How to fix an Economy 2.0 financial disaster in Cities Skylines 2

Today we're loading up Easthaven County, Massachusetts, for the first time since the new massive Economy 2.0 patch, and oh boy are we in for a surprise, as the county's economy has been completely demolished, resulting in an enormous budget deficit and a decrease in the overall happiness of people and businesses. This poses a huge challenge as we attempt to fix this by carefully re-planning and developing services: fire stations, hospitals, recycling centers, water and sewage, and more. We also tweak our taxes and service budgets and create new industries where Easthaven is most dependent on expensive imports from neighboring regions. Hope you enjoy!
New merchandise: infrastructuri...
Patreon with Ad-Free Early-Access to new uploads when possible other goodies! - / infrastructurist
All my Cities: Skylines Series playlists:
Cities Skylines 2 Realistic North American City - Riverview: • Cities Skylines 2 Real...
American Realistic County - Dakota Falls: • Realistic American Cou...
Crystal Reef County - Vanilla+ Florida inspired city: • Cities Skylines - Crys...
Coniferia - Realistic fictional Australia/Canada-inspired city: • Sunny coastal town! - ...
The American Dream - Realistic American City: • Cities: Skylines - The...
Project JAPAN: • Starting A Realistic J...
Building a realistic European/UK city (really old series!): • Starting A New City! -...
Map;
- ArchipelagoTurbo - my own custom version of Archipelago Haven, with more islands, downgraded infrastructure, much more fertile land and ore - and last but certainly not least - thick forests as far as the eye can see!
Mods;
- Unified Icon Library
- Better Bulldozer
- Water Features
- Tree Controller
- Anarchy
- Move It
- ExtraLib
- Map Texture Replacer
- ExtraLandscapingTools
- Plop the Growables
- PreservePhotoMode
- Line Tool
- Historical Start
- FPS Limiter
- Population Rebalance
- Prop Lights Mod
- Traffic Simulation Adjuster
- Extended Road Upgrades
- Extra networks and Areas
- I18n EveryWhere
- Water Visual Tweaks
- DependencyPack
- Gooee
- LegacyFlavour
- RealisticDensity
- Land Value Overhaul
- Find It
- ExtendedTooltip
- Weather+
Settings;
- Everything is set to high except Level of Detail which is set to Medium, 1440p resolution.
Hardware specs;
- 3080, 32 GB ram, I5-12600KF.
Music;
artlist.io/
www.epidemicso...
#citiesskylines2 #citiesskylines

[@Infrastructurist]

Looking forward to your input on the big open question of this episode! To wear Riverview on your head, check out infrastructurist-shop.fourthwall.com/ Thank you all Infrastructurist

[@thomas_bergkvist]

I think it would be a great idea to beef up downtown on the main island, and build some new establishments dotted around on other islands 😊

[@Infrastructurist]

Thanks for the input Thomas, appreciate it!

[@lasseheims3117]

I suggest reinforcing the downtown with some denser development and also adding a few corner shops at each rural development

[@alfredVN]

It's a good day when Infrastructurist uploads a video

[@Infrastructurist]

Thanks Alfred!

[@SawyerGermany]

And pretty boring evenings not hanging around Riverview and Co

[@theorixlux]

32:19 Whats actually happening is youre importing convenience food because you dont have enough convenience factories.

[@user-vp9lc9up6v]

Would be cool if we didn't have to play roulette to see if we can get more factories of a certain type

[@dejanbusse805]

In my opinion its kinda realistic that low density cities are harder to pull off now, especially regarding the Quality of services. The main disadvantage of living in lower density areas is exactly that. The simulation just needs to also include factors like avaliable outdoor spaces like forests and rivers and such, pollution levels (both noise and environnemental) as well as just generally more relaxed life overall into the happienes calculation so the citizens are willing to put up with lower service quality.

[@MathewHounsell]

Off the highway to Pinewood Dale you could add a new large development and save money on infrastructure. I've noticed you, Biffa, & CPP don't build stone quarries. The developers said that stone was essential to cut costs and allow upgrades, maybe put in a small quarry. You could also add a small industrial area and drop your convenience food tax rate.

