Hello Mike,
Please try this sample below, I hope it can help, and pay more attention in comments, that will help you more:
wpfMap1.MapUnit = GeographyUnit.DecimalDegree;
ShapeFileFeatureLayer worldLayer = new ShapeFileFeatureLayer(@"..\..\SampleData\Data\Countries02.shp");
// ZoomLevel02 means this layer are visible when from zoom level 2, like your Parcels, so for Local street layer and Highways you can set to ZoomLevel01
worldLayer.ZoomLevelSet.ZoomLevel02.DefaultAreaStyle = AreaStyles.CreateSimpleAreaStyle(GeoColor.SimpleColors.Transparent, GeoColor.FromArgb(100, GeoColor.SimpleColors.Green));
// level05 means visible from 02 to 05
worldLayer.ZoomLevelSet.ZoomLevel02.ApplyUntilZoomLevel = ApplyUntilZoomLevel.Level05;
LayerOverlay layerOverlay = new LayerOverlay();
layerOverlay.TransitionEffect = TransitionEffect.None;
layerOverlay.Layers.Add("WorldLayer", worldLayer);
wpfMap1.Overlays.Add("WorldOverlay", layerOverlay);
wpfMap1.CurrentExtent = new RectangleShape(-133.2515625, 89.2484375, 126.9046875, -88.290625);
wpfMap1.Refresh();
Regards,
Gary