California City: The Largest City Never Built | Tom Scott Has a Field Day

[@mysteriouskazakh]

Looks like every major project I ever started on Minecraft.

[@eliad6543]

Ohh yes...

[@1224chrisng]

Modded Ender Quarrys with Dirt Fill on

[@_tsiatsiaros.k]

True same here

[@quinnkids177]

Yeah lol back in like 2013

[@munmilks]

yas omg so tru

[@abbers0737]

Hey, I live here! It’s kind of funny, I ride my bike out in the desert and there’s miles and miles of dirt roads. Some place even have house foundations that were never built on. It’s kinda cool!

[@rambo-cambo3581]

But exceedingly bleak, hot, and boring. I live in a small city, so I know how boring it can be living somewhere with nothing to do. But on the plus side, the weather changes, it actually rains, we have unlimited and drinkable tap water, and our city is surