California
Is suburban sprawl still California’s big answer to housing shortage?
Urban sprawl has been anathema to California housing planners for the last 10 years or so. As they passed law after law eliminating zoning for single-family residences and emphasizing high rise buildings and other infill housing near mass transit, the old California pattern of building outward became passe.
Maybe not anymore.
Two prospective massive new developments emerged from obscurity into the realm of distinct possibility over the last few months.
One would be in mostly rural portions of Solano County, an often-overlooked area covering much of the ground between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area and stretching south toward Stockton. The other would extend Fresno to the southeast.
Together, the two proposed developments (neither as yet has won even a single government agency’s approval) could account for as many as 85,000 new housing units, mostly single family. That would provide a sizable chunk of the 1.8 million new dwelling units in one estimate of current housing need from the state Department of Housing and Community Development.
But some words of caution are advised here: Tejon Ranch. Housing advocates rejoiced in 2021, when the big land company with huge amounts of vacant property atop the Grapevine area between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, got an OK from Kern County. But less than two years later, a Los Angeles County judge sent the project back to the drawing board, and its approval process may now drag on for many years.
Still, in this era when every new law seems to seek a knockdown for existing housing and commercial buildings in exchange for large new apartment buildings with stores, gyms and other commerce on the lowest floors, there may be broad appeal to brand new homes on what has been agricultural land.
In Solano County, a group of Silicon Valley billionaires including Lorraine Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple Corp. co-founder Steve Jobs, and other venture capitalists, quietly bought up more than 55,000 acres (78 square miles) of pastureland wind farms and other low-density development. They appear willing to pay whatever penalties are needed for taking the land out of agricultural use, where the state’s Williamson Act has long given much of it preferred tax status in exchange for remaining rural.
This projected new city, which would have more than 10,000 acres of parks, could eventually become the largest town in Solano County, where Fairfield is the county seat and other significant locales include Rio Vista, Vacaville, Dixon and Suisun City.
To change the use of so much land would require first a vote of the entire county and then a slew of other permits from state and regional agencies. So this is years away, but promises lots of affordable housing, plus European-style homes for wealthier buyers. And plenty of profit for the billionaire investors.
Then there’s the Southeast Development Area on the edge of Fresno, a mostly-rural area of about 9,000 acres whose prospective developers promise a series of “walkable” neighborhoods in what would be one of Fresno’s most sprawling suburbs. Plans tentatively call for each neighborhood to have its own elementary school, community garden, shops and parks. Plenty of public transit is also proposed.
This one also would need public votes and myriad government permits before going forward.
In both places, local opposition has already formed. Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown, a former schoolteacher, told one reporter that “We’re growing food and helping people (now). Why would you stop economic growth like that? Why would they spend $800 million and not be transparent about it?”
Brown referred to the five years of secrecy investors maintained while becoming Solano County’s largest landowners. Their spokesman responded that secrecy was needed to prevent speculative land price increases.
At the same time, school officials and others worry about “gaping holes” in infrastructure if the southeast area plan goes forward.
But prospective developers of both areas say they will take care of all those concerns.
So it will initially be up to local voters to decide: Do they want new, but traditionally California-style developments near them, or do they want to leave things alone and thus have the state continue stressing urban infill? Or could these possible new suburbs be harbingers of other new developments in California deserts and the Central Valley?
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com.
ANKARA
A 31-year-old suspect identified as Cole Thomas Allen is in custody following a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, with authorities continuing to investigate his background and possible motives, media reports said late Saturday.
Citing official statements and eyewitness accounts, the reports identified Allen as being from California, later confirmed by US President Donald Trump, who called the suspect “a very sick person,” and said he was thought to have acted alone.
Trump, along with the first lady and several top Cabinet members, was escorted out of the Washington Hilton ballroom, where the event was taking place, by Secret Service. Shortly afterward, he said the suspect had been “apprehended” and shared photos of him on the ground shirtless, along with blurry security footage of what appeared to be a figure darting past security agents.
Officials said the suspect was armed with multiple weapons, including a shotgun, a handgun and several knives. Metropolitan Police interim chief Jeff Carroll said he was also a guest at the hotel hosting the dinner.
Also speaking after the incident, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the suspect reportedly “rushed a Secret Service checkpoint” in a lobby before being stopped by agents.
An officer was shot during the incident but survived thanks to a bulletproof vest he was wearing.
“He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job,” Trump said, adding the officer was “in great shape.”
Witness accounts provided additional details about the suspect’s actions before the shooting.
A volunteer at the event, Helen Mabus, told the New York Post that the suspect appeared to assemble a “long” weapon in a lightly monitored area near a terrace-level entrance.
“He grabbed it out of a bag or something … it was long and didn’t look like a typical gun,” the daily quoted her as saying.
Mabus said the suspect was partially out of view of security while handling the weapon in a “makeshift room” used for storing bar carts.
“He put it together and … ran towards the stairs to go down to the ballroom,” she recounted.
