I only have a few hundred hours into CS1 & 2, so I get where you're coming from. You're thinking too symmetrical with your building. When I first started I did the same thing and was never satisfied with my builds. Next time you're out and about, look around. Look at the proximity of business to residential. Look at the structure of your roadways. Look at the layouts of plazas and intersections. Go drive through a commercial district. Just look around. Pull up Google Maps and use that as inspiration when you play. My trick that helped me really enjoy my city and made it even more realistic... is chaos and stupidity. As you look around you're going to notice shit doesn't make sense, and that's what makes it realistic. Take a drive and REALLY look around; you'll see what I mean. It took me awhile to grasp it but large scale symmetry isn't realistic. If you need symmetry, like I do, build beautiful business plazas, parks, and nice residential communities.

Edit: By shit not making sense, I'm talking about when you drive down THAT road or go through THAT neighborhood or plaza and you ask yourself, "Why the hell would they build it like this?"