After weeks of local speculation, the purchasers of 55,000 acres of northern California land have been revealed. The group Flannery Associates – backed by a cohort of Silicon Valley investors – has quietly purchased $800m worth of agricultural and empty land, the New York Times has reported. Their goal is to build a utopian new town that will offer its thousands of residents reliable public transportation and urban living, all of which would operate using clean energy.
They could just pay their fucking taxes so we can have trains
But think of all the jobs they’ll “create”!
(/s so hard)
Lol again with this? Wealthy fucks have been trying this since the 1700s. It never works.
CA is already only for wealthy people.
I fucking hate that they used the term “empty” land. The poll question posed to residents asked them if they would be more in favor if they knew it was “bad soil” that only contributed to 5% of CA agriculture, as though making money is all that land is good for.
Yes, Fairfield, CA is kind of a shit hole. But NorCal open land is absolutely beautiful, like all of California. Every single fucking time I go there, which is pretty frequently, there are new mcmansion housing developments and business parks and data centers that are starting to be built or have just finished. There are protected wetlands between Sacramento and the east bay (far east) where migratory birds come back every year. Just because they don’t build on the fucking wetlands doesn’t mean this constant building isn’t going to affect what little nature is left. I’m so fucking sick of seeing my home paved over for profit and I feel so powerless to do anything. Because I am powerless.
As if that weren’t enough, we all know this is going to be some walled-off rich-people city where they can escape from us proles, right? Sick shit.
Told you it’s rich doom preppers who will build a literal walled garden.
I don’t think Marc Andreessen or Laurene Powell Jobs are planning on living next to Travis Air Force Base themselves.
There has to be more to this story…
If the distinguishing features are public transportation and clean energy, they’re probably not building it to live in themselves. And while there’s a big demand for more housing in the Bay Area generally, Solono County is a bit of a commute for current workers.
It feels like they’re building this as a company town for some yet-to-be-announced new business project that they want to be isolated from existing urban areas.
(edit) I guess I don’t mean “urban areas” so much as areas where employees would have contact with other Silicon Valley firms and culture.
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Travis AFB may nominally be part of Fairfield, but it’s outside of the urban area surrounded by agricultural fields. And the existing industries in Fairfield proper aren’t the sort that typical Silicon Valley businesses would benefit from being near.
Didn’t they try this decades ago with California city? It’s outside a base and all as well.
Jelly Belly jelly bean factory
Vengeance for those Harry Potter beans.
Agreed, regardless of what this is there’s a 100% chance that it’s a profit scheme and has nothing to do with building anything practical for anyone
Solano isn’t any further than any other place in the bay. Generally speaking. I work in SF and live in Vallejo. Almost all of my coworkers commute just as far.
Night city didn’t work out so great in Cyberpunk 2077
Can’t wait to owe my soul to the company store
This is end game capitalism. They have their own cities with their own laws. You are essentially forced to live and work at the same place and buy your groceries and other essentials from your employees. You’re basically an indentured servant at that moment.
Actually, this is early stage capitalism. Company towns were a thing in the late 19th and early 20th century. Government eventually stepped in, broke up the trusts and made that kind of thing a relic of a worse time.
People have forgotten their past and they’re now repeating it. We’ve been in the second Gilded age for what - 30 years now?
Child labor was just legalized in Kansas I think and it looks like some other Republican states are trying to do the same.
This is what happens when you let the foxes run the hen house.
That was end stage capitalism.
Unions mostly defeated it after that, but then everyone forgot how bad it was and elected Thatcher and Reagan
Well, was it really unions or the bloodshed of the two world wars and fear of the world revolution?
That was when and how the forgetting started.
Exactly why Amazon been taking about building such towns for its workers. I swear if the conservatives get their way and the way things are going I see them trying to find a way legalize slavery again.
Student loans, impossible mortgages, impossible rent, healthcare tied to jobs… I get that it’s not “slavery” but still… It’s a little bit slavery.
Encircles an air force base. Why would anyone want to live encircling an air force base?
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Might as well call it Night City from Cyberpunk 2077.
Utopian city for themselves and the select few
I’m getting real California City vibes.
Genius. This area is a barren shit hole and a lot of it will be under water within 10 years.
Yeah I really don’t understand the location. Anywhere in California is a dumb idea. They will still have to deal with wildfires, drought, earthquakes, high tax rates. Why not Idaho? It’s probably even cheaper.
I agree. I live in California. Over the last five years, 70% of my county has been overrun by wildfires.
There’s a lot of natural beauty here. But if there’s a God, God hates this place.
Idaho seems like a more logical choice.
Plus I’ve worked at TFB. The vibe I got is that folks there don’t have a lot of respect for people who don’t have real jobs.
Are we talking San Francisco northern California?
Or actual northern California? (above Sacramento)
East of SF like 1 to 1.5 hours depending on traffic.
Okay good… Rich people keep moving to my area where most people aren’t as well off.
They keep coming into our small towns and open up little Vinyard places. It’s like that episode with SodoSopa, but in real life.
It’s cool to see, but it makes the cost of living impossible!
They are John Galt
