California ranchers battle tech execs' plan for new city
Solano County's vast plains are dotted with cows and slowly turning wind turbines, but underneath this visible calm local residents are facing a battle to keep their land. About five years ago, a shadowy Silicon Valley group began buying parcels of land for the "California Forever" project, a futuristic tech city. So far, the company behind this, Flannery Associates, say they've acquired more than 50,000 acres. "It just breaks my heart" says Cassandra, a ranch owner in Solano, "it's going to ruin all of our country."
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00:10 We just found out a couple of weeks ago now that a group of investors out of
00:28 the Silicon Valley want to build a big city outside of Fairfield,
00:33 actually next to it, our base.
00:36 And so that concerned us, taking away farmland means less food for
00:42 people here and around the world.
00:45 You only have so much and once it's gone, it's gone.
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01:00 >> This is my baby.
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01:04 I call her my mama cow, my mama cow too.
01:08 [LAUGH] They're my easy keepers.
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01:16 They have called me several times to buy my property.
01:19 I've gotten to the point where I tell them no, I'm not interested.
01:23 And now it's at the point of when they do call and they say who they are.
01:27 I basically just hang up.
01:29 I don't even associate with them.
01:31 This proposed city situation, it just breaks my heart
01:36 because it's gonna ruin all of our country, all of our rural area.
01:42 >> So Flannery has purchased all four sides of our property.
01:46 So behind us, in front of us, we are surrounded by Flannery.
01:51 So we are a one acre parcel in the middle of thousands of Flannery acres.
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