Mainland Living, any recommendations on nice residential regions?

[Artemisia Atheria]

Hi,

I have been reading through the forums on Mainland, I have a small parcel in Brown and I like it, I am still learning the ins and outs of Mainland, the Colour regions seem to have some levels of rules which makes them nicer i suppose, are there any other community type residentials, nice themes, or neigbourhoods?

I often get over-whelmed when i am exploring Mainland, i have looked around Blake Sea and Bay City, lots of very expensive parcels. I kind of liked the regions around Bay City but again expensive.

Are there any other reasonable priced (or possibility of being able to land an abandoned land) regions that feel like a community with some sort of theme out there? I have read about snow-themed regions but I haven't seen one yet.

I was hoping for some recommendations on nicer places for a Mainland Noob

[Fritigern Gothly]

What you appear to be looking for is a continent like Belliseria, the home for the new Linden Homes. There are a set of rules in place which basically enforces good neighbor behaviour plus there is a sense of community. The regions are beautifully designed with different themes throughout the continent. 
Currently the different themes are townhomes, house boats, trailers, victorian homes, log cabins, and stilt homes with more themes on their way.
Each of these homes are built on a 1024sqm/351prim parcel, with the exception of the trailers which sit on a 512sqm/175prim parcel. 

Come have a look, I personally like to start at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fourze/56/123/24 because it's in between two themes (houseboat and town homes) and near the trailers which are a little further south, and across a bridge (the map will show you what I mean)

[Artemisia Atheria]

3 minutes ago, Fritigern Gothly said:

What you appear to be looking for is a continent like Belliseria,

Hi Fritigern, thanks, I do have a couple of Belli homes. I am actually looking for the freedom of Mainland to build my own build, but also hopefully with a bit of a nice neigbourhood and theme.

[SarahThe Wanderer]

Hi, Check this thread:

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by SarahThe Wanderer

[Alexis Crisp]

I hate to plug my own stuff, but since you mentioned Blake Sea and you are interested in that type of community, I just started a community as a division of my rental business on Blake called Crisp Cove and the community is quite small (it's only 3027m in total). It's very peaceful and there are fantastic neighbors. The SIM is G-Rated. If interested, here's the link to my post:

 

Good luck on your search!!

 

[Prokofy Neva]

On 3/2/2021 at 5:58 AM, Artemisia Atheria said:

Hi,

I have been reading through the forums on Mainland, I have a small parcel in Brown and I like it, I am still learning the ins and outs of Mainland, the Colour regions seem to have some levels of rules which makes them nicer i suppose, are there any other community type residentials, nice themes, or neigbourhoods?

I often get over-whelmed when i am exploring Mainland, i have looked around Blake Sea and Bay City, lots of very expensive parcels. I kind of liked the regions around Bay City but again expensive.

Are there any other reasonable priced (or possibility of being able to land an abandoned land) regions that feel like a community with some sort of theme out there? I have read about snow-themed regions but I haven't seen one yet.

I was hoping for some recommendations on nicer places for a Mainland Noob

I have a rentals company with some houses in snow, in Berthould Pass and Shimmer. There is a fair amount of abandoned land on Shimmer and some nearby sims.

I also have several other areas in snow, Refugio, Swain, and Seefeld, but they have only rooms, apartments, and town houses, not parcels for rent. I also have cabins in Orelle, which is snow, but they're all filled I believe. 

You can fly around the snow areas and see if you find any offerings. I tended to make only apartments/room/inns because people don't want snow all year round. Now they I am building "Turkestan" I'm about to see if they do, all over again, although I already know the answer: they don't lol. So I am likely just putting in sky platforms.

Brown is kind of a forgotten original Linden-zoned sim. It was once highly prized, along with its neighbour, Boardman, when no other sims were zoned, by which I mean they do not allow terraforming, so no one can grief with "terror-forming"; they don't allow commercial activity; and they created roads and easements among the lots. They refurbished it a bit after its initial roll-out, which I believe was in 2004, but we continue to complain about the old, dead palm trees, etc. on that sim. 

Maybe by now you have realized that Linden-built or Mole-built areas (i.e. built out with more than just roads and trees) can turn into "communities" -- or they may not. Nautilus is another "built out" area as is Horizons. Communities can be made even on hard-scrabble toxic-waste land on the Moth Continent next to a shallow pond, by people who just reclaimed abandoned land and put up fish shacks. I mean, as they always say, "it's all about the people". So, how do you find "the people"? Well, this is the question...

What I find about "SL communities" is that if anyone happens to make one they are happy with, along with a few of their friends, they tend to keep it to themselves, or are rather insular. It's a very atomized and yet very insular society. That is, if you have a defined interest or RP you want to do, you can find your niche -- if it exists. Such as Steampunk or Furry or Elves, which are "traditional" RP sorts of things or "suburbia and yacht clubs" in Bellissaria and so on. The events list can be a little helpful but not always. There are newbie help and orientation places such as Caledon but then you may not want to live in the Victorian age. I personally put out areas and try to keep them nice, I put in themes like "Tibet" or "snow" or "camping" or "1950s" or what have you, but then people who live there have to make their own fun and socialization. I used to put on all kinds of events but they are work, a challenge due to griefing at times, and also not really in demand. Most people hang with their partner or a few close friends and shop and take photos.

