Why Tech Billionaires Want to Build a City HERE
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
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Since 2018, land in Solano County, California, has quietly been getting purchased by Flannery Associates LLC - a company that, until recently, no one had heard of. Backed by notable tech founders like LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman and VCs like Sequoia Capital’s Michael Moritz, Flannery has spent ~$900m acquiring tens of thousands of acres for a project called California Forever - “a new community in East Solano,” according to the project’s website. But why would some of the wealthiest names in tech want to invest in developing a stretch of farmland in Northern California not far from the already-developed Silicon Valley? The Hustle’s Noelle Medina traveled to the California Forever project site to find out.
Sources:
- The New York Times
- Business Insider
- LinkedIn
- McKinsey and Co.
- California Business Journal
- New York Magazine
- ABC10
- CBS News
- SITELAB urban studio
- CMG
- RentCafe
- Solano Together
- California Forever
- The Union Democrat
- Forbes
- CalMatters
- Getty Images
- ABC7 News
- CBS Sacramento
- Mercury News
- Google Earth
- Cityoftelosa.com
- The Seasteading Institute
- Thesis Driven
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Who's this girl
I have family who lives out there and they told me about "affordable" housing that was just built in there. For a two-bedroom apartment, it's $3, 000a month.
I live closer to San Francisco than they do. That's barely cheaper than what I pay. It seems like whenever anyone builds "affordable housing", it's never actually affordable.
Probably because the people making the decisions make a lot more than the average or low income worker and they think it would be affordable to them. We probably need to go back to public housing paid for by taxpayers and get the market out of affordable housing since they’ve failed so miserably at it.
That's because we shouldn't have stopped building housing in the 70s.
We're deep into the problem, and we have to build our way out of it.
We won't get "affordable" housing until overall supply meets demand, so we need to keep building. Even if a developer builds a cheap apartment, they'll rent it out at a high price if demand outstrips supply. Once supply meets demand even luxury units will drop in price.
@@karld1791 we already have a bunch of luxury towers that sit empty because they’re investment vehicles waiting for the housing prices to go up enough so they can sell and get a better return on investment than the stock market.
@@sirlancegeo build more luxury towers and the prices will start to come down then those empty units (I agree many luxury units are empty) will come on the market too.
What about water and traffic issues? Those are big reasons why Solano residents aren’t interested in this. Our water alottment is going to be cut in half soon according to new state water allotment plans. How can we house more people with less water in our future?
If anyone believes that these developers are altruistic and have a sincere desire to build “affordable” housing - I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. If these parcels ever get developed they’ll be million $ +. Oh, there’ll be some section 8 housing thrown -just enough for tax credits. These investors didn’t get rich by being “nice” to the little people. Wake up sheeple.
Nobody thinks they're altruistic. No developer in history has ever been altruistic.
The appeal for this project is that more and more people want to live in places that are not car dependent. And since most existing citiess are unwilling or too slow to adopt alternatives to car transportation, starting from scratch does seem like the easiest option.
Two things can be true:
- the founders care about developing new housing and building a walkable city
- the founders and investors care about making money
Nobody thinks it's altruism - I don't think that was ever said or implied. Capitalism at its best is when a person's self-interest (ie making money) aligns with the general interest (producing something people want or need, eg housing). This seems like one of those cases.
"nuuuuuuuu people might make money making a lot of thing that is lacking supply - must block!"
This is a recycled land investment scam. Florida in the 1980s. Same old script.
Billionaires get in.
Then the public gets in.
Billionaires get out.
It’s crazy that people think more homes are bad when no one can afford homes
The funniest part is there homes for everyone, there just too expensive. If everyone was rich they could find a home easily it's not a shortage of home, but rather a shortage of wealth.
@@Timely-ud4rm more homes can only drive down prices. When everyone is bidding for the same housing you’re going to increase prices. The longer a house sits on the market the more likely the seller will take less.
If you can afford a million dollar home there, go for it. Because that's what they'll be starting at (in today's dollars)
There is no shortage, homes are just being used as an investment by the wealthy. Build a ton of affordable houses and an investment firm will buy them all up and rent them to the middle and lower classes.
There's over a million vacant homes and apartments in California alone. The housing shortage is manufactured by investors.
Nothing about the lack of sufficent water or even the general feasibility of the plan. Generally you dont start as the city, you grow to a city.
And look at the types of "cities" we've been growing for the last 70 years. Parking requirements, setback requirements, minimum lot sizes, density limits, car-centered infrastructure, public transit assets corruptly sold off to automotive interests for dismantling (look up the General Motors streetcar conspiracy - not a conspiracy _theory_ , but a real-life criminal conspiracy). There is no appetite to take on any of those issues holistically anywhere in the US except in Solano County.
That's been off the table for a really long time due to regulators. Anything that looks to establish the city of the future will have to be done quietly and then very quickly to avoid government grifters and regulatory nonsense.
The water will come from the cattle and Almond Trees that they are getting rid of. They say there's plenty (I'm not sure they thought about this one too well).
@@YT2011LR California does not have a water shortage. Residential water consumption statewide amounts to 10% of the state's water supply; agriculture, including and specifically almonds, accounts for _40%_ of consumption. I love almonds as much as the next person, but it is frankly insane that we are prioritizing the water needs of corporate-owned almond farms over actual people.
