Silicon Valley tech elites have their reasons for wanting to build a new city near San Francisco. First, they’re tired of crime, drug markets, and homeless encampments, not to mention sky-high housing costs and companies pulling out of downtown.
With that in mind, some of them spent nearly $1 billion on land in Solano County, about 60 miles from San Francisco.their thinking is build a utopian city Featuring new homes, orchards, solar farms, and plenty of parks and open spaces.
Jeanne McCormack and Al Medvitz, owners of the 125-year-old, 3,700-acre McCormack Ranch, were less impressed by the idea. Or, except for a stretch of land facing the Sacramento River, the ranch is now surrounded by properties purchased for the planned city. McCormack was baffled by the project and its billionaire backers.
“It’s amazing how arrogant they are,” McCormack said. Tell san francisco chronicle. “They know what they’re doing, but they don’t even know the people who live here?”
Farming communities, she notes, should be large enough to support ancillary businesses — repair shops, feed stores, slaughterhouses — and enable farmers to occasionally share resources and lease land to one another. Instead, she watched neighbor after neighbor sell their property.
“We had new problems because we had to deal with neighbors who had no farming experience or expertise,” said McCormack, whose ranch includes wheat, alfalfa, vineyards and more than 1,800 sheep.
“Many farmers in the area lease each other’s foraging land,” former West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon told the paper. “Flannery canceled many of these foraging leases.”
The rancher said the company also sued property owners in the area, alleging they colluded to drive up prices.
The land buyer that made McCormack and Medowitz so anxious was Flannery Associates, a forever california, an umbrella company, spent more than $800 million buying land in the eastern part of the county. California Forever’s investors include LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Stripe co-founder John and Patrick Collison, and venture capitalists Michael Moritz, Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, among others.
Flannery spokesman Brian Brokaw said supporters “care deeply about the future of Solano County and the state of California and believe their best days lie ahead.” Tell this chronicle. “We are proud to partner on a project that aims to provide Solano County residents with good-paying jobs, affordable housing, clean energy, sustainable infrastructure, open space and a healthy environment.”
Generations of farming families in the area have “a deep bond with the land,” Mewitz said. But real estate deals tied to the project have divided the community.
“With this new proposal and the way new people behave,” he told reporters chronicle’, “All of these will disappear. For fantasy. “
“If they want a new city,” he added, “San Jose is ripe. Fix things there.”
He noted, “There are a lot of people who come here, look at the river and say, ‘You should develop this.'” You have to say, ‘Wait a minute — it’s already developed.’ This is highly developed land. It is highly developed for different purposes. “
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