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☆ Alice Munro, Nobel Prize winner and ‘master of the short story,’ dies aged 92
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Yahya Salem | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Alice Munro, the Nobel Literature Prize winner best known for her mastery of short stories and depictions of womanhood in rural settings, has died in Ontario, Canada, at the age of 92. The news was confirmed to CNN “with great sadness” by a spokesperson at her publisher, Penguin Random House. It largely sets the tone for Munro’s prose; semi-autobiographical in nature and exploring the universality of the human urge for self-discovery, love, and independence, through the mundanity of everyday life in small, rural communities. Alice Munro, left, and Margaret Atwood at the National Arts Club in February 2005. Munro’s mastery of short stories and literature has been lauded by many of her contemporaries.

Persons: Alice Munro, Munro, “, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, Lucy Maud Montgomery, ”, ” Stephen Pearson, James Munro, Catherine, Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers, —, General’s, ” Munro, Margaret Atwood, Atwood, Diane Bondareff, James Wood Organizations: CNN, Penguin Random, “ The Paris, Guardian, Fairfax Media, University of Western, CBC, Yorker, National Arts Club, Literature Locations: Ontario, Canada, Wingham , Ontario, ”, University of Western Ontario, Vancouver, Victoria, Canadian, Russian

☆ Man Behind California Forever, Silicon Valley's City of the Future
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Hugh Langley | Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

He sees California Forever. And if he can't undo the damage, there may never be a California Forever. California Forever may be a subdivision, but it's precisely the kind of subdivision America needs right now. But here's the thing: California Forever may be a subdivision, but it's precisely the kind of subdivision America needs right now. Places like California Forever aren't being opposed by the people who are desperate for a place to live.

Persons: Jan Sramek's, Goldman Sachs, Sramek, Reid Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, Marc Andreessen —, They've, Christie Hemm, Peter Thiel, Jan Sramek, Jan, Thiel, Goldman, CheatSheet, Sramek's, hadn't, Jonas Rave, who's, —, Guy Saidenberg, Evernote, Marc Andreessen, Jane Jacobs, He's, he'd, Robert Moses, growth.y Christie Hemm, Flannery, Bronson Johnson, David George, Andreessen Horowitz, Marilyn Farley, Farley, Solano County's, Kathleen Threlfall, Bill Mortimore, California Forever's, Jessica Christian, he's, Lyle Lanley, Solano, Sam Houston, weren't, Gabriel Metcalf, You've, John Garamendi, Garamendi, isn't, they'll, latte, Christie, Travis, I've, aren't, They're Organizations: Silicon, California, BI Development, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, Party, Rising Star, Facebook, York, Sramek's, BI Sramek, Google, American, Planners, Sacramento -, Travis Air Force Base, Area, titans, Farmers, councilwoman, California Forever, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Air Force, Flannery Associates, Disney, San Francisco, Vallejo Naval, Historical Museum, Rep, BI, Solano, Sierra, Goldman Locations: San Francisco, It's, Sramek, California, Rio Vista, Solano County, Napa, Sacramento, Silicon Valley, America, London, Zurich, England, Czech Republic, Dřevohostice, York, British, Eastern Europe, Cambridge, Bay Area, Hayes Valley, America's cutest, Atlanta, Phoenix, Copenhagen, Barcelona, New York, Sacramento - San Joaquin, San Francisco Bay, Lake Tahoe, Toledo , Ohio, Silicon, Google's, Toronto, Big Tech, China, Calif, Springfield, Vallejo, He's, Atherton, Foreverville, Fairfield, Austin, Solano, Valley, Europe

☆ ‘My dress is broken’: Emma Stone deals with wardrobe malfunction while accepting her Best Actress Oscar
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —An awards ceremony curveball indeed: Emma Stone, winner of the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in “Poor Things,” dealt with a sartorial snafu just moments before she took the stage to accept her trophy. “My dress is broken,” Stone appeared to mouth while en route to receive her Academy Award. “I think it happened during ‘I’m Just Ken,’” she explained, referencing Ryan Gosling’s performance of his song from the “Barbie” movie — and, presumably, some dance moves she’d indulged in (because who wouldn’t boogie down with Gosling should the opportunity present itself?). And perhaps most infamously, Jennifer Lawrence, who was on stage with Stone tonight (as one of the former Best Actress winners who introduced this year’s nominees), took a tumble when accepting her Oscar for Best Actress in 2013 due to the hemline on her cascading Dior Haute Couture gown. Lawrence, along with the other former winners, helped usher Stone off-stage.

