MY QUICK
SIMCITY GUIDE!

THE TOOLBAR ICONS!

Bulldozer - Demolishes a selected area. Demolishes a whole structure if you bulldoze the center of it.
Road - Builds a fragment of a street. Hold down the Road button and move the cursor in the desired direction for easier road construction. The price of a road doubles if you build it over water.
Railroad - Builds a fragment of a railroad. Hold down the Road button and move the cursor in the desired direction for easier railroad construction. The price of a railroad doubles if you build it over water.
Power Lines - Builds a power line. You must use these to connect zones and buildings to the power plant. The price of a power line doubles if you build it over water.
Small Park - Builds a small park, which actually looks like just a patch of grass.
Residential Zone - Creates a zone where houses are randomly built. These houses grow into large structures if the area has good land value.
Commercial Zone - Creates a zone where businesses are randomly built. These businesses grow into large structures if the area has good land value.
Industrial Zone - Creates a zone where industries are randomly built. These industries grow into large structures if the area has good land value. Careful! Industrial zones produce a considerable amount of pollution.
Police Department - Lowers crime in the area its constructed.
Fire Department - Greatly increases the chances of a fire going out quickly in an area.
Stadium - The people will eventually demand a stadium. It helps increase land value. It also attracts a lot of traffic.
Seaport - Commerce will eventually demand a seaport. Careful! They produce a considerable amount of pollution.
Coal Power - Coal Power is cheap, but produces less power than nuclear and produces a considerable amount of pollution.
Nuclear Power - Efficient and expensive, does not produce any pollution.
Airport - Commerce will eventually demand an airport. Careful! They produce a lot of pollution and crime.
Surprise! - Mr. Wright will flag you whenever you're awarded a gift. This icon is where you'll find them.

GIFTS! ~ REPEATED GIFTS!
Gifts that are given to you more than once depending on how much of something you build

Zoo - A zoo boosts land value if its placed near residential areas and it gives you $100 a year. You get these by building lots of residential zones.
Amusement Park - An amusement park boosts land value if its placed near residential areas and it gives you $100 a year. You get these by building lots of zones.
Police HQ - Unlike a regular police department, it has wider crime coverage. Still requires $100 yearly funding. You get these by building lots of police stations.
Fire HQ - Unlike a regular fire department, it has wider fire coverage. Still requires $100 yearly funding. You get these by building lots of fire stations.
Casino - A casino boosts land value if its placed near commercial zones and it gives you $100 a year. Careful! They attract crime. You get these by building lots of zones.
City Park - A city park (a.k.a. large park) increases land value wherever its placed and it gives you $100 a year. You get these by building lots of small parks.
Land Fill - Builds a patch of fresh land on any water surface. You get these when you've covered the majority of your land.

GIFTS! ~ ONE-TIME GIFTS!
Gifts that are given to you just once

Your House - Your house massively boosts land value if its placed near residential zones. You get it whenever your population reaches 2,500.
Library - The library boosts land value if its placed near residential zones. You get it by building lots of residential zones.
Bank - The bank gives you loans. That's all. It doesn't benefit your city in any way. You get it when you're losing money.
Train Station - The train station helps increase land value if its place near commercial zones. It improves your transit service. You get it by building lots of railroads.
Expo - The expo boosts land value if its place near industrial zones. You get it by building a lot of industrial zones.
Fountain - The fountain boosts land value wherever you its place and it gives you $100 a year. You get it whenever your population is at a certain large count.
Windmill - The windmill boosts land value if its placed near commercial zones and it decreases tax dollars. You get it whenever your population is at a certain large count.
Mario Monument - The monument boosts land value wherever its placed. You get it when your population reaches 500,000.

TIPS!!

• Screw roads. Stick with railroads if you want to eliminate traffic problems.
• Build your city with the donut style. (as seen in Dykeville, my first full-screen-shot city)
• Build industrial zones, seaports and airports as close to water as you can. Whatever pollution that touches water won't count against polluting your city.
• Smother your city with police stations.
• Just build like one fire station. Build another only if there's a fire you really want to put out.
• Cover all empty land with small parks.
• Try not to build residential zones too close to industrial zones.
• Build commercial zones in-between residential and industrial zones.
• Never use coal power.
• Stadiums usually help improve those parts of the city that turn into a ghetto.