simlink

HOLT: ONE YEAR LATER It has been one chaotic year. It has been a full year since I lasted posted an update here in Holt. When I posted that Holiday shopping update a year ago, I didn’t expect there to be a full year gap in updates. But, as they say, life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. So, you might be wondering what has been going on in Holt for the past year… Unfortunately, not much. A lot has been going on in RL, basically everything has been keeping me busy. It’d be easier to list things that haven’t kept me busy. Needless to say I haven't been around here much this year as RL kept me more than busy... So, Holt. Unfortunately not much has been going on there. In all honesty I have probably spent only a few hours in Holt the entire year. Certainly nowhere near the amount of time I have in years past. Little has been developed/achieved. That's certainly not to say I haven’t been messing around in SC4, I have, just not so much in Holt. Call it creator’s block, if you will. There are certainly some ideas floating around, but few seem to really work out. I think I am, more or less, “stuck” with where to go in Holt, or at least not sure how to get where I want to go. I think, like some of my other projects, I worked myself into a corner. Some things I have done in the past in Holt have set me in a direction I can’t totally change, and unfortunately some of what I want to go with Holt, can’t be achieved without totally changing the dimensions of Holt. (By that I mean the realism of things built not being suddenly scrapped, minus that one CBD, of course. ) People who play any sim-style game will know the desire to try something new every now and then. Which brings us to now. In essence, there is nothing new to show from Holt from this past year. Part of that is the creator’s block described above, part of that is RL keeping me immensely busy. Unfortunately for Holt, it doesn’t look like the busy part will get any better. In fact, it will probably only get worse. Those two facts, and several other factors, lead to one hard decision: One year after the last Holt update, I am officially ending Holt. These past 3 (!!!) years have been absolutely amazing. Okay, so the last year may not quite count, but you get the point. When I started Holt I had a general idea of where I wanted to go, but I never did fully expect how much it took off. The sheer volume of likes, views and comments received exceeded my expectations exponentially. The feedback has been great, and I have had so much fun sharing the progression of Holt with you. Recently, I took a look back and read through the updates I have published. I don’t often actually go back and look at updates that are too far back. It was a great trip down memory lane. I can still picture preparing some of the updates, particularly larger ones (like the census) or ones outside my normal comfort zone (Helllooo Amusement Park!)… but all in all it did make me smile a bit. So too did everyone’s feedback, even when people were pointing out things that were a little, off... things I needed to work on. (How else would I know how to get better? :)) This past year, well past several really, have been exciting and challenging. A lot has changed, just as a lot of things changed here too. It was definitely not easy to officially call this the end, but here we are. While this certainly is not good-bye (I plan to still be active in the community, despite 2015 being a mostly non-existent year for me), it’s the end of a big chapter of my time here in the community. It is time to officially close the book of Holt. It has been an absolute blast publishing Holt for the past 3 years. Hopefully I will see many familiar people around the community for some time to come. And as any avid book-lover knows, just because you’ve closed a book doesn’t mean you’ll never read it again. All the best, simlink Thank You, for coming on the journey through Holt for the last 3 years.

