Mmmm... fresh meat mmm...

Seriously, I wouldn't really know. It's very hard to tell just how many active players are on a server at any time. I play on server 6 and we still see new players coming in from time to time.
It would be difficult for a new player to get plonked down on an old server sometimes, especially if they find themself in the middle of a shark pool.
One feature I think that they should have is an ability to contact the admin. and tell them that you are quitting a server and would like your cities removed. That would help get rid of the ghost towns.