Cities: Skylines - Tips and FAQ

This guide is an ongoing project that lists some answers to questions you may have about Cities: Skylines

Zoning

• What is the best ratio for residential to commercial to industrial when I start my game?
  • 5 blocks residential, 2 blocks industrial, 1 block commercial. This ratio only applies early-game.
• How far to make industrial zoning from other zoning?
  • I make industrial district close enough for the pollution to barely touch my commercial zone. For residential areas, you need 2 city blocks to be safe, and maybe some trees in between.

Roads

• Should I use a grid layout in my city?
  • No. Grid layouts leave tons of traffic on a few streets.
• What general road layout type should I make?
  • (type 1) A giant circle for each type of district, with tiny dead-end roads that go into the circle but do not connect to the other side or roads.
  • (type 2) A large bubble shape, with smaller bubbles added to it, creating all three-way intersections

Initial Layout

• What should my first road be?
  • A one-way roundabout in the center of your city, with one-way streets connecting to the highway.
• What should my second road(s) be?
  • A residential district on one "side" of your traffic circle with one way streets connecting that district to the circle. Do the same with a small commercial district, and a medium industrial district. Your main traffic circle will have 4 inputs and 4 outputs.

Intersections

• Three vs Four vs Five way intersections?
  • Try to use a lot of three-way intersections. Four-way intersections can handle less traffic, and 5 way intersections are always a nightmare.
• How close can my intersection be?
  • If there is low traffic expected, you can place intersections 1 city block apart. If it is high traffic, you need 2 or more city blocks between intersections.

Highways

• Should I use highways in my city?
  • Yes. Upgrade your main traffic circle to highway, and create at least 1 highway that goes through your initial city tile in mid-game.
• What type of highway should I use?
  • If you have zoning within 2 blocks of a highway, use the one with raised sides to lower noise pollution.

Intersections

• Roundabout or Intersection?
  • Early game - Roundabouts are easy to make, and they can handle medium traffic.
  • Mid game - Intersections are harder to make, cost more, but they rarely fill up with traffic. The cloverleaf intersection is the best option really.

Public Transit

Bus System

• Should I turn up the budget for buses?
  • Yes! It is cheap to turn up the budget for bus lines and it pays off with reduction of traffic.
• Can I share bus stops with multiple lines?
  • NO! it makes huge traffic jams.
• Lots of buses are grouping up, whats wrong?
  • When buses share stops at the same point, a jam is created. Make sure you do not have any shared bus stops, each stop should only be for 1 bus route. Also, these could be different bus lines, so change the color of each line to see it better.

Metro

• Should I get a Metro?
  • Yes, but once your city occupies 3 tiles.
• How close should I make metro stops?
  • Make 2 in your residential zone, a stop in each industrial zone, and a stop in your 2 biggest commercial zones.

Problems

Land Value

• Land value is dropping, how do I fix it?
  • Figure out the problem associated with the value. Click each service type (fire, police, education, bus, etc) and make sure it has coverage next to it. Make sure you are 2 blocks away from industrial zoning. Make sure you have parks in the area and that the building is nearly turquoise in color. If you are close to a highway, lots of trees can help. If your whole district is dropping in value, you can use policies and the district manager to lower taxes, use high tech housing, etc.