I have tried to build a "high-rent" district in my town with plenty of formal parks and plazas that are supposed to increase high-wealth land value. These parks are laid out in a manner that should maximize the coverage area for the highest land value while minimizing monthly cost from parks.
However, I am noticing spotty coverage in places that seem to be radiating out from the roads. Upon zooming in while in the land value data layer, I notice that a bus stop sign is given a red tint, indicating it negatively impacts land value.
Is this bus stop causing the spotty land value coverage?
Best Answer
The answer, in fact, is yes.
Upon very close inspection, I noticed that bus stops/stations, streetcar stops/stations, train stations, and ship terminals ALL are detrimental to the highest wealth land value. This is not made clear at all by any tooltip in the game. Each of the mass transit options indicate that they transport low- and medium-wealth sims around the city, but not that they have negative effects on the high wealth populace. I had just assumed that the high wealth sims simply would not use the system.
To test this, I left the land value data layer open and removed bus stops and streetcar stops in my high wealth district. With each sign or stop removed, the high wealth coloring filled in completely where it had been spotty. If I added back the stop, it became spotty again.
Also, when checking the happiness of buildings around the stops, sometimes they would indicate "undesirable" neighbors. Once the stop was removed, that complaint went away.
This does NOT apply to school bus stops, only to mass transit stops.