Renovating Public infrastructure

[Patroklus Murakami]

I've posted a request to the LUC to advise me on the renovation of public infrastructure. The link is here.

This post is for citizen discussion.

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This forum post reproduces and email request to the LUC sent yesterday.

There are a few proposals for renovating our public infrastructure in circulation. The RA recently passed a motion regarding renovation of the Thermae in Colonia Nova. I think the forum in CN also needs some attention as it looks very much like it did when the region was opened. Cadence mentioned the LA harbour area to me yesterday and I’m conscious of the fact that the LA rebuild was never really completed under the previous administration - the Umbilicus Mundus (the temple in the centre of the sim) was never dealt with, the future of the colonnades has not yet been determined and we still don’t have multiple builds available for the LA fishing village.

So there is lots to do!

I’d like the renovation to follow a plan and to be developed on the back of active citizen participation.

What I would like from the LUC is the following:

• * A comprehensive list of renovation projects for CDS public infrastructure based on consideration of all the CDS regions
  * An assessment of the relative size of the project (is it Small, Medium or Large for example) and roughly how long it would take to complete once commissioned
  * Your advice on the relative priority of the projects and a rationale for the prioritisation
  * Your advice on whether projects are small-scale ‘quick wins’ which could just be assigned to a suitably proficient builder (along with your advice on potential builders) or whether projects are larger scale and bids should be sought and assessed on a competitive basis in line with the LUC law

I’m happy to agree a deadline for this work following discussion with the LUC. I’m also happy to take it in phases if you would like to provide some ‘quick wins’ first and then complete the fuller survey over a longer time frame.

I would like this work to involve active citizen participation and public review of proposals (this is a Constitutional Requirement for me as Chancellor). The RA has also expressed an interest in taking forward these kind of projects so it would be good to make sure they are involved too.

[Victor1]

ohhhhhhhhhh I have all sorts of idea's Pat, problem is no one listens...there's no point in a "discussion" when folks have already made their mind up.

[Josie Fotherington]

I sincerely hope that is not the case Vic, but I fear that it might be.

[Coop]

I think the key at this point is the 'do'. Perhaps more 'show me some physical results' rather than 'tell me of your plans' would be more convincing...

[Widget Whiteberry]

Vic, I know Pat's invitation is to the LUC, but there's a place for public input and I'd very much like to see your post ideas posted here, where we can all read them. Same goes for Josie.

[Sudane Erato]

ohhhhhhhhhh I have all sorts of idea's Pat, problem is no one listens...there's no point in a "discussion" when folks have already made their mind up.

I sincerely hope that is not the case Vic, but I fear that it might be.

I think the key at this point is the 'do'. Perhaps more 'show me some physical results' rather than 'tell me of your plans' would be more convincing...

Whew!... what is with you people??!!

Yes... a new sim arrived at via a community process takes a long time. When we are not also battling a negative and destructive political faction, as is now finally the case, you can clearly see progress being made.

But open your eyes. Look back a few years, and compare what you see around you now with what was here then. There are huge changes, 99% for the better, and they are all the result of individual community members' initiatives.

Your sadly negative attitudes are simply not justified by the facts. I say bravo to Pat for suggesting that we continue to forge ahead with estate improvements.

Sudane.................

[Josie Fotherington]

I'm not bashing. I am expressing hope vs fear.

To clarify my post:

I truly hope that this plan can be implemented to facilitate sim renovations. My concern is that I see a lot of general planning, but then a slowing or ceasing when it comes to execution and specifics. There is a lot of initial nodding of heads, when in reality very few people truly looked at the plan. Then when things get rolling, all of a sudden people start paying attention and realize they don't agree with the plan. Suddenly people are crying "halt". From what I understand this is exactly what happened with Locus Amoenus.

My other concern is resources. There are only so many people in CDS. In that group there are only so many people who have the time and energy to contribute to community. Many of those people are already handling a lot of responsibilities. Where are the resources (people and time) going to come from in order to make these plans happen?

Plans are good! Plans are necessary! But I am worried they won't come to fruition. Or that it will take 2+ years to bring them to fruition.

I think enough people have interacted with me and know me well enough to know that I am not a negative person, that I don't whine and that I don't bash just to bash. I take action to make things better. I'll express my concerns in the hope that things can be "good" and hopefully better.

It appears to me (please correct me if I am wrong) that people are very satisfied with the status quo for planning and processes, and if that's the majority opinion, then that is how it should be.

[AbbyRose]

People are invited to share their thoughts here. I also know that people come to the LUC meetings and share their thoughts there as well.

[Victor1]

doh double post

[Victor1]

ohhhhhhhhhh I have all sorts of idea's Pat, problem is no one listens...there's no point in a "discussion" when folks have already made their mind up.

I sincerely hope that is not the case Vic, but I fear that it might be.

I think the key at this point is the 'do'. Perhaps more 'show me some physical results' rather than 'tell me of your plans' would be more convincing...

Whew!... what is with you people??!!

Yes... a new sim arrived at via a community process takes a long time. When we are not also battling a negative and destructive political faction, as is now finally the case, you can clearly see progress being made.

But open your eyes. Look back a few years, and compare what you see around you now with what was here then. There are huge changes, 99% for the better, and they are all the result of individual community members' initiatives.

Your sadly negative attitudes are simply not justified by the facts. I say bravo to Pat for suggesting that we continue to forge ahead with estate improvements.

Sudane.................

What is with "us people" sudane is we actually have a clue what is going on in SL... you lot have buried your head in the sand and have ignored several white elephants in the room who are in the process of bulldozing any future that CDS could possibly have POST Second Life 2 launch.

SL 2 comes out this year in beta...and some of you honestly think it will not affect CDS.

