Cultural landmarks are important in any large city. Having some extra cash just lying around doing nothing means that you can invest in some visually unique buildings that add character and bring in tourists by the busload. There are also some fully-functional buildings in the same menu you can use to generate huge installments of cash.
I'm going to categorize cultural ploppables into two categories: icons [I] and functionals [F]. Icons just look pretty; functionals actually do something like host events or house humans. I consider functionals to be more valuable than their cosmetic cousins and so I have them higher on the list below.
Most Valuable Culture Plops
- [F] Arena
- [F] Stadium
- [F] Sears Tower (aka the Willis Tower)
- [F] Arc de Triomphe
- [I] Washington Monument
- [I] The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Effect on Land Values
Let me tell you a story. One time, my best friend and I went to Fantasty Fest in Key West. We drove down in his car, parked on the street, had a blast for seven hours, then came back to the car at 2am to discover that all four of his tires had been flattened by the guy who owned the house we were parked in front of because we were taking up "his spot". Now, that guy was a tool -- but I understood his position.
Locals hate tourists -- no matter how much money they bring in. So you may not have realized this, but whenever you plop down a cultural icon into your city the land value of the surrounding area goes down as people react to the threat of thousands of would-be paparazzi descending on their front yard.
[F] The Arena
This is the best functional I've come across so far. It's compact, it doesn't soak up too much power or water, and it hosts large sized events that can attract plenty of tourists and rake in some nice dough. The arena can host events. You have to lay out the cash in advance, but if you have a quality tourism industry in place, you'll make it all back and then some. Not to mention the extra cash generated as the tourists walk around.
You can add a goofy-looking eight-story fabric sign.
It's also worth noting that the arena is surrounded by a private road that you cannot connect to or demolish.
[F] The Pro Stadium
The stadium is really cool. Firstly, you can host events there -- just like at the arena, but bigger. This generates huge buckets of cash if you have the mass transit system to support the throngs of tourists who will be coming to the show from all over the region.
The downside of stadiums is that they are a humongous power draw and water hog, so the construction of a stadium will instantly tax your systems and force you to upgrade those as well. These hidden costs, if not prepared for in advance, could be trouble. In addition, the stadium is a huge amount of space (especially when compared to the arena) and it's all negative property value, so make sure you plop it in the right place or you can really screw up your neighborhoods.
You can add a crazy big Madison Square Garden-type sign that displays what events are coming up to people who are driving by. Great advertising makes for great turnout.
Just like the arena, the stadium is surrounded by a private road that you cannot connect to or demolish. Also just like the arena, you can host even bigger events at your stadium to draw in mega-crowds of tourists and the cash that comes with them.
[F] The Sears... er, Willis Tower
Ask anyone in Chicago for directions to the Willis Tower and they will tell you to go jump in the river. Or they may give you directions to the Tower that seem to mysteriously lead you instead toward the nearest bridge over the river. Either way, it's not the Willis Tower. It will forever be the Sears Tower -- no matter who owns it.
Anyway, back to the game. This thing is freakin' huge. It towers into the sky and fits nicely into a busy downtown skyline filled with skyscrapers but looks ridiculous in a city of 5,000. This ploppable is doubly awesome because in addition to being a tremendous tourist magnet, it also houses residents of your city -- making this a dual purpose facility that generates cash like crazy.
Arc de Triomphe
Originally in Paris and painstakingly transported piece by piece over the pond to your city -- this beautiful monument actually serves a function. If you place it next to a block of commercial properties, the resulting influx of tourists will boost the commercial economy and create low- and medium-wealth jobs.
[I] Washington Monument
This thing is crazy phallic and looks hysterically inappropriate when placed in a valley. People will come to check it out because George Washington was a cool guy and they don't care that he never actually owned any cherry trees.
[I] Leaning Tower of Pisa
Sure, we'll just drop this crazy broken building into the middle of our city for no reason. Are they aware that the thing is literally losing a battle with gravity and that no one can go near it because it could topple over at any minute? Then why is it next to my hospital?
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