks serve an important role within the community by raising land values and giving Sims a way to boost their happiness—and the happier Sims are, the greater your approval rating!

But you do need to take care in which parks you plop and where you place them. It’s also important to take into account the number of homeless Sims roaming about your city and their impact on your park system.

Altering Land Value

The green radius around a park represents its range of influence, illustrating which areas will see an increase in land value.

Need to attract more medium or high wealth Sims to your city? The easiest way to encourage medium and high wealth Sims to move into your city is through the placement of parks. Most parks raise the surrounding land value, instantly encouraging higher wealth construction in adjoining residential and commercial zones.

Sports and Nature parks are the best way to spur the growth of medium wealth buildings while Plazas and Formal Parks encourage high wealth buildings—most Basic Parks have no impact on land value. Before you plop a park, take note of the green radius around it, representing the range of its influence on land value.

Usually the larger, expensive parks have a wider radius effect on surrounding land value than the smaller, cheap parks. So if the selected park doesn’t have the intended impact, choose another one from the Parks menu to see its influence radius.

Make a habit of building parks frequently, ensuring each residence in the city has at least one park within walking distance. Even if an area has natural high land value, the addition of a park gives Sims in the neighborhood another option for gaining happiness, particularly if there are no shops nearby.

Additional Park Benefits

Zoom in on parks to watch your Sims enjoying a variety of outdoor activities. It looks like these Sims have organized a friendly match on a Soccer Field.

Parks are much more than a way to boost the land value of your city. They also give Sims a place to go to gain happiness. Even Sims without money can visit parks and gain happiness—this is a good way to keep unemployed Sims happy. Sims without access to shops catering to their wealth level can also visit parks as an alternative to shopping.

When school isn’t in session, parks also provide a place for kids to spend their time productively, reducing the chances of creating a criminal. Parks can also scrub away ground and air pollution. Plop parks over former Sewage Outflow Pipes or Garbage Dump Sites to slowly reduce ground pollution caused by these dirty utilities.

Or build a wall of parks around industrial areas to help absorb some of the air pollution emitted by factories, power plants, and other polluting buildings. But like all city buildings, parks incur an hourly operational cost—keep tabs on the total expense of your park system within the Budget panel.

Compared to fire, health, and police services, parks are dirt cheap. But your Sims will demand a lot of them, and those expenses can add up over time.

Homeless Sims

Each park has a finite capacity. If you have a large homeless population, they may occupy all the slots, preventing other visitors from enjoying the park.

When low wealth Sims run out of money, they’re evicted from their residences. These homeless Sims then live in abandoned buildings, potentially even squatting in the same house they once lived in. With no money or job, homeless Sims spend most of the day foraging for food from uncollected garbage cans and loitering in parks.

Despite their predicament, homeless Sims still gain happiness from being in a park. However, they also occupy a place in the park that other Sims can’t use. Each park has a finite amount of space, as indicated by the number of visitors they can accommodate per day.

Each homeless Sim occupies one of these slots. If the homeless situation becomes dire, you can have entire parks overrun by the homeless, preventing tax-paying residents from visiting parks to gain happiness. To clamp down on homeless Sims, make sure all garbage cans are collected and bulldoze abandoned buildings. With nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat, homeless Sims will eventually leave your city.

City Services Achievements

Icon	Name	Criteria
	Bad Move, Creeps	Have your police capture their first criminal.
	A Burning Region of Fire	Have 50 fires extinguished in your region in a day.
	EMT ASAP	Pick up and treat 50 injured Sims in one day.
	Extraditions	Have your police capture 50 criminals in neighbors’ cities.
	Godfather	Have 50 crimes in one month in a region of 5,000+ residents.
	High Tech Fire Fightin’	Add the HazMat Garage, the Fire Helipad, and the Fire Marshal Office to a Large Fire Station in your city.
	Laboratory Outbreak (Secret)	Add a Diagnostic Lab to a Hospital and have 15 Sims die in a day to gain access to the Zombie Attack disaster.
	Medical Miracle	Plop a Hospital and treat 200 sick Sims in a day.
	Only You Can Prevent City Fires	Put out more than 10 fires in a day.
	Redemption of the Sims	Rehabilitate 50 Criminals in a day!
	Revolving Doors	Have 25 criminals released from jail cells in one day due to overcrowding.
	You’re on Fire!	Extinguish 1 HazMat fire in your city in a day!

Chat with the Developers

The City Services of SimCity

John Giordano, Gameplay Scripter