What if even 30% of your populace decide to leave? What if even 20% of the populace decide to leave all at the end of this year or going into 2016 when the beta of SL 2 is nailed down?

There is no viable marketing, there is very little social activity, the infrastructure of CDS mostly looks like mainland and to top it all off you cant keep the sims full between elections, and ontop of all that, you are now planning a new sim to drop down sometime this year... and knowing how slow things go in CDS that new sim probably wont arrive until the month SL 2 launches.

THIS Second Life will have a steadily dwindling populace, and CDS will have to go up against the bigger and better managed estates to bring in more people to fill the parcels up. The fact is, you cant even fill up the parcels pre SL 2...you have a snowballs hope in hell of filling them up post SL 2. I'm an estate manager for New Babbage, have been for 4 years...and I am VERY worried about what effect SL 2 will have on New Babbage and NB looks better, has more events and is constantly marketed, even with that there is a very big possibility that New Babbage will have to eventually shed regions.

If NB is gonna lose regions because of folks leaving to go to SL 2...what chance has CDS got? You have very little plans to do with SL 2, there is no upcoming action plan at all incase you suddenly wake up one month and find half of every single sim has renters that have decided to leave.

The time for a new sim opening was last year... opening a new sim this year and having the same old faces playing musical parcels is just insane, and only now is the prospect of the CDS regions infrastructure being overhauled is being looked at, and again, considering how slow things work in CDS it will probably end up being the last half of the NEXT government that oversee's the work...just as SL 2 launches.

Too little... too late...

[Sudane Erato]

Too little... too late...

Vic, your *entire* point is premised on SL2 becoming a runaway success that will cause so many people to leave the CDS that it is no longer financially viable.

But look at the facts.

LL is a classic "one hit wonder"... every single venture it has launched, after Phillip Rosedale launched SL, has failed miserably. We know NOTHING about SL2, other than that it will be utterly incompatible with SL. There is a vast economic culture comprising SL, a culture which has almost no connection at all with LL. It is LL which has their heads in the sand that somehow they will drag residents from SL to SL2... indeed, they have clearly announced continuing support and attention to SL. They know perfectly well that SL2 is a very long shot. You should too.

Second... despite your negative remarks, CDS is in fact a very successful community by SL standards. It is small, yes, but size is not a measure of everything. It has a ten year history, it has a very rich community culture, and economically it is extremely stable. It doesn't take much in the way of mathematics to see that the CDS could pay its way for an entire year with not a single tier-paying resident. Of course, that's an absurd concept... if the CDS does indeed start losing money, we too can shed sims... this is not rocket science. Those of us who own sims and pay LL tier each month understand the process. Over the history of the New England estate I've had to shed almost half of our sims to respond to the changing SL economy... and New England is quite stable now. But that can always change.

I am that category of person who persists in using Windows XP because it works, skipping Windows Vista, and waiting to see whether Windows 7 works... until Windows 8 comes out, at which point I finally, and tentatively, start using Windows 7. Maybe financial managers are simply built like that. Sure... let's watch what happens with SL2. If, in the unlikely happenstance, it succeeds and grows, perhaps 2 or 3 years in we should consider establishing a toehold there. But not before, or we will surely waste a lot of community time and money for nothing.

Sudane....................

[Widget Whiteberry]

Vic, Lest it get lost ... I'm still very interested in your ideas for renovating public infrastructure. Josie's too. I imagine I'm not the only one.

[Coop]

For starters look at all public infrastructure and the dates of the builds. Create a list by date of creation or last edit and take everything built before 2010 and push it to the top. While it is not intended or meant to demean or insult the builders of the past, 'state of the art' in SL has progressed substantially since the estate was opened. I would then take one sim at a time and do a 2015 facelift. Use native large prims, redo textures if need be, use mesh, see if better scripts and particle effects are available, and transfer any additional prim count back into making the infrastructure better. Once we've made the lap of the estate, use the list we created during planning to make a review list, so that every so often we know what was done when and when it needs to be checked.

One of the issues brought up when we discussed this privately was that many of the builds were done by 'historical CDS personages' and that many of them have a great degree of sentimental value. My suggestion was to set aside a small area as a historic district, and to keep an example of the older builds there. Before anything is replaced, take lots of pictures. I'll say it again, that no one is disputing that a lot of work went into the initial builds, but they are dated now compared to new bleeding edge state of the art builds using new build techniques.

The other thing is do this on a timeline. There exists enough capital to hire it done, or throw some economic incentives out to make it happen in a timely manner.

[Josie Fotherington]

I honestly don't think SL 2.0, or whatever it is, will affect the current tenancy levels of CDS. I don't see anyone in CDS running off to a new platform permanently.

The thing that SL 2.0 WILL do is reduce CDS' chance of attracting new residents; however I get the impression that is how current, long-time residents prefer it to be.

And guess what guys? It's ok to admit that! It's ok to do things as they have always been done as long as that is how the majority of residents feel. I think that is the case.

[Patroklus Murakami]

The feedback I'm getting in this thread, and from the LUC, is JFDI. So, I will! I've also heard that there is a limited pool of volunteers and that we can't do everything at once.

I've posted some proposals in a separate thread here for immediate upgrades to Locus Amoenus. This has been identified as the sim most in need of some urgent attention. I will set out what I think needs to be done and invite comments on these forums and via an inworld meeting. Once I've taken citizens' views into account, I'll commission some people to get the work done. This could be the The Artisans' Guild or any other group of citizens. I will run a competition if the job is particularly large.

The RA has asked for the Thermae to be rebuilt and for me to run a competition for this with the LUC. I'll tackle this, and the wider renovation needed in Colonia Nova, after LA.

I still want the LUC to do the more systematic review of CDS infrastructure but, if they are going to prioritise updating the General Master Plan, I can get on with some obvious 'quick wins' in the meantime.