Jan Sramek is a 38-year-old Czech new-urbanist with a vision for a new city in the hay fields of Solano County, California. Dubbed “California Forever,” the would-be city intends to separate itself from the problems of older Californian cities while promoting a new future for the state. However, that same state has slowed his progress.

What Is California Forever?

In 2023, Sramek introduced California Forever to the world, backed by tech leaders Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, and Laurene Powell Jobs. The next year, he failed to get approval for his new city by referendum, drawing skepticism from billionaire outsiders. Voters weren’t convinced of the city’s value, but Sramek is currently working with the county to push forward and address concerns. In 2026, he will decide whether to raise the idea with voters once again.

It was in the 2010s that Sramek moved to California, and was inspired to solve the state’s housing crisis with California Forever. He chose Solano County as the epicenter of his new mission in 2018 since it had the highest unemployment and child poverty rates in the region. He and his company bought tens of thousands of acres, quickly becoming the largest landowner in the county.

Making the Initiative Public

In 2023, a New York Times exposé made California Forever’s efforts public, and the company was all but forced to make its intentions clear. By June 2024, they gathered enough signatures to get on the local November ballot, but pushback from residents caused Sramek to retract the measure in July. Despite the residents’ concerns, Sramek had this to say to reporters: “Certain people just hate development.”

“If you look at every state bill that has passed in California in the last 10 years,” Sramek later explained, “they call for a simple zoning code, walkable neighborhoods, affordability by design, sustainability and low emissions. Everything they are calling for is in our proposal. And the bottleneck to building it is widening seven miles of highway?”

Working Within the Boundaries

While Sramek considers California’s regulation and developmental roadblocks to be limits on a remarkable opportunity, he still plans to work within their bounds. He seems to want to work with the county to build his project, promising to address several prominent questions and issues before returning to the ballot.

A Potential Avenue for California Forever to Become Reality

For some time, California Forever seemed to be on indefinite pause, but that was before January 30, when Suisun City added a new item to its agenda. The small, 28,000-person city announced a plan to work with “regional partners” to explore the possibility of expanding their city and annexing the surrounding land. Of course, they could only expand east, into land owned by Sramek’s project.

“The project would stop being California Forever and it would start being the city of Suisun. That’s what was a total mind trip,” said one council member, the only one who voted against exploring the idea of annexation. “To do this was very cunning. It’s diabolical.”

An Uncertain Project

It is Sramek’s opinion that the community will eventually come to accept his initiative, even though it is controversial. Whether California Forever is built or not, Solano County should feel as though it is their decision, but Sramek isn’t interested in hearing “no.”