Mabus said the suspect then began firing in multiple directions, estimating she heard at least 10 shots. “It just seemed like he was shooting all over the place,” she said, describing panic among guests.
Authorities said the suspect was later apprehended and transported to a hospital for evaluation.
Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia, said the suspect would face two charges and is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Monday. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said additional charges may follow, noting that the investigation was ongoing.
FBI Director Kash Patel, who was also at the dinner, said the bureau had begun examining the suspect’s background and would “analyze all evidence immediately.”
While officials have said no clear motive was immediately clear, CBS News reported that
Allen admitted to security forces after his arrest that he intended to shoot Trump administration officials.
Citing two sources, the broadcaster said Allen did not specify that he was targeting Trump, only saying he was after “administration officials.”
The suspect is reported to have earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from California State University, and a Cole Allen appears among computer science graduates in the May 2025 commencement program of California State University, Dominguez Hills.
According to law enforcement sources cited by CBS News, Allen worked as a teacher with C2 Education in Torrance, a private tutoring service, and was named “Teacher of the Month” in December 2024, according to a Facebook post. It is unclear whether he was still employed there at the time of the incident.
White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
The incident occurred during the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where President Trump, first lady Melania Trump and other high-level figures were present.
Witnesses reported hearing loud “pop, pop, pop” sounds, prompting guests to take cover under tables as security forces responded.
The Trump couple, Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet members were evacuated from the head table, while other guests remained inside the ballroom.
Secret Service agents and law enforcement quickly intervened, securing the scene and taking the suspect into custody as the event was halted.
Margaux Mirkin, the 70-year-old heiress whose father founded Budget Rent a Car, was the apparent victim of a home invasion on Thursday in which she was assaulted and strangled, according to police.
Officers arrived at her Hollywood Hills home in Los Angeles and learned that the attackers had left the woman inside the residence after allegedly smashing her jaw and choking her.
Property records obtained by NBC4 confirmed Mirkin owns the residence.
Although the full extent of the theft remains unclear, police said the suspects stole cash and jewelry from the home. Neighbors said some of the jewelry belonged to the woman’s late husband, who died in a house fire two years ago.
After the incident, Kristen Stavola, executive director of We Are Laurel Canyon, spoke to NBC4.
“She’s pretty shaken up, as anyone would be after being assaulted in your home and watching your valuables get stolen and driven away,” Stavola said.
An individual who did not want to be identified said the street is “dark” and a “dead-end street.”
“Not many people are on it, so of course it’s like the perfect street for a break-in,” the neighbor said.
NBC4 reported that the robbers dropped a bag containing a large amount of jewelry while leaving the home. When a neighbor saw them and shined a flashlight in their direction, they took off.
The police department’s robbery-homicide division is now managing the investigation.
Nevada — known for its vast deserts and audacious gamblers — is luring Californians away from the Golden State at a higher rate than any other.
The Silver State leeched a net 81 Californians per 10,000 residents each year from California between 2016 and 2025, as California undergoes a mass exodus of residents leaving, according to a report.
The report, titled “Priced Out: RELOCATION AMIDST CALIFORNIA’S AFFORDABILITY CRISIS,” was released on March 31 by the nonpartisan California Policy Lab.
Californians move to Nevada at a higher rate than even Texas, the report notes.
“Nevada is the standout,” the report says. “News reports often mention Texas, but that is misleading. The most accurate measure of popularity adjusts for state population and shows a clear pattern: proximity reigns. Californians most often leave for nearby states, and California also welcomes new residents from neighboring states most frequently.”
Nevada is a much cheaper state for U.S. residents to live in than California. It has no state income tax, unlike California, and housing prices, along with gas prices, are also lower. California’s average regular gas price was $5.88 on Friday while Nevada’s was $4.99, an 89-cent difference.
Evan White, a co-author of the study, says the Californians are leaving for more affordable states.
“The price tag has gone up on the California Dream, and many families are leaving the state for more affordable places,” White, the Executive Director of the California Policy Lab at UC Berkeley, said. “The difference these moves make is stark. Their destination neighborhoods are half as expensive and they end up much more likely to own a home within just a few years.”
The report shows that out-of-state movers pay an average of $672 less per month on housing costs, and home prices are 48% lower. Former California residents are about 48% more likely to own a home in their new state.
Higher-income Californians are also leaving at increasingly higher rates, the report said. The share of higher-income Californians leaving has increased from 34% to 40% since the pandemic.
“Our report shows that people who leave California are increasingly leaving from higher-income neighborhoods,” co-author Dr. Brett Fischer, Researcher at the California Policy Lab, said. “These movers are, on average, in a weaker financial position than their neighbors, and may be moving to attain the quality of life they see their neighbors enjoying but they cannot afford.”
From 2010 to 2024, nearly 10 million people left California. The state is considered one of the most expensive states in the nation.
Idaho, Oregon, and Arizona are the next largest net recipients of Californians on a per-capita basis, the report says.
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