Public works project
Public works projects are a feature new to Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Projects allow the player to customize their town by adding new buildings, upgrading existing buildings, and adding various features to areas throughout their town. These projects are initiated by the player, who now takes on the role as the mayor. The concept is similar to the ability for the player to use the town fund in Animal Crossing: City Folk to install a new bridge, fountain, and a windmill or lighthouse; in New Leaf, however, the options are more diverse and customizable.
Initiating a project
Only one project can be worked on at a time. Players unlock projects when villagers want to speak to players. Once projects are unlocked, the player may choose a location to start a selected project: Isabelle, the mayor's assistant, will follow the player until he or she chooses a location for the project. Isabelle will either approve the location or state why the location is not adequate (not enough space, too close to a home, etc.). Public works projects cannot be built on the beach.
Once the location is set, the area is fenced , and Lloid appears. If the project has no fence (such as a Main Street upgrade), Lloid will be in the Train Station or Town Hall (the latter only for the Town Hall renovation). Once spoken to, Lloid will state how many bells are required to build the project. Players are mostly responsible for the funding, though villagers may sometimes contribute. Once funding has been completed, the new structure will appear the next day.
Once a project is fully completed, a ceremony will be held in which Isabelle announces the completion of the project to villagers and the player. The Reset Center is an exception; it has no completion ceremony. After this, the player may start work on a new project.
Most projects can be demolished for 10% of their erection fee, by speaking to Isabelle while no other public works project business is going on. Major landmarks like the Police Station are unable to be demolished.
List of projects
Facilities
These cannot be demolished, and only one of each may be built. The Dream Suite, Fortune Shop and Museum expansion appear on Main Street, instead of in town.
| Project Name | Image | Erection Cost | Demolition Cost | How to Unlock | Size | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Café | 200px | Increases Living Points | 298,000 | n/a | Donate 50 items to the museum. Seven days must have passed since the Museum Shop was built. | |
| Dream Suite | 
|
234,000 | n/a | Catch Isabelle sleeping at least one week after building the town's first public works project. | ||
| Fortune Teller's Shop | 340,000 | n/a | Receive 20 fortunes from Katrina. | |||
| Museum Renovation | 198,000 | n/a | Donate 20 items to the museum; with at least one in each category (aquatics, bugs, paintings and fossils). Also, speak to Blathers at least once on 14 different days. | |||
| Campsite | 200px | Greatly increases Living Points | 59,800 | n/a | Available from the start. | |
| Modern Police Station | 
|
Increases Living Points | 264,000 | n/a | Suggested by villagers of any personality. | |
| Classic Police Station | Increases Living Points | 264,000 | n/a | Suggested by villagers of any personality. | ||
| Reset Center | 200px | 368,000 | n/a | Reset the game. | ||
| Station reconstruction (Fairy Tale) | 498,000 | n/a | Have players visit town at least 100 times. | |||
| Station reconstruction (Japanese) | 498,000 | n/a | Have players visit town at least 100 times. | |||
| Station reconstruction (Modern) | 498,000 | n/a | Have players visit town at least 100 times. | |||
| Town Hall reconstruction (Fairy Tale) | 498,000 | n/a | Achieve perfect town status. | |||
| Town Hall reconstruction (Japanese) | 498,000 | n/a | Achieve perfect town status. | |||
| Town Hall reconstruction (Modern) | 498,000 | n/a | Achieve perfect town status. |
Extras
Bridges
Up to three bridges can exist at a time.