[@jean-sebastienbrideau2556]

Yeah, I'v noticed that, at the beginning of the game, to build ressources buildings like stone quarry helped a lot for balancing the budget. Especially with the coal plant and coal mine. It feels that with 2.0, you have to pay more attention to ressources production and plan accordingly.

[@h3r3t1c3]

Definitely expand Chowder Bay, seeing the "organic growth" of a town turning into a city is way more interesting!

[@chrisw443]

This little maneuver is gonna cost us millions! LOL

[@Infrastructurist]

Christopher Nolan approves!

[@Everie]

Instead of using the reciclimg centers, just use the incinerator plant The recicling centers do not pick all the garbage up because it simulates the fact that recicling centers take only recicle-able garbage

[@melissaharris3389]

It's also more expensive than the incinerator

[@jasons6499]

that's what I was thinking as well.

[@theevilmoppet]

I think the main solution to your economic woes here is, as basically everyone (including you) has been saying, densification. This is actually quite realistic to how things function, at least in America - low density suburbs and rural areas lose massive amounts of money on their infrastructure because the cost per person of providing various basic public services is extremely high compared to even moderate levels of urban density. Suburbs are subsidised by core urban neighbourhoods (which make massive profits for the city because of how much cheaper it is to provide the things the city pays for), while rural areas are essentially fucked, because there's no one to subsidise them. You can do this, while maintaining the rural feel of most of Easthaven County, by significantly upzoning Chowder Bay (especially the downtown) without really significantly upping the density of the other towns, making the county much like many rural-ish American counties - several small economically ailing rural towns somewhat in the orbit of a larger, more prosperous, but still relatively small city.

[@theevilmoppet]

A good model for this might be Duluth and its county (St. Louis County, Minnesota); old industrial port town of a modest size (~80k) in a rural broader region.

[@theevilmoppet]

I hadn't got to the end of the episode when I wrote these comments. I definitely think upping Chowder Bay into a medium city on the main island of the county (perhaps with a little overflow onto the next island over, since it's quite close?) is the way to go. If you want the county as a whole to feel significantly rural, having a major city AND Chowder Bay is too much in my opinion. It would start to feel like a larger metropolitan area rather than several towns and a larger city in a rural area.

[@birbeyboop]

The medical clinic in westpoint actually feels really reminiscent of the kind of thing you'd see in MA or in new england in general. sheer cut rock walls are really common and its also not unthinkable at all for stuff to be built on the side of a hill like that with the relative scarcity of flat land

[@fujikred]

He should add a keywall on the rock side to have a “fence” protecting vehicle from the stones that could be dangerous for trafic

[@Markusnorrman-ec7ou]

Infrastructurist is quickly becoming my favorite cs KZbinr… lots of love from Norway! My opinion would be to increase the density in the currant downtown, and have new suburbs pop up elsewhere. Seems like a more natural progression to me😊

[@Infrastructurist]

Thanks for the feedback Markus, love from Denmark to my brother in the north! 😊

[@ralvolvi7668]

The great economic crash of 2024 is something that the infastructurist can survive

[@Infrastructurist]

I just need a proper federal bailout!

[@ludowebb5903]

I like the idea of a big city on the mainland near the mountains, it would look odd on an island and the low density really suits the map as a whole.

[@imheretoholdyourbeer]

„pine hill“ should be named „pine view“ ..put a little bench with a walkway there on the hill and it’s a perfect location for a place like this.

[@olivercorbett5345]

The wind turbines next to the coal mine could actually make a lot of sense! In the UK former coal fields (and piles of spoil) are turned into nature reserves, unable to support much development but as elevated, flat land are perfect for wind turbines. Perhaps adding some historic coal mine assets around the turbines would help with the storyline - important buildings here are sometimes listed as heritage buildings so can’t be demolished.

[@bendikhaland4053]

Best CS2 content creator! Big fan from Norway! Suggestion to a video: can you maybe show all your mods that you use?😊

[@bjroo]

The tourists stopped coming 😬😬

[@Infrastructurist]

I need those tourist dollars!

