Thanks, Sisiutil, I appreciate the feedback.
The rice was being used by the nearby city which provided the majority of gold to the empire (this game is past tense after last night). I contemplated the trade-off a few times, and left it with the gold city.
Some of these comments are perfect in the context of this thread. Insofar as specialization goes, I have had it in mind that, well, a city ought to be specialized! In the back of my mind I still think, like you, that if I have spare production capacity (ie. 10 beakers-worth of production while set on Research is, as you note, not really worthwile) I might as well build a bank, or a market, or what have you. And yet... This is a science city, not a financial center. If I start building financial buildings (and forge/factory to assist with this), then I'm no longer specializing, am I?
This could be said, perhaps: Since I've already specialized the city to near-scientific perfection, I ought to turn my attention to other tasks. Put another way, specialization means beginning with a focus on the particular specialty, and then expanding into other specialities when the initial needs are met. Would that be a fair statement? Is this city an example of a city that is too specialized?
Forgive me for saying so, but your approach to specialization reminds me of an old joke: "A specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything about nothing".
I would say your last statement is partially correct. The key is my earlier comment that a science city is just a specialized type of commerce city (the wealth city, where you will likely have at least one shrine and build Wall Street, is another).
Commerce in CivIV gets converted into science and gold. If a city has a lot of commerce, there's nothing wrong with building both types of buildings that multiply commerce into those two end products. Yes, if it's a science city, then building a University there is a higher priority than a Bank. But there's no reason why you can't build the Bank if there are no science multipliers to build anytime soon.
In fact, the tech tree usually accommodates these sorts of mixed builds. You generally get access to Writing first, then you can build Libraries. Soon after that comes Commerce; now you can build Marketplaces. But should you? It's a science city! Yeah, it is, but didn't you get the Library built a long time ago? And Universities and Observatories won't be available for several more turns. Meanwhile, that city's cottages are maturing, churning out more commerce. And the more gold you have,
the higher you can set the science slider. So you can turn that commerce back into science one way or another--if not via a building, then via the slider.
Also remember that Markets increase happiness and Grocers increase health. Both let you grow the science city to a larger population, and that means you can work more cottages and/or run more scientists. Again, you're converting your city's products into science. The connection is less direct than building research, but it's there.
City specialization is basically a technique that lets you prioritize during the game, so you can make smart choices rather than just building things almost at random. It guides you towards builds that maximize a city's potential. But it's not religious doctrine. Isabella won't hate you for building a library in your shrine city (she'll have plenty of other reasons to hate you).
Granary
