A dead city - the key to revival

Hello mayors.

I have witnessed many people hitting a dead state in their city where they are loosing masses of money from services and operating costs. In the end, the city becomes dead, people move out and everything begins to go down hill. Just as things were seeming perfect, too!

I myself, have come across this issue. So I thought I'd share with you, tips on things that helped me getting started back up. Reviving my dead city.

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Things to do to get your income in balance.

I have made the following to-do list, so you can visit here and check-box things to do when your city goes dead. Mostly aimed at cities where the income is at a big downfall. Even if you have loads of Simmons  it's the future direction of your city that is important, so that means your hourly income is too.

Turn off least important services
- I find that there are peaks to which services sims want most. For example, if there is a flu going around, it is good to keep a hospital running, Etc. But there are also those services, that aren't always needed for a particular amount of time. A good way to check if it's worth paying this much for that service, is to click on that plopabble, and see how it's doing. Like clicking on a hospital and seeing how many patients are being treated there.
Turn off parks
- Depending on how dead your city is, large parks can eat into your income. Don't worry about land value for now, you can turn the parks back on and sims will move back in, in no time!
Turn off specialization that makes a loss
- Although you may be earning 100k+ a day from processor sales. Your income per hour may still be very bad. You can continue specialization when your city is stable again. Do not turn off any specialization that is increasing your income.
Bulldoze any abandoned buildings / rubble

- Sometimes, it's just one of those things that gets lost in the pile of things to do.
Ensure unused space is filled up with commercial & residential 
- This can help you make more money from taxes
Ensure taxes are at least 9% and below 12%
- You can lower taxes afterwards when your income gets more stable. But do not raise the taxes too high, you could make a larger loss if too many sims move out. 
City has enough power 
City has enough water
- This includes clean water.
City has adequate sewage treatment 

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Once your income is in balance, then you need to gradually turn things back on. Be careful though & make sure you are not on llama speed or cheetah speed.

Turn things on, starting one by one.

First start with services, then work your way to parks.

Now, you should see your population gradually rising, but be careful. Do not rush things.

A good way to check how much a plopabble is going to cost you, is by turning it on quickly to check the -$x/hr . Make sure you make at least $x + $500 before you turn that particular plopabble on.

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If you get -$$$ hourly income again, immediately pause the game and analyze the budget panel. If you see any un expected losses, for example on parks. Then close that and keep it closed, until your city gets a higher population.

If you find yourself not going anywhere, repeat the checklist. Eventually, you'll figure out where you went wrong. This method does take time, but it's a lot better than leaving your city to die and get into a lot of debt.

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Thanks for reading! 

Hope it helped.