Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried out Urbek and TheoTown and found them lacking in certain places. Urbek definitely felt more like a puzzle game, but I'll try to give it another shake. TheoTown just never grabbed me for some reason.
I haven't tried Microlandia or Citystate. I'll check them out.
I think part of what I'm missing are the traffic sim segments from SC1, especially with some of the traffic mods. It made the city really feel more alive. With 2's simulations being so broken, it ruined that side of things for me.
I am subbed to that comm. I'll have to make a more concentrated effort to go through it though. I haven't seen much of it pop up on my feed.
Again, I appreciate the suggestions. I keep hoping to find something that hits the same as CS1 or what 2 was supposed to be.