After years of ducking scrutiny, Jan Sramek, the former Goldman Sachs trader spearheading the effort, launched a website about "California Forever." The site billed the project as "a chance for a new community, good paying local jobs, solar farms, and open space" in Solano, a rural county between San Francisco and Sacramento that is now home to 450,000 people.
He also began meeting with key politicians representing the area who have been trying unsuccessfully for years to find out who was behind the mysterious Flannery Associates LLC as it bought up huge swaths of land, making it the largest single landholder in the county.
An all-star roster of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are backing the project, including philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. The New York Times first reported on the group's investors and plans.
California Forever, the parent company of Flannery, has purchased more than 78 square miles (202 square kilometers) of farmland in Solano County since 2018, largely in the southeastern portion of the county, with parcels stretching from Fairfield to Rio Vista. According to the website, Sramek fell in love with the area over fishing trips and he and his wife recently purchased a home in the county for their growing family.
The project issued a poll to residents last month to gauge support for "a new city with tens of thousands of new homes," solar energy farm and new parks funded entirely by the private sector.
But to build anything resembling a city on what is now farmland, the group must first convince Solano County voters to approve a ballot initiative to allow for urban uses on that land, a protection that has been in place since 1984. Local and federal officials still have questions about the group's intentions.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 08, 2023-Ausgabe von AppleMagazine.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 08, 2023-Ausgabe von AppleMagazine.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
CORN, MILLET AND ... ROOFTOP SOLAR? FARM FAMILY'S NEWEST CROP SHOWS CHINA'S SOLAR ASCENDANCY
Shi Mei and her husband earn a decent enough living by growing corn and millet on their small farm in eastern China’s Shandong province. In 2021, they diversified by investing in solar energy — signing a contract to mount some 40 panels on their roof to feed energy to the grid.
TAIWAN IS SELLING MORE TO THE US THAN CHINA IN MAJOR SHIFT AWAY FROM BEIJING
Whether it’s tapioca balls or computer chips, Taiwan is stretching toward the United States and away from China — the world’s No. 2 economy that threatens to take the democratically ruled island by force if necessary.
AI COMPANIES MAKE FRESH SAFETY PROMISE AT SEOUL SUMMIT, NATIONS AGREE TO ALIGN WORK ON RISKS
Leading artificial intelligence companies made a fresh pledge at a mini-summit this week to develop AI safely, while world leaders agreed to build a network of publicly backed safety institutes to advance research and testing of the technology.
'IF,' IMPERFECT BUT CHARMING, MAY HAVE US ALL CHECKING UNDER BEDS FOR OUR OLD FRIENDS
How do you make a kid’s movie that appeals not only to the kids, but the adults sitting next to them? Most movies try to achieve this by throwing in a layer of wink-wink pop culture references that’ll earn a few knowing laughs from parents but fly nicely over the heads of the young ones.
UN SECURITY COUNCIL REJECTS RUSSIA-BACKED RESOLUTION ON BANNING WEAPONS IN SPACE
The United States said this week that Russia last week launched a satellite that could be part of weaponizing space, a possible future global trend that members of the United Nations Security Council condemned even as they failed to pass a measure against it.
FOR SOME DIGITAL DETOX, LOOK TO THE LATEST IN CRAFT KITS
Digital diversions may have us tethered to tech, but screen fatigue is real.
NEW CARS IN CALIFORNIA COULD ALERT DRIVERS FOR BREAKING THE SPEED LIMIT
California could eventually join the European Union in requiring all new cars to alert drivers when they break the speed limit, a proposal aimed at reducing traffic deaths that would likely impact motorists across the country should it become law.
FCC TO CONSIDER RULES FOR AI-GENERATED POLITICAL ADS ON TV AND RADIO, BUT CAN'T TOUCH STREAMING
The head of the Federal Communications Commission introduced on Wednesday a proposal to require political advertisers to disclose when they use content generated by artificial intelligence in broadcast television and radio ads.
LAURYN HILL'S CLASSIC 'MISEDUCATION' ALBUM TOPS APPLE MUSIC'S LIST OF BEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
Let the debate begin. Who has the best music albums ever? Apple Music certainly has an idea.
AVERAGE US VEHICLE AGE HITS RECORD 12.6 YEARS AS HIGH PRICES FORCE PEOPLE TO KEEP THEM LONGER
Cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. keep getting older, hitting a record average age of 12.6 years in 2024 as people hang on to their vehicles largely because new ones cost so much.