Persons: Emma Stone, Oscar, ”, ” Stone, Louis Vuitton, ‘ I’m, Ken, ’ ”, Ryan Gosling’s, Barbie, she’d, Gosling, Stone, Myung J, Chun, Ryan, Petra Flannery, Gosling —, “ I’m, Ken ”, Lily Gladstone, ” Annette Bening, ” Carey Mulligan, “ Maestro ”, Sandra Hüller, Charlize Theron, Vera Wang, Jimmy Kimmel, Jenny Slate, Thom Browne, Jennifer Lawrence, Lawrence Organizations: CNN, Los Angeles Times, Dolby Theatre, Harper’s Locations: “, “ La La

☆ Goldman says these types of dividend stocks are the best to own in wake of big Meta payout news
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

For investors, that suggests opportunity in certain dividend stocks, Kostin wrote. Since late 2022, Goldman Sachs' Dividend Yield and Growth basket (GSTHDIVG), a 50-stock, equal-weighted basket of stocks with high trailing dividend yield and high anticipated dividend growth, has outperformed the equal-weighted S & P 500 by 3 percentage points. As of October, here are some of the stocks in the firm's dividend yield and growth basket. Verizon Communications Communication services stock Verizon Communications is a constituent in the dividend growth basket. Other stocks in Goldman's dividend growth basket include Best Buy , Conagra Brands and Devon Energy .

Persons: Goldman Sachs, David J, Meta, Kostin, That's, Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn, Morgan Stanley, Simon Flannery, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Facebook, Bank of America, Federal Reserve, Verizon Communications Communication, Verizon Communications, Verizon, Conagra Brands, Devon Energy Locations: Viatris

☆ My daughter and I toured 9 colleges together. It was a great bonding experience that brought us closer together.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Andrew Flannery | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Last year, my daughter and I took several trips to tour nine colleges. AdvertisementAfter viewing nine colleges together, I watched as my daughter came out of her shell. AdvertisementThe trips to colleges brought my daughter and me closer togetherAt each school, I bought a hat and my daughter bought a sweatshirt or T-shirt. Throughout it all, we found ourselves, already a tight father-daughter duo, getting closer because of the experience. Searching for a college can be nerve-racking, but we realized it could also be a fun bonding experience.

Persons: —, we'd, She'd, We'd Organizations: Service, University of Washington, University of Southern, USC, Claremont Colleges, University of California, UC San Diego, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Santa Locations: West Coast, Seattle, West, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Santa Monica, Santa Ana, California

☆ The Farmers Had What the Billionaires Wanted
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Conor Dougherty | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For six years a mysterious company called Flannery Associates, which Mr. Sramek controlled, had upended the town of 10,000 by spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy every farm in the area. It sued a group of holdouts who had refused its above-market offers, on the grounds that they were colluding for more. Residents worried it could be a front for foreign spies looking to surveil a nearby Air Force base. The truth was that Mr. Sramek wanted to build a city from the ground up, in an agricultural region whose defining feature was how little it had changed. They and others from the technology world had spent some $900 million on farmland in a demonstration of their dead seriousness about Mr. Sramek’s vision.

Persons: Jan Sramek, Flannery, Sramek, Michael Moritz, Reid Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs Organizations: American Legion, Flannery Associates, Air Force, Silicon, LinkedIn, Emerson, Apple Locations: Rio Vista, Calif, Rio

☆ New California city backed by Silicon Valley billionaires will be about 18,600 acres — less than half the size of the purchased land
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Notably, the acreage is less than half of the nearly 55,000 acres Flannery Associates purchased presumably for the project since at least 2018. Flannery Associates has spent about $800 million grabbing up land throughout the county that sits about 60 miles above San Francisco. But the group also has been in a contentious legal battle with a handful of Solano County landowners since May. In a lawsuit, Flannery Associates accused landowners of conspiring to inflate the land prices. In response, attorneys for the landowners accused Flannery Associates of using "strong-arm tactics" to pressure landowners into selling their land.

