Questions about lot growth frequency

[Reginasunrae]

Okay, let's see if I can ask this in a way that makes sense to anyone besides me.

First off, I love mega lots and I use them frequently, pretty much anywhere it makes sense to zone for one. As such I have a nice selection of custom lots to flesh out my game. However, every time I zone for, say, a 6x6 low-density residential it's almost always the same three lots (medium wealth) that will develop. I decided to experiment and removed two of those lots from my game and changed another to build in medium density (since it's more appropriate anyway) and now the 6x6 zones aren't developing at all despite having three medium- and four low-wealth lots that could build on those.

I try to get my commercial and industrial buildings filled up with all the workers they're supposed to have. As such I try to develop plenty of low-wealth residential areas. I know it's not a question of demand.  Despite low-wealth demand being as high as it can be the middle class just keep moving in and I fight tooth and nail to get low-wealth to develop. Commute times are good--I try to zone near where I need the workers, plus I use NAM for the more realistic time and travel aspects. I've tried everything I can think of to get those lots to develop. I've raised taxes on the middle class to the point there's slightly negative demand and lowered taxes on the low-wealth to 5% or 6% (they pay so little anyway it doesn't hurt the budget). I've zoned in low-desirability areas in hopes of development but apparently the low-wealth Sims in my cities are a picky bunch because usually nothing at all will develop in those areas until I make it more desirable.

One thing that niggles at my mind is the lot builders who've included in their description something like 'I've made sure to tweak settings on this lot so it won't build all over your cities all the time.' I'm wondering if that could be the problem with these lots. If that's the case can I fix it using SC4 Tool? And how do I do it?

Thanks so much in advance for any help.

[jmyers2043]

There is a good discussion here about growing frequency in general.

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=4441.0

Regarding the claims of lot builders. Well, it all depends on what you have in your plugins, not theirs. 

There are several things to do. The best way to deal with a weed is to download other weeds. Competition. A good rule of thumb is to use the XTool on everything before you put it into your plugins. I can't stress this point enough. All of your lots and buildings should have consistent modding. I use the Xtool on everything I download from other sites. The LEX is more consistent.

It also boils down to density. How many Sims work in the building that is 16X22X10 vs how many Sims are working in a building that is 15X21X9. There are other variables (read the above thread). For me? SimGoobers "Stevies XXX theater" used to grow like hot cakes. It had the largest Sim count and building size of all the other stage 3 CS$. My cities typically hit a spot in the growth cycle where it will take over intersections. I made some changes and it grows less frequently now. Truth is that it actually will upgrade to something else. There is always a 'sweet spot' for the demand of any city that will favor a specific building. That is when you know that you have to go hunting for competition.

Good Luck - Jim

[Reginasunrae]

Thanks so much for your reply, Jim! I admit I haven't had time to read around as much as I would like to do so I'll look over that discussion, for sure. SC4 has never got the attention from me that it deserved over the years for various reasons and during the last couple of months I've been playing it quite a bit when I have the time. I went on a bit of a download spree weeks back and set up a new region where I use only plugins, no actual game content, and some of the plugins I have do grow way too frequently. I don't have 1.6 gigs of downloads so I can watch the same dozen lots crop up all over my cities. I will download the SC4PIM and user guide and see if I can educate myself a little bit.

I really do enjoy this game but sometimes it just frustrates the snot out of me, like when I have empty work places all over the city and 75% of the SimCitizens are commuting to another city for jobs that don't even exist there. I finally just got to a point where I don't even give them the option of leaving town and when the wealthy decide to over-take my cities and complain about no jobs I hike their tax rate up to 13.5% and bulldoze their houses. I know, I know, I make my cities way too nice but for me that's part of the fun of playing. With any rate lower than 13.5% they just over-run and make a mess of everything. If the developers had actually thought this out, either high-wealth buildings wouldn't need scads of low-wealth workers or housing would do a better job of developing at the wealth level(s) needed for those jobs. Of course if they'd really had their thinking caps on low-density houses wouldn't build between apartment complexes either and the city's last grocery store wouldn't suddenly turn into a high-rise office building without having to make said store into a(n) historical monument.

Well, it's back to work for me for today but after tomorrow I'll be giving myself a couple of days off--haven't taken one in weeks--and maybe find the time to see what I can do to fix this.