I think we’re in a similar spot. I’m also considering getting SimCity 4, after seeing previews of SimCity 5, then seeing how limited that is projected to be, then seeing the wealth of mods that have been and are still being created for SC4. But my game time is pretty limited for another month or so, and maybe Steam will drop the price for their holiday sale. So, while you must take this with a grain of salt, as I don’t own the game and haven’t (yet) played it, here is what some of my research came up with for essential mods.
From a reddit sub-sitecomes this awesome resource. There are links to what they consider the best rule-changers, the best graphic-enhancers, and the best links to FAQs & tutorials on the three or four best SC4 sites. There is also this thread on Simtropolis called “For the Eager Yet Overwhelmed Newcomer”.
The mods that keep coming up again and again as must-haves are the Network Addon Mod (for better streets, the veins and arteries of any city), the Colossus Addon Mod (which makes skyscrapers really scrape the sky) and the SimPeg Agricultural Mod (which is self-explanatory). They will require some research.
Then, as a fellow Minnesotan, you may be interested in these particular buildings to download. There’s also some kind of long shared project that is set in a kind of alternate-universe International Falls, where the amateur designers are using SC4 as a kind of model-making kit instead of playing it as a game. While that project is not any particular kind of mod to download, I think it’s a testbed out of which many mods have come, especially those dealing with rural areas.
Let me know if it works, and maybe I’ll actually take my own advice in the next few months!