The Riverside Press-Enterprise
New city’s fate is something to watch
SACRAMENTO >> Surveys consistently show that owning a home is one of the keys to overall happiness, which no doubt explains why debates about housing prices are so emotional
— and so dominant in the Legislature and at city councils. Thanks to low supply and the resulting price surges, many Californians now struggle to buy homes. The nationwide homeownership rate is nearly 66%, but that number is only around 55% in California.
Obviously, homeownership comes with drawbacks. Replacing a roof or repairing a foundation is expensive. It’s harder to take a new job in another city if you’ve got to first sell your home. But owning a home allows you to design it to your tastes. You’re not living in fear the landlord will sell it. You get tax breaks and can build equity over time. You can settle in and become part of the community. The feds have long viewed homeownership as a key to economic stability.
A brewing battle in Northern California, 60 miles east of San Francisco in exurban Solano County, will determine whether our state is serious about building new housing. It will also show whether YIMBYS — the Yes In My Back Yarders who promote housing construction — are true to their own rhetoric, or are just the urban version of NIMBYS (Not In My Back Yarders) who oppose any construction they don’t like.
People often have the misconception that home prices are so high in the Bay Area because urbanization has limited places to build. In reality, there’s seemingly endless open land throughout the eight-county region — but government growth controls are limiting opportunity for development. For instance, across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, 84% of the land is off limits to development. No wonder the population is only 260,000 — and home prices are absurd.
It’s the same story throughout the area. Growth-control measures in Alameda County have assured that one sees nothing but lovely empty hillsides on the drive to Oakland, but they have scuttled development plans and assured million-dollar median home prices. Solano is home to some major suburbs, but is dominated by vast tracts of ranchland (and wind farms) as one heads eastward to the Sacramento County line. I love the open spaces, but it’s an ideal spot for a new city.
That’s exactly what savvy venture capitalists from the Bay Area are planning. Beginning in 2017, a group called Flannery Associates has quietly purchased 50,000 acres in