Zoning in SL?

Why is there no zoning in SL? Or building permits? Probably
this topic has already been addressed somewhere along the
line in Forums, but I'm new here so I'm asking anyway.

The reason I ask, of course, is that it's quite annoying that
you really have no hope of knowing when your neighbor is
gonna sell, who they're gonna sell their land to, or what's
gonna get built by the new owner. Sure, there's the old
PG / Mature distinction which is a rudimentary form of
zoning, I guess....but it would be nice if there were such a
thing as an all-residential sim where you had no fear of
someone buying the parcel next door and turning it into a
mall or something else that you don't want next door.

And, of course, there's the issue of the billboards that can
be built at any height and facing any direction totally ruining
a perfectly nice view or landscape.

I know there are easy answers to my questions....I just
don't know what they are. Thanks in advance for all
your replies.

-David Gorham

Firstly, there ARE Linden zoned sims. Brown,Boardman, and (I think?) De Haro. Good luck ever getting land there; LL prefers to leave zoning to private parties.

Basically, the mainland is kept as a sort of basic anarchy, for them that like it; if you want order, you need to get together with the neighbors and co-operate.

The only "zoning" in SL defining individual sims as either PG or M. Apart from that, individual land owners (whether they own a 512sm First Land lot (like myself) or own an island or own an entire sim, can determine what kind of "zoning" (ie: character) their land will have -- unfortunately that power exists only up to the point at which they sell the land to someone else. There is no permanent residential/commercial zoning in SL.

There is also no need for building permits. You can build whatever you want on your own land, subject to the prim limits (a 512sm lot allows you to place 117prims on that lot; if you own more land IN THE SAME SIM, you may use ALL the prims from all your land in that sim to build on either one lot only, or on all of them). SL is supposed to be CREATIVE, and you can't be creative with alot of pettifogging bureaucratic rules and regs. The downside is that you may buy your First Land plot, and put small house or shop on it, only to find all the land around you bought up by casinos, tringo parlors, and nightclubs with flashing signs and enough traffic and scripts to lag the entire sim to death on the weekends, when you most want to spend some time in SL (and so does everyone else, it seems).

I would like to see some basic predetermined zoning, and permanent zoning, so that someone could buy a sim and set their mark on SL by designing a sim layout that people could enjoy and which could not be wantonly destroyed by the next landowner. A little teleport station near a small sandbox that I particularly liked was sited directly in front of a small waterfall -- the sandbox was around the back of the hill down which the waterfall ran... it was beautiful. However, the owner of the "sandbox" started selling off the land, razed the hill, the waterfall, and the little teleport station. Sad -- one of the small beauties of SL flattened by greed.

They are figuring if there's a demand for zoned areas the private land owners will provide it.. if there is no demand there won't be any.

It make sence for LL from a business standpoint. They probably can't move with a changing market as effectively as in world businesses can given the propper tools.

I offer zoning, and people rather like the idea.

Essentially: commercial/residential mixed, as in a town, or residential/garden/wilderness sort of thing.

Seems to be working out very well.

There are entire sims that are strictly residential only (not mine; at least none of mine yet).

Without Zoning Police, Zoning is a Joke.

Did you have a point?

I think at this point LL couldn't do it anyway because they don't "technically" own the land once it's bought, just the servers that hold the land.

Since no zoning was ever integrated in the game in the beginning beyond PG vs. Mature it would be impossible and wrong for them to reorganize it now. They'd loose customers to say the least.

The only way to do it would be to petition all the land owners to convince them to want to re-organize and coordinate it with LL to make the land work as such.

Unfortunately that woudl take a lot more effort than I'll ever want to put into SL because it wouldn't involve nearly enough robots or violence.

-s1 >X<

I would be quite happy for some of the mainland - or new LL owned land - to be zoned, and would be glad to move there.

But for me, the two current options - buy a sim for myself, or buy land from a land baron at an overinflated price, are not feasable.

It's a pity that so much of the mainland is full of junk, thankfully I have good neighbours at the moment but not everyone is so lucky.

Lewis

As I understand it, you can buy land from some land barons at an underinflated price (as a third option).

There may be other drawbacks to be sure, but at least in the islands it's not always a jacked up price.

And no this isn't an ad. I've got an excel spreadsheet full of people on a waiting list to get land for, before I start advertising again.

There is, but not in the Linden Estate.

Anshe's Chungs Dreamland sims are zoned, the land prices are fair, and the tier prices are slightly less the Linden Lab mainland. However you do pay teirr directly to her. There is also less land speculation which may not appeal to everybody (a personal opinion)

But I am not in the land speculation business as I think it is playing a game of musical chairs with the last man standing loosing, again a personal opinion.

As a matter of interest though....there may be one way it could work...that is if somebody gained complete control of a mainland sim which was previously viewed as a type of slum, and then rented it out with zone controls, again just a personal view

There is no Linden zoning to speak of because the Lindens just don't want to deal with those kind of issues.

I'd rather put up with the junky builds than have to move everytime I wanted to try something new in my build, so I'll probably stick with the unzoned PG areas. However, I DO wish that it were impossible to build withing a meter of the property line without the neighbor's permission.

Overinflated ?? pppffftttt

Land cost in most private islands is 5-1 or 6-1 in some of the most beautifully landscaped terrain in SL. The zoning keeps people away from property lines. There are no theme restrictions in 90% of the sims. You can build subterranean spaces down to ground 0 in most sims. Prices are stable because the "land baron" keeps them that way. If you are looking to buy low and sell high and screw the next guy, use the mainland. If you want a beautiful place to live with pleasant neighbors, low and stable prices, better tier structure then the mainland, choice to buy or rent, full credit when upgrading, huge public areas to be enjoyed by all, 24/7 personal client support, then leave the expensive slums and live in on a private island.

Personally, I don't like the idea that I am restricted to build a house only, if tomorrow i change my mind and build something else. If I have to live in such restrictions... then why not RL...why SL?

The main advantage of SL is FREEDOM from "necessary" restrictions we have to keep up with in RL. This is my opinion.

And, don't think that I don't know what it means, or I am a bad builder...etc. I have been through that annoying period when my neighbours put up junk around my property. but I noticed, with time everything settles down. And, if not, I d sell my space and move. You have your freedom, don't restrict others because you like or dislike something. In their land, they have all the rights. what is ugly in your opinion may be beautiful in theirs. and as it is in their land, you should not complain.

I have a store in residential surroundings, and not even one person complained about it, cos what adds value to a place is "good building" and not whether it is a store or a house. we don't breath their anyway.

just an opinion

Linden Estate? Are you implying that the "mainland" is simply another estate just like Azure Island, Dreamland, Hiroland et al?

There are also opportunities for renting on mainland where landlord owns all/most of sim and is hence able to control zoning. The pro there is the usually the ability to pay rent in lindens.

You can pay Lindens with most island communities also; I certainly accept them, and am pretty sure Tony and Alliez do too. There are pros and cons to both mainland rentals and island rentals; mainland is ideal for some, island sims for others.

I bet that won't sound so silly in a year or two's time.

Just being on friendly terms with your neighbours can also help a lot.

Last month I bought my first plot of land in Saeneul. It was a complete mess at first, with all kinds of monstrosities arising. But now that everyone gets settled in and discusses builds with each other there starts to appear a sort of unity in the landscape.

One of my neighbours in particular has worked hard to convince other people to work within a single theme. Now, some sort of Greek temple complex starts to arise. And everytime I log into the world a few more people have joined the good cause.

So what I want to say is that discussing your project plans openly can get you a long way. No need for strict zoning or policing the area.