Persons: —, Flannery, Solano County —, Flannery Associates, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Reid Hoffman, Flannery overpaid, Jan Sramek, Flannery Will Ruin, Mitch Mashburn, Mashburn Organizations: Silicon, Service, Flannery Associates, Solano Homes, Jobs, Clean Energy Initiative, New York Times, LinkedIn, Local, NBC Locations: California, Solano County, Vallejo , Fairfield, Solano, San Francisco, Silicon

☆ Favorite Things I Buy at Costco in the Winter As a Busy Parent of 2
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Andrew Flannery | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

My family shops at Costco at least twice a month for household items, food, and random finds. Other winter-themed Costco finds include space heaters, candles, wrapping paper, and festive decor. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementMy wife and I are busy parents of two teens, and we've been shopping at Costco for as long as we've had kids. Here are the items I like to buy from Costco in the winter.

Persons: —, we've Organizations: Costco, Service

Jan Sramek has spent the past several months in restaurants and conference rooms pitching politicians, environmentalists and labor unions on a plan to erect a new California city on open farmland in an eastern corner of the San Francisco Bay Area. The project is backed by a host of big Silicon Valley names, including the venture capitalists Michael Moritz and Marc Andreessen, the LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman, and the Emerson Collective founder, Laurene Powell Jobs. At an event Wednesday evening, Mr. Sramek, the chief executive of a company called California Forever, took his case to the Solano County voters. Mr. Sramek took it in stride, patiently answering questions and appearing mostly unruffled. He promised improved infrastructure, employment and middle-class homes for the county’s 450,000 residents.

Persons: Jan Sramek, Michael Moritz, Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, Sramek, ”, “ Flannery Will Ruin Organizations: San Francisco Bay Area, LinkedIn, Emerson Collective, Solano County voters, Vallejo Naval, Historical Museum Locations: California, San Francisco Bay, Solano County

☆ YouTube threatens to suspend creators who fail to disclose AI-generated videos
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

YouTube is cracking down on creators who use AI tools to make "altered or synthetic" videos. The platform may impose penalties or remove undisclosed AI-generated content. AdvertisementYouTube is rolling out new rules for AI content, including a requirement that creators reveal whether they've used generative artificial intelligence to make realistic-looking videos. Viewers will be alerted to altered videos with labels, including prominent ones on the YouTube video player for sensitive topics. AdvertisementYouTube's privacy complaint process will be updated to allow requests for the removal of an AI-generated video that simulates an identifiable person, including their face or voice.

Persons: —, Jennifer Flannery O'Connor, Emily Moxley, YouTubers, " O'Connor, Moxley Organizations: Google, Service, YouTube

☆ YouTube to roll out labels for ‘realistic’ AI-generated content
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —YouTube will soon require disclosures on videos that contain content generated by artificial intelligence and could mislead viewers. YouTube is just the latest platform to introduce rules meant to make AI-generated content more transparent. TikTok added a new label for AI-generated content earlier this year and said users must disclose when content depicting “realistic scenes” is created or edited with AI. YouTube introduced, for example, a feature that lets creators add AI-generated video or image backgrounds to vertical videos and tools to help creators draft outlines for videos. The platform also noted that synthetic or AI-generated content that violates its community guidelines will be subject to the same restrictions or removals as other videos.

Persons: Product Management Jennifer Flannery O’Connor, Emily Moxley, ” Flannery O’Connor, Moxley Organizations: New, New York CNN, YouTube, Google, Product Management, Facebook, Creators, YouTube’s Locations: New York, United States

The Associated Press (AP) — YouTube is rolling out new rules for AI content, including a requirement that creators reveal whether they've used generative artificial intelligence to make realistic looking videos. In a blog post Tuesday outlining a number of AI-related policy updates, YouTube said creators that don't disclose whether they've used AI tools to make “altered or synthetic” videos face penalties including having their content removed or suspension from the platform's revenue sharing program. Viewers will be alerted to altered videos with labels, including prominent ones on the YouTube video player for sensitive topics. YouTube’s privacy complaint process will be updated to allow requests for the removal of an AI-generated video that simulates an identifiable person, including their face or voice. YouTube music partners such as record labels or distributors will be able to request the takedown of AI-generated music content “that mimics an artist’s unique singing or rapping voice.”

