California Never? Utopian city faces setbacks from industrial flight

Big dreams, sometimes stupid ones, comprise the heart of California’s identity. “California Forever,” a project to build a city for 400,000 people from the ground up on land between San Francisco and Sacramento, shows that some Americans can still think big. The scheme, backed by Silicon Valley’s elite, plans to build 170,000 houses and establish half a million jobs in Solano County. A compelling concept, but with the loss of its lead investor in an industrial development, California Forever is on the ropes.A new shipyard on land owned by the California Forever development company just lost its first big industrial investor, Saronic, which decided to take its $3.2 billion project to Texas.Saronic builds autonomous ships, a technology that has already proven its worth by rescuing two downed helicopter pilots in the conflict with Iran.It’s exactly the kind of high-tech industry for which California has long been renowned.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story Insiders at California Forever claim Saronic, based in Austin, wanted to locate in California to have an outpost on the Pacific, where American security concerns are increasingly focused, with proximity to both the country’s top engineering schools and Silicon Valley.The loss of the Saronic project is also a major defeat for Gov.

Gavin Newsom.The notorious opportunist and presidential wannabe supported the project, as many of the key investors were his campaign donors.

The shipyard project also enjoyed strong support from construction and industrial unions. But when push came to shove, the Saronic deal collapsed due to delays and opposition from the area’s local state senator and the Solano County Board of Supervisors.Such hostility to growth is now an embedded feature of Califor...