In Evergreen harbour, all three community lots were voted to be Maker spaces. Since last update, apart from the Sim I am playing, the only people that visit the lot are the experts in their field who...
Ideas
Further to above comment about Recreation Centers, I love doing the No Skills No Problem scenario, giving myself different challenges as to how quickly I can reach the goal and what sort of character I use.
Because it requires so much of the Sims time, I tend to use a Loner character, Freegan and Green Fiend. Then I Use the broken Community Lot feature to my advantage. Precisely because no one comes to the lots anymore, my penniless character can move in. I've even managed to avoid all interactions with other Sims using this, which again allow them to concentrate on what they're doing.
By making them join the Scientist career, I do that until they get the SimRay with Transform object upgrade, then they Quit.
Using the SimRay I can transform all the rubbish piles in the original Community Lots (soreading them out first. If you're lucky, you'll get a bed and a hydroponic or plain planter.
I don't use the build menu to do anything except knock out walls and move existing furnishings to start with. My aim is to see if I can build a Recreation center as well as reaching the Scenario goal. If you make it a Landfill lot, the resulting dropped broken objects can be transformed.
Diving for ingredients will give you plants. Dumpster Diving, finishing Collector Aspiration and planting things like Money Tree will help.
I allow my Sim to bring bought camping objects onto the lot and sometimes transforming them will help fill in gaps in required furnishings.
You'll end up with top range showers and refrigerators.
No fires from transformations.
I've even got pianos from Transforming objects.
To complete Recreation Center, the only things I've always had to but is the Jungle Gym and pieces of Exercise equipment. The photo above is one run through.
Will be interested in Feedback if anyone else tries to do this.
26-30 days to finish scenario seems to be the average.
Does it work as well on a generic lot? I never use them, so I don't remember if no Sim shows up there. I suppose any lot with the Private Dwelling trait would work as well. When I play a loner like a hermit, I like to use the small lot called Mid-NoWhere in Windenburg, the name is immersive but I suppose there are nicer places to feel like it's really isolated.
By Generic lots, I assume you mean Residential? I use the default Community Spaces to avoid people completely.
People pass around the Community Space boundary, so there is a steady food source if I play a Vampire, lol, but never come in. Unless I use or keep the Landfill option. Then they dump the object and leave but can be interacted with if needed.
These big ticket items can be repaired, but can also be Transformed without repairing. Stoves seem to give the biggest variety of useful objects.
The big advantage of the Community Spaces in Evergreen is that the initial rubbish can be Transformed into good items, and items don't burst into flames when Transforming.
As for Hermits. My Loner even gets twitchy when people pass by if they are in the garden, which they do a lot in Mid-NoWhere. I find the vacant lot island in Sulani good, the wrecked plane in Strangerville and Cordelia's Secret Cottage have the least passers by with that isolated vibe.
I don't mean residential lots. Perhaps the type of lot is called something else than "generic" in English. I'm speaking of a lot type that serves no purpose. See bellow its icon:
