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A new utopia

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26 August 2023, 05:30 PM
wtg
A new utopia
quote:
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.


https://www.theguardian.com/us...y-800m-land-new-city


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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

26 August 2023, 06:35 PM
RealPlayer
I was just reading about this in The NY Times. Another billionaire pie-in-the-sky venture. Who benefits?


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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

26 August 2023, 06:55 PM
Steve Miller
quote:
Originally posted by RealPlayer:
I was just reading about this in The NY Times. Another billionaire pie-in-the-sky venture. Who benefits?


Maybe the City of Fairfield, but not likely anyone else.

I’ve been up there. It’s pretty, but it’s nothing but vacant land and even that’s too poor for farming. Theres some grazing but it a long way from market. There’s little infrastructure, no work, no established recreational opportunities. The few locals are Trumpy as all hell. You have to wonder who they expect to move in to their town.

This leaves a couple of possible scenarios. The most likely would be some sort of tax dodge or pump-and-dump deal. Not impossible, but good luck getting the county to play - Solano county likely has trouble keeping the potholes filled.

The other might be the discovery of something like lithium on the property or a back room deal to put in a nuclear plant or some such.

There is ample precedent in CA. Google “California City”. I’d steer clear.

Meanwhile, Gates is rumored to have similar utopian plans some 40 miles west of Phoenix. That one seemed viable until the water dried up and it got really, really hot. There’s a reason why cheap land is cheap.

We shall see.


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Life is short. Play with your dog.

26 August 2023, 08:31 PM
Doug
quote:
Originally posted by Steve Miller:

There is ample precedent in CA. Google “California City”. I’d steer clear.



my first assignment when I became a public accountant in 1974 was to work on the audit of California city. The main take away for me was that not all real estate is a good investment…
26 August 2023, 10:23 PM
Steve Miller
It must have been 1971 when my parents accepted an invitation to visit California City and listen to a pitch about buying property there. It was a memorable experience.

I remember miles and miles of graded lots and dirt streets with fire hydrants and utility stub ups but no houses. I remember a clubhouse with a big pool that was so warm no one wanted to swim in it. The luxury accommodation we were promised was a tired double wide with a swamp cooler. Did I mention the temp was 110 degrees?

My folks decided to skip the sales pitch and instead stayed inside. There was no traffic and they turned me loose in the station wagon to practice driving on the deserted dirt streets. They were cool like that. They later received several threatening phone promising to charge them for the luxury accommodation because they didn’t attend the sales pitch, but nothing came of it.

Many years later I went back to CA city on the way to ride dirt bikes near there. It hadn’t changed a bit - except the pool had been drained.


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Life is short. Play with your dog.

13 November 2023, 11:51 AM
wtg
California City. Hope this doesn't give the newly retired Doug any bad flashbacks...

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/...placement=newsletter


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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier