California Forever: Can Building New Cities Help Solve Our Housing Crisis?
In-person TicketsOnline-only Tickets
If you are not a member yet, now is the time to join our community and receive the great benefits of membership. Members get ticket discounts, special programs, early notice of big events, and more; plus, your membership helps sustain our nonprofit organization's work. Please join! You can become a monthly sustaining member for just $13 a month.
California faces an urgent housing crisis: Median home prices are double the national average and while in 2016 it was projected that the state needed to build 3.5 million new homes by 2025 to meet demand, just one quarter of those have even been permitted. Is building new cities from scratch the solution—or is it just a Silicon Valley pipe dream?
Join us for an eye-opening fireside chat with Gabe Metcalf, head of planning at California Forever, exploring why he sees greenfield development, rather than infill alone, as our best shot at addressing the housing crisis. Drawing upon years in his previous role as CEO of SPUR and now leading urban planning for California Forever’s controversial East Solano Plan—a proposed, VC-backed new city in Solano County—Metcalf will discuss why he believes that cities are humankind’s greatest invention and why building walkable, compact communities must become a normal form of development.
Is it time to rethink our approach to building mass housing or will hurdles mean new cities never break ground? An essential discussion for residents, urban planners, environmental advocates and anyone invested in the Bay Area’s housing future.
This program has 2 types of tickets available: in-person and online-only. Please pre-register to receive a link to the live-stream event.
If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one.
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.
Photo courtesy the speaker.
All ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
Gabriel Metcalf
Head of Planning, California Forever
Moderator TBA
5:30 p.m. doors open & check-in
6–7 p.m. program
(all times Pacific Time)
COST
Members receive 30–50 percent discounts (not a member? Join)
In-person:
$25
Free for Leadership Circle members (without a book)
Online:
$5
