Holt: One Year Later

[SharkSark 397]

Wow congratulations on the views it is indeed a huge milestone btw you are using IRM right?Looks really clean and beautiful !! awesome work !

[NielsC007 499]

Very nice work!

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

I'm glad you like my suggestions! If you'll take some more, I have a few. 

I don't know if you've looked into the USL (Universal Street Lighting) mod that makes your light cones more realistic, but if you haven't, you should. Another one (one that I really should start doing as well) is to disable shadows during your night shots, unless you want a really strong moon that night, which the Maxis Night is perfect for. 

[Josh6 873]

I love the realism of your city! You take some great pictures 

[Prophet42 1,503]

Nice industrial areas!!  I especially like how you used mmps to create a realistic looking hi-tech industrial complex.

[Benedict 3,119]

You're number one again on BTT this week - good work.

 

Edit (4 July) - and you've held on for a third week - well done.

[simlink 1,098]

 

Welcome Back! Manatee Is Reaching For The Sky...

Seems the height-boom has hit Manatee's downtown core.

 

 

 

 

 

Low no more. In the outer-core of Manatee's downtown district, these 2 new buildings popped up.

Definitely adds some height to the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The big addition, though, is here. Now the tallest building in Manatee, this tower houses a new Financial Services company.

Their main business is in-store brand financial services. Store credit cards, and even store-branded mortgages!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many may recognize this from the HD LRT updates a while back. This are is now the discussion of city council.

A developer is rumoured to want to buy a few buildings here, knock them down and intensify. Council and residents feelings' are mixed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Council is a little more receptive to ideas of intensification here, near the core. Nothing to update on yet, the gas station owner is quite stubborn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elsewhere, some mild intensification just outside the core. This area was badly damaged by the tornado.

The shopping plaza is said to be for sale, though the tenants have long-term leases remaining...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This used to be a strip-mall, before being ravaged by the tornado. The owner has decided to redevelop as medium-density mixed-use.

Some residential and some commercial and offices are expected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compdude787

It certainly is! I didn't develop industrial until the IRM was released (in Holt, anyways.)

You're definitely right, though. This mod finally makes for nice industrial areas.

 

Schriefer

Thanks! I never really knew what to expect when Holt launched. Response has been great. Glad you liked the update!

 

Schulmanator

Thanks! Attractiveness in industrial areas = a must.

 

mrsmartman

Thanks, glad you like it!

 

sarthakknight

Thanks, it was! And I certainly am using IRM, it really does do beautiful work.

 

NielsC007

Thank You!

 

daTSchikinhed

I haven't looked into it, I'll definitely will, though! I have some downloading to do in the next while, so it'll be added to my list.

And I should really try that out...

 

Josh6

Thanks! I try to go for realistic most of the time. Glad you liked it!

 

Prophet42

Thanks! The IRM definitely helped out, as well. Wouldn't have worked as nicely without it!

 

Benedict

Sweet, x2! The most recent week was definitely a surprise!

 

 

 

Thanks for Visiting!

 

[coolwiththecool2 827]

I see you have one of those "Stay out of the box" intersections, traffic must be heavy there. And VERY nice buildings in the second pic.

[mb1.0.2 193]

These are some gorgeous screens. I actually said, "wow" out loud as I looked at this most recent update. Keep up the most excellent work!

[UndercoverNinja12 176]

It all looks so clean and white. Great job though!! I love it

[NielsC007 499]

Very clean indeed, nice work!

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

Nice downtown your city has

[thecitiescenter 3,059]

Very nice!  Love the photo work, very sharp, clean and crisp.  Keep up the good work!

[qazzy1122 2]

Beautiful! Any chance of a city wide photo with the recent skyscraper editions?

[SharkSark 397]

It looks beautiful especially the HK international center !!!

[simmytu 605]

Stunning pictures, I do like them!

[Benedict 3,119]

Nice update again - and you're number one on BTT again.

 

Edit: and another week at number one fro 17th July.

[simlink 1,098]

 

IT'S THAT TIME!

So, after about a month or 2, I'm finally back again. For a bit.. maybe longer? Who knows. Either way, today after being a month late I'm happy to present Holt's anniversary update! It has been over 2 years since I began publishing Holt back at the end of July, 2012. A lot has changed since then, in both the region and in terms of the journal itself. It is now published on 4 sites across 6 versions surpassing 1000 comments and 100 000 views. And it's not going anywhere yet.

 

I figured that since I always seem to have less time on my hands, one of the reasons for changes to Holt this past year, I would reshape census updates to occur annually instrad of quarterly. And I figured, what better time to do them, than at the anniversary updates? It's a great way to recap what has been each year of this journal's life. So from here on, census updates will be the anniversary updates. So, enough talking, let's get on with it! 

