simcity, too. that one hooked me in for a while. trouble was that i kept making the same kind of city over and over and that eventually got boring...

put the entire schools system incl. museum and library / health / police etc in right from the start. you need to be careful to keep the funding at appropriate levels for the population (e.g., next to nothing right at the start - only 1 teacher etc). Build high density zones within their scope (two roads with connections and a greenbelt in between with trees or small parks and enough room for rail later). Always use hydropower and / or windmills. highest speed (intermittently adjusting funding) until education is high (all green) in city stats. Up the taxation (very high) on dirty industry (and bulldoze it) so it gets replaced with high tech and there isn't pollution. when all is well and you are raking in profits THEN AND ONLY THEN provide water and then you get some population density and soaring property values. When you are raking in profits then do the same thing a way away (with no connecting road or rail). Only when both are running at profits connect them at your peril!!!

Sigh. I think I'm a bit OCD in my game playing style. Same thing over and over and over and over...