Persons: ” Jennifer Flannery O’Connor, Emily Moxley, YouTubers, ” O'Connor, Moxley, ” Organizations: Associated Press, YouTube, Google

☆ Billionaire group behind mystery Silicon Valley city says it's done buying up land. The company now owns a property the size of Beaumont, Texas.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The group, Flannery Associates, has so far purchased more than 53,000 acres of land. Flannery Associates has been grabbing plots of land in Solano County, about 60 miles from San Francisco, for the past five years. Flannery Associates had acquired about 52,000 acres of farmland around Travis Air Force Base in rural Solano County. AdvertisementAdvertisementFlannery filed a lawsuit against a group of Solano County landowners and farmers in May, claiming that they conspired to inflate land prices. An attorney for Flannery Associates did not respond to a request for comment sent outside business hours.

Persons: Flannery, —, it's, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell, Jan Sramek, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Silicon, Flannery Associates, Service, Bloomberg, Travis Air Force Base Locations: California, Beaumont , Texas, Sioux Falls , South Dakota, Solano County, San Francisco, Solano County .

☆ A mystery company backed by Silicon Valley elites is buying up land to build a new city. Farmers say they've been pressured to sell up.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New filings accuse the company backed by Marc Andreessen and Reid Hoffman of forcing farmers to sell up. Solano County farmers say Flannery Associates targeted them with pressure tactics and litigation. The company has bought up 52,000 acres outside San Francisco to build a utopian city. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe company that wants to create an entirely new city in California, and that's backed by Silicon Valley billionaires, has been accused of coercing farmers into selling their land. AdvertisementAdvertisementCalifornia Forever, the parent company behind Flannery Associates, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, sent outside normal working hours.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, Flannery, —, John Garamendi, Jan Sramek, Mark Friedman, Princess Washington Organizations: Service, Silicon, Bloomberg, California, KQED, New York Times, Flannery Associates Locations: Solano, San Francisco, California, Solano County, Sacramento, Princess, Suisun City

☆ I looked at the plans for the new city proposed by Silicon Valley elites. They're really terrible.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Right now, California Forever is just a website with some ideology and a handful of hopeful sketches with a faintly socialist-utopian flair. AdvertisementAdvertisementCities of the future of the pastThe California Forever art illustrations show at a place that'll look startlingly familiar. Point is, the garden city remains a dream honored more in the breach — in pitches like the one for California Forever. Just about 60 miles southeast of the California Forever site is a residential development called Mountain House. It's what plans like California Forever look like when brick starts getting laid.

Persons: Daniel Burnham, Burnham, Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Michael Moritz, Laurene Powell Jobs, Collison, Flannery, Peter Thiel, Goldman, Jan Sramek, Sramek, Ebenezer Howard, Howard, What's, Foreverville, That's, it's, Banks, John Nash's London, what's, It's, Walt Disney, Gabriel Metcalf, BH Bronson Johnson, Dan Parolek, Adam Rogers Organizations: Travis Air Force Base, New York Times, Flannery Associates, Industry, Truman, California, Western Railway, California Forever, St, BH Locations: Chicago, California, Solano County, Sacramento, Solano, Silicon, Los Angeles, England, Japan, New York, Philadelphia, Seaside , Florida, Pontevedra, Spain, Paris, Tempe, doesn't, Foreverville, Pirates, Caribbean, Toronto, Culdesac

☆ The Silicon Valley investors who secretly bought up $800 million in Northern California real estate reveal unexpected plans for 'a city of yesterday'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Chris Kaye | Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A mysterious company backed by Silicon Valley investors has been purchasing land near San Francisco. They're planning to build a retro city on the 52,000 acres of farmland they bought. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Silicon Valley investors that got the government's attention by gobbling up $800 million worth of land outside San Francisco say the mystery city they plan on building is, well… kinda retro. Solano County Google Maps"The plans that people put forward will be very inspired by those great old American neighborhoods that someone who was born 100 years ago will recognize," Sramek told KQED.

Persons: —, we've, Jan Sramek, Sramek, Goldman Sachs, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Michael Moritz of, Reid Hoffman, Flannery, who've, Catherine Moy, Moy, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Musk, Chap Ambrose, Ambrose, Azmi Haroun Organizations: Service, KQED, The New York Times, Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital, Flannery Associates, Travis Air Force Base, Solano County Google, Boring Company, SpaceX, Washington Post Locations: Silicon, San Francisco, California, Solano County, Bay, Fairfield, Solano Silicon, Austin , Texas, Bastrop Country

☆ A private island near San Francisco with storied connections to Silicon Valley billionaires is on the market for $75 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Point Buckler Island in Solano County, California, last sold for $150,000 in 2011. The 50-acre private island was a kiteboarding hotspot frequented by tech giants. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. AdvertisementAdvertisement"I've run out of money to fight and the island is worth a lot of money," he said. The shipping container clubhouse on Point Buckler Island Courtesy of John SweeneyThe island's ritzy history is part of the reason for its $75 million price tag, Sweeney explained.

