Jragon: I forget if you’re in the same cluster as me. If so, I’ll send some trucks over your way.
It’s really easy to expand very quickly in the early game. You can fill up the whole space, rezone to high density, and get towering skyscrapers, only to find that it’s unsustainable. I’m rather glad that my picturesque area prevented me from laying down grids all over the place, leading to slower and hopefully more sustainable growth.
One thing I’ve found is that, while that factory is being rebuilt, no one is working there (DUH) and you’re not getting any tax income. Then when construction is finished, it still has to rehire the workers who also have to find the factory first; you’re still not getting any tax income while this is going on. If you’ve rezoned an entire district, all the factories may be rebuilt at once, leading them to compete for workers thus resulting in none of them getting enough.
I haven’t had too many problems with intersections on roads. Of course, I’ve laid down the avenue first, then draw the road over that. Maybe that’s what you need to do, Athena?
Here’s a protip: Since you can upgrade the roads later, lay down dirt roads first when planning out your grid. That way you don’t lose too much money when you inevitably screw up and have to bulldoze and redraw.
Incidentally, a number of you have the generic blue question head as your Origin avatar. This makes it hard to identify who’s got what in the region. I’d appreciate it everyone could set their picture in their Origin profile. Then we can throw the proper festivities when your mayor comes to visit our fair city.