[@jonathanbarrow7811]

in regards to your question at the end, it feels like a lot of areas need to be built up more before a medium/high density area would exist. Maybe working around a fake empty lot tax downtown would help develop the area without losing its current character

[@ShelleySkylines]

I just love this city! I also love the commentary 😂 I’d listen to you talk about anything!

[@dangaming1563]

From 32:35 I think that the problem isn’t the amount of livestock farming but actually that there isn’t enough demand which means that you’ll need to introduce more commercial for processing the goods etc

[@Taylscoffee]

I’d love to see chowder bay get revamped, keep old town, and let the rest of the city grow around it. Keep some buildings throughout the city historical too. Thats the way Boston is built!

[@davidr9608]

Remember everyone - thats all clean coal. Clean, very clean. 😂😂

[@penguintux3025]

I am in favor of both densifying and expanding Chowder Bay a bit, but would like to see a larger city on the island near Cape Rose.

[@ff85478]

Saturday night with Infra is TOP! Thank you! ❤

[@Infrastructurist]

Saturday night vibes!

[@Gaming-With-Raymond]

When selecting operating district you can use the marquee tool to mass select

[@joshuamoorhouse9364]

The Pinewood Dale development reminds me of the film The Stepford Wives

[@rthomp03]

In a tourist haven like this, your best bet is jacking up the commercial tax rate. People on vacation expect to pay more for goods and services.

[@Bioshyn]

since eco 2.0 my city grew from 110k to 260k and i never was losing money, it just took forever to clean up the corpses (oh and i have a 13 million tile upkeep). somehow i built a city for 2.0 before 2.0 even happened. i also have a massive amount of people coming in via ship, this map looks like you could utilize that as well. i have that garbage pileup thing, too, it only seems to affect service buildings, happens to my power plant all the time, even though a recycling center is basically across the road

[@Infrastructurist]

Damn, that is some serious growth! Are you disappointed that it hasn't prompted more challenges in your city?

[@Bioshyn]

@@Infrastructurist yes and no, on the one hand i'm glad it didn't mess everything up, on the other hand i think i'll start a new city from scratch to fully experience the new difficulty. i think i just had it built out too far to matter.

[@Infrastructurist]

I think thats a great way to look at it!

[@Qualiall1]

I play with a no garbage mod and noticed that some of the extra education mod buildings had garbage piling up issues after the patch-no other buildings had that issue, so that may be causing some of your issues w trash too

[@Cities-By-Maps]

Love the detailing and the medical centre on the hill with the rocks and trees behind is great can't beat a good Oak. 😊

[@Infrastructurist]

I like big Oaks and I cannot lie!

[@olivierjelle]

Love the content, but was wondering if you would ever consider uploading your save games to pdx mods ??

[@Infrastructurist]

Hi Olivier, that is not something I am planning to do for now at least :-)

[@olivierjelle]

@@Infrastructurist alright 👍 keep up the amazing content

[@Infrastructurist]

@@olivierjelle Thank you very much, will do my best!!! :-)

[@omerzaferdundar7586]

if infrastructurist is on the keyboard, nothing is impossible

[@bigt2160]

I think the small hospital, small school assets might be bugged which is causing the garbage issue as the normal assets dont seem to have that issue, for me anyway, and the small versions do

[@Infrastructurist]

Interesting, I'll have to look into that - thanks!

[@DanMustafa-gz1eh]

You should get the custom road pack mod, it has everything from really big highways too small pedestrian streets.

[@birbeyboop]

i think it'd be interesting to see some upzoning in chowder bay as needed until it slowly becomes a more medium-sized city

[@88balloonsonthewall70]

the country side has been the life saver in my town. Windpower, and natural resources is a big source of income since you can tax the s*** out of them without them leaving.

[@WelshAvenue]

You’re losing tax income from your offices because of an occupancy bug in economy 2.0 all your office buildings are slowly losing employees until they reach just 5. There’s a mod that fixes it called Profit Based Office & Industry!

