A group of Silicon Valley billionaires’ plan to construct a utopian “city of yesterday” remains on hold until at least 2026. In the meantime, California Forever is pursuing an alternative option for some of its 60,000 acres purchased through years of stealth real estate dealings. According to Rio Vista mayor Edwin Okamura, early discussions are underway to transform a portion of California Forever’s land into a largescale shipbuilding port. “A proposed site for this initiative is near Collinsville—an area long suspected as a potential port,” Okamura wrote last week in a social media post. Preliminary conversations also included potential tax incentives, federal infrastructure funding, and “immediate job creation.” The Solano County town of Collinsville is located roughly 40 miles from San Francisco on the Sacramento River, which ultimately feeds into the Pacific Ocean. Attempts to build a new shipbuilding port in the area date back to at least 1989, and focus on an estimated 1,400 acres previously identified for maritime industrial uses. Although no longer the hub it once was, Solano County and the surrounding region has a deep shipbuilding history that dates back to the opening of Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINS) in 1854. MINS was central to the development and expansion of US naval capabilities for nearly 145 years, particularly when it came to World War II build-up efforts. It also served for decades as a submarine port. The US government finally closed operations for around 7,500 remaining MINS employees in 1996. California Forever publicly announced its $900 million East Solano Plan in August 2023. Envisioned as an idyllic “city of yesterday,” the new town’s founders boasted it would feature “novel methods of design, construction, and governance.” California Forever’s pitch arrived after years of aggressive real estate dealings funded by a group of secretive investors led by former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek. Backers were eventually revealed to include wealthy Silicon Valley venture capitalists like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Lauren Powell Jobs, billionaire philanthropist and widow of Steve Jobs. The East Solano Plan received almost immediate pushback from both local residents and politicians, who criticized the organization’s opaque real estate dealings and lofty promises. Meanwhile, environmental groups criticized the project’s supposed eco-friendliness, with the Sierra Club describing the overall goals as a “hostile takeover” of vital agricultural and natural landscapes. Facing mounting pushback, California Forever withdrew an initial measure to fast-track plans that was slated for inclusion on the region’s November 2024 election ballot. Representatives at the time said they would instead pursue the East Solano Plan through standard channels, including a full, independent environmental impact review along with preparing a development agreement with local county supervisors. “I know from where I stand today, I support this maritime industrial opportunity,” Vacaville mayor John Carli told California’s Daily Republic newspaper last week, adding his belief that it presents “one of the most significant opportunities we have here in Solano County.” Carli also confirmed representatives from the US Navy were a part of the early discussions. The latest pivot arrives less than a month after President Trump announced intentions to revitalize US ship manufacturing. During his first state address on March 4, Trump referenced an impending executive order aimed at jumpstarting efforts to compete with China’s longstanding commercial shipbuilding dominance. A draft of the “Make Shipbuilding Great Again” executive order obtained by The Washington Post also claimed the president would direct Congress to appropriate funds towards the creation of a US Office of Shipbuilding. Executive orders are not functionally identical to federally passed laws, and can be legally challenged. Meanwhile, maritime experts have already expressed doubts about the feasibility of the Trump White House’s vows for a quick return to domestic ship and naval manufacturing.  “It appears to be written by people who have absolutely no idea how the maritime supply chain works,” Lars Jensen, CEO of Copenhagen’s Vespucci Maritime consultant agency, said of the EO earlier this month. Jensen cited President Trump’s ongoing tariff war provocations, particularly those affecting steel and other manufacturing imports, as counterintuitive to any domestic shipbuilding goals. The “Make Shipbuilding Great Again” order has yet to be published. “We used to make so many ships. We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon,” President Trump vowed earlier this month. In an email to Popular Science, a California Forever spokesperson clarified that even if shipyard plans do progress, the project isn’t a “shift away from the city,” but did not provide more details at the time of writing. The post Billionaire utopian city launches new shipyard plan appeared first on Popular Science. ...read more read less