California Forever, a company backed by Silicon Valley billionaires, aims to build a new city in Northern California with thousands of homes and a shipyard to address the state’s housing and jobs crises. Though well-funded and supported by labor unions and implied backing from Gov. Gavin Newsom, a key legislative push failed during the final days of the session.

Protests and a stuffed monkey marked the debate. The company plans to return in 2027, but a new governor may shift priorities. Ben Metcalf of UC Berkeley’s Terner Center noted California’s extreme difficulty in approving large projects, citing decades-long delays in high-speed rail, housing, and Navy yard redevelopments.

He emphasized overlapping state and local regulations that allow local governments to veto projects, making delay the norm. Beyond regulation, mistrust surrounds California Forever due to its secretive land purchases—nearly 70,000 acres in Solano County, almost five times Manhattan’s size—and lawsuits against longtime farmers. Early suspicions of foreign ties and political missteps have fueled opposition, revealing deeper challenges in building at scale in California.