Water supply is probably a serious issue...

It's never sustained more than 200 people, so all infrastructure would be needed from scratch, and at the same time, about the most difficult place on earth to get raw materials to.

I don't see it happening. We'd be better off with a floating oil platform type idea I've seen (but anchored closer to civilization).

On the plus, food would be easy to grow -but if water is scarce, it gets tough... hydroponics are now known to scale well.

I get that. I like thinking of things like that as well. My first look is usually to find that things that could make something fail.

I think the big impediment to any type of traditional industry on this island is that it is incredibly far from anything. I think the distances are frankly almost unimaginable.

One thing I read had to do with the size of ship that can come close to the island. The residents row out to the supply ships and cruise boats There is no protected coves for a marina or docking close

The 50 remaining would resist any change towards Objectivism. This island may be to small. Perhaps a Social Engineer can estimate the maximum population for this island.

All very good points. This island may not be big enough. I don't know what the population maximum would be
Still we would be creative. Scrap steel could be brought in and recycled. Machine tools imported. The Purpose of this thread is for the free flow of ideas.

Internet 512kb/s is shared by the entire population, not per user.
"The Pitcairn Miscellany reports that despite the bandwidth recently being doubled to 512 kbit/s this is not per user but is in fact shared between all families on the island making normal internet use extremely difficult."

This is another area requiring either lower expectations or significant capital expenditure.

Yes, its a big deal.
Unless Atlantis has only a very small population and has extremely limited import and export of goods then a good method of transportation of goods is a necessity.
Until Atlantis has complete modern medical facilities there will be a need for fast transportation to and from Atlantis of patients and/or medical specialists and equipment.

I spent much of my youth on an island - Whidbey Island. Still love the place very much, but haven't been there for quite some time. I watched it get bought up by the wealthy over about 15 years (beaches became off limits to my brother and I and our fishing poles), then watched it get boarded up after the crisis several years ago.

No radio station - that could be a fun past time.
Internet is 512kb/s
As long as you don't need netflix, that's doable. Might be able to improve on that.

Provide a secure/private email service, and charge outsiders for it, and you might have a revenue stream. Charge in Bitcoins.

Is that a big deal? Ferrying, that is? Sounds like pretty good protection from outsiders.

To be a hidden place, I do not think the "real" Atlantis of Ayn Rand's fiction had original residents who had to be first relocated or dealt with.
Outer space is the place.

I suggested thorium because nuclear had been mentioned. Thorium is safer/cleaner and cheaper than uranium.
Let's be realistic. that level of world isolation isn't possible.
We can acquire outside resources and still be separated form the world.

Perhaps we could look at tidal force for power generation.

There are options, however, initially, you need a reliable power source while developing others. right now, the island has a diesel generator that runs for about 12 hours a day in two shifts. Their windmill ran into to cost overrun and was never completed HOW, can you have that level of incompetence or corruption on an island of 50 people, and half are retired. :-)

That would present a clear ethical and political problem. Midas Mulligan retired to a plot of land he systematically bought from cattle ranchers who did not understand its value. (That's the AS narrative. I suggest he would have bought the old ghost town of Ouray from its tourist-trap developers after the tourist trade dried up. But I digress.)

The OP proposes to settle the land with those fifty people on it. If we do, we have to decide now what we're going to do about them.

I actually like this...

http://www.pitcairn.pn/Repopulation%20Pl...

http://www.immigration.pn/FAQ.php

Utility Mean expenditure per annum
Electricity $2539.25
Telecom $1215.58
Store (food,beverages, hardware) $4500.00
Medical supplies $275.24
Freight $933.93
Total $9464.00

What is the average income on Pitcairn?
It is difficult to estimate the average total income as there is no taxation and thus official records of private incomes. The average Government income is NZ$6000 per annum.

On average how much does it cost to build a house on Pitcairn?
Over the past 7 years some modern homes have been built by settlers. A fair estimate including importing all building materials and furnishings, and paying local contractors to build a complete home of around 160 square metres in size, to be approximately NZ$150,000.

