Expansion

The topic of expansion came up again in [post=837221]this post[/post]. I'm going to chime in. Although these thoughts underpinned the DPU platform language on expansion when I wrote it, I have not discussed them with other faction members and they do NOT represent an official statement of DPU position. They are strictly my opinion.

A Blueprint for Expansion - How

We should expand one sim at a time. Planning it well and doing it right will probably take a whole RA term for one sim. Here are what I think the steps should be.

1. Retire existing bonds

We currently have approximately $250 in outstanding debt from our last expansion (onto the private island). The one thing that will kill the city faster than anything is assuming more debt than we can handle. Even if it doesn't overwhelm us directly, a large expansion of debt could leave the city without a working budget, with every available Linden going to debt service.

Before we acquire new debt, we should retire the old one. We have at least two ways to do this. Either we can liquidate most of the city's current equity , or we can pass the hat. Current bond debt is, after all, $9.26 USD per citizen.

2. Proposals

The RA should solicit proposals from citizens for the second sim. These proposals:

Should meet certain requirements - The new sim should be contiguous with the existing sim. It should include certain public spaces (a school/university is my personal cause). Other minimums as the RA sees fit.


should include a description of the sim theme, the sim location (which border will you attach to), major non required builds (if you want to do, for example, a ski resort), and an explanation of the residential/commercial mix in the proposed sim.


The RA, with consultation from the Gilde, chooses a winning proposal. The proposer(s) and other citizens chosen by the Gilde and RA become members of the sim planning committee(SPC)..

3. Planning.

The SPC is charged with
Platting and subdividing the sim
Drawing up the initial covenant and zoning
Designing major public builds and two model structures (residences if the sim is residential, stores if it's commercial, one of each if it's a mix)
Setting a financial plan and a proposed land fee structure based on the number of square meters of saleable land which will 1)pay the tier and 2) leave the city an operating budget to fund public builds and improvements.

After the sim plan is approved by the RA and Gilde comes......

4. Marketing.

We should market the sim the way an FL developer does. We can do this at lower risk because we don't have to buy the land up front.

We produce marketing materials and build a "spec" home or business on an available lot somewhere. We invite propsective residents to reserve land/a build with a deposit, refundable if the sim doesn't come on line by a given date. Put those deposits in escrow and execute the sim order from LL when they reach a predetermined percentage of the sim startup cost (buyin + a month or two of tier). Float bonds for the rest. Have the builds ready to go on the purchased lots as soon as the sim goes live.

This puts residents in the sim immediately, and reduces our debt load at the front end.

Next, the where and what.

Please remember that these opinions are mine and mine alone. They do not represent DPU positions


What the next sim will look like depends very much on which side of the existing sim we attach it to. I'll divide up my ideas by direction.

East

If we go east, we're likely to get a sim very much like the current one. Demolishing the east wall of the current town will allow an expansion of Neualtenburg proper into the northern portion of the new sim. Topography will mean the southern half of the new sim will interface with the medieval bavarian portion of the existing valley. There would be some flexibility as to how much of the new sim was town and how much was without the walls, as well as its residential/commercial mix.

This direction is a good choice if our greatest interest is people rather than revenue. The town seems more popular than the valley (perhaps because of low land fees), and expanding the town east would give lots of room for a dense build which could expand the population of the projekt. Some of these benefits would also apply to a northern sim.

It does, however, tie us in rather tightly to the the existing medieval bavarian theme. There is no natural boundary to create a theme border, and I'm not sure you want another style inside the walls.


North

Again, just remove a wall, and expand the town. It might be odd to put that much dense build at that high an altitude (I'm assuming north would be uphill as well). You could do a small town expansion, put in a mountain, and have a pass or tunnel through the mountain (perhaps an extension of Talenstrasse) serve as a boundary to a difffent, high altitude theme, in the northern section of sim two.

South

We could slope gently down to the sea, do something about our precipitous cliffs, and get some of that waterfront property that everyone seems to like. It would also give us more flexibility in theme than an east or north build.

West

This is the tantalizing one. We have a beautiful suspension bridge and a highway that goes...nowhere. I believe that the west route is the best plan for an eventual 2 sim expansion. If we put a dense build in a sim immediately west of the current one, the highway is too short. We'd almost need to put a less dense plan in the first sim, run the road through it, and then put another dense build (probably with a different theme) in the next sim west.

There are my ramblings.

I note there is no step for market research, exploring with an open mind what is wanted, and how much a market price would be for various offerings, before you plan it or market it. Is this deliberate or an oversight in your suggestion?

I view it as more a recognition that there are purely commercial enterprises in SL that can outdo Neualtenburg when it comes to market research. I don't wish the process to be unaware of demand and market conditions, but neither ought it be driven by what we think will attract Linden dollars. That way of doing things has led to quite a few giant malls and Tringo parlors. Instead, we need to create something that is distinctive and of high quality and help it find its market. As SL grows, a long tail phenomenon ought to allow a number of enterprises to be economically healthy without having to appeal to a mass market.

I agree with this.

~Ulrika~

In addition to paying back loans, we can also renegotiate the terms of the loan for those that are interested. For instance, I do not want my loan paid back ever. I want to slowly spend it down month by month to pay for my land-use fees. Thus, I don't require a buy back (that'll save about US$90 or so).

Finally, it is not necessary to pay off all debts before expanding. As a matter of fact, a city can actually increase its net revenue by carefully going into debt. The reason is that the expansion increases revenue, paying for the cost of the loan and more. I'm happy to post some of the mathematics if you'd like.

Remember when Anshe went into the private sim business, she did it with a whopping 12 desert sims at once. Given our success, I don't see why N'burg couldn't be ambitious as well.

~Ulrika~