Sims Commuting When They Don't Need to

[Ricardj]

Hey All,

First time poster but have been playing the game and using lots of custom content for several years now.  My question relates to commuters between cities and why they are doing it.

I'm using the Census Repository and have pretty much perfectly matched jobs available versus population (see screen shot attached), yet many sims are choosing to commute rather than stay and work.  The "city" is quite small at this time so I'm confident congestion and commute time are not the main factors.  Is it possible they are commuting just because they want to?

I ask because at this time, I have over 700 vacant jobs I would like to fill.  However, I'm not sure where to zone new residential so the new Sims will work in the city, rather than commute to a neighbour.  Thanks in advance for your help!

[whatevermind]

Sims will commute to another city when they think it will be faster/easier than trying to get to the same job within their city. A developed region will naturally have a certain commuting population that wanders between cities, much as you find in the real world. All you can really do is try to influence the scale of this behavior.

As far as where to place your zones, if you zone residential in the center, and commercial and industrial around the edges, you'll make it more likely that your sims will find a job before they leave the city. However, you also have to balance that with other zoning needs, city geography, regional layout, personal taste, etc. You also have to make sure that the available jobs match the needs of the residents, particularly their wealth and education, otherwise they'll commute to another city before they settle for an ill-fitting, but nearby job.

[z]

Is it possible they are commuting just because they want to?

No.  Sims tend to commute to jobs that are closest to them.  If there are jobs in another city, these jobs are considered by the game to be located at the city border.

I ask because at this time, I have over 700 vacant jobs I would like to fill.  However, I'm not sure where to zone new residential so the new Sims will work in the city, rather than commute to a neighbour.  Thanks in advance for your help!

You need to zone your jobs so that they're closer to your Sims than the border of the nearest city with jobs is.

[Ricardj]

Thanks very much for the help, much appreciated!