 

 

HOLT: THIS YEAR'S RECAP

+ WHAT'S AHEAD

Today's update covers the period from the end of July 2013 to end of July 2014. Note that since the last census figured were gathered in June 2013 that this year's span is a little bit longer than would be normally. From here on census updates should be published in/around July 27 of each year.

 

My my, what a year it has been! It's hard to believe it has been over a year since the last census here in Holt. Things have certainly changed, as you will get a picture for below. It has been a year filled with building both up and out throughout the region, with Sherkston and Manatee growing taller, and Dofino and the like growing outward at a great clip. Growth has not slowed down here in Holt through now, and the order of most populous municipalities continues to rapidly change. There's been lots developed, Highway 40 is being widened to 6 lanes, the LRT system continues to expand, and the entire road network is as well as the region sprawls out. 

 

Some interesting projects I have started to take on this year (2014-2015) include replacing the planted trees in Holt with season trees that are more realistic in appearance. This is a big job, particularly along the shoreline. Should be a fun challenge. As you will see later in the region view, I also abandoned the Kuhan CBD project. I didn't like where it was going, so it is being replace with what else, but sprawlburbs! And some other interesting development. I know this goes against my general rule of I show it off, it`s here to stay, but you know the saying... rules are meant to be broken. Other than that, expect some more awesome new developments in the year ahead!

 

HOLT 2014 CENSUS

The moment you have been waiting for! This is the actual census portion of the update. Let's get into it.

 

 

As previously mentioned, this has been a busy year in Holt. Holt's population continues to soar, increase by about 1 000 000 since last year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a rapidly changing landscape, Sherkston holds on to the top spot in the population podium. But second and third place are certainly catching up.

Growth has been fuelled by ongoing intensification zone developments.

 

 

 

 

 

Kuhan's population soared this past year, as development continues to sprawl through it at a rapid pace. Residential and industrial development are sprawling faster than developers can cope. The town has had its humble 3000 population from the days of 2012 skyrocket to closing in on 500 000, a number it could easily exceed in the coming year.

 

 

 

 

 

Flynn was leapfrogged over this year by Kuhan, dropping Flynn to third in the population podium. However, its growth too has been stellar, more than doubling from the previous year. Flynn, like Kuhan, is experiencing rapid sprawl as you will see from the regional view. And it is only getting faster these days. It too is expected to pop-over 500 000 in population in the next year.

 

 

 

 

 

Dofino's close proximity to Kuhan, Flynn and Sherkston are propelling it forward. Industrial development has taken hold, a second highway exit was added on highway 40 in the north section of town and more development in the residential sector has propelled Dofino this year. Dofino essentially doubled in size, closing in on 300 000, leading to overtake Manatee in population.

 

 

 

 

 

Manatee was once the second most populous city in the region, but has dropped to 5th recently. However, development here too has been accellerating. It could be the first of the core municipalities to be built out, something that could occur this upcoming year. Time will tell. 

 

 

 

 

 

Joining the six-digit club this year is Shorecoast, who experienced extremely modest growth compared to the rest of the region. Shorecoast is looking at ways to maximize development of land it has left on the coast, while not alienating tourists and existing residents. Expect modest growth again this upcoming year.

 

 

 

 

 

Norecount continues to plug away! Its main highway 40 interchange was completely rebuilt, while the highway 40/23 interchange is currently undergoing a complete rebuild. Southward, highway 40 will become a divided 6 lane highway, instead of the super-2 it is currently. That, plus a large planned industrial park and expanded LRT service could greatly increase growth in the town this year.

 

 

 

 

 

Midport experience the mildest growth of any municipality this past year, increasing in size only 1.2%. The growth was attributed solely to some new condominiums developed in the town.

Planners are finalizing a waterfront master-plan for the community, one that could see a mixture of new development, waterfront parks and trails and more. This is something that could start coming to light this upcoming year, though it could get mired in red tape. Time will tell!

 

 

 

 

 

Old Port is finally starting to see accelerated growth, increasing in size a whopping 57.9% this past year. It too could see increased waterfront development this upcoming year, as this picture shows the breadth of waterfront land left... but time will tell: Was this year a fluke for Old Port? 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, it has been a busy year in Holt! It's extremely fast-paced development continued, and probably won't let up this upcoming year.

 

 

 

HOLT REGION VIEWS

This is always a fun part. Below are the region view for the past 3 years here in Holt. Oldest to newest, you can see the progress each year. This past year's changes have been huge, as you could imagine from the above numbers.

