Residents and jobs

Population grows when people can find suitable housing and work. New construction provides room, but affordability, education, access and living conditions determine who can use it.

Use Society → Population, Households, Employment, Education and Mood for the citywide picture. Click a home or workplace to understand the situation at a particular location.

Housing and affordability

Homes differ in size, capacity and rent. Household income comes from work and other income such as pensions. Residents pay city taxes, housing costs, utilities, transport and everyday expenses.

A home can be physically empty but too expensive for the people looking for housing. Adding more expensive housing will not necessarily help households already struggling with rent. Compare the Affordability, Cost of living and Occupancy layers, then inspect the affected homes.

Housing costs and the ability to keep a car interact. An inexpensive home far from jobs can still be difficult to live in if its residents cannot afford or make the commute.

Jobs and education

Employers need workers with appropriate education. Citywide vacancies and unemployment can exist at the same time: the available jobs may require different skills or lie beyond residents' travel reach.

Check the Employment report by education level rather than relying only on the total number of jobs. A city short of qualified workers may need education and suitable homes for incoming workers, rather than another block of offices.

Schools affect children's education and attract educated households to the city. See City services.

Commuting

Workers are matched to reachable openings. Walking, car access, buses, metro and congestion affect that reach. A job beyond the commute tolerance cannot simply be filled by someone at the other end of the map.

Residents without a car need walking routes, buses or metro to reach work. If an employment district is accessible only by driving, some workers cannot take its jobs even when roads are clear.

For a district with both vacant jobs and unemployment, compare skills, travel times and car ownership before zoning more workplaces. See Transport and parking.

Moving into and out of the city

Reachable jobs draw newcomers. Households also move within the city as their needs and finances change.

Unemployment, unaffordable housing or bills, poor conditions and failing services can encourage departures.

Mood and living conditions

Residents respond to conditions they experience: services, education, health, safety, green space, the environment and financial pressure. Improving a citywide average can still leave a neighbourhood badly served.

City News and home inspectors explain what is affecting residents' mood.

Homelessness and shelters

Use the Homelessness layer and Services → Housing to locate housing hardship. Shelters provide limited support capacity, but do not replace affordable homes, reachable work and sustainable household bills.

Parks may contain camps. Inspect the park and the nearby housing conditions before assuming that removing green space will solve the underlying problem.

For empty or condemned buildings, see Development. For common symptoms and checks, see Troubleshooting.