[@BallisticBois]

Hiya bud, I think you should build a new city just south of Westpoint. I know it isn't the most central location but I think it would work. Keep up with this series! Don't let economy 2.0 let you down 😉

[@alfredVN]

For detailing, two dollars twenty's latest video is super impressive - he really puts the new modding tools to fantastic use, gave me new ideas & inspiration

[@BlazingsNL]

-50% efficiency because of some garbage seems quite a heavy penalty! Also weird that the entire neighborhood was green in terms of garbage pickup, except for the hospital in the middle of it.

[@WestCoastBuilder]

Man I love your cinematics they always look so smooth, mine jitters sometimes 😁

[@joshuacaalim]

I've heard CPP explaining that the incinerator plant is more efficient than the recycling center. I guess you should also consider that. It's good since you can get rid of the small coal power plant and still produce electricity, but it might not be a good fit for a city the size of East Haven.

[@notisaacking]

I think you should create the medium/ bigger city in the upper right hand island near Westpoint so the lower area of New Haven can remain rural in a way and have a nice small town vibe

[@VulcanTrekkie45]

New England doesn't have much space left when it comes to suburban sprawl, so if you wanna build a city the best thing to do for realism's sake would be to densify and build up a pre-existing town. There's also a lot of building recycling. My office for example is an old converted mill building.

[@bart4950]

Really love the looks of your cities. Small question, is it possible that you upload a small video or screenshot with your graphical settings and map texture combinations that you use. I am trying to recreate yours, but having a bit of a struggle to get the same-ish results. Thanks in advance!

[@kubagaweda7387]

New mid sized center with connection from Pinewood Dale to Mile lake - as close as possible to bridge between this two Island. This half of island is totally empty right now.

[@sethwright2096]

Looks like there's a good bit of land north of westpoint, probably a good place to build some residential... maybe I'm biased because I don't want cape autumn or chowder bay to be massively changed lol

[@sebastientumahai9560]

Turning Chowder Bay into a dense colonial mid size/ large town, filling the entire island coast to coast. With smaller towns/ extensions off of the main island is probably the way to go economically and aesthetically. Basically how you have it now just ALOT more dense. Land in Chowder Bay will be at a premium aswell as the surrounding islands.

[@retrowayne3914]

Love how the new patch is making players actually have to build and play the game more strategically. How it’s intended.

[@DonUschi92]

I started a new city offer the weekend and had quite sone issues with standard facilities to balance it out with low density which was quite nice to see but will feel better when using smaller service building mods like you did. I also like how good you need to plan and watch Demand and also that you only need to place very few shops until you go high density and also there the budget sky rockets. I went from -10k / +15k low density als demand fulfilled and everything produced on my land to 100k/h when implemented a little skyline of offices and high density shops while keeping try for those low. 9% office - Google doesn’t like taxes - 11% commercial

[@mgranseth]

I found that the upkeep price for the tiles is taking into account the area of land, and the are of resources like ore, fertile land etc. So when I loaded my city in 2.0 economy everything went to hell. But when I used the resource painter mod I was able to erase every resource I was not using, and suddenly my economy was OK again

[@vajda_vvy]

Maybe overhaul Chowder Bay so that it's denser but not necessarily with skyscrapers? More like mid-rise buildings, especially mixed-use.

[@danielgamelas1367]

To have the tiles always straight and without holes you need to select only the snap to grid, the 90° angles, and the square one. If you able other snap options it will appear faults in the grid and the road isn't going to be square with your grid Also if you are conecting one grid to other grid at an angle, you should disable the snap to grid option wene you're connecting the roads, because if you have it on it will snap to the grid you're connecting and that will put your road out of square.

[@natedogyoung]

I suggest having a lot of small single-family homes on large lots set back from every one of your highways until you decide what to do with the empty land. That is realistically how America is. All highways have ranch homes along them on 2 or 3 acres. It would require minimal effort and you would get more revenue without having to add new roads.

[@abfruits]

As for what's next, I think it might be interesting to develop a few smaller downtown, with some light medium density housing. If you look at island communities, they often have their own commercial spaces and centers, and are not supremely reliant on one island. That would allow a bit more density without sprawl.... I don't see skyscrapers anywhere but on the mainland. Feels like a job for another day.