 

July/August 2012

 

 

 

 

June/July 2013

 

 

 

 

 

JULY/AUGUST 2014 (CURRENT REGION VIEW)

 

 

 

"SATELLITE VIEW" TEST. July/August 2014 (Current)

This one's for fun.

 

 

 

 

 

And that wraps up this year's Holt Anniversary update and Annual Census, 2014 Edition! I hope you'll continue to follow Holt to its third birthday, and stay tuned for another exciting recap of the year that was (or, for now, that will be. ) It'll be a fun one, that's for sure! So thanks again, everyone, for sticking with Holt through lulls in activity and the like through the 2 years it has been so far. I'm excited for the next year, and I hope you are too!

 

 

 

Replies to previous update(s) and this will be done together. Thanks again for the support!

 

 

 

[CapTon 592]

Awesome, an update! Thanks for this, simlink! I always love your updates even if I don't leave a comment. Keep up the awesome work! Even if we have to wait one or two months for an update. It's worth it .

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Nice! A great overview of previous cities.

[coolwiththecool2 827]

More than awesome! Kuhan is becoming a big city!

[jmsepe 2,039]

As I have earlier said in SC4Dev, congratulations on your second year. Great to see many improvements.

[vinlabsc3k 127]

The last 3 updates are awesome and the census are great!!

[Ke|is 3,337]

Your region looks very nice my friend, congratulations

[simlink 1,098]

 

HOLT READERSHIP SURVEY

Sorry, folks, not an update today. I have a few in the works, but some annoying kinks in SC4 combined with the slowness of some city tiles has slowed those down a bit. Anyways, I've been thinking about some potential changes to the way Holt is served up for a while now, since around the time it was announced that Holt would be eliminating formal storylines from updates and the current update format was adopted. In the "change" announcement I made mention to some potential future changes, but to not worry as they were a while out. That is true, it has been a while. So I thought I would reach out to you, those who follow Holt, to try and get a feel for some possible ideas and changes in the way Holt is presented.  Holt is now published on 4 sites, encompassing 6 publications. This is a whole heck of a lot of work on my end. So I have been looking for ways to lighten the load when updating, so to speak, when I publish updates. I have been looking at ways to try and either keep all 6 publications going in some form, cut certain publications or launch new ways of doing updates. Based on the feedback I receive from all sites in general, it'll somewhat guide me in the decision making of where to go. Note that a potential outcome is the status quo, and that nothing really changes in terms of the number of publications and so on. 

 

Below, I list out several hypothetical/potential ways Holt could change. Your comments on what you like best about each, or which one you like the most and so on is greatly appreciated. If you like a combination of several of the scenarios below, please feel free to let my know. All feedback is appreciated. These changes, even when I get a sense for where I'll be going, won't be instant. They may happen this fall, or they could happen next summer. It all depends. So, let's get on.

 

 

SCENARIO #1:

How likely would you be to continue reading and/or commenting if Holt ceased publication on your SimCity fansite of choice? Would you continue to follow it on another site?

 

Explanation: This one is semi-self explanatory. Certain Holt publications (likely 1-3) would be cut, while others are maintained. None would be deleted, those chosen for publication ending would no longer be updated. There would, of course, be the potential for it to one day begin publication again.

 

SCENARIO #2: 

How likely are you to continue reading and/or commenting on Holt is full updates were no longer published on your SimCity fansite of choice, but instead teaser images linking to another publication of Holt. This being either on another SimCity community, or a new Holt website?

 

Explanation: Certain publications would likely receive a short description on the full update along with one of the images from the update, and it would in turn be directed towards the full update on another site. Replies on these versions would be done on a rolling basis (ie. monthly) and teasers (1-2 image updates) would be published in full on these sites. Large updates are what would be reduced.

 

SCENARIO #3:

How likely would you be to continue reading/commenting on Holt if updates were moved to its dedicated site, with update teasers posted on the current publication on your community of choice? If no teasers were posted? [Would you consistently check the new Holt website for updates and/or follow @HoltDistrict for information on new updates?]

 

Explanation: This combined potentially either scenario 1 or scenario 2 for some publications, while others would maintain full updates. The big change is full updates (and more) would be published on an all-new Holt website. This would likely be powered by WordPress, and would have the ability for comments to each update, similar to the ST CJ Blog Section and SMP Player Albums Section. This option would also mean I would begin using Twitter more again to promote updates on this new site and so on. It isn't likely all versions would be cut, but more likely 2-3 options would receive the treatment in option 1-2, or even 4.

