SimCity 4 Hints & Tips

Why aren't there jobs for your sims?

Written By: Rand Huck
Saturday, February 15, 2003

Besides the budgeting challenges the game has, the most common problem people have been experiencing with the game (based on forum contributions and emails I've received) have been the dreaded "No Job" icon (called zots) above sims' houses and apartment buildings.

You look at the amount of industrial and commercial zones, and see no problems. As a matter of fact, most of the factories and offices have jobs available. You look at the roads, which are all in tact. The sims have no dead-ends that might limit their range to offices and factories. What could be the problem?

If you move your cursor over the "zotted" building, you'll likely see, among other factors, "Commute: Long" (Sometimes this isn't listed in the word bubble, so you might have to click on the house to get that info) If the commute is too long, your sims will not live in that house for too much longer, and either look for a place that is closer to their workplace or leave the entire city all together.

The first thing to look at if the commute is too long, is the traffic in your city. Not just around where the house is, but also on the main arteries between residential and commercial/industrial zones. If there are streets that are very congested, upgrade them to roads, and if the roads are congested, try including a highway or mass transit.

Your sims will likely remove that zot from above their house if traffic is back to a manageable speed, and decide to hound you for something else, like crime or fire coverage.

And if he or she doesn't? The only thing I can suggest is you try zoning more commercial or industrial around where the sim lives, and if the demand is right, a couple factories, shops, and offices will sprout up, giving the sim a chance to succeed without the road trip.

And a final note: The "traffic noise" level, found when you click on a sim's house or apartment isn't directly affiliated with the traffic level of the road the sim lives on or the sim's commute. That is the amount of cars on the road making noise. Sometimes there might be no congestion on the roads and streets at all, yet there will still be noise from cars' engines.

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