The real question is: in what situation do you not have internet connection OR the server is down.
In this case, it appears the server has been down for a significant number of players. Therefore, many people can't play... even if everything is fine on your end.
If you can't trust that your city will be there tomorrow due to EA's shoddy servers, then there is very little incentive to even play the game. I guess it might happen with a local save as well... but local saves of a game seems like an easier problem to solve.
I'm moving house next week and won't have a connection to the internet for a little while. I'd rather pass the time playing SimCity than watch crap TV after work for a week or so.
