I joined the server a few days ago, and I'm sort of wandering around and I've found one city but no one's really there, and it's sort of sad      

I understand the "super secret policy" and what have you, but I'm just looking for a place to live. Please. I'll join your city, I'll help out, It'll be fun!

Anyone??

You found Elftheria I think. It's been abandoned for a while, but there's a building in the middle of town near the market with little apartments in the second storey where you can sleep and public gardens nearby for food. The buttons by the doors open them. I stayed there myself before I got accepted and was invited to 2 towns, Forge and New Haven. I also built my own base well away from the cites for supplies. People around here judge by actions, not words; so seeing that you've built things and haven't destroyed anything that you've found will be a better indicator of trustworthiness than simply saying you won't break things.

There's also something to consider about other towns in the survival server, we don't all get online at the same time, and other than periodic changes in the landscape and structures, it's hard to tell if a place is populated or not. New Haven looks pretty deserted most of the time too, and it's probably the biggest city.

We really do want more residents, but we don't want to have bad guys in our towns, so this is why we test everybody. Good luck.