Welcome to Holt District! Holt District is my brand-new CJ and is also my second one. In this journal we will follow the Region of Holt District through developments - both good and bad - and the pains on motorists as roads are widened and residents + businesses as utilities are tinkered with the allow for new developments. We will see developments go from the planning phases, through construction all the way to the end process. Likewise, those of you who know of Windemere & Taschereau also know I like road construction. That, too will be part of this CJ as when an area grows, so to do the demands on its road/transit network. Holt District will vary from Windemere & Taschereau in that instead of me adding "new" cities throughout the course of the CJ, the cities I start with are it. Any new cities that come up will be result of new developments, and the bureaucratic mess that goes with it. As mentioned, we will see developments go from a plan to finished product. While this is not true for all developments - that would get boring pretty quick we will see some major developments through the entire process, and on a variety of styles. (Suburban sprawl, urban skyscrapers, business parks, etc.) Holt District has been in development for several months, since about later March/early April. It has been a long road to this point, and those who have been following my Innocent Posts will (hopefully) be excited to be here, just as I am. Now, before I begin today's update (Yay update 1!) I will go into a bit about the CJ website, map and twitter feed. For information about the region of Holt District itself, check out the CJ website! Additional Media: Additional media will play a very large roll in Holt District. Holt District (the CJ) has a website (holtdistrict.weebly.com - link at the bottom of this post) which has some information about the region and general news that you won't generally get in an update. Sometimes a special post will be made to highlight something on the website, with feedback and discussion more than welcome here in the Holt District topic. Generally development proposals will be posted on the site, with discussion about them taking place here. The process of watching it go from plan to finished product will also take place here. It is only the "application", if you will, that is posted on the website. Also, Holt District will have a streetmap. To be located at maps.holtdistrict.host22.com, it will be a streetmap (i.e. the elevated rail lines won't be on it.) This may change in the future as my abilities in this area improve. When this feature launches (it is currently only a welcome page) there will also be a regional transportation view available for more detail in other areas of transit - including EL-RAIL. Lastly, Holt District Has twitter! Twitter will be used to let you know when updates will be coming out, random teasers and general "What I'm working on in the region today is..." So with that... let's get onto the update. Again, welcome - to Holt District! INTRODUCTION + RETAIL 'DILEMMA' 1.1 \ Shorecoast Shopping Centre is at the cross-roads of 2 major arterial roads in Manatee. Having grown over time with 2 additions and several renovations, the mall is now home to Hecht's, Sears, JCPenney and a large multiplex movie theatre. The mall is a major draw for residents of not only Manatee, but the entire region as it is the only enclosed shopping centre in the region. 1.2 \ Over time, the owner of the mall, Centurion Properties, Inc., developed portions of the massive parking lot into large office buildings. Several office building and even a department store exist on what was once pavement. When confronted with these proposals (over time) the city's council easily approved the developments, saying "It helps break up the pavement monster which is the Shorecoast parking lot, all while brining jobs to the area." Indeed, this building alone employs over 2 000 people. 1.3 \ Although the mall has a diverse clientele, and wise base where it draws customers from - its biggest return visitors and spenders are those who live right around the mall. This is one of the older sections of Manatee. 1.4 \ The food court benefits from a high school which is about a 10 minute walk away. The food court suring any of the lunches is packed - if you are a non-high school student you need to pick and choose when you go for lunch or a snack. 1.5 \ However, not all retail is booming. This Kmart store, which has been in this location for 35 years - and expanded several times - has been loosing business to the mall since it has opened. The mid-range department stores in the mall have stolen business away from Kmart, while an out-of-town Walmart has put the nail in the coffin. Rumours of its closing have been swirling for years, though no official confirmation from the company. 1.6 \ The only saving grace for this location is it is across the street from this minor league stadium, home to various local sports teams and the soccer and foorball teams from the highschool just down the street. Often, people will purchase snacks from Kmart, and on cool nights sales of blankets soar. 1.7 \ Another source of customers is the casino resort, Holt Casino & Resort. It is inevitable that travellers forget something, and with Kmart in walking distance several tourists enter the store each week. While this is not a steady source of income for the store, it is better than nothing. 1.8 \ However, Kmart's demise may now be more real than ever. Rumours are swirling that Walmart is in the process of purchasing the property from the land owner. The fact Kmart's lease is up in 11 months is doing nothing to help squash the rumour. Walmart previously tried to enter Manatee, 10 years ago, but their plan was rejected. Since this is already a retail site, chances any changes they make to the building would be approved. When their plan was rejected 10 years ago, they located 2 highway exits to the south in another town. 1.9 \ It is becoming increasingly likely that the residents of the luscious suburbs in and around Kmart could soon be faced with the sound of construction vehicles for months. That is all for today, the first update of Holt District! I hope for those who have been following its development it is everything you have been looking forward to. I am super excited about the prospects of this new CJ, and I hope you will stay for the journey as things develop! Next Update: We will be looking at some more of suburban Manatee and may just venture into its downtown core...

HOLT: ONE YEAR LATER It has been one chaotic year. It has been a full year since I lasted posted an update here in Holt. When I posted that Holiday shopping update a year ago, I didn’t expect there to be a full year gap in updates. But, as they say, life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. So, you might be wondering what has been going on in Holt for the past year… Unfortunately, not much. A lot has been going on in RL, basically everything has been keeping me busy. It’d be easier to list things that haven’t kept me busy. Needless to say I haven't been around here much this year as RL kept me more than busy... So, Holt. Unfortunately not much has been going on there. In all honesty I have probably spent only a few hours in Holt the entire year. Certainly nowhere near the amount of time I have in years past. Little has been developed/achieved. That's certainly not to say I haven’t been messing around in SC4, I have, just not so much in Holt. Call it creator’s block, if you will. There are certainly some ideas floating around, but few seem to really work out. I think I am, more or less, “stuck” with where to go in Holt, or at least not sure how to get where I want to go. I think, like some of my other projects, I worked myself into a corner. Some things I have done in the past in Holt have set me in a direction I can’t totally change, and unfortunately some of what I want to go with Holt, can’t be achieved without totally changing the dimensions of Holt. (By that I mean the realism of things built not being suddenly scrapped, minus that one CBD, of course. ) People who play any sim-style game will know the desire to try something new every now and then. Which brings us to now. In essence, there is nothing new to show from Holt from this past year. Part of that is the creator’s block described above, part of that is RL keeping me immensely busy. Unfortunately for Holt, it doesn’t look like the busy part will get any better. In fact, it will probably only get worse. Those two facts, and several other factors, lead to one hard decision: One year after the last Holt update, I am officially ending Holt. These past 3 (!!!) years have been absolutely amazing. Okay, so the last year may not quite count, but you get the point. When I started Holt I had a general idea of where I wanted to go, but I never did fully expect how much it took off. The sheer volume of likes, views and comments received exceeded my expectations exponentially. The feedback has been great, and I have had so much fun sharing the progression of Holt with you. Recently, I took a look back and read through the updates I have published. I don’t often actually go back and look at updates that are too far back. It was a great trip down memory lane. I can still picture preparing some of the updates, particularly larger ones (like the census) or ones outside my normal comfort zone (Helllooo Amusement Park!)… but all in all it did make me smile a bit. So too did everyone’s feedback, even when people were pointing out things that were a little, off... things I needed to work on. (How else would I know how to get better? :)) This past year, well past several really, have been exciting and challenging. A lot has changed, just as a lot of things changed here too. It was definitely not easy to officially call this the end, but here we are. While this certainly is not good-bye (I plan to still be active in the community, despite 2015 being a mostly non-existent year for me), it’s the end of a big chapter of my time here in the community. It is time to officially close the book of Holt. It has been an absolute blast publishing Holt for the past 3 years. Hopefully I will see many familiar people around the community for some time to come. And as any avid book-lover knows, just because you’ve closed a book doesn’t mean you’ll never read it again. All the best, simlink Thank You, for coming on the journey through Holt for the last 3 years.

Correct. Not next, either.

Absolutely! My favourite sport. TNP likes tacos.

Sure

Wow! The vibrancy of the colours is superb. Nice work with building layout too. Great looking city.

Platform

Hey there, you're right! raynev?

Granted, but every file becomes corrupted upon completion. Much like your wish. I wish SC4 didn't CTD so much.

From my end the green isn't too bad, just IMO. I love the look of building, the details are superb and give it some great character. I'll also echo SimCoug's comment about the first floor being regal... looking good!

Awesome industrial areas, takemethere. Awesome layouts and very realistic choice of buildings.

Nope. Stitch?

That is correct, and Phil will again not be next.

Superb work, it came out awesome. Love how smooth all the curves are... not always an easy feat!

Ooh, looks good so far. Can't wait to see the area fill in, should continue to get even better.

Echoing others above, that roof texture is awesome. Nice work, building is looking great so far.

Fare

Nice city, looks really good at night. I have to agree with you about nighttime looking really good in game. Especially the transition... is was really fun watching the lights flicker on for the first time in one of my cities. Nice work!

Great shots, love how your city (and the game...) look at night. And the little back story is nice too.

Hey there! Skimbo?

Great looking city there, Schulmanator. The cake is pretty cool, too.

you wonder? Well...

Heyo! Phil?