Vancouver Area Relocalisation Network

Who out there didn't love the original SimCity? OK, I can see how city planning details such as water works, garbage collection and tax structure, which arrived in later versions of the game, might bore a lot of gamers out there. But, c'mon people, the original SimCity (I played it on SNES, but it was also released on PC) should definitely rank as a classic. I can honestly say that it taught me everything I know about how a city functions as a whole, and how its constituents (residents, but also businesses and industries) are physically, financially, and legally connected.

Well, I did take some development/sociology courses in college, but really the foundation of my understanding lies in SimCity. For those who weren't into it, the goal of the game is two-fold: as SimMayor, you want to ratchet up that approval rating as high as it'll go, and ultimately build a megalopolis of 500,000. Yeah, whopper of a city, eh? (Actually, there's one other plot feature, and for some it's the crux of the game: major destruction!)

The highest approval rating I ever achieved was 92%. I did this by following four simple rules: bulldoze not a single square of trees and decentralize, decentralize, decentralize. In the fairly small, but open spaces in the forest, I included several industrial and commercial zones and as many residential zones as the combined total of the others. No direct roads? No problem. No traffic, either. I used roads in that particular city, but I frequently built cities with no roads at all, only mass transit services. This was a sure-fire way to eliminate traffic and smog problems, which citizens frequently complain about, negatively affecting a mayor's approval rating. If SimCitizens could have complained about having no roads, I suppose they would have, which is exactly why mass transit really works best in conjunction with decentralization. If there are places to work, eat, shop, and have fun all in a reasonable walking or biking distance from one's home and mass transit rides are only a once-in-a-while thing, then the inconvenience of having to use them isn't really annoyance at all: use that time to read a magazine or listen to a podcast. Leisure time, relaxation, is sure to increase approval of more than just the mayor. Taxation, on the other hand...

And, who would've guessed? The basics of tax law are also to be found in SimCity. The original featured a much simpler tax structure than subsequent versions: a single, across-the-board tax rate for all residents, businesses, and industries. Simple, yes, but deceptively so. The obvious lesson is that high taxes make businesses close and residents move away; low taxes invite new residents and allow industry to thrive. In a nutshell, the same goes for the real world. What happens when a SimCity grows too fast and spends too much? Raising taxes to generate income will only drive people away, but lowering taxes to attract new businesses and industries will lead to a deficit. Sound familiar? If so, it's because everything you need to know about city and regional planning, you learned from playing SimCity.

I'll have to ruminate on this a little later... the baby's up from her nap.

Any SimMayors out there want to share their highest approval rating? Leave a comment. I'd be curious to hear other recipes for success with this game.