Question Regarding SimCity 2000 EQ (Education Quotient) Values (Life Expectancy too)
This is an issue that has been bugging me in SimCity 2000 whenever I go back to play it again. I can never get the EQ of the cities residents up to ~140ish which would be the amount given by Colleges in the game. I have funding for education buildings at 100%, schools and colleges both with A+ ratings, and Library system with A+ rating, and museums as well. The city ordinances are also enabled for all of the education options. No matter what I have in place, the cities EQ is right around 90 (the level provided by schools).
Any ideas why it never improves over 90 for an average? Doesn't matter how many years I run the game for. Life Expectancy is a lot lower (around 65) than it should be with all ordinances and A+ hospital system too. Or is it a version specific issue? I am playing the SimCity 2000 Special Edition for Windows in a Windows 2000 VM.
Posted Aug 5, 2018, 6:04 PM UTC
One factor that influences this, I believe, is the tax rate for "smart" industries (which in turn influences the extent to which those develop in your city). You should go into the panel that lets you customize industrial taxes by industry and drop it to zero for everything tech-related.
I think factors like pollution and access to clean water might have a bearing on EQ, too, and might explain your city's relatively low life expectancy.
If none of this helps, I have some old SC2K strategy guides I could crack open... Good luck!