CA has seen many new cities, but this big project is at a standstill

When California emerged from its colonial early days nearly two centuries ago and developed into a society of its own, its cities and towns were usually located along navigable rivers, such as Sacramento, or around the 21 missions founded by Spanish priests, such as San Diego.

Dan Walters

CalMatters

Opinion

In the late 1800s, when California experienced a population explosion during the Gold Rush and became a state, entirely new communities sprang up. These settlements were often carved out of farm and ranch land by developers and railroads, including the small town of Hanford in the San Joaquin Valley.

For example, the small towns south of San Francisco, such as Hillsborough, were designed as havens for the wealthy, who needed protection from the noise, pollution and violence of San Francisco. This eventually led to the creation of San Mateo County, a protective stronghold.

The creation of new towns continued for much of the 20th century. In Orange County, the descendants of 19th-century ranchers converted parts of their vast holdings into new towns to accommodate the region’s massive population growth after World War II.

The most spectacular example was—and remains—the city of Irvine, named for a ranching family, and home to a quarter of a million people and a major campus of the University of California. Dick O’Neill, heir to a vast cattle ranch in Orange County, created two cities—Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita.

On the outskirts of Sacramento, along the Cosumnes River, another ranching family has successfully established a self-sufficient community: Rancho Murieta.

Creating new cities can be a risky business. Developers can spend millions planning their new communities and installing infrastructure, but can wait decades for a profit.

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California City, in the Antelope Valley 100 miles north of Los Angeles, was founded in 1958, but its remote location and somewhat inhospitable terrain and climate made it difficult to attract residents. It still exists today and has a population of about 15,000, but that is far short of its original ambition.

Mountain House, founded three decades ago in a corner of San Joaquin County to lure commuters to jobs in the Bay Area, also struggled, particularly during the housing collapse of the Great Recession. But it survived: Today it has a population of about 25,000 and became an incorporated city on July 1.

The Tejon Ranch, a massive cattle ranch in the Tehachapi Mountains, has been trying to create a new residential community for decades, but has been met with huge opposition from environmental groups. It is finally starting construction on an apartment complex.

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Which brings us to California’s latest attempt to create a new community, this time in a rural part of Solano County.

California Forever, a company backed by Silicon Valley billionaires, quietly — even covertly — bought more than 50,000 acres of ranchland before finally unveiling plans for a new community that would eventually be home to 400,000 residents.

The project’s secrecy and size immediately drew opposition, especially after the company said it would seek approval on a November ballot, bypassing hurdles such as the California Environmental Quality Act.

With approval from Solano County voters in doubt, California Forever has suspended its ballot proposal. Company officials say they will now try to gain public support before moving forward.

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The explosive growth that California experienced in its first 170 years of statehood has now slowed, probably for good. California has been losing population in recent years and will likely see population stagnation at best in the future.

That said, California still faces a housing shortage and state policy is geared toward encouraging infill projects in or near cities rather than developing open spaces, which is what California Forever would do.

The chances that California Forever will join the new urban developers are slim at best.

About the author

Dan Walters has been a journalist for almost 60 years, and has worked for newspapers in California for all but a few of those years. He began his professional career in 1960, at the age of 16, at the Humboldt Times.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism enterprise dedicated to explaining how the California Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/comment.

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