- Stone Bridge (128,000 bells)
- Suspension Bridge (128,000 bells)
- Brick Bridge (224,000 bells)
- Modern Bridge (224,000 bells)
- Fairy Tale Bridge (298,000 bells)
- Zen Bridge (298,000 bells)
- Wooden Bridge (298,000 bells)
Benches
- Yellow Bench (30,000 bells)
- Log Bench (38,000 bells)
- Picnic Set (39,800 bells)
- Wooden Bench (42,500 bells)
- Plastic Bench (42,500 bells)
- Iron (Metal) Bench (42,500 bells)
- Modern Bench (52,800 bells)
- Fairy Tale Bench (52,800 bells)
- Zen Bench (52,800 bells)
- Tire (49,800 bells)
- Clay Pipe Bench (79,800 bells)
- Artistic (Boot) Bench (265,000 bells)
Lampposts
- Park (29,800 bells)
- Streetlight (39,800 bells)
- Round Streetlight (39,800 bells)
- Retro Streetlight (42,800 bells)
- Modern Streetlight (64,000 bells)
- Fairy Tale Streetlight (64,000 bells)
- Zen Streetlight (64,000 bells)
- Illuminated (Heart) Streetlight (136,000 bells)
Clocks
- Clock (29,800 bells)
- Modern Clock (78,000 bells)
- Fairy Tale Clock (78,000 bells)
- Zen Clock (78,000 bells)
- Floral Clock (87,000 bells)
- Illuminated Clock (146,000 bells)
Signs
Up to eight signs may exist at a time.
- Caution Sign (43,500 Bells)
- Do-Not-Enter Sign (43,500 Bells)
- Yield Sign (43,500 Bells)
- Custom-design sign (40,000 Bells)
Other
- Balloon Arch (86,000 Bells)
- Bell (86,000 Bells)
- Bus Stop (136,000 Bells)
- Camping Cot (32,000 Bells)
- Cube Sculpture (265,000 Bells)
- Custom-Design Sign (40,000 bells)
- Drinking Fountain (39,800 Bells)
- Face Cut-Out Standee (50,000 Bells)
- Fence (49,800 bells)
- Fire Pit (46,000 Bells)
- Floral Arch (87,000 Bells)
- Flower Bed (26,400 Bells)
- Fountain (99,800 bells)
- Garbage Can (53,000 Bells)
- Garden Chair (23,400 Bells)
- Geyser (98,000 bells)
- Hammock (32,000 Bells)
- Hot Spring (43,500 Bells)
- Hydrant (98,000 bells)
- Illuminated Arch (148,000 Bells)
- Illuminated Heart (136,000 bells)
- Illuminated Tree (128,000 bells)
- Instrument Shelter (42,000 Bells)
- Jungle Gym (69,800 bells)
- Lighthouse (372,000 bells)
- Moai Face (538,000 bells)
- Oil Derrick (298,000 bells)
- Photo Face Board (50,000 bells)
- Pyramid (698,000 bells)
- Rack of Rice (17,400 bells)
- Round Topiary (93,000 bells)
- Parabolic Antenna (148,000 bells)
- Scarecrow (22,400 bells)
- Solar Panels (126,000 bells)
- Sphinx (698,000 bells)
- Square Topiary (93,000 bells)
- Stadium Lights (236,000 bells)
- Stone Tablet (39,800 bells)
- Stonehenge (698,000 bells)
- Torch (29,800 bells)
- Totem Pole (538,000 bells)
- Tower (726,000 bells)
- Traffic Signal (82,000 Bells)
- Tulip Topiary (93,000 bells)
- Video Screen (284,000 bells)
- Water Pump (42,000 bells)
- Water Well (148,000 bells)
- Windmill (372,000 bells)
- Wind Turbine (156,000 bells)
- Wisteria Trellis (124,000 bells)
- Zen Bell (86,400 Bells)
- Zen Garden (148,000 bells)
Gallery
- Project - Custom-Design Sign.jpg
Custom-design sign
- Project - Do-Not-Enter Sign.jpg
Do-not-enter sign
- Project - Face-Cutout Standee.jpg
Face-cutout standee
- Project - Fence.jpg
Fence
- Project - Fire Hydrant.jpg
Fire hydrant
- Project - Fountain.png
Fountain
- Project - Park Clock.jpg
Park clock
- Project - Pyramid.jpg
Pyramid
- Project - Street Lamp.jpg
Street lamp
- Project - Video Screen.jpg
Video screen
- Project - Water Well.png
Water well
- Project - Yellow Bench.png
Yellow bench
- Suspensionbridge.jpg
SuspensionBridge
- Cobblestonebridge.jpg
CobblestoneBridge
- LighthouseNL.jpg
Lighthouse
Trivia
- During a possible conversation the player may listen in on between two cranky villagers, one will claim to have made a public works project suggestion to Isabelle for a drive-in theater. According to the villager, it does not pass as Isabelle did not understand what a "drive-in" is.
