There's certainly a valid argument either way.
On one hand there is the investment that players have put into their creations over the past year. It's not just the towns, but many players have been building in the Hinterlands even if they haven't publicized their activities (who would if they build in the Hinterlands). To suddenly lose that investment... I'm not the right person to explain this thought process since I'm not one to develop an attachment to digital data from a server in flux.
What matters to me is the reward of finishing a project and the recognition I get for it (if any), which doesn't happen on an empty server. I look for the social experience more than the creative experience, though both are important to me.
That said, there is the reality that the server has been empty for the past couple of weeks save one or two players for a short time. Rsmv does have a point that certain announced events, like a restart or competition (a la mtnboy), have a tendency to increase or maintain server activity. Mountainboy also has a point that perceived admin and moderator service can influence players too. I'll make the statement that players who see admins and mods taking care of server business, and responding quickly to player needs, reflects positively on the player base. Whether this actually helps server activity is beyond my knowledge, but I wouldn't doubt it if it is a contributing factor.
Perhaps a restart is not the right answer, but something needs to happen to increase activity. Otherwise StTheo's dedicated machine will sit unused (does he use it for seperate business-related purposes?). The alternative is that he shuts down the server, and we all move to a different server outside of the Team9000 community, which is not a bad thing per se.