 

SCENARIO #4:

What would your thoughts be if Holt on your favourite SimCity community was not regularly updates like other publications, but instead received "combined" updates on a semi-regular basis (ie every 1-3 months, all updates from those months would be combined into one huge update)?

 

Explanation: In this scenario, certain publications would receive updates on a semi-monthly basis, or perhaps based on a number of updates basis, whichever at any point in time results in a "fair" amount of updates. For example, if over 2 months 5 updates each with 5 pictures are posted, after 2 months these versions would receive all 25 pictures in one go, with the potential for a couple of bonus pictures to make up for the delay in posting. This option has the potential to be combined with scenario #3, in that a new site with updates is launched with several publications going to the format described here. 

 

 

 

Whew! I know that's a lot, and I'm sure I have been rambling a bit. So, if you have any questions on the above, do not hesitate to ask! I have in mind already which route I'd prefer to go, but I am interested in seeing what others are thinking to see if that means a possible change in plans. This, combined with a planned format change to updates could make for huge change in how Holt is published, the biggest since it was published really. Again, as mentioned earlier there are no plans to immediately put any of these ideas into action, though it could happen sooner rather than later, or not. Once I have an idea of where things will be going, I will at that point make an announcement in each Holt publication on what those plans are, and how/if it will change that specific publication.

 

And of course there is always scenario #5, things stay as they are now across all publications.

 

 

I want to thank all of you for being awesome supportive over the past 2+ years, and I look forward to many more! Change can be scary, but working this out with everyone will hopefully make it less so for both you and I!

 

 

I look forward to reading your thoughts,

-simlink

[coolwiththecool2 827]

Scenario 1: My personal choice

 

Scenario 2: Very likely

 

Scenario 3: Likely | If no teasers: Not likely since I will eventually forget to check.

 

Scenario 4: Not sure, I feel neutral about it.

[Schulmanator 5,812]

I'd rather keep things simple and on ST as possible.

[Kifflom112 355]

I haven't visited this thread in a long time. It's amazing to see how much this city has grown over time.

[simlink 1,098]

 

Welcome Back! Autumn has arrived. Let's go check out the colours.

Tweaking the update design slightly and experimenting with fewer captions. Stay tuned for more potential "tweaks"

and where captioning will head.

 

 

 

 

Small intensification projects in quiet neighbourhoods. Breaks up the landscape nicely, and these condos certainly have a nice view of the fall colours.

 

 

A few houses being rebuilt in this neighbourhood.

 

 

 

 

Plenty of good colour here. Lots of open parkland, large lots makes this area very desirable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

coolwiththecool2

Having those was actually by accident when I re-installed the NAM. So far I've kept them as I like the look of them. We'll see if I keep them as I begin to pickup TuLEP use again.

 

mb1.0.2

Thanks! Glad you like the update, hope this one was enjoyable too.

 

UndercoverNinja12

Hehe, my CBDs tend to look like that. Especially when I tweak photo lighting.

 

NielsC007

Thanks, glad you think so!

 

Schriefer

Thanks, this has to be one of my favourites I've built. Not the biggest, but one of the more realistic ones.

 

portlandexpos04

Thank you! I try to add a bit of light/more vibrancy to the photos. Sometimes the pics just don't quite look right unaltered. Hope you enjoyed this update too!

 

qazzy1122

That is certainly a possibility in a little while. I'm still cleaning up some glitches in this (and other) city tiles, so a city-wide view isn't quite ready just yet.

 

sarthakknight

Thanks! That building is a stunner, for sure. Looks great in many cities.

 

simmytu

Thanks, glad you do. Hope you liked these too.

 

Benedict

Thanks for stopping by and the BTT update!

 

CapTon

Updates have been sporradic for sure. Likely will continue to be. We'll see if some of these tweaks and some future ones could help upload frequency. And glad you think so, it's nice to know that people still enjoy the updates even with huge waits in-between.

 

LnX

Thanks! The census updates are always amongst my favourites.

 

coolwiththecool2

It certainly is! It's sprawling like crazy. Such sprawl. Much lost.

 

jmsepe

Thanks for stopping by here and SC4D, look forward to seeing you here in the next year.

 

vinlabsc3k

Glad you've been enjoying them!

 

kelistmac

Thank you, happy to hear you think so!

 

coolwiththecool2 & Schulmanator

Thanks for your feedback re: the survey. I have an idea of where I'm going. May end up being a "none of the above" with some of the ideas in there tossed in too. We'll see.

 

Kifflom12

Happy to see you again! Hope you'll keep stopping by again. Things certainly have grown in Holt since your last visit.

 

 

 

Thanks For Visiting!

 

 

[coolwiththecool2 827]

The colors and those condos are magical!