2024-11-21T15:26:16-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/149975715/cheezburger-founder-ceo-joins-ycombinator-s-new-cities-project Amelia Taylor-Hochberg 2016-10-28T13:44:00-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/iz/izyg1eod5epi4zjg.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>YCombinator, the Silicon Vallley start-up accelerator and investment firm behind Airbnb and Dropbox, announced its entrepreneurial reach into city-building <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/149954668/what-s-the-newest-project-for-silicon-valley-investors-building-cities" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this past summer</a>, with the goal to develop "a city for humans" with reduced housing expenses and a simplified planning code.</p><p>Some SV investor-speak aside, YC's so-called "New Cities Project" doesn't sound particularly controversial to anyone who likes cities and wants them to support better lives. But there is a bit of learned defensiveness in YC's blog post announcing the venture:&nbsp;"We&rsquo;re not interested in building 'crazy libertarian utopias for techies.'"</p><p>Now, they might have a bit more explaining to do. Ben Huh&mdash;founder and CEO of <a href="http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">I Can Has Cheezburger?</a>, the meme-generating website that birthed lolcats&mdash;has joined the urban utopian pursuit as an "Explorer", as Huh announced on&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/@benhuh/should-i-pursue-my-passion-or-business-76187b6b83fb#.jy9jzryux" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Medium</a>&nbsp;earlier this week:</p><p><em>For the next 6-months, I am joining YCombinator Research&rsquo;s New Cities project as an Explorer. My goal? Create an open, repeatable sy...</em></p>