We’ve all seen the parking garage in Cities Skylines already. And maybe, just like me, you get sometimes annoyed that you have streets full of parked cars. You maybe wonder if there is any way you can park your car in one spot. In this article, you will find just the perfect answers on how to build parking lots and what your options are.
Decorative parking lots in Cities Skylines
In free update Hubs & Transport came to Cities Skylines universe on 22 March 2023. We got new three decorative buildings (/parks) which we could use. Main function is decorative and we can’t change more details. But better some parking lots than not. Good for all players is that this buildings will be available for all players which has base game.
So if you don’t play with mods, this is some way to make your city “more real”. To use new parking lots you need to open Parks > Other Parks and you will see new parking lots…
… and if you use them you will see this results. Multistory parking house have two variations which you could change if you click on details of your new parking house. How parking lots looks you could see in gallery bellow:
If you want to more customizable your parking lots you must use detailed mods. I believe that the new parking lots will find a place near the new transport hubs or near the pedestrian zones. Okay we didn’t get a full feature on how it’s supposed to work. I’ll do some speculations, but I believe that parking spaces will be available in the new Cities Skylines 2 from the start.
Detailed parking lots with mods
For detailed parking lots we will still need mods. In my list bellow are two parking mods which you should use. They differ from each other so you can try both of them and see which suits you. Remember, in Cities Skylines the first mode is just the beginning. 😉
BIG Parking Lots
[Link to workshop] [Link to workshop with all upgrades]
This is one of the most recommended mods for parking lots. First, you build the perimeter/border of the parking lot, then you build the cross roads and then you build the different parts of the parking lot around them.
In addition to the parking spaces themselves, you can build grassed medians as well + you can also incorporate some trees. This will make the eventual parking lot much more realistic.
Parking Lot Roads
Another mod is called Parking Lot Roads. This mode has a different type of building and could be potentially useful in big shopping centres. With this mode, you build a big road and after that, you place a parking lot.
This mode looks for me a little bit “basic” than big parking lots but still, it is considered to be useful. Especially when you’re just starting and don’t have the exact idea of how you’re going to develop your parking lots in mind, this mode can help. It just isn’t that fancy.
More tips for roads in Cities Skylines
Best traffic mods with 6 mods which you need to try
How to build curved roads to create more realistic Cities
Tips how to build raised roads in Cities Skylines to create bridges
About noise pollution and how upgrade current roads in Cities Skylines
Advanced guide for easy building roundabouts and pedestrian overpasses
Why you need use priority roads and how change direction of one-way roads
And the best one is big guide about parking lots in Cities Skylines
Building parking lot by “old way”
Parking spaces can be built in the base game and without any mode. All you need is to wait a while before they are built and sometimes, it can be frustrating. However, still, the good thing is that it can be done so this is the first way you can try.
Step by step:
- Create space for 2×2 or 3×3 or a bigger empty block.
- Build a “commercial zone” with 2×2 or 3×3 squares that are not connected to other zones.
- In case there is any opened shop, destroy it.
- Wait for the next building.
- And in case it is another shop, destroy it again (4 and 5 steps repeat)
- After a few repetitions, you’ll probably get your parking lots.
I’ve tested this on my latest city. You can see how my district looks like without parking lots.
Later, I created some space where I wanted to build parking lots. At this place, I connected the space with a path to other streets. We need the parking lots to be available once they are built.
Once I was prepared I ran the stopwatch and I started my steps from the above list. After 24 minutes I saw no progress. I always got a building which looked like this and I had to destroy them over and over again.
From my perspective, I’m not really sure if it worked how it should although there are many videos on the internet saying how effective it is. What I had to solve was the demand for commercial zones but still, it is a matter of minutes. In short, it seems to me that this way is very uncertain. And yes as a bonus I noticed parking spaces in other neighbourhoods.
