Above the beach, separated from the commercial strip, Fair Banks County starts a secondary downtown: medium and high-density housing, small parks and dog parks, the Fairview Heights district with policies and parking fees, a cargo hub with warehouses for the farms, a new passenger line — and an electronics factory signature building with 1,502 jobs.
What happens in this episode
The commercial strip from episode 16 now reads like an American-style commercial district. Episode 17 of Fair Banks County turns to the land above the beach for a secondary downtown: medium and high-density homes and maybe offices. Landscaping was still a challenge for me, but the result was workable.
How it was built
Beach and commerce kept apart
The new road layout keeps the beach shoreline clearly separated from the commercial district above it. Medium and high-density housing goes in. Offices wouldn’t build in some spots, and I couldn’t work out why, so those lots became small parks and a third dog park instead. A bridge explained why one road section wouldn’t zone.
Fairview Heights
High-density demand dipped for a while, but the North American mixed housing did surprisingly well. When the first residents arrived, traffic poured in and out. The new district, Fairview Heights (already 375 dogs), gets energy consumption awareness, recycling, roadside parking fees (raised to 12) and speed bumps, but no gated community, because the area needs to attract people. Two buildings lost their car access for no reason I could see. I asked viewers whether they’d like a custom park here.
A cargo hub for the farms
More important: rail. The farms need a transport hub, with a cargo station here and another one later. A new cargo area with two warehouses and a secondary train connection serves the farmland as it grows. A new passenger line runs from the new station across the city. The whole area still has no bus stops, because I wanted to rethink how I lay them out first.
An electronics factory
The air pollution flows straight down, so a small industrial area fits. A new signature building, an electronics factory (“from humble toaster to self-organising sock drawer”), brings 1,502 jobs, which the city badly needed, plus some chimneys I don’t like. The job stats showed there are actually plenty of jobs, just not enough well-educated and highly educated workers, so more education is needed. A college goes on flat ground near the train line. I still use far fewer fire stations than in the first game.
Video chapters
- 00:00Plan: a high-density district
- 06:11Separating beach and commercial
- 10:24Offices that won't build, parks that will
- 17:13Fairview Heights and its policies
- 21:19A cargo hub for the farms
- 27:59A new passenger line, no buses yet
- 32:41An electronics factory with 1,502 jobs
- 37:05A college on flat ground
Clicking a chapter starts the video above at that point.
FAQ
Where should a secondary downtown go?
Somewhere with its own identity and good transit — here above the beach, clearly separated from the low-density commercial strip, with a train line and stations planned in.
Why won't offices build in some spots?
I couldn't always tell. Sometimes the location just isn't attractive to offices in the simulation; I switched those lots to housing and parks.
Do you need many fire stations in Cities: Skylines 2?
Fewer than in the first game, in my experience. Fires are handled well with a reasonable spread of stations and a helicopter depot.