Tactics for generating income

[Don Maddox]

My cities always seem to be on the verge of going into the red, or are in the red. I hate taking out loans as they become difficult to pay off. How do you generate income for your cities?

[travillaintim]

All the tips and hints you'll ever need in the forums here...

http://www.simtropolis.com/index.cfm

[weldanplay]

I like to start in a small corner, and be cheap, 1 road going to 2 neighbors, wind power plant, then work my way up, and expand as needed. its cheaper, then you aren't paying a ton on maintinence, and if you right click on city buildings, you can adjust the cost to a reasonable amount.

[Sniper]

Haven't played this in a while, it is a love it or hate it game depending on my mood. I always seem to migrate back at one time or another.

I have always found that making power deals with neighbors keeps me in the black, even if I have to build extra powerplants to handle the load. Water deals never work for me. No matter how many pumping stations and connections are set up, I always get a message that I defaulted and am not supplying enough water. Still not sure why that happens:confused:

Take every special project that comes your way. Go ahead and build that prison, junk remanufacture plant, etc. Your staff always advises against it but screw them! Put ugly projects in a 'dirty corner' along with power plants, landfills and other 'undersirable but necessary' infrastructure. It makes for an unhappy and unhealthy area in your city but the income can't be beat. Anyway, who cares if prisoners have to live in a low standard of living and polluted environment? At times I would like to stuff half of the staff/advisors in the prison just for the bum advise they constantly pass along :)Just leave a buffer between the filth and your classy city.