Interview, Fireside Chat
Rebuilding the California Dream
- Jan is the founder of California Forever, a project to build a new city on 60,000 acres in Solano County, situated halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento.
- The project proposes a dynamic, walkable community surrounded by open space and renewable energy generation (wind and solar).
- Construction targets are set for breaking ground in 2027, assuming the "East Solano Homes, Jobs and Clean Energy Initiative" passes in the November election.
- Jan cites a vision formed in his childhood in the Czech Republic (born 1987) during the fall of the Soviet Union, where exposure to 1990s American optimism drove his desire to return to the US and rebuild.
- The project aims to address the Bay Area's housing crisis by offering a permanent solution for up to 400,000 residents with approved land entitlements valid for 30 years.
- A core economic pitch to employers is that a new city will allow employees to purchase homes for approximately $1 million, contrasting sharply with the $4–5 million median in Palo Alto or San Francisco.
- The city design includes "super blocks" limiting internal car speeds to 10 mph, prioritizing pedestrian safety and infrastructure for children to walk to school.
- Commuting logistics are addressed by positioning the city 1.5 hours from major tech hubs (San Francisco, Palo Alto, Menlo Park) and 25 minutes from Napa Valley.
- The initiative seeks to revive the defense and advanced manufacturing sectors by leveraging Solano County's proximity to Travis Air Force Base and existing veteran communities.
- Jan argues that 14% of the U.S. GDP (approx. $4 trillion annually) is lost due to housing constraints in the Bay Area and New York, citing a 2015 study by Enrico Moretti.
- Demographic data indicates that for the last decade, more Americans have moved out of California than moved in, reversing a 60-year trend of population growth.
- The project contrasts the historical innovation success of cities like Florence, Paris, London, New York, and Chicago with the current "zero-sum" housing competition in the Bay Area that has led to social friction.
- Jan suggests that the inability to build housing prevents the modern world from continuing to invent in the Bay Area, risking a shift of innovation to overseas locations with different values.
- The long-term vision is to create a "foundry of American defense innovation" by reuniting the military-industrial complex with Silicon Valley capital, a relationship previously severed due to high land costs and cultural divides.
- The project intends to provide local employment in a county currently lacking major private sector employers, thereby reducing current 1.5 to 2-hour commutes for existing residents.
- Jan compares the feasibility of building an AI company versus building a new affordable housing city, noting the latter is paradoxically more controversial despite being a proven solution to housing shortages.