Commercial specialization

Commercial zones can be specialized into three types in addition to their generic type. The specializations are "Tourism", "Leisure" and "Organic and Local Produce", and “Commercial Wall-to-Wall Buildings”. These were added via DLCs, and are not available without them. To specialize an area, draw a district or pedestrian area over the area to be affected and apply the desired specialization. Specializations on pedestrian areas are prioritized over ones on districts.

Generic

No specialization is the default, and results in standard generic commercial buildings. Existing specializations can be removed with the "No Commercial Specialization" button in the specialization menu, or by right clicking a specialized district with a specialization tool. This will result in existing buildings disappearing, and then regrowing as generic commercial if there is sufficient demand. Generic commercial buildings are affected by low and high density zoning.

Tourism

Example of buildings in a "Tourism" specialized commercial zone. Souvenir shop, cafe and several hotels.

The "Tourism Specialization" dedicates commercial zones to serve the tourists by providing hotel accommodations, restaurants and other activities. It attracts tourists, but also increases noise pollution.

The "Tourism" specialization becomes available at the "Busy Town" milestone.

The buildings in this specialization produce more tax income than generic commercial zone, have higher crime rates, and are most active during the day.

The buildings that grow in this specialization are not able to level up; they have only a single level. They only grow as high density regardless of the underlying commercial zoning density, though they will be a mix of skyscrapers and small buildings. In terms of jobs generated, a tourism zone is equal to a level 2 high density commercial zone.

For Tourism information not directly related to the commercial specialization, see Tourism.

Leisure

Example of buildings in a "Leisure" specialized commercial zone. Salon, restaurant, bowling alley and games arcade.

Leisure is how Cims spend their free time when not at school or work. Parks and Plazas and Park Areas will account for some leisure time, as will spending money in a Commercial zone.

Commercial specialization into leisure will produce games businesses like arcades and comedy clubs. Leisure specialized regions have more nightlife and will experience round the clock traffic. One option for continuous use of a region is to integrate both normal commercial and leisure zones to maximize usage.

Leisure regions generate more income than an equivalent commercial zone but at the expense of more noise and traffic which means they need to be situated further away from residential areas.

The "Leisure" specialization becomes available at the "Big Town" milestone.

The buildings that grow in this specialization are not able to level up; they have only a single level. They only grow as low density regardless of the underlying commercial zoning density. In terms of jobs generated, a leisure zone is equal to a level 3 low density commercial zone.

Policies

The "Let Go of Leisure" policy gives leisure specialized areas a hefty boost in their entertainment and attractiveness values, at a cost of no tax income from the leisure specialized buildings in the affected area.

The "NIMBY" policy causes leisure specialized areas to close for the night. It reduces noise pollution caused by leisure, but also reduces income from leisure specialized buildings at night.

School of Tourism and Travel

Building a School of Tourism and Travel Unique Faculty building within a Trade School Campus Area will result in:

• Increased attractiveness and entertainment of leisure buildings.
• Increased income from all commercial zones.

Organic and Local Produce

Example of buildings in an "Organic and Local Produce" specialized commercial zone.

The "Organic and Local Produce" specialization changes commercial areas to consist of buildings such as organic produce shops and electric car charging stations.

They produce 50% of sold goods locally, reducing the truck traffic they require by 50%. They sell goods at the same rate as generic commercial buildings.

These buildings use 20% more electricity than standard commercial buildings, but generate 20% less garbage. Buildings in these areas produce little to no noise pollution, and are therefore suitable to be in close proximity to residential zones.

The "Organic and Local Produce" specialization becomes available at the "Worthy Village" milestone.

The buildings that grow in this specialization are not able to level up; they have only a single level. They only grow as low density regardless of the underlying commercial zoning density. In terms of jobs generated, an organic and local produce zone is equal to a level 3 low density commercial zone.

• Highlights
  • Produces 50% of sold goods locally
  • Truck traffic in the area is reduced by 50%
  • Increases electricity consumption by 20%
  • Reduces garbage production by 20%

Mechanism

Organic and local produce buildings require goods from industrial zones (shown purple in the info views), as well as agricultural products (shown orange in the info views). The buildings prefer not to produce their own agricultural goods but receive goods from agricultural industry, or import form outside connections.

The buildings with this commercial specialization can be supplied by processor buildings of the zoned farming specialization. In warehouses these processed farming materials are called "Zoned Industry - Farming Products".

In some cases, their internal production is enough to keep the buildings functioning properly even if there are no truck deliveries. Thus, the goods that they produce themselves are sufficient to prevent the commercial buildings from becoming abandoned due to lack of deliveries; this is useful in smaller towns that have less industrial zone.

An alternate strategy is to replace most generic commercial zone with the Organic and Local Produce specialization, generic industry is not necessary. All of the required goods can be made in Recycling Centers and possibly the IT Cluster office specialization.

Parking Lots

Buildings of “Edison Hyper Charger”.

Large parking lots can be created without mods on PC or console through a method of placing 2x4, 2x3, or 2x2 and 3x3 (last one with solar panel roof and only eletric parking lots) patterns of commercial zone that is specialized "Organic and Local Produce" and bulldozing anything that grows that isn't an "Edison Hyper Charger". Marking the Edison Hyper Chargers as historical after they “grow” can help prevent accidental demolition.

Commercial Wall-To-Wall Buildings

The Commercial Wall-To-Wall Buildings specialization becomes available at the Big Town milestone. When this specialization is applied to a district or pedestrian area, modern low-rise commercial buildings will spawn from commercial zones. These buildings will visually connect to other wall-to-wall buildings when they are directly next to each other. These buildings have a reduced fire risk, but fires spread between them more easily.

The buildings that grow in this specialization are able to level up, and they only grow as high density regardless of the underlying commercial zoning density.

See Also

See also: Gallery of Zoned Commercial Buildings

References

Specializations

Commercial

Generic Commercial • Tourism • Leisure • Organic and Local Produce • Wall-To-Wall Commercial Buildings

Office

Generic Offices • Financial Offices • IT Cluster • Wall-To-Wall Office Buildings

Industrial

Generic Industry • Farming • Forestry • Oil • Ore

Residential

Generic Residential • Self-Sufficient Buildings • Wall-To-Wall Residential Buildings