1. Tips:

     Work  out  an  overall  plan  and  then stick to it. At the start
either  take a chance and accept whatever terrain the PC throws at you
or terraform the landscape to provide better city-building conditions.
Flat  land  is  ideal  although  distant hills provide sites for solar
power  stations  later  on. Always build near a river. As soon as your
city  reaches  a decent size you'll need a port to increase trade with
other  sim  cities.  Don't  worry  about  clearing  any nearby forests
though.  This  costs money and makes you unpopular. Your sims will cut
them down as soon as they start running out of space anyway.

Zoning:
     Don't  build  huge industrial sites next to residential areas and
try  not  to  build commercial centres miles away from your population
centres.  Sims would rather walk to work given the choice. Build small
clusters  of industrial commercial and residential zones - it's easier
to  keep  abreast  of  exactly  how your city is developing. Parks and
sporting  facilities  can  be added to enhance your neighbourhoods and
increase the value of adjacent land.

Martial law:
     Policing  is  important  if  you want to attract big business and
hordes  of tourists but can you afford the stations? The neighbourhood
watch  scheme  is  a good way to cut down on crime and is cheaper than
funding a police station. Plan an even distribution of police stations
throughout your city - each has its own zone of influence and any land
falling outside this area is liable to attract unsavoury characters.

Financial bonds:
     Only use bonds when there's an emergency such as a major disaster
or  power  faliure.  Once  your  city's up and running you can usually
afford  to  have  three  or  four  bonds on the go - but the amount of
interest you pay will limit your ability for expansion.

Transport:
     The biggest problem is finding the space to lay the railway lines
or  build  a  depot.  Bus  stations are a cheap resource but they soon
become  under  increasing  pressure  as your city expands. If you have
enough  cash  go  for  a  subway.  Don't  forget  you  need  to set up
sub-stations  along  the  way otherwise nobody will use the system. If
gridlock  persists  take  some  drastic action. Demolish parts of your
city and build surface rail links.

Taxes:
     Setting  a  realistic tax rate is probably the biggest challenge.
Set  it  too  high and no one will want to come and live in your city.
Conversely  set  it  too low and you'll quickly run out of funds. It's
best  to  set an initial tax rate of 6% to stimulate growth then whack
it up to 8% per annum to keep the readies rolling in.

Planning ahead:
     Electronics play an increasingly dominant role so encourage early
growth. If you set a low overall tax rate for the electronics industry
-  around 1% you'll encourage electronics firms to move into the area.
Once  the  industry  shows signs of strong growth you can increase the
tax rate to hive off some of the profits.

Dealing with disasters:
     FIRE: It might sound obvious but fires must be dealt with swiftly
unless  you  want  to  see your city disappear in a raging inferno. If
your fire stations are a bit thin on the ground and things are rapidly
getting  out  of  hand try demolishing a ring of buildings to create a
natural  fire-break.  It'll  save you a lot of money and rebuilding in
the long run.
     FLOOD:  If  your  city is in danger of being transformed into the
Lost  City of Atlantis use the 'Raise terrain' option to put some dirt
between the flood waters and your precious sims.
     MONSTERS:  There's  not much you can do about a rampaging monster
unless  you've  already  established  an army base. Even then the dumb
critter  might hand out in your downtown area setting fire to anything
and  everything.  AIR  CRASH: This is a minor disaster - unless you're
one  of  the sims on the plane. If you have four or more fire-stations
you should be able to cope with the carnage.
     RIOTS:  Should  the  populace  rise up in revolt send in the riot
police to sort things out. Democracy? Never heard of it mate.

Taking a breather:
     One  of the most useful tools you have is the pause mode. As soon
as  you  start  a  new  city  - pause the game and plan your first few
zones.  When  there's  a  disaster  you can still deploy your fire and
police  units  with  the  game paused. This is useful for fire-related
disasters  and  chemical  spills  which  spread  quickly  if you don't
control them properly.

2. Hack:
     Swell  the  city coffers by using this cheat. Over $2,138,000,000
will  go  an  awful long way and it's easy when you know how. Create a
city on easy level. Name it. Save it then quit the game. Now use a hex
editor  to  change  a  value  in  the save game. At offset 39 (hex 27)
change:  00  02 42 20 to: 7F 02 FF FF. Save the file and run the game.
Load up the saved game and start spending!