@@swswgg9911most of those almonds go overseas to asian
Suing local residents. Nice start
It is actually a great idea. Because that's what the nimby's will do to them eventually through CEQA. You have to demonstrate that you have the lawyers and money to win the arguments against the nimbies. In my county the nimby's attack potential cannabis growers in agricultural regions. They just make up complete nonsense and lie. You should be able to sue a nimby if they just lie about impacts and the result is you lose your business.
This one was confusing. Doesn't seem like a way to get ppl to vote for the community...
What concerns me is how all these big-tech companies here in Silicon Valley are hardening their security and erecting barrier walls all around their campuses. Like they know somethings coming and fear retaliation.
We noticed a home in our area doing that too …like 3ftsq rebar rock filled canvas covered military fortress compound barricade-it looks rediculous curbside
or maybe they are paranoid just like you are demonstrating you are with this comment
California has stopped prosecuting theft.
I wouldn't be surprised if this "new city" ended up being a huge gated community
Just because they’re paranoid doesn’t mean they can’t also be right. Perhaps they know something that they’ve been told to keep secret so that they can survive the coming collapse of the government? Or perhaps I’ve just been watching too many movies.
I’m missing the heart of the issue here. Is this about rezoning land already owned by the developers? Is it about trying to acquire public land for private development? Is it about somehow trying to steal private land from ranchers?
They bought farmland - amd are suing the ranchers and farmers who won’t sell. Houses will start at $1M, according to their CEO, and are not being developed for local residents. In addition, the project threatens the space around Travis AFB, has no water supply, and only two 2-lane highways to service 400,000 new residents.
It’s mostly about rezoning land already owned by the developers that requires a vote in support of it by all county residents, the bulk of whom oppose it because they want the land to stay undeveloped and rural.
@@danieldaniels7571 Actually, that's not why at all. The list of reasons that Solano residents have for opposing this measure is quite long and reasonable. You can start with the fact that Solano has managed to keep up pretty well with its need for housing over the decades, so definitely not a NIMBY county. Solano voters have consistently voted to direct developing to existing cities, in order to maintain agriculture in this county (we are zoned for agriculture). The cities have plenty of space available were this only a housing development. But is it not that at all. Sramek et al. have been clear in their efforts to create a new kind of community that would not in fact be a city, regardless of size. They claim that residents will self-fund all services - water, infrastructure, power, schools, etc. -- but of course in the meantime, those services would be provided by the county. And guess who gets to pay for that? In addition, they have only identified a viable water source for the first 100,000 residents for the first 20 years. That portion of the county is zoned for dry agriculture and is not on any county water systems, nor will it be. So where will their water come from? The land abuts both a very large marshland (Suisun Marsh) and Travis AFB. These community will in no way benefit Solano residents ever.
Venture Capitalism is sometimes called Vulture Capitalism. These people who head Venture Capital firms, they previously made money in internet tech businesses, want to now take over real estate by pushing farmers off their land.
Don't let privatization of homes become a "new normal". These companies are too big, and the citizens always lose. Your property taxes will go up due to the increase in home values these developments bring. And/or maybe gov't will add a new sales tax. Just like they do when the gov't builds new sport stadiums for billionnaire owners!
Some of your property tax or a new sales tax will go to support the CEOs & execs of these real estate projects, either through tax breaks given them, or through some infrastructure government subsidy. Any eminent domain or court resources used to force farmers off their land is already the first subsidy these companies use against citizens.
There is no "average joe" who will be able to afford living in their planned community.
And food prices will go up due to the reduction in farmers.
They want America to be the Capitol of the world, and we all know how expensive capitols are to live in. Don't let it happen or you or your grandchildren will be forced to live or retire to another country someday.
@@lynngeske-morgan2362The Vulture Capitalists will build it, take profit, and when it's no longer profitable, they'll cry "government needs to bail us out, or buy it from us". Two lane roads for 400k people & no water supply are probably not the only shortcomings.
They'll want the state to build the water infrastructure, with current tax dollars.. then the state will sell any state-county water/sewer company to a private company to take profit... and drain the groundwater for existing residents, more than the ranchers ever did.
You'll own nothing and you'll be happy!
-Billionaires
World Economic Forum
Grrrr! Sadly, that's what they want to do.
IF YOU VOTE FOR DEMS, YOU WILL OWN NOTHING
This video is trying to sell you cattle pooh land for a million usd an acre and will be worth $20 when they find out it was all a scam.😮 Yes, it the end you will own nothing.
YT communists deleting my comments again.
They need to build a water desalination plant if it’s going to work.The area already had a few hundred homes built and there is no extra water,and rain is not dependable.
California has had a water problem for at least 100 years. Just ask Owens Valley. A few desalination plants is the only solution I can see.
youre not listening. they will not be building any time soon. it's just for the LAND!!!
Excuses excuses excuses.
Always a reason to not build anymore and drive up valuations
@@flakgun153 I’ve seen many of similar Utopia projects in the name of developing “affordable” housing, but ends up never “affordable”,
those VC funds are not charitable, they come for profit. and local people are mostly farmers who do not have AI skills will eventually be priced out
@2ndlife-ql1hc literally nearly every single Leicester of housing in America is built for profit.
Every si gle property development and every single sub division is for profit.
The new housing isn't supposed to be affordable. New cars aren't affordable. New cars make old cars more affordable.
New housing results in people moving in, and thus moving out of their old housing which opens up their old place, which becomes more affordable otherwise
There's a reason that land hasn't been developed. It's a big floodplain with bad drainage and weird erosive soil.
The vast majority of land isn't developed in general
and a fault line nearby.
@JB-fq9dp We all have our faults. Seriously, if you don't want to live in earthquake country, you would have to abandon the state.
Are you sure about that? There’s an enormous Air Force base (Travis AFB) literally right next door to that location, with thousands of military houses, schools, shops, firefighters, health clinic, runways, and over 400 buildings that comprise the bulk of its operations. Not to mention at least 3 Air Wings full of expensive aircraft. I could be wrong, but I f the environmental conditions were so bad there, I don’t think the AF would have built an installation the size of a small town in that spot.
@@justinmorgan7851 You overestimate the intelligence of the government and the military specifically. "Public/defense" needs don't have to be rational or ideal on the face of it, if there are other factors. Like a location's availability, and who would benefit from its development. Actual cost effectiveness or commercial/social viability isn't important. All of the US military facilities in BumFukNoWhere are testament to that.
the "Levittowns" of the east coast provided homes priced for Middle Americans, and the "Little Boxes" =mass produced low cost structures, did not yet blow down after 70 years. Besides that lack of individuality, here is what was certainly common about the counties that had them. More schools needed to be built. More sewage treatment plants, and landfills (trash heaps). More power lines, water lines, gas stations, traffic lights. Old roads got widened, and were still full of more traffic. Hire more police. Build more court houses, fire houses, hospitals, etc. And tell the old farm families to stop spreading manure as the new folk don't like the smell.
So sad.
This town will impact everything within 40 miles of it.
All of the roads will be clogged with commuters on highway 12, highway 160, highway 4, I-80, and I-5.
The Rio Vista bridge will be congested all day long.
What are their plans for all of the other land they own in the area.
Flannery Associates is planning on starting this town with 100,000 and then growing it to 400,000.
They probably have some inside information on where the high speed rail will go and know that if they can build a city in its path, they can just build bus and light rail lines around it allowing most people to not even need cars other than maybe the driverless ones.
@@sirlancegeoHigh speed rail is short $100 billion, that will get finished to Sacramento in 150 years.
They can work remotely
@@YambouSVG then they can move to Austin
Don’t forget, there’s loads of cheap residential lots still available in California City
Yeah? Why are they cheap?
@@nunyabidness3075 Because they’re in California City. Contrary to popular belief, not all of California is expensive.
What’s the commute time to a job in the city?
@@nunyabidness3075 Because it's a city that was never built
Are there enough people who work remotely to fill that city? There are no employers there. Commuting into the bay area would not be sustainable... I know from experience.
I lived in Fairfield for over 10 years, HWY 12 is one of the most dangerous highways that exist in California at current traffic levels, 1/2 million more people near Rio Vista is INSANE. It is windy and miserable out there, absolutely disrupts the Whooping Crane migration, snow geese, Canada Geese, Ducks, and those houses will all be in the flight pattern of Travis AFB when they turn for practice landings. I-80/Hwy12/880 interchange will be even more of a disaster, part of the reason I moved is during commute traffic coming from Cordelia Junction to Air Base Parkway was a 30-45 minute drive, 8 miles ish On freeway. That’s without accidents.
Exactly! A resounding NO for me too
Agreed. That land on 12 is beautiful. These Bay Area folks need to stay there instead of bringing their problems to the delta or the valley.
This has to be a joke
That’s all easily addressable (and wildly hypocritical and ignorant to say the least)
This! Thank you. People who don't experience the traffic don't understand why it takes 35 minutes to go 8 miles on the freeway.
They will build it and all of a sudden realize Travis Air Force base is right next door. People will start complaing about the noise and want the base moved. No to building it. Also the investors now are complaining that they paid the land owners too much for the land. Land owners set a price and these money grubbers are crying they paid too much and want to sue to get their money back.
The bigger problem is foreign adversaries moving RIGHT NEXT DOOR and spying on Travis Air Force base… I’d like to see WHO ELSE is investing in this
There are plenty of AFBs around the country with cities and towns near them.
A big part of their proposal is housing and jobs for the families of the Air Force service members. They did their homework..
If the landowners in the crosshairs of California Forever are trying to maintain their way of life, I suspect some of them will enter into a conservation easement to maintain the land in perpetuity, preventing subdivisions from being built.
You're seeing this happen in Montana quite a bit as generational landowners try to push back against developers coming in. The stack-on effect this has is the land around the easement goes up in price, particularly if it's a wildlife easement - who wouldn't want a home next to a property that will NEVER see development?
From a legal proceedings perspective, I don't know if a collusion suit prevents an easement from being established, but if legal costs mount, it might be the only viable route.
I don't have any skin in the game, so my opinion is probably moot, but if these land owners are running an agricultural business, I think they should be left alone.
The thing is that no one really is trying to move out to Montana. But a new city near the hub of Silicon Valley seems more plausible. The younger generations wants affordable homes and the older generation wants to stay like it is even if the land is not producing.
You forgot to mention that Solano County's population is currently 480k. The new city proposed, it's population is aimed to ultimately be Oakland's population. Except, Oakland is 2x the size of what the land the new city is to be built on. Doubling the county's population, even in forty, fifty years, where is the money going to come to support the new infrastructure? And what bout Rio Vista bridge which isn't unheard of, breaking down for hours at time. All this is, is a money grab. Plain and simple. This isn't a solution, certainly not for Solano County. Oh, and that very land has had two wildfires in the last two weeks.
I am a Solano County resident. I live just outside of Vallejo, my hometown, and Solanos largest city, which is crime-ridden, underfunded, and extremely poor. I’ve lived in this area all my life, and after hearing about “California forever”, my honest opinion? It feels like they (the wealthy) are just giving up on us. Instead of redeveloping existing downtown areas, and helping a unique community that has the capacity to support and bring up thousands, they’re running away to the middle of nowheresville to create an entirely new city. A new problem instead of solving the existing one. I get it, the road to creating housing isn’t easy, especially in the area that founded the term “NIMBY”. But fighting for what’s right, even when the road to the solution is fraught with obstacles, and seeded with hardship, is always a fight worth having. That is the most American thing a person can do. Instead of creating an “oasis” from nothing in an area filled with agricultural land and nature, they should instead build upon the foundations of cities and communities that need their support the most to foster a lasting a thriving changes that could better the lives of hundreds of thousands. Not just the middle or upper classes, but all levels of society from every ethnicity, income, and community. THAT is how you can build a better California 💅🏽💅🏽
Agree. What it sounds like they want to build is what most cities already are: houses, bike lanes, streets, parks and places to walk to. Also, what about water? Is there an abundance of water to be had in that area? This whole dodgy deal sounds like greedy little people with only self-interest the goal.
i agree we need that infill instead
Unfortunately due to the way the existing city is zoned, and due to the existing property owners, it would be impossible to build what they are talking about in the existing city. The city is mostly zoned for single family homes, not a walkable mixed use development. Also the cost of acquiring land from many more individuals would take more time and come at a higher cost. For those reasons, it is and was more sensible to start from scratch.
Have you been to a city council meeting recently? Have you considered that the people in charge there have played a major role in it being “crime-ridden, underfunded, etc..”? Do you want to spend your life fighting the entrenched interests there that have chased away investment simply to preserve their power? No?!?
Neither do investors.
Re: Housing. With office vacancies at all time highs & increasing, due to remote work technologies, it’s obvious that they must be converted into housing, whether for the (verified as safe/reliable) or neighborhood business workers communities. Subsidies redirecting homeless, crime, etc., funds should be made available. @gavinnewsome
So many NIMBYs in california!!! It's ridiculous
Not in my backyard
I don't think they're making a NIMBY argument against CA Forever. A for-profit solution will clash with a city's needs, a truth abandoned long ago
Old NIMBYs trying to dictate the future for the youth
This is the reason why they moved Native American to the reservations. They wanted the land as is and they were here first and other people needed to develop it
People against this aren't NIMBYs. We want housing built where it's needed, and we want affordable housing. There are many empty lots within existing cities in the bay area. It is not necessary to pave over existing environmentsl habitats far away from the rest of the bay area.
I won’t live there but approve any building of new housing
that’s the problem we have too much unbougjt housing
You don't think we also need farms? Housing uses too much water.
We don't need new housing. We need the real estate hoarding companies to put the millions of vacant homes they are sitting on onto the open market.
Yes. More housing that nobody can afford 😂
Without a frequent & fast transit connection between the new town & the Fairfield-Vacaville station in Fairfield, it’s going to be a car-based exurban island with an impenetrable barrier to detour around. It still might be clogged with cars because a bunch of housing subdivisions with shopping and some office spaces for coworking does not a car-light city make!
That's why contingencies need to be in place
If I were to develop a neighborhood, I would build a garage somewhere in the perimeter, and there would be no car infrastructure anywhere in the project.
@@jonathanchang1574not many people who could afford to buy there would want to.
That is why they'll build flood drains and tunnels to mitigate flooding. An open field as it now, would cause flooding.
@@danieldaniels7571 If they're short-sighted and too fat to walk, they could stay in the congested cities they're used to.
The destruction of prime farmland for an elitist oasis is selfish and foolish. No fams, no food.
There’s currently much more farmland in California than there is water for it.
That doesn't look like prime farmland to me. Looks like a dusty ungrowable empty field. Where was all of your energy when farms were being developed on to build suburban sprawl?
Okay wait... now I see the prime farmland. Look at all of those orchards and vineyards on that very green property. I even seen a calf frolicking thru the meadow, amazing...
Dry agriculture, fyi. It is productive.
@@danieldaniels7571there's also way more people than there are water resources (especially in naturally dry California with our cyclical droughts)
Without a doubt, this year will be worse than the last. I lost a lot of money last year as a result of bad investment choices that I would not have made if I hadn't been so worried about my portfolio. I kept investing, but I couldn't determine whether to start paying for a house. In the end, I sold my positions, and the house needed more work than I had planned. I'm not sure how long I can keep going like this
We've all made mistakes at some point. You should consider financial planning
True. My portfolio was diversified across several markets with the help of a financial planner, and were able to achieve over a million in net profit among high dividend yield equities, ETFs, and bonds. It is vital that you have a variety of exposure, including in firms that are currently generating cash flows.
Do you mind sharing your financial planner?
*Leah* *Foster* *Alderman*
You are most likely to find more info when you look her up
i am suspicious of these billionaires
Ahhhh. I know exactly where this is. It’s been a cow pasture for over 50 years. Also it is a protected wetlands….so what kind of deal was made on that?
It not even half way to san Francisco and Sacramento. Its out
In the middle of nowhere halfway to Fairfield and Stockton. Its extremely windy out there, no shade, no water, no power, with a two lane state road. Traffic is horrible there now. Imagine with 40k people living in the middle of hwy 12
My favorite part is the ruining the lives of the farmers from the lawsuits and just calling it business. There will be justice some day, even if it isn’t now.
*You shouldn't need nimby approval to build on YOUR OWN LAND.*
They knowingly bought land zoned for agriculture. They can’t build without voter approval, and they knew that too. This is a problem entirely of their own making. Nothing but hubris. Point in fact, Solano has kept ip with its housing needs. We are not NIMBYS. The bankrollers of this project are - they have defeated new housing in their ownn cities.
The land is zoned agricultural for a reason.
@@IVY12023 it is low quality agricultural land.
I agree that you shouldn't need NIMBY approval (other individuals who just happen to live nearby), but this whole issue is that they bought agricultural land for pennies, and now want to change it all to urban/residential building. That would make this land worth 100-1000X more than they bought it for. That's what this is all about.
That ship sailed a long time ago.
It's downwind from the san Fransisco landfill so the name of the town will be P.U.
And before anyone tries to say why it SHOULD BE BUILT and the traffic will be no problem, go over to Discovery Bay/Bryon and tell me how that nightmare worked out and how WONDERFULLY THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND CONTRA COSTA COUNTY ADDRESSED THAT NIGHTMARE.😡😡😡😡. When a dog bites you twice you don’t give it the chance to do it a third time.
This area is so ridiculously windy. Guaranteed every night it will sound like the roof is being torn off your home. Worse than Cordelia just a couple miles away. And Cordelia has natural wind brake. Plus its all marsh land and it will flood.
Who's going to commute in there and do all the lower paying service and retail jobs? Are they also going to build a company town ghetto for them?
people commute from Bakersfield to los Angeles all the time.
@@angelmendez2211 Yeah I suppose. I commuted from Ventura County (Oxnard then Simi Valley) to Santa Monica in the late 80's when I lived in So. Cal. I got tired of the commute and found a place in Santa Monica before getting tired of the whole Ca. thing and leaving. And I wasn't lower income like I'm thinking of here...but I'll grant you peeps will do it. Just doesn't sound attractive to me at all having done something similar and quitting it.
I don’t know if you know this, but for most of American history, the people that worked in a town also lived in the town.
In fact most of America is still like this.
California has allowed its cities to pass endless nimby laws to create “enclaves” where new construction is basically impossible unless you just like throwing money at a vanity project. This is an attempt (if highly flawed) to change that.
I was briefly involved in a couple of initiatives to rebuild in Sonoma after the fires in order to get places for the long time residents and key workers to have affordable housing. The county and state made it virtually impossible. Most of the rebuilding has been the ultra wealthy, and the county has done a couple of very inadequate projects that didn’t provide much housing, but seemed to make the well connected contractors very wealthy.
@@greggorywilson2765 Hello fellow local from Ventura Saticoy. 805 is always the best that why I have my Topa topa Mountain profile picture. Frankly remember nearby the location of this plan city is a train station connection not far that part of the Bart system that will allow commuting easier. We don't really have a Bart system between Santa Monica and Oxnard back in the 80s that was efficient enough to do that. The driving distance is very similar to driving from San Francisco to San Jose. so it very familiar drive especially for business people driving to San Francisco.
It already exists 20-30 minutes away. The traffic would be the problem.
We need to stop building on farming and grazing lands. When will people open their eyes, we need food and will need more in the future.
you simply import more avocados from mexico then
Building cities from nothing for money ain't new. It happens all the time in Asia
I think Brasilia has one too
Brasilia was a government project that was hella expensive, not profitable. They had more of a estrategic/defense ideia with it, of occupying the brazilian center-west region, that had (and still has) really low population density. @@gzoechi
I have been seeing lots of articles and videos about this. All I can say is, not another one. How many industrialists, over the last couple of centuries, have tried to do something like this? Look it up. There is a long, and often sordid, history of these efforts.
Even in the 20th century we have seen such efforts. I remember, as a kid, Columbia, Maryland. My father took us there when it was in the planning stage, and they had all their mockups and models. It was going to be a "new city" organized in a new way. It is now just another suburb. At least Columbia was built on desirable land. This is just scrubland. I remember my first visit to Silicon Valley, and that was my first thought, coming from the East Coast. Scrubland. And I was told that I had come during the nicest period, in the spring.
But this time it'll be different!! LOL
@@anonymousdonor8084 Of course. You must have read their sales pitch.
Although it wasn't really touched on here (if approved) taxpayers will be forced to subsidize much of the infastructure for this proposed city, leading to increased taxes for locals in Solano County and everyone in California, while also diverting public funding and resources from existing comunities.
I just wish this city was connected to the rest of the state with rail.
It is right to rail
It’s not far from the BART station in Antioch. With the amount being invested and the stated goals, I expect they’d try to extend it there.
Amtrak runs from new city to Santa Clara station. That would be easiest connection for those willing to commute to Silicon Valley for conferences or hybrid schedules
The new city would sit directly on the abandoned Sacramento Northern railway which would be a great opportunity. Their are already proposals to rebuild the line to relive the nearby Capitol Corridor/Martinez rail subdivision. A new line could service a north EBart extension from Pittsburgh and additional Capitol Corridor services.
There is a new train station in Fairfield a few miles away.
There's always the old guy "get off my lawn" guy trying to dictate terms for the next generation
Boeing's Hitman: "What generation ?"
Seriously. Honestly so disgusting to see rich, comfortable, isolated people do this same play over and over again, leading to new levels of unaffordability without fail.
Well, it is his.
@@mayalmariomendoza134 _His_ land is his; the developers' land is theirs.
@@lycu3272😂😂😂😂
It is so tacky, billionaires making more money, when they can’t spend the money they have, they act like school yard bullies. And it’s another to make 15 minute cities.
Living within a 15-minute walk of your office, gym, kids' school, grocery store, and friends is a bad thing? I don't understand right-wing America...
@@swswgg9911these billionaires are right-wing libertarians… not lefties
‼️ Since we can’t redevelop entire cities CA needs super blocks like those in the city of Barcelona, Spain. Cutting off car traffic to the outer edges of a grid where the streets are redeveloped into walkable areas and trees can be planted. Make our cities more walkable. We need green space and more trees to drive down the temperatures in cities. 🫴
Super block idea is not going to work in America.
1. Americans are attached to their cars.
2. Americans do not like to be told what to do like leave their cars and walk fifteen minutes to their houses.
You can have cars and walkable city without the super block.
@@Chandleresque maybe boomers. Most
people under 30 hate the infrastructure, the traffic, the lack of alternatives, the smog, the lack of green space. Maybe actually ask around.
@@trvst5938 I have been in this business for more than 25 years. There is no need to ask around. There are ways to have liveable cities -- super block is not the answer for many American cities.
of course the older nimby boomers hate Sramek because he is not one of them. He is a millennial! 40 years old!
it will be more effective if some billionaires put their money together and select a cadre of candidates to flood california and get rid of nimby rules
They are devotees of Ayn Rand who envision themselves as characters right out of Atlas Shrugged.
The sustainable way to build more housing is to upzone the Bay Area, not create an exurb 40 miles from the nearest population center only reachable by highway.
You have obviously never been to Solano County. The cities of Vacaville, and Fairfield are right next door to the proposed site and both have populations of well over 100,00 people.
And via remote work aka an internet connection
Wearing a Dodgers hat during a story on the Bay Area! That's a yike!!!
Lol do you drag your knuckles on the ground when you walk around
The CEO is Czech, and he uses very popular Czech strategies.
"If you don't want to sell, we will make you sell, and once we get your land, we can find a corrupt politician to help us rezone the area and get the permissions to build whatever we want" (not what was actually proposed).
They were doing the same thing in Slovakia when we were still Czechoslovakia, and their way of doing "business" was one of the main reason why Slovaks wanted out (and we did in 1993).
I'm all for new developments and business ideas, but I don't like the tactics some of these business guys use.
A lot of people are talking about housing shortage in the US. Do you really think that a guy from a Czech village cares about housing shortage in the US, specifically California? I wouldn't be surprised if they turned it into a huge gated community for ultra wealthy people. They can build a nice oasis for millionaires to keep them away from the poor, homeless, or even average people. He's not in California to solve the housing shortage for average people.
This is worrying me too now...for those of us who live here in Fairfield, they are pitching to us the idea that California Forever will bring us many new jobs, new attractions, and most importantly, more housing so that big families here can spread out and finally afford to be able to get their own separate homes. but if new houses being built here in Fairfield start at $900,000, then what are the odds that new houses built in a new town would be any better? It wont be like it was when we all first came here as children. I think that even us locals will be priced out, and the only people who will afford to move in will be smug tech bros who will then act like they know our towns better than we do, and look down on us for being more "slow living" types. We are a humble area, not quite used to the busyness of the big cities. I just worry how those types would effect the attitude here, since this whole little area (fairfield/vacaville) is so usually nice, comfy and peaceful.
There's no water but you want to build more
This HAS TO BE ABOUT SOMETHING MORE THAN “HOUSING” . . . There is more to this that they are NOT GOING TO DIVULGE.
Jennifer Forbes told me the petition she signed was to put a HOT TUB in the CAFETERIA!
Where do they plan to get the water from for all those people to live there?
desal
@@somerandomguy7458 Pretty hard to do that when you're talking about a city 200 miles from the coast in a Democrat state that can't even manage high speed rail.
Tech bros want to do a land assembly by major MIL site and sell to PRC-front. Next.
Silicon Valley NIMBYISM is making GREENFIELDS become developed. THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE, DEVELOP BROWNFIELDS IN THE BAY AREA
I wish people would realize you can’t become a billionaire without getting blood on your hands. These people are far from altruistic.
*All across America people are fighting to build houses in the midst of this horrible housing and homelessness crisis but can't because of these greedy nimbys. Young people can no longer afford to start families, and our nation's birthrate is dropping, as millions sleep and die in the streets because old people want their property values to go up, from artificial scarcity. We need to hold these greedy nimbys accountable.*
In California, state regulations are the major impediment to new housing. "Low income housing" in California costs about $600,000 per unit for apartments. Look it up!
Absolutely. 💯 Can’t be said enough.
Blaming all that on Nimbyism is hyperbole and not helping. Might as well blame Covid on Nimbyism while you are at it.
@@nunyabidness3075 NIMBYism is absolutely responsible for a huge part of the housing unaffordability crisis, especially in areas relevant to the video.
It’s A reason among many, but not the primary reason even in Cali where it gets exaggerated by a lot of bad policies including prop 13 and land control and too much government in general. Then, in addition to too much government, a lot of it is just foolish, incompetent, corrupt, and lazy. I have had family in the Bay Area for decades and lived there in the 90’s. It’s a mess.
Right by your favorite fault line. And you can beg for water and beg to use your electricity.. awesome.
I don’t say this often but…I’m rooting for the billionaires! This is much needed and secrecy was required in order to prevent price speculation by the land owners that would have stopped the project early on
We need more housing made in the manner that is Goal of this project but unfortunately in most cities, it’s not possible due to zoning and or costs to transform already existing infrastructure to new infrastructure designs
They will probably do it better than the city itself
I think people are looking past the real issue with California Forever. New housing is desperately needed in Cali, and developments like this are great in theory.
The issue is, who is controlling the development? In the end California Forever is a company, and like the video said, this is a real estate investment opportunity for the already billionaire investors backing the private company.
The other red flag is simply the fact that California Forever seems very tight lipped about its operations, similar to the many other companies mentioned at the end of the video. There is really no way to tell exactly HOW they plan to achieve their supposed utopia, and how they plan to make it all affordable.
I see no issue with allowing billionaires to aid in a crisis like this one for housing - even the idea of “maybe this will be replicated” sounds awesome for such an environmentally friendly and practical city. My issue is with who we are handing the power to, what they intend to do with it, and if this is all really and truly sustainable.
All of California benefits from the addition of 400k new units, regardless of how the project itself is run
Wow that's a real vague smokescreen. Just close your eyes everything's going to be fine 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
bro chill
The state has many levers it can pull. Even a private development like East Solano would need considerable infrastructure upgrades, which means state/federal funds. California can make its upgrades contingent on affordability promises for a portion of the new housing starts.
If California needs new housing then the state should just go easy on it's building restrictions. Private Equity can't solve basic needs
Only for rich people.
Yeah imagine paying 2m for a house to live in california to live next to homeless drug addicts.
Ofc with this housing shortage only rich people can afford anything bigger than a matchbox in California.
So what, We need a place to live also 😂
@@thatundeadlegacy2985 As a Solano local, I only actually ever see homeless drug addicts in San Francisco or Oakland. We do have homeless that beg outside turn in's to shopping areas, but I've literally seen them get into a car after and take off afterward, so I don't believe they're actually local to us. They just know that we'll easily feel bad and give them money. It's usually the same person over and over for about a month or so until they disappear and then a month later a different one takes over their post. lol.
If that's going to happen let's just hope they don't have the same Blackstone ideas in how to get to it.
Hilarious how people cry that Bay Area prices are so high, but won't let these guys move the Jon's from the Bay over to Solano County. The residents of Solano County will see the prices of their homes 2-3x in months. This city needs to be built
We already see it. Our family got our home for $200k, and today it is worth $700k. The new houses just built literally down the street from my block START at $970,000k. In the exact same spot-the same exact neighborhood that all our homes were built 30 years ago and went for $200,000, now there are new homes being sold for $1million dollars. It's absolute insanity. All of us who are here for a long time are constantly being pestered by real estate agents to sell our inherited family homes through them so they can make that sweet $300,000 profit or whatever
It's simpler just to improve California.
...for billionaires.
My bigger issue is why did you drive through San Francisco to get there when you started in San Jose? Lol
What is ‘San Fran’? You are being laughed.
It doesn't make a difference that they want to try to build homes or towns the way they use to be. Bottom line is in this country it can never be maintained to stay status quo because those towns or cities always end up like the others in California. High priced living and high crime.
In other words 15 minute cities!
You will own nothing, including cars, and be happy. And keep your mask on to stay safe.
No. 2 hr city.
To alleviate California housing crisis we need to change zoning laws and limit the construction of single family homes, next we need to build upwards like in Japan.
Yuck! Maybe more people will move out then!
😅Private Equity won't allow you to take the obvious solution because they can't make money from that. It's for the same reason they lobby against trains then come up with weird train-like projects like the hyper loop that cost billions more and are less efficient if not impossible to implement. Political lobbying needs to be reigned in
Open your mind my friends, we can’t continue like this into the future, something is going to have to give, because the last time I checked there is no Earth 2.
I drive through there all the time. There is one glaring problem. Wind. It’s always windy. Never ending and relentless.
If there will be a model utopian city in the US, this would be the place to explore the idea.
How about not billionaires anymore
Fix the State first.
We need more housing! Unfortunately, it's only gotten worse over the last 25 years and I don't see it getting better.
'Cloward-Piven'
California Forever will probably build something like One Lake in Fairfield (nearby city). $600k for a town house, is that affordable housing??
Compared to 2 million dolllar homes which are often smaller than a townhouse? Yes it is.
CF does NOT seek to build a city. They are adamant that CF would, if approved, remain unincorporated county land. They expect that water treatment, roads, and policing will be handled by the county at large. Having secured 16, 500 acre feet of agricultural (junior) water rights is not the same as a city owned water source. Junior agricultural water rights (paper water) become wet water rights only after the holders of Senior water rights have collected their whole allotment. Up and down the 5 freeway between the Bay and L.A. , there are large fields that once grew orchards and cotton, now bare fallow ground because their Junior water rights turn dry in drought years. City water supplies need to be consistently available. CF is a gamble on rezoning land and reclassifying water rights which will enrich developers and leave Solano County residents paying.
It will be one giant gated community.
