BAKERSFIELD FUTURE CITY

Talked to a Bakersfield representative of California Division of Oil and Gas at the Petroleum History Institute symposium this past weekend whose only comment was that projects like these meet a lot of resistance.

For now, it’s a city only in his eyes; He’s never built a thing but W. Quay Hays aims to turn 12,000 acres of San Joaquin Valley dirt into a utopia
Gary Polakovic, March 26, 2007 (LA Times)

WHO
W. Quay Hays

WHAT
Hay hopes to turn a desolate, 12,000 acre piece of dirt flats into a 150,00 resident solar-powered, self-contained utopia of 50,000 houses and condominiums, constructed with "smart technology" and new energy-efficient building materials in a village-like matrix with parks, offices and retail centers anchored by four "town centers." It will have three 100-acre solar arrays producing 600 megawatts in the California desert, enough to supply the city and export power. Features include water taxis along a 300-foot-wide, 8-mile long stream through groves and neighborhoods, a theme park, a convention center, a racetrack, an auto mall, industrial land, farms, houses, schools and a medical center.

WHEN
Building could begin as early as next year, though officials say that seems ambitious for the $25 billion project because it is likely to face strong opposition. It would be built in phases over 25 years.

WHERE
50 miles north of Bakersfield on California’s Interstate 5

WHY
- Hays wants to create something different, a self-sufficient and environmentally sensitive city, one that manages its own water, provides its own electricity and generates its own jobs. "I want to see if we can reinvent the way development is done…we will blaze a path for everyone who comes after us. A town like this has to happen in California."
- "We've been building homes the same way for a 100 years," Hays said. "I feel that housing development can be improved, taking everything we know about development and making it better…It's not often you get to build a town from the ground up. We intend to do it right."

QUOTES
- "This is perfect," says Hays, a Pacific Palisades entrepreneur turned developer. "It's halfway between two world-class cities in San Francisco and Los Angeles. It's beside a major highway, it has power lines, and the land" is cheap.
- Carol Whiteside, president of the Great Valley Center, a think tank in Modesto, said such massive "leapfrog" development would only create more sprawl in the San Joaquin Valley, expected to grow from 4 million residents today to more than 5.4 million in 2025. She said new development should be concentrated in or near metropolitan areas, such as Fresno and Bakersfield.
- “Much of California and the West is built on grandiose dreams of outsized development. Hays is just the latest visionary.”