There is an open community project started by a player that only played for about a few months. Their vision was a common road that all can build along and expand.
It was implied by what they built so far that they wanted to build a path all the way to the world border on each axis. They built a highway to the south border and east border.
The world border had expanded since then so when the Interstate and Infrastructure Guild (IIG) was made to organize efforts to work on it, those were expanded to the new border and new branches are slowly coming along.
I imagine if it were you - you would be the one to make the guild, recruit members, make rules for road building, fix up damage the road took since its creation, set some goals to adjust roads and create new ones before leaving it to someone else in hopes they keep the momentum you created.
I have faith in these kinds of long-term projects but they need dedication, time investment, organization, planning, and teamwork to execute well. I don't believe many have the skills or patience for such a thing.
On the server I played on, revival of projects simply isn't possible due to claims. (prevents building/destroying within an area without permission from the claim owner) It stays in the dead grip of players that no longer play, and sometimes not contactable anymore. Its fortune that the player that started the Interstate Highways kept it open to editing, and unclaimed.
Inb4 you create a Minecraft Server Maintenance and Redevelopment Authority (MSMRA) or something :P
Oh yeah, I do enjoy the co-op playstyle. Being a leader that creates structure for things to flourish is what I do.
