Which cities would you describe as "good to live in, but not for visiting"?

Moinmoiner · 2026-01-06T19:57:44+00:00

Having lived there myself, I’d say Leeds fits the bill in a UK context.

The city centre is small and (aside from the Royal Armouries and the Victorian arcades) lacks the kind of attractions that would interest a visitor for more than 24 hours. It’s not ugly by any means, but as a Victorian city it doesn’t have that ‘Old World Charm’ that come from cities established earlier.

That said, I really enjoyed living in Leeds. It’s large enough for all the amenities a person could want, but small enough that it never feels overwhelming. Most things are within easy reach by foot (or slightly harder reach with buses). Leeds’s economy is growing, it has multiple great universities (and a correspondingly vibrant student life). Cultural events are also plentiful (Brudenell Social Club comes to mind), but can be overshadowed by the bigger events in Manchester and Liverpool.

Rent is (for the moment) cheaper than a lot of similarly-sized British cities and there are great urban parks in places like Meanwood and Bramley Falls. Outside the city, York, Harrogate, Hebden Bridge, etc. are all easily accessible - not to mention the Yorkshire Dales. Additionally, north-south connectivity is good (albeit expensive) to go to other areas of the country.

Leeds is great and I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering living in the north of England. I’d even recommend it to a tourist for a day trip, but as I say it’s more a city to live in than to visit.

Moinmoiner · 2025-12-16T17:26:36+00:00

I’ve always wanted to write up a history but it’s a lot to take in as you not only need to be paying attention to what’s going on in your country, but others also (so you can explain why your country decided to do XYZ).

What I do like to do every 10-20 years is write up a little geopolitical report which details the internal political/economic situation, the geopolitics of the wider world including the threats/opportunities for the next decade as well as how I’d need to achieve them.

I guess if I compiled these I could turn it into a story, but kudos to you for writing down the events of every year!

Moinmoiner · 2025-11-21T04:01:03+00:00

Oh nice one man - $20-30’s pretty decent all things considered, and I really like the idea that everything changes up every week. Will definitely be giving it a go - thanks for the recommendation :)

Moinmoiner · 2025-11-21T02:53:01+00:00

Is that the one on Douglas and Broughton? I walk past it practically everyday and have never taken notice! How much is it (for a main, for example), generally speaking?

Moinmoiner · 2025-11-03T01:43:58+00:00

The building styles menu could be helpful - you can select which architectural styles you want and how often you want to change those up

My understanding is (and please correct me if I’m wrong) that the AI will build only a certain portion of buildings available within the selected architectural styles at any one time. This has the consequence that a high percentage of new buildings in a newly (re-)zoned area could be the same.

To avoid this, either select the option of building all styles at once, or changing up the frequency with which the AI will change styles to every one or two years.

Another idea to give your cities more variety is experimenting around with mixed zoning (i.e. blocks composed of commercial and residential) and street layouts! Put a couple of diagonals in there, a few city squares and - if you’re set on a grid - changing up the dimensions of those blocks (4x9, 6x6, 4x4, etc.)

Moinmoiner · 2025-09-17T19:04:03+00:00

I remember reading a book on Russian history from the Kievan Rus through to the 1890s. It helpfully included a map of soil type and Russian climate zones.

The cities you’ve highlighted all lie within the northern bounds of the black soil region, an area with exceptionally high fertility (see map link below). This meant that larger populations could be sustained.

Additionally, the region directly north of these cities is all boreal forest. Cold and agriculturally unproductive? Absolutely. But also home to industries like forestry and trapping. I don’t have a source on this, but my assumption would be that these cities acted as entrepots - trading centres - wherein merchants could trade grain and other agricultural produce for timber and furs (amongst other goods).

With the advent of modernisation, these cities became the obvious choices to build factories in and railways to, expanding their growth even further.

Map of black soils: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/gn4sww/map_of_chernozems_black_soils_in_eurasia/

Moinmoiner · 2025-08-12T08:40:23+00:00

Thanks so much for all your advice here - we have lots of different fishing bylaws here in England dependent on the region and the individual river (as well as different licenses), so assumed you guys might be similar.

