Where to build the city

Learn the best strategies for starting your city in SimCity 2000. Discover optimal placement for your power plant, zoning proportions, and water supply.

Now that you've started the city in your new terrain, it's time to decide where you want to first start constructing your city. My recommendation is that you start construction in a corner, preferably a corner with a nearby water source that allows shipping. Starting in the corner makes it easier for you to see where you want your city to go in the future. Also, it makes it easier to build any connections to your neighbors without costly lengths of road or rail.

When it comes to actually starting the city, try these steps:

1. Build your power plant a good distance away from where you want to lay the first sections of road. This will keep the plant's pollution away from your Sims. Also, be sure NOT to build the plant near your water source, as it will pollute the water, which in turns lowers the life expectancy of your city's inhabitants. Besides, power lines are cheap enough, it shouldn't bug you too much to keep the plant at a distance.
2. When it comes to proper proportioning of your zones, I recommend that 50% of your zones be residential, with 25% as industry and 25% as commercial. As time goes on, you'll want to even those out to 33% apiece, with slightly emphasis on industrial and residential. When your city has reached a very large size, at least 90,000, you should begin placing more influence on commercial as opposed to industrial.
3. Start your water supply small, and add to it as needed. There's no need to build a huge waterworks that can supply a bustling metropolis if all you've got is a one-horse-town. Besides, there's no harm in starting out too small with the water, then adding to it later as needed.

Keep those things in mind, and you should have no difficulty building a successful city.