So I put up a "Rekviem Cafe" in Refugio years ago and put a description like "This is where the intelligentsia comes. You come, too!" -- and put Akhmatova's famous poem and such on the wall and a samovar. For a time, I started a group called "Too Busy in RL" that met only once a week for 15 minutes, no more, that was it. Just a very quick and defined chat. And a few people came to that, one of whom was Russian who I have stayed in touch with for years. And another who IMs me for long chats now and then. But there are lessons to be learned here, I won't belabour lol.

I think you're actually trying to square a circle here -- you want the freedom of Mainland, an empty parcel, that you will just buy and control, and that's always best, but you also want there to be a "neighbourhood" or some kind of "community" around you, some kind of "public square" or "shopping" or perhaps a park with a gazebo and an orchestra that plays chamber music on Sunday. Book stores? Coffee shops?

And...if that exists -- and it does -- it exists as a separate location without residential land around it -- with very few exceptions. So, someone at Ravenglass Rentals might make a coffee shop open to the public or a pub and people hang out, the people renting or just random people. Usually people don't last very long with that because the question then comes: how can they pay for their land? They made a beautiful coffee house, but it's not their home where they live. If they are roadside in commercial areas I have, they put out tip jars. Years ago, people would even have DJs or live music, but that is now rarely attempted on mainland, it's usually on separate private islands. You have to have a strong constitution to keep putting out stuff like this *for other people, not yourself only*. So you want someone to have created all that for you as an environment, like real life, but if it is not the "Linden Assisted Living" where there isn't freedom, where is that place, where someone will 'tier your view" and make your ambience? Yes, there are some rare exceptions, such as Campbell Coast as we've discussed. They have rentals and land for sale too, so look for that. I have no idea how easy it is to get into East River. You could go to Caledonia if you want to live in the Steampunk/Victorian theme. There is the Wastelands which has an Apocalyptic theme. etc. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Prokofy Neva

[Stephanie Misfit]

I can recommend the areas Prokofy has rentals in. So many of them are in really nice parts of the mainland, including places you are unlikely to be able to buy land. I own a bit of land in Iris, that is a lovely sim with most of it owned the the SL Public Land Preserve. It has an infohub and community areas and is a very historical part of SL. You won't be able to buy land there but may be able to get a rental. There is usually land for sale in surrounding sims, they also have boardwalks like Iris but aren't as pretty. 

I did buy land in Campbell Coast and I absolutely loved it but unfortunately it was too laggy for me, maybe coming from Australia it was too much for my connection. I would absolutely suggest checking that out though, it is really pretty with so much on offer for residents.

 

[Rabid Cheetah]

On 3/2/2021 at 3:26 AM, Artemisia Atheria said:

Hi Fritigern, thanks, I do have a couple of Belli homes. I am actually looking for the freedom of Mainland to build my own build, but also hopefully with a bit of a nice neighborhood and theme.

It will take some time, but wander around the Mainland until you find a region that is mostly Abandoned Land.  Then fill out a ticket for the land, usually very cheap at L$1/m2.  Also, if there's an ugly build across the street, and empty land on the other side, orient your builds so that when you stand on a porch or balcony you are looking at the empty land, not the dump.  This works best when your empty-land view is either West or East to watch the sun and moon rise and set.  If all else fails, get used to derendering stuff.  Even the prettiest parcel could change overnight if ownership of neighboring parcels change hands.

[Zero Starchild]

Another nicer looking area, mostly farms and farm homes is on Northern Spur Road, in the Jeogeot Northern Peninsula.

[Skyspinner Soulstar]

You can look on the Sansar continent for snow lands. Look for "Wilmot" for instance, to find the area.  I have a couple of nice parcels on different regions there (have not decided whether I will sell the Porvoo, for instance) and I don't know about community.... just go and walk around a while, I guess. Some places on mainland I have lived on had seem to have a loose organization but they never did much that I could tell.  Why not join a group of your interest and see where that leads you? Sometimes they have gathering places.

[Fritigern Gothly]

19 hours ago, Skyspinner Soulstar said:

You can look on the Sansar continent for snow lands

Sansar is a continent now?

[Marianne Little]

50 minutes ago, Fritigern Gothly said:

Sansar is a continent now?

I think she meant Sansara. It was stupid of SL to use the name "Sansar" when they already had a continent with the same name, only that LL removed the "a" in the end.

[Marianne Little]

I wish people who ask about parcels can say the size they want, not just "small". Small for me, small for thee? 1024, 4098?

[Rabid Cheetah]

1 hour ago, Marianne Little said:

I wish people who ask about parcels can say the size they want, not just "small". Small for me, small for thee? 1024, 4098?

1m x 1m? 🤷‍♀️