Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Detroit Developer Spurs Tangible 'SimCity' Land Rush

by Warren Riddle on March 6, 2010 at 12:30 PM

Despite the pervasiveness of social networking, some observers still decry sites like Facebook and Twitter as promoting impersonal and intangible relationships. One entrepreneur in Michigan, though, is aiming to add a physical aspect to social networking by implementing a micro-land grab in Detroit.

According to NPR, Detroit real estate developer Jerry Paffendorf recently purchased a vacant lot for $500 at a property auction, and then divided the land into 10,000 purchasable square-inch plots. The plots, which each cost $1, have all been sold to a total of almost 600 mini-landowners, or "inchvestors." Of his plan to introduce a virtual yet palpable online "Sim" community to a struggling Detroit, Paffendorf said he wants to "build this wild social network of people that's literally built out of the dirt and the ground." As befits a real estate sale, plot owners can do what they will with their square-inch estates. (One has considered installing a mailbox.)

While some locals contend that Paffendorf is merely trying to capitalize on the sympathy of outsiders with his 'Loveland' project, 9-year-old Ricki Collins is relishing the arrival of hundreds of new neighbors -- even if they don't actually live there. As a member of the last remaining family on the languishing neighborhood block, Ricki said, "I want people to come over so we can get to know each other, learn new things about each other" -- a sentiment that city leaders around the nation would be wise to adopt. [From: Loveland and NPR]

Tags: art, Detroit, inchvestors, sim, simcity, SocialNetworking, top, weird

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular