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EXPLAINED: California forever - The Real Truth

Department of Useless

Plus: Big-city kid exodus, a Hollywood cancellation, and more...

Reason

Silicon Valley-backed California city project pitches plan for manufacturing hub

Chief executive of ‘California Forever’ says proposal to develop site would represent ‘new home for frontier tech’

The Guardian - US

The controversial California city backed by tech elite has a new plan: boats

California Forever is back with a proposal that has some on board: using the land it owns to create a shipbuilding hub

The Guardian - US

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California Forever, Forever

The company needs a lot of government permission slips to build its planned new city in the Bay Area. It's now changing the order in which it asks for them.

Reason

Ballot measure to build billionaire-funded city in California withdrawn

Firm behind ‘California Forever’, a proposed green city for up to 400,000 people on farmland, pulls back from vote

The Guardian - US

Silicon Valley-backed voter plan for a new California city won't be on the November ballot after all

A Silicon Valley-backed initiative to build a green city for up to 400,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area on land now zoned for agriculture won’t be on the Nov. 5 ballot after all

The Independent UK

The secret futuristic city being built by tech billionaires in California

California Forever has bold plans, hundreds of millions in capital invested, and some of the biggest names in tech backing its vision of a brand new city outside of San Francisco – but can it convince skeptical voters to see the light? Josh Marcus reports

The Independent UK

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Voters to weigh in on whether tech billionaires can build new California city

California Forever hopes to build sustainable city in Solano county but company’s tactics have been controversial

The Guardian - US

Silicon Valley-backed voter plan for new California city qualifies for November ballot

A Silicon Valley-backed initiative to build a green city for up to 400,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area has qualified for the Nov. 5 ballot

The Independent UK

A Brand New City in Northern California Will Show if the State Is Serious About Housing Solutions

The project might determine whether new generations will be able to take part in the American Dream.

Reason

Zoning Bans the Good Samaritan

Plus: Beverly Hills homeowners can't build new pools until their city allows new housing, a ballot initiative would legalize California's newest city, and NIMBYs sue to overturn zoning reform (again).

Reason

‘This hasn’t been done before’: can tech elites build their own city – and win over the skeptics?

Gabriel Metcalf was hired to design a new California city backed by Silicon Valley money. He says bold action is needed to fight the housing crisis

The Guardian - US

Tech billionaires want to build a new city in rural California. Voters may get a say on it

California Forever, which bought 60,000 acres, has received fierce opposition from local officials and environmental groups

The Guardian - US

Silicon Valley investors want to create a new city – is 'California Forever’ a utopian dream or just smart business?

He was, said George Bernard Shaw, “one of those heroic simpletons who do big things whilst our prominent worldlings are explaining why they are Utopian and impossible”.

The Conversation

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The Independent UK

Billionaires spent $800m snapping up California farms. Their mystery plan for a ‘utopian city’ is drawing suspicion

Secretive venture capitalists spent six years buying up farmland in Solano County with the dream of constructing an eco-friendly hamlet of the future, but not everyone is convinced, writes Joe Sommerlad

Fortune

Ranchers decry ‘arrogant’ Silicon Valley billionaires buying up land for ‘fantasy’ city near San Francisco: ‘We are now totally surrounded’

“If they want a new city, San Jose is ripe. Fix what’s there," suggested a Solano County rancher.

France 24

Tech titans’ vision for a new city in Northern California raises concerns

Silicon Valley tech tycoons on Thursday announced their intentions of building a new city in Northern California. The billionaire investors have to date spent over $900 million to acquire more than 50,000 acres of land in Solano County. Local and US officials, however, have raised concerns about what one Congressman…

The Guardian - US

Plan for 55,000-acre utopia dreamed by Silicon Valley elites unveiled

Flannery Associates, the California group behind the $800m effort, launched a website showcasing renderings

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