Or a prison
@@lastcalifornian1791 Nope the one thing that Liberals never do is LIVE THEIR VALUES. Things like integration and fair housing is for someone Elses community not theirs
Those billionaires aren’t doing it for the money, at least not first reason. This is highly risky with no return on investment likely for decades. They are doing it for other reasons that could include wanting to be part of something transformative and or doing it because they actually care about the future and environment.
There are far more investments that are less risky with with very high potential payback but those don’t address the two factors above
One of the richest people in California history was Henry Huntington, the namesake of Huntington Beach and whose former estate was the Huntington Library/Gardens.
This man made his money similar to what they are doing. He bought out large tracts of land and developed a street car network that was the largest in the world at the time. Due to the eventual demand for housing in the Los Angeles region and his street car network providing convenient and safe transportation, the land surrounding the tracks increased in price and he was able to make a significant profit off of this.
I believe they will be doing more or less the same thing, maybe not with street cars but something similar. Creating a large network of residential spaces and dense urban walkable city that would be in demand.
Already the most expensive real estate in the country is San Francisco and Manhattan, both of which are extremely walkable and transit friendly. This does not really exist in most of the US so this type of real estate is in incredible demand.
If they could replicate this they would make an enormous amount of money for buying something that they never created.
@@gabrielgarcia7554 I like your well reasoned opinion. As someone raised in Europe, I'd be more than happy to see this type of livable/walkable space grow in the US.
What concerns me is that most of these European/American cities grew "naturally" around where the jobs were located. There were usually natural resources (oil, coal), shipping routes/trade, or strategic importance that led to the growth of these cities. LA/Huntington, San Francisco, NYC, Boston, etc. fall into this category also, with their ports.
I don't see Fairfield/Rio Vista having any of the resource, location, or strategic advantages these walkable US Cities have.
Do you think there is a way to build this city first, and wait for the jobs to eventually arrive?
@Homer-OJ-Simpson
I disagree and believe they are planning for a very quick payback. Once the re-zoning in the ballot gets approved, they've already won. As was said in the video, the land getting rezoned for mixed or residential use, will drastically increase its value. Any further development beyond that will just be more money in their pocket.
There are definitely less risky investments, but $900M is not an overly impressive amount for this type of investor group to gamble on. I certainly don't expect them to keep this as a long term investment.
If it’s not financially sustainable it won’t succeed.
@@chrisl893 I believe this job opportunity is not needed in first place for the new home owners, since they will be most likely investors buying land and wait on it to grow in value, but most likely there will be lots of jobs in construction and related services. Also you might think too big. The cities you gave as example are not what this "city" will be. I think its better to compare it to a village at first.
Things that have to be resolved:
- Energy: where’s the power to come from. Solar’s not going to cover it.
- Water: where’s it to come from. Desalination?
- Traffic: roads (who pays?)
-
Remember California city? In the desert? Tweakers and deserted houses is all that is out there I. The largest city in California is being reclaimed by the Mojave desert.
pay no taxes, build a city, lord over taxpayers, pay no taxes
It looks nice. Of course people would be against it.
or we should focus on infill instead of urban sprawl
@@nso-hi9tq How's that working out for the Bay Area so far?
@@swswgg9911 it takes time we just have to work backwards and fight harder we cant just give in to the status quo
Very nice and informative video. As a financial guy, I also noticed your more "gen z" approach....not dry but more hands on like talking with the cup of coffee in hand llol
They destroyed all the existing city's so now they want to build their own. Dumb rich people....
Your route from San Jose to Solano County dropped my opinion of you substantially. Why didn't you just take 680 all the way there?
Land Grab blended with a “Technology Spin”. What could possibly go: WRONG?😑
I think politics need to improve before people would consider living there.
Well said. I think Grant Cardone said it best, get rid of cash as FAST as you can. Save a little for an emergency fund. The rest, INVEST.
Sure, build it. They can elect London Breed to run the thing. 😂
😂😂😂
it's very windy there
Flooding, windy (all trees are curly), and noisy (those C13 are monsters). in the past 2-year many fighter jets are booming around
I wish this addressed the blatant nimbyism going on here. Also, could this not have been a minute long vid? Felt like it barely scratched the surface and left way more questions unanswered than answered…
Where's the water?
desal
@@somerandomguy7458 lol
Imagine if they actually applied this much money and brain power to something useful for society.
“It’s just terrible! I want everything to stay the way it is forever!…. Oh and did you hear they are not doing it for free! They are making money too!”
The modern day problem with housing is that building more of it doesn't make it cheaper . And that's all do to a software called real page that uses an algorithm to price units and price them extremely high . I believe that the community board in DC is suing just for that reason.
Never trust a billionaire. They are motivated by one thing and one thing only - money.
It’s the future ocean front property once the big one came.
Wow a non Californian with a plan for California. Never thought of it
What makes me the most angry about this project is that it TOTALLY ignores what the residents of Solano County want. NOBODY asked these billionaire outsiders to come and solve their problems in our county. Pretty much every step of the way, they have lied, then changed the lies when called out. I don't have any confidence at all in their "benevolent solution" when it's so obvious that what they really want is to make money for themselves. They don't care anything about Solano county or the current residents.
I really hope this project gets built
Sorry that I missed you when you were here in Fairfield. I am wholeheartedly in favor of California Forever. If they can pull it off, it will only help everyone here. Old people don't like change. I'm 54 BTW.