They’ve gone with Plan B. From Realtor.com,
Billionaire-Backed Group California Forever Unveils Master Plan for ‘Next Great American City.’
“California Forever.” Nice touch. You will recall this greenfield project in northern California from an earlier, failed referendum attempt.
That strategy pivot comes more than a year after California Forever pulled the plug on a ballot initiative to create a new city from scratch, after facing skepticism from voters in surrounding Solano County.
The new plan involves hitching on to an existing city.
The plan filed on Tuesday reveals that California Forever now plans to build the master-planned community as an extension of nearby Suisun City, a community of 30,000 that stands to dramatically expand its tax base by annexing the new development.
Google tells me that there are 482 incorporated cities in California. I guess they need another one. Developers are after those holy grails of New Urbanism, density and walkability,
The plans call for a dense community of walkable neighborhoods, with an entertainment district, mixed-use commercial districts, and a new shipyard and high-tech industrial zone to create jobs.
Now, I’m a huge fan of Seaside (wish I could afford to live there) and Celebration, both in Florida. And I wish California Forever the best of luck. Perhaps they can have enough “cool rules” in their enclave to overcome the general decay of the rest of California.
But it would be far better to fix what ails the state for the benefit of all 39 million residents, not just the 400,000 lucky enough to live in the new city.
