Archinect - News2024-12-22T00:54:33-05:00https://archinect.com/news/article/150414037/details-emerge-for-billionaire-backed-startup-community-plan-northeast-of-san-francisco
Details emerge for billionaire-backed startup community plan northeast of San Francisco Josh Niland2024-01-24T19:14:00-05:00>2024-10-25T04:07:38-04:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/a0/a078aeae7a0efe0d6bb4e77992306c6e.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>The once-secretive plan for a <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150364612/anti-democratic-vistas-plans-for-a-new-city-in-northern-californian-farmlands-draw-ire-from-concerned-officials" target="_blank">startup new community in Solano County</a>, Northern California, is beginning to materialize as the company known as California Forever has begun publicizing details for their proposed development ahead of a potential November vote to determine its future. </p>
<p>Details <a href="https://californiaforever.com/news/the-urbanist-case-for-a-new-community-in-solano-county/" target="_blank">made public</a> with the start of a requisite petition drive showed a preliminary map, renderings, and area plan for the project, which would notably be the first large-scale demonstration of the "walkable city" concept designed entirely from scratch in North America.</p>
<figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/f1/f179f25d81905d76998a8d795b02081d.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/f1/f179f25d81905d76998a8d795b02081d.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Image courtesy California Forever</figcaption></figure><p>Billed as a future "amazing success story" by the company’s founder Jan Sramek, the development intends to construct some 20,000 new affordable residences plus a solar farm and network of public parks before 2040. The plan reportedly allows for further growth to support a population of up to 400,000. As the announcement post notes, much of the preliminary proposal is focused on creating <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/1389397/missing-middle" target="_blank">missing middle</a> ho...</p>
https://archinect.com/news/article/149975715/cheezburger-founder-ceo-joins-ycombinator-s-new-cities-project
Cheezburger founder/CEO joins YCombinator's 'New Cities' project Amelia Taylor-Hochberg2016-10-28T13:44:00-04:00>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: "We’re not interested in building 'crazy libertarian utopias for techies.'"</p><p>Now, they might have a bit more explaining to do. Ben Huh—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—has joined the urban utopian pursuit as an "Explorer", as Huh announced on <a href="https://medium.com/@benhuh/should-i-pursue-my-passion-or-business-76187b6b83fb#.jy9jzryux" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Medium</a> earlier this week:</p><p><em>For the next 6-months, I am joining YCombinator Research’s New Cities project as an Explorer. My goal? Create an open, repeatable sy...</em></p>