What would be more appealing to you in town building game?

Thinking about the design of a homestead / town builder game. Curious what the opinion would be on these two options:

1 You start with no one or nothing nearby and start really slow, and your growth inspires people to show up and work with you to build up a town. This would be a much slower and narrower start that would expand as your nearby town grows. You'd get a lot of control over how the town is built. Gives ultimate freedom to the player but I know too much can be overwhelming.

2 You start near a fledgling town with a handful of services, and as you grow you help the town grow. You'd get a little more NPC interaction early and have a wider array of gameplay options sooner, but you'd have to work within the framework of the existing town. Gives a bit more direction for the player.

Thanks for your thoughts.