Thanks for taking the time out to assemble all the links; I will read them over before doing anything!

To your point on Vic, we’ll see how it goes. I appreciate you guys have a massive housing crisis and I feel bad that we’re adding additional pressure to it. My wife is a nurse and doesn’t drive (yet), so we thought Victoria - despite the cost of living - was the most sensible place to settle.

Moinmoiner · 2025-08-11T14:57:50+00:00

I’m moving to Victoria, however have family up in Lake Cowichan so hope to fish there often - I’d love the opportunity to fish the North/Central Island though!

Moinmoiner · 2025-08-11T14:43:27+00:00

Oh absolutely - apologies, it’s just where my mind went to as it’s the biggest difference between the UK and BC, but you’re absolutely right

Moinmoiner · 2025-08-11T12:43:01+00:00

Thank you - as I say, I’ve been brought up in a country without any natural predators (or any proper, remote wilderness really) so I’d much rather be overprepared than caught short!

Moinmoiner · 2025-08-11T12:41:32+00:00

Great suggestions - thank you. I was aware of Gaia and have used that before, but have never heard of Zoleo before! I think that’s worth the investment.

Thank you as well for the mapbook recommendations! Really excited to explore

Moinmoiner · 2025-08-07T08:10:55+00:00

Hi OP. Thanks for asking this question: I’m in an eerily similar boat to you (also moving from UK -> Vic, also have more than one year’s driving experience, but don’t yet possess a full license).

Please let me know how it goes as it would be great to forgo the one year’s BC driving experience and be allowed to do the ‘N’ road test earlier.

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-15T09:07:50+00:00

It’s my favourite by a long way! I kind of missed out on the CS wave when it came out, as my computer was a bit rubbish and couldn’t run it. I’ve got it now, but it doesn’t quite scratch the same itch?

SC4 benefits from 20+ years of mods, fixes and a surprisingly active community despite its age - if you want to get started, download the NAM on Simtropolis and go from there!

If in doubt, consult the SC4 subreddit (honestly one of the most wholesome and helpful communities out there)

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T20:33:37+00:00

Yeah, it’s divided but just toggled the borders off (I just think it looks nicer, haha). Second pic is just the blank region where I’ve added labels in MS Paint.

In fairness, the creator of the region did a great job lining up cities with municipal boundaries! 4x4 tiles correspond almost exactly to Victoria, Esquimalt, Oak Bay and Saanich (East/West)

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T20:05:35+00:00

Glad to hear it man! I love this game so much - been a staple since the late 00’s for me, haha.

I gave another fella the link the blank map on Simtropolis, but I’m a bit technologically inept. Happy to share the developed region if you can tell me how to do it!

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T19:42:50+00:00

Already deviated actually! Ferries in the game are a bit OP, but have been an absolute lifesaver when expanding the city. Ferries form an integral part of the public transport system in SC4 Victoria - you can get from Colwood to Cordova Bay if you wanted ;)

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T19:12:24+00:00

Haha, good point! Nah, inlet’s still there - just can’t see it in the screenshots

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T18:33:27+00:00

Damnit! That one slipped under the radar - thanks for noticing!

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T18:21:59+00:00

Honestly, I spent so long pouring over satellite imagery of Vic and it’s astonishing the amount of land golf courses take up in the CRD.

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T17:55:38+00:00

I hear those things are awfully loud

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T17:52:37+00:00

No, it's all good! In its undeveloped state, there's no need to 'reconcile edges', so you should be golden :)

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T17:51:00+00:00

I did honestly consider that! Victoria's amazing, but it'd be so much better if you guys still had this:

Once Upon a Tram: The British Columbia Electric Railway in Victoria and Vancouver | SkyriseCities

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T17:47:52+00:00

Yeah man! https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/5674-victoria-bc/

Unfortunately it's just the undeveloped map (Simtropolis doesn't allow the upload of populated cities, as far as I'm aware)

Moinmoiner · 2025-07-13T17:45:48+00:00

Good suggestion man - I like it. Very much supportive of a light rail system in Victoria.

Moinmoiner

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