A year seems pretty perfect, IMO. And the rebuilding speed would definitely vary by location, but I believe Kira was saying that the echo locations would be pretty devastated since that's where the aliens are ultimately landing. (It's getting late, and I need to go back and double-check on that to make absolutely sure, which I will do the moment I am not sleepy-pants.) If at all possible, I'd really like to retain the original locations to at least some degree (I'm especially partial to Locke because it has such a rich in-game history by now and my character has deep roots there), but we may need to venture away from the original locations if endgame necessitates it which it will if the original locations are decimated completely beyond repair. Either way, the "key geographical points" is definitely going to happen for the benefit of players old and new, because let's face it... the entire world is a little overwhelming for a ragtag group of survivors, even if they are special Numbered powered people.

Your suggestion is awesome. Seriously, I have never modded before and any advice or guidance is great and probably needed. That makes a great deal of sense to me, and for book keeping everyone would need to at least stake a claim on their kids by blurbing and linking their app and info/echoes pages.