A Tale of Two Cities

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and in SimCity , no city is built overnight. Instead, cities go through different stages of development, starting out as quaint small towns, and growing into sprawling urban centers packed with skyscrapers. In this section we take a look at the multi-stage development and specialization of two very different cities.

As Mayor, it’s your decision to choose how your city develops. Will you emphasize education and high tech? Or will your rely on natural resources and city specialization to develop an industrial juggernaut?

Starting city

Berkeley: High Tech City

Berkeley is located on an relatively flat piece of land, making it easy to develop. However, other than wind and water, the city has no significant natural resources such as raw ore, coal, or crude oil. This city grows utilizing a balanced RCI approach, relying largely on tax revenue to pay for utilities and city services.

Emphasizing education, the city builds a Community College, allowing for the growth of clean (tech level 2) industry, supplying the city with jobs. Later, the addition of a University spurs the growth of high tech (tech level 3) industry, offering even more jobs.

With the increased tax revenue from more prosperous residential and commercial zones, advanced city services like the Hospital, Large Fire Station, and Police Precinct can be funded. By the final stage, the city can extend its fire, health, and police services to the neighboring city of Pittsburgh. In return, Pittsburgh supplies Berkeley with power.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Pittsburgh: Coal City

Pittsburgh is founded on a dry, uneven piece of land, with plenty of coal just beneath the surface. This presents the Mayor with a tempting economic opportunity. By mining coal, the city can provide a ton of low wealth jobs as well as fuel a Coal Power Plant.

In addition to coal, the city invests in dirty (tech level 1) industry to supply more low wealth jobs while producing freight for commercial and increased tax revenue for the city. But the heavy emphasis on coal power and dirty industry results in heavy pollution, making it difficult to attract medium and high wealth residential and commercial buildings.

By the end, the city generates most of its tax revenue from dirty industry while supplying its neighboring city Berkeley with power and freight. In return, Pittsburgh gets fire, health, and police services from Berkeley—ambulance coverage is essential for treating all those injured Sims working in the factories and the Coal Mine.

Starting city

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4