How much money do I need to have to move to Pitcairn?
As per the immigration policy anyone wishing to settle on Pitcairn must have evidence of savings or assets of at least NZ$30,000.

Is there a charge for settlement applications?
Yes. The current fee is NZ$500.

Thorium reactor. You mean, like this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_flu...

Remember: thorium, unlike uranium, has no known fissile isotope. How do you get it started?

And how do you import these radioactive materials?

The main idea of the Gulch is a community in isolation. When Dagny crashed into it, it was already self-sufficient, except for a few supplies for which Midas Mulligan had a "pipeline" from the outside. Let's not kid ourselves. That pipeline was Ragnar Danneskjöld. It was some of his prize cargoes that he couldn't necessarily sell in Europe. Ragnar explained to Hank Rearden he had "customers" in the USA territory. Correction: one customer. Midas Mulligan.

Now unless you're thinking we're going to hijack some thorium shipments intended for the People's State of Whatever, I recommend finding a different technique for generating electric power.

yes, those 50 remaining people on Pitcairn are creepy. There are like 10 of them who bully the rest, but the rest did nothing while the men of Pitcairn raped underage girls on the island. Most girls leave There's some interesting anthropological studies on this population.

There is no natural protected anchorage and all visitors currently are brought ashore in small manually operated boats. Creation of a 'port' will be a massive capital cost (unless some new technology replaces normal shipping and transport.)

Any place picked for Galt's Gulch will need outside help unless you find enough people with the proper skills to build and run everything needed plus a location with the materials to build what's needed.

Money talks - if we provide the revenue to them, they rename the island whatever we ask. Besides, they can call it whatever, we can call it what we like.

Her Majesty?? So what, they obviously pay it no mind now.

Thorium Reactor.

I think the question is, what do they have brought in, and why can't they produce it right there? Is the Island not capable of growing all it's own food? Lumber?
Does it have adequate fresh water?
what is the current cost of living?
what will they give us to move there? land, land and house? what exactly do we have to put up?

I'm actually very interested.

I think a shipyard and steel mill are probably out of the question. Where would you get the materials to make steel? There is no deep harbor. Good luck ferrying your supply of coke in on longboats from an anchored ship.

I would think most of the work would have to be international and virtual online types of work. It could not be work that would even require any sort of even semi regular travel to client sites as I don't even think there is air service here. If you wanted to start air service you would need a plane with a range of at least 1500-2000 miles to make a trip safely from even Tahiti.

I am wondering how deep the water is off of the island and if it would be suitable for ocean thermal energy development.

Two problems with it. First, what shall we do about the fifty descendants of Fletcher Christian and his fellow exiles who still live there? We cannot be sure they would want a bunch of us to move there and rename Pitcairn's Island to Mulligan's Island or Galt's Island.

Second, would not anyone moving there still be a loyal subject of Her Majesty? I realize you hope to negotiate a grant of formal independence. But can you be sure HMGov would grant it, knowing the implications?

Nuclear reactor? Well, maybe a Pebble Bed Modular Reactor. It would have the footprint of what they would call in Britain a football field, and what we would call a soccer field. And it would easily provide all the power we would need. For forty years. During which time we would hope the owner of the plant would embark on a crash program to launch a solar-battery satellite into GEO so we could have power for all time from a simple receiving station.

High-rise living? I assume you mean a design copying the Arcology principles of Paolo Soleri. That kind of development presents the danger of locking in particular manufacturing modes that might prove difficult to replace. Soleri never once talked of any kind of modular architectural principle, by which, once a particular part of a building becomes obsolete, you can build another module to replace it, and work around it in the meantime.

A small shipyard? Make sure it can accommodate a ship of war. Flying the Dollar Roger. With a latter-day Viking in command. You know whom I mean.

Thanks. I am adding this to my short list...

I'd want a sewerage disposal plant and a salt water to pure drinking water facility.

Producers produce and create trade. Lack of jobs is not an issue for those with valuable skill and motivation. Fivedollargold aspires to become poet laureate.

I just don't go for an island. Too locked in and controllable.