Persons: It's, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, John Sweeney, Sweeney, Flannery, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell, John Sweeney Flannery, Solano Organizations: Service, SF, Flannery Associates, Laurene Powell Jobs, New York Times Locations: Buckler, Solano County , California, Wall, Silicon, San Francisco Bay, Point Buckler, San Francisco, Bay, Solano County, Suisun

☆ Baseball’s ‘Woke Hillbilly’ Had More Songs to Write
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Scott Miller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Night had fallen, spirits were moving and the songwriting baseball coach was rounding third base and headed for home. Twice in the autumn of 2020, doctors had advised a gravely ill Tim Flannery to say goodbye to his family. The right arm that sent home so many San Francisco base runners during the Giants’ three World Series titles from 2010 to 2014 waved away a final coda. The road back from the brink was as unlikely as the man himself. An infielder turned popular coach, Flannery was always something more.

Persons: Tim Flannery, Flannery, — Organizations: Giants, Major League Baseball Locations: San Francisco

Three decades ago, as a University of North Carolina student, he covered a deadly shooting for the school newspaper. Last month, as a journalism professor at the same school, Ryan Thornburg kept his students safe during a lockdown — after another shooting. Thornburg, the former student journalist, didn’t even think to call his parents in California about the 1995 shooting until he saw a television news van near the scene. A few days later, it was their turn to experience a campus shooting. Students who grew up in the age of school shootings are arriving on campus extra jumpy, he said.

Persons: Ryan Thornburg, didn’t, Wendell Williamson, Williamson, Thornburg, ”, “, ’, Paul Dean, Dean, Zoe Bright, I’ve, Bright, Mark, Mark Bright, Presley Bright, Dan Flannery, ” Flannery, ’ ”, Holly Ramer Organizations: University of North, UNC, Chapel Hill, International Association of Campus, University of New, Safety, Violence Prevention, Research, Case Western University, Associated Press Locations: University of North Carolina, California, University of New Hampshire, United States, “, New Hampshire

☆ Ethan Hawke taps Flannery O’Connor's fiction to tell her story in 'Wildcat'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Jenna Zucker | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Director Ethan Hawke poses during the international premiere of "Wildcat" at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 11, 2023. Born in 1925, O’Connor was a highly regarded fiction writer in the Southern Gothic style. In “Wildcat,” which had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Hawke pulls from the author’s fiction to tell her story. He and his daughter Maya Hawke, the film's star, wanted to showcase O’Connor’s ability to capture the human condition in prose. “I used her own writing to tell the story.”O’Connor’s writing won several literary awards, and she was featured on a postage stamp in 2015.

Persons: Ethan Hawke, Carlos Osorio, Flannery O’Connor, O’Connor, Hawke, Maya Hawke, ” Hawke, ”, Maye Hawke, “, ” Maya Hawke, Laura Linney, Regina, O'Connor, “ She’s, ” Linney, Jenna Zucker, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Toronto, Film, REUTERS, Rights, Loyola University of Maryland, ‘ Loyola University of Maryland, The University of Maryland, Thomson Locations: Toronto , Ontario, Canada, American

☆ Florida state colleges may allow entrance exam favored by many conservatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Students stage a walk out from Hillsborough High School to protest after Florida education officials voted to ban classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in all public school grades. The Board of Governors of the 12-campus State University System of Florida will consider the adoption of the Classic Learning Test (CLT) on Friday. The test's adoption would mark the third time that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has taken on the non-profit College Board, which administers the SAT, or Scholastic Aptitude Test. The College Board has pushed back against the new test, criticizing as flawed a study meant to compare students' scores on the CLT with scores on the SAT. Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Octavio Jones, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Priscilla Rodriguez, Jeremy Tate, Tate, Thomas Aquinas, Dante Alighieri, Frederick Douglass, Flannery O'Connor, Sharon Bernstein, Grant McCool Organizations: Hillsborough High School, REUTERS, Governors, State University System, ACT, Florida, Board, Republican, College, American Studies, The, College Board, Thomson Locations: Florida, Tampa , Florida, U.S, Southern U.S, Sacramento , California

☆ Silicon Valley billionaires want to build a new city in rural California, but locals are skeptical of the project: 'Their secrecy has caused a lot of problems'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Janie Har | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Silicon Valley billionaires revealed plans to build a new city after buying $800 million in land. The land was quietly purchased in Solano County, a rural area near San Francisco and Sacramento. Most of the land purchased is in the southeastern portion of the county, with parcels stretching from Fairfield to Rio Vista. Billionaires want to build a new city in rural California, but they're encountering wavering support from locals and lawmakers. Solano County homes are among the most affordable in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a median sales price of $600,000 last month.

