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Details emerge for billionaire-backed startup community plan northeast of San Francisco

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Details emerge for billionaire-backed startup community plan northeast of San Francisco


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Image courtesy California Forever

The once-secretive plan for a startup new community in Solano County, Northern California, is beginning to materialize as the company known as California Forever has begun publicizing details for their proposed development ahead of a potential November vote to determine its future. 

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Details made public with the start of a requisite petition drive showed a preliminary map, renderings, and area plan for the project, which would notably be the first large-scale demonstration of the “walkable city” concept designed entirely from scratch in North America.

Image courtesy California Forever

Billed as a future “amazing success story” by the company’s founder Jan Sramek, the development intends to construct some 20,000 new affordable residences plus a solar farm and network of public parks before 2040. The plan reportedly allows for further growth to support a population of up to 400,000. As the announcement post notes, much of the preliminary proposal is focused on creating missing middle housing with ADUs to be included “wherever the owner wants.” Initial phases of construction have been estimated to cost around $800 million. 

Image courtesy California Forever

Image courtesy California Forever

The New York Times went behind the scenes of the scrutinized land grab that took place in the months leading up to its revelation this past fall, while local outlets focused on the combative neighbors still resisting the idea of transforming more than 16,000 acres of prime agricultural land into a new peri-urban community that resembles parts of nearby Sacramento or Alameda county.

Image courtesy California Forever

The plan is being advanced by a group of international financiers apparently fed up with housing and zoning policies and so alarmed at the rates of homelessness and other forms of poverty in the state that they are indentured to create their own self-designed answer underpinned by the careful study of advanced theories about city planning and urban policy from Ebenezer Howard, Leon Krier, and others. Their vision has antecedents in contemporary China and evokes the same scope and social tenor of the BIG-designed Telosa desert city proposed by billionaire Marc Lore in September of 2021.

Image courtesy California Forever

“It’s medium density,” Gabriel Metcalf, California Forever’s Berkeley-trained head of planning, described to Politico. “It’s not traditional suburbia, it’s not Manhattan, it’s in the middle.” 

The initial infrastructure could be in place by the end of 2026, according to their reporting. The urban design for the plan is being done by San Francisco-based studio SITELAB, while its landscape program is undertaken by CMG. Fehr & Peers will provide the transportation strategy. 

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Backers now have until early April to accumulate 13,000 signatures before county officials decide whether or not it will be put up for a vote this fall. 




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S.F. police arrest 20 at 300-person SoMa block party during Pride

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S.F. police arrest 20 at 300-person SoMa block party during Pride


San Francisco police officers arrested 20 people late Saturday night in SoMa after breaking up an unauthorized “Stud Alley” block party with hundreds of participants, according to the police department. It marked the second round of arrests of Pride attendees this weekend after police arrested five people at the tail end of the Trans March on Friday. 

Police officers arrived near Kissling and 11th streets at 10:58 p.m. and “encountered an unsanctioned and unpermitted block party” that had about 300 participants and a D.J., according to a statement from the San Francisco Police Department. The following details are based on the department statement and social media videos; two participants reached by Mission Local declined to comment. 

The department said that the large crowd “prompted the response of additional SFPD resources.” Social media footage shows dozens of officers marching through SoMa streets armed with batons, wearing riot helmets and carrying plastic zip-ties.

Officers then gave an order to disperse, the department said, and told the D.J. to leave the area. The D.J. left but the partygoers did not, the department said, and officers tried to “disperse the crowd.” Two people “resisted,” the department said, and officers arrested them.

Several people also “vandalized two vehicles passing through the area,” the department said, and made them “inoperable.” The two vehicles may have been Waymos: One online video shows two Waymos in the street blinking hazard lights, and appears to show one officer telling others that the Waymos had been vandalized. 

The party then reformed a few blocks later at Washburn Street about two blocks away, the department said, with about 200 people; the police shut that gathering down as well.

Footage from the scene shows a line of officers in tactical gear advancing rapidly on the crowd, shoving people out of the alleyway before forming a cordon line to block the street. In total, 18 people were arrested on Washburn Street, the department said, for “obstructing or delaying a peace officer and unlawful assembly.” 

The department said that “makeshift barricades” had been set up to keep officers at bay; at one point in a video, an officer moves several large rocks that were placed in the street. Two officers sustained minor injuries, the department said.

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SoMa has been the site of unsanctioned “Stud Alley” parties on the Saturday evenings of Pride weekend for at least the past six years. The parties have made headlines in past years for graffiti, broken windshields and outraged neighbors. 

The organizers of Stud Alley posted an announcement this year that they would not host a party, saying that the party had recently “outgrown itself,” but reminded past party-goers of the unofficial slogan that is frequently graffitied onto walls around the party: Every alley is Stud Alley. 

Jesse, a bartender at the nearby bar the Willow, reported seeing cops “everywhere” after the Saturday incident, when people “fled” to the bar to escape. He did not report hearing of any incidents of violence between party-goers and police. 

The arrests mark the second encounter between Pride-goers and police this weekend. On Friday, at the end of the Trans March, police officers arrested five marchers for alleged vandalism and assault after march-goers allegedly spray-painted several statues and a person.

On Sunday afternoon, Washburn and Kissling streets still bore signs of the party. Spray painted on the walls of buildings were “Fuck SFPD,” “No Cops at Pride,” and “Every Alley Stud Alley.”

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6/28 Gamethread: Giants vs. Braves

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6/28 Gamethread: Giants vs. Braves


It’s series finale time, and it’s rubber match time, as the San Francisco Giants host the Atlanta Braves.

It’s a battle of Cy Young southpaws. For the Giants, it’s Robbie Ray, who won the award in 2021 in the American League. Ray, a 34-year old two-time All-Star, is making his 17th appearance of the year, and is 6-6 with a 3.70 ERA, a 4.80 FIP, and 80 strikeouts to 42 walks in 87.2 innings. After a rough patch, he’s been exceptional in his last two games, including allowing just an unearned run in eight innings against the Athletics his last time out.

For the Braves, it’s Chris Sale, who won the prestigious pitching award in 2024. Sale, a 37-year old nine-time All-Star, has made 14 starts, and is 8-5 with a 2.14 ERA, a 2.71 FIP, and 99 strikeouts to 21 walks in 84 innings. He allowed two unearned runs in 5.2 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers in his last start.

Enjoy the game, everyone.

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Who: San Francisco Giants (34-48) vs. Atlanta Braves (49-32)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM



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People’s Budget Coalition Claims Victory After San Francisco Budget Restores Most Proposed Service Cuts – Davis Vanguard

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People’s Budget Coalition Claims Victory After San Francisco Budget Restores Most Proposed Service Cuts – Davis Vanguard


By Vanguard Staff

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco People’s Budget Coalition declared a major victory this week after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Appropriations Committee advanced a budget proposal restoring nearly all of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed cuts to community organizations and workers providing essential services throughout the city.

The coalition credited months of organizing by labor unions, community organizations, residents and advocates for reversing many of the reductions initially proposed in the mayor’s budget. The committee-approved budget now moves to the full Board of Supervisors and then to Mayor Lurie for final approval. According to the coalition, few, if any, additional changes are expected during that process.

The coalition said thousands of San Francisco workers, residents and community members participated in neighborhood town halls, marches, rallies, phone banks, letter-writing campaigns and demonstrations to pressure city leaders to restore funding for programs serving vulnerable populations.

“This budget represents a remarkable victory for every single San Francisco resident,” said Anya Worley-Ziegman, coalition coordinator for the San Francisco People’s Budget Coalition.

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“And it shows that public pressure works. Showing up works. Organizing, going out into communities where people will see their lives impacted by cuts, where people feel like their government and their representatives aren’t listening to them, and giving people an outlet to make their voices heard can make real change.”

Worley-Ziegman credited “the thousands of people, workers, unions, community and advocacy organizations, as well as the leadership of Budget Chair Connie Chan and Supervisors who fought for their districts’ priorities” with helping restore “tens of millions of dollars for essential programs serving our city’s most vulnerable populations.”

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us that budgets are moral documents, and today, City Hall seems to agree,” Worley-Ziegman added.

According to the coalition, many of the mayor’s proposed reductions affecting LGBTQ+, immigrant, student and homeless services were restored through the city’s annual budget “add-back” process during the Budget and Appropriations Committee’s final meeting, chaired by Supervisor Connie Chan.

The coalition said restorations include tens of millions of dollars for senior services, housing and rent assistance, Free City College, HIV services, immigrant services and other community programs.

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The organization argued that many of the programs initially targeted for reductions serve communities that are already facing challenges resulting from actions by the federal government. The coalition said restoring those programs demonstrates continued city support for immigrants, LGBTQ+ residents, Black, Indigenous and other communities of color, as well as individuals struggling with mental health, substance use disorders or homelessness.

The coalition said investments in those communities strengthen the city and help maintain San Francisco’s reputation as a welcoming and inclusive city.

Despite celebrating the committee’s actions, the coalition said significant fiscal challenges remain. It noted that not all proposed reductions were fully restored and that city officials project next year’s budget deficit to exceed this year’s.

The coalition argued that San Francisco possesses substantial wealth, particularly amid the city’s growing artificial intelligence industry, and said city leaders should pursue additional revenue sources to sustain public services rather than relying on service reductions.

“San Francisco is one of the wealthiest cities in the wealthiest country in the world, and with the AI boom, it’s only getting richer,” Worley-Ziegman said.

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“The fact that we need to exert this much time and energy fighting for such a small slice of the pie is, frankly, as ridiculous as it is shameful.”

“We should be laser focused on expanding the pie. We need to be talking about IPO taxes, wealth taxes, mansion taxes, and every policy tool available to close future deficits,” Worley-Ziegman continued.

“It feels like every year our leaders tell the most vulnerable communities to eat cuts and make ‘hard choices,’ while simultaneously opposing comically small taxes on the city’s wealthiest and well connected residents.”

“It should not be this hard to get an immigrant mother on the cusp of eviction $50 to make rent, or a senior living with HIV on our streets counseling or a hot meal.”

Worley-Ziegman concluded by urging advocates to continue organizing beyond this year’s budget process.

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“Yes, let’s celebrate this win, but don’t forget that there’s so much more work to do if we want to move San Francisco forward without leaving its most vulnerable residents behind.”

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Breaking News San Francisco

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budget advocacy community services Connie Chan Daniel Lurie People’s Budget Coalition San Francisco budget





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