[@smithys246]

I think it would be really cool if the far side of the island with west point had a big major city, maybe even connecting with the other island more west by bridge or land

[@chrismulder6523]

There are scenarios when people from around neighbouring land have to flee, such as natural disasters. When they arrive on your islands, they need housing quickly. Develop public housing condos where there is empty space. Such as beside the rich. They need a school. They are going to work or start businesses. It boosts your economy.

[@hoyle038]

You my friend are damn good at what you do.

[@melissaharris3389]

Try lowering your commercial taxes. I'd suggest minor densification in Cowder Bay with additional low density spreading to other islands.

[@said4075]

I would say add some new towns and along the way make Chowder Bay the big city. This would give some real character to a potential big downtown.

[@mason_mtb6442]

if custom airports were possible, A cool little regional airport maybe like aspen would be a nice mix with a decent sized downtown

[@MrNinjaChopstick]

My experience, it takes WAY longer than 2 months for things to even out. Im 4 months in and its still adjusting

[@Overxpossed]

Nice point. What about doing some specialization just to make money in order to sustain the high wealth zones?

[@raemars580]

Infrastructurist has the best comment section on YT! All these wonderful ideas about revitalizing downtown with more density, and adding more commerce to the rural areas are would be beneficial to the bottom line. Also it would be cool if one of those islands were an education island. Where a university and a college could be. Add student housing, a small downtown of shops, a sports arena, and some extras… Smarter workforce = higher taxes on the business that employ them. 🤑

[@Redslayer86]

I like building low density areas too. glad I'm not alone in this

[@V3rtecs]

I may be on my own but I think the tile upkeep mechanic is just a way for them to make the challenge seem harder without making it harder, I'd honestly like to see them remove it as it just seems to punish for expanding outwards rather than building upwards which just isn't realistic, Id like to see them remove it and replace it with lower tax revenue the fact you can set tax to 12% across the board to cheese the revenue is just stupid and shows that fundamentally it's still broken. I myself will be playing with no tile upkeep and likely unlimited money for now until it becomes feasible to build realistically in terms of services and sprawl.

[@Morkeoth]

There is something simpler with the patch, you have to choose between going wild or going functional. It not really possible anymore to build everything for the pleasure of building and the aesthetic of the building because of the cost of most of the building. (Or you'll have to use fake assets ; but i don't know if that exist at all) For the final question i'm for adding some density to Westpoint, maaaaaybe a very very little bit more to Chowderbay, AND making a new little city current-Westpoint-like on the terrain between Cape Rose/Pinewood Dale and Chowderbay. Thus allowing to not buying more tiles (they cost a lot) and making a continuity between cities.

[@Morkeoth]

PS : Oh and i hate those very little recycling centers. They are too small and cost too little imho.

[@flupsiupsi]

I'd be curious if higher education levels will increase the tax revenue. I'm thinking a 40s/50s utopia of elite researchers spread out in highly planned, walkable small villages with large parking lots as their centers. I'd also love to see a floating ocean research facility with dorms for the international scientists who come every summer to study algae.

[@AeraLeafMoonStudio]

There is a house outside of a district on the corner of sunset park , Nas hill and moonlight bay

[@Musa_ahidjo]

I think you should redevelope chowder bay and make it like a high density are cuz its like the oldest city in east haven so it kinda make sense and maybe then create a new city as a replacement to the old chowder bay

[@gavtheboss34829]

Nice to see Paradox Interactive nerfing the economy since so many people have complained about it

[@fil23ralliart]

Cape Rose and Victoria Point need a Golf Course! Use an asset or surfaces?

[@andylolol]

Du uploader bare banger på banger makker 👏

[@Infrastructurist]

🦾🦾🦾

[@mckalewiley2753]

I think there should be some major land reclamation connecting Chowder Bay's island to the island north of Chowder Bay. That would allow for continuous row houses and medium-density expansion while using existing infrastructure.

[@MCnoCOMPLY]

Garbage seems to pile up at custom assets more than other buildings. All of my garbage problems are in imported assets like row colleges and schools.

[@Komirowsky]

I think Incineration plant my fix few of your problems with garbage (there are still icons on the map) - it have much more tricks than that custom asset and also produce electricity.

[@CRAlGORY]

“Pinegrove. Pretty cookie cutter.”

[@gillking49]

I was a bit intimidated when starting with the upgraded version but managed to eventually make money. Problem for me is, the progress is very slow. I have to save up for a long time to buy service buildings and the initial cost of tiles in later game punches a big hole in my bank account. Some of them are upward of $230,000 a tile now. Urghhh.

[@gillking49]

BTW thanks for the video!

[@llamatronian101]

Seems like what the rubbish system needs is what we call a Transfer Station. Rubbish is collected to them, but just transferred to larger trucks, or trains maybe, that take it to processing facilities or landfills. Local rubbish trucks going straight to the destination is not realistic at all. The other thing this town needs is a fishing port, either inshore or deep sea. Small footprint, big payoff. It would be the historical reason for the town existing in the first place. Calling any modders I guess. Sadly that's not me.

[@itsatimm]

Infrastructurist, I have a question. Since your last video I have been searching on PDXmods for the dirty decals ypu used in the port(at the end of the video) 1 of the decal packs is Sully's, but what is the other 1?:)

[@liquidificadoroficial3975]

I'm curious if taxes are as if the city government was a federal government or not, but by the way things are taxed (wages and company profits) I will suppose it is. So I have an idea, instead of having land fees to fill the rest of the budget in upkeep (supposing the devs put that land fee because they searched for real upkeep and wages and that didn't make the game much harder), there should be an adjustable pension and a social assistence policy that is also adjustable (as it can take even half the federal budget, so its a major expense that isn't included in the game), where if it is too low there will be poverty, homelessness and death. The tax rate being in the practic capped at 12% is unrealistic and to be able to pay all those services with just that is also unrealistic, the devs should search how much companies and people make and how much and at which point taxes affect atractiveness as reference. These two points would solve both the realism and difficulty problems.

[@davinnoviskipradana]

Tax heaven, for high office (?) would suit the map theme

[@Sean-ps3ec]

Minor overhaul of Downtown Chowder Bay please

[@pakaru1638]

Mass mining ore and coal saved my city, although i no longer have more land for anything but quarries.

[@TrevorCokley]

Not quite sure which grass base texture you're using. Is that custom?

[@kucaykojek]

Since you lowering the budget for a few services, the negative amount is probably caused by importing costs for those services.

[@bojandude]

Is there any chance you'd be willing to release a save game for us to play along with? I always struggle to start a city, and would love to be able to take a work-in-progress city with a set theme and vibe and continue it

[@Saurion1]

I tried posting a suggestion for the new downtown but youtube apparently deleted my post (maybe because links?) so where can I send you the (very basic) draft?

[@Infrastructurist]

Hi Saurion1 - you can fire away at [e-mail] :-)

[@Saurion1]

@@Infrastructurist Done!

[@theoteric]

do some land reclamation and create an urban area on it! kind of like how id imagine the initial beginings of manhattan (aka new amsterdam!)

[@giacomogalli2448]

FInally a city builder that shows players just how financially dumb car centric sprawl is!

[@travcurt]

This tile upkeep was the dumbest change. It discourages spread out builds.

[@neweuacc2334]

that's just realistic

[@briannoorlander402]

Nonsense, I started a city in 2.0 and it was difficult in the beginning but afterwards after playing around with fees, taxes and services I started to make enough money and was able to lower everyones taxes and every single sector was on demand.

[@chrisw443]

Is there a CLEAN COAL tshirt? hehe.

[@Infrastructurist]

Hahahaha - that is actually a great idea Chris, maybe there should be!!

[@skylarstark802]

I could be wrong but instead of deleting the fire station couldn't you have just turned it off until the city was in the green again

[@benjaminbauer6301]

Don't make it a big city plwase. I would like to see a rural area like this actually being possible. Maybe add some more townships all ower the place

[@Crooked60]

I just gave up and started making the most horribly ugly dystopian industrial city, but it worked and I'm now making millions.

[@theorixlux]

38:14 isnt that a perfect place for a quai/retaining wall?

[@markpeltier2186]

I think where your farmland is, should be redeveloped I to your new city and make new farmlan on an undeveloped island out in the bay.