Gabriel Metcalf was hired to design a new California city backed by Silicon Valley money. He says bold action is needed to fight the housing crisis
I met Gabriel Metcalf, the urban planner hired to design a new California city backed by tech billionaires, while we were mincing garlic and herbs at Burning Man. The New York Times had just blown open the mystery of who was secretly buying up more than 50,000 acres of farmland in Solano county, about 50 miles north-east of San Francisco.
The buyers turned out to include a who’s who of Silicon Valley investors who had thrown their weight behind an ambitious plan for a new “California dream” city with walkable neighborhoods, climate-friendly infrastructure, green energy jobs and affordable homes.
About Author
More Stories
EU microchip strategy ‘deeply disconnected from reality’, say official auditors
Aston Martin limits exports to US because of Trump tariffs
Liberal-aligned thinktank running anti-Greens ads received $600,000 from coal industry in Queensland election