Persons: Jan Sramek, Goldman Sachs, Flannery, Laurene Powell Jobs, Reid Hoffman, Marc Andreessen, Marc Andreeseen, Lauren Powell Jobs, Michael Moritz, Paul Chinn, Countess, Michael Kovac, Sramek, Mike Thompson, Terry Chea, Princess Washington, Thompson, they're, he's, John Garamendi, Hoffman, Andreessen, Ron Kott, Kott Organizations: Service, FRANCISCO, Flannery Associates, Silicon, LinkedIn, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Getty, Fair, Solano, US Air Force, FBI, of Treasury, AP, San Francisco Bay Area, Travis Air Force Base, US Locations: Solano County, San Francisco, Sacramento, Wall, Silicon, Northern California, Solano, Silicon Valley, California, Fairfield, Rio Vista, U.S, United Kingdom, Ireland, walkable, Terry Chea California, California's, San Francisco Bay, Princess, Suisun City, Travis

☆ A mayor told the investors who want to build a new city in her backyard to 'take their billions of dollars and go back down to Silicon Valley'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Moy told Bloomberg she would "do everything we can to stop" Flannery Associates' plans. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Moy told Bloomberg that "this is no way to go about any kind of development," adding: "We're going to do everything we can to stop this." The Silicon Valley elites have purchased about 52,000 acres of land around Travis Air Force Base since 2018, leaving "no part that isn't touched by Flannery," Moy told ABC 7 News. Speaking to CNBC about the Flannery plan, Moy said the Air Force base "can't function" with a settlement encroaching on it.

Persons: Catherine Moy, Moy, Flannery, John Garamendi, Solano County's, Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs Organizations: Solano, Bloomberg, Service, Daily, Flannery Associates, New York Times, Travis Air Force Base, ABC, CNBC, Air Force Locations: Fairfield, Wall, Silicon, California, Solano County, San Francisco

☆ This is how the billionaires planning a new city near San Francisco imagine their utopia could look
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

California Forever posted CGIs of the "walkable community" on its website. California Forever, the parent company of Flannery Associates, launched its website and shared first images of what the city in Solano County could look like if it goes ahead. However, details of just how California Forever intends to go about creating its utopian city are sparse. It now has to gain approval from Solano County residents, 2,000 of which have already been surveyed, California Forever's website states. California Forever didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Persons: Flannery, who've, Catherine Moy, John Garamendi, didn't Organizations: California, Service, Flannery Associates, Residents, Silicon, NBC Bay Area, California Forever Locations: California, Wall, Silicon, Solano County, Solano, Solano Fairfield, Solano county

☆ A company that counts billionaires Marc Andreessen and Laurene Powell Jobs as investors says it's bought 50,000 acres of land to build a new 'walkable' city in northern California. Here's everything w
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

California Forever says it wants to build a "walkable" city with new jobs, surrounded by an agricultural greenbelt. The company, Flannery Associates, has been quiet until now, but its parent company California Forever just launched a new website detailing its master plan. Solano County sits between Sacramento, San Francisco, and Napa Valley, and has a population of around 450,000 across just over 900 square miles. Sramek founded California Forever in 2017 and recently bought a family home there. "Now that we're no longer limited by confidentiality, we are eager to begin a conversation about the future of Solano County," it says.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Flannery, Jan Sramek, he'd, Jan, Sramek, it's, Who's, Chris Dixon, John Doerr, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Reid Hoffman, Michael Moritz, Andreessen Horowitz, Patrick, John Collison Organizations: Goldman, Service, Flannery Associates, California Forever, Travis Air Force Base, California Forever's, California Delta, California Locations: San Francisco, California, Wall, Silicon, Solano County, Sacramento, Napa Valley, Solano, Fairfield, Rio Vista, walkable

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