Here's an issue that really needs to be addressed:
Getting into a CityRPG is loving boring and monotonous. Nobody wants to: Idle around waiting for the money to get an education, nor do they want to look at tree bricks with an axe for 30 minutes. That's not fun, it drives people away from the server.
There should be something a little less, stuffty. Like being a pizza delivery man or something, that would require driving. And it would be independent of players, you could do jobs for NPC's for money.
Labor and welfare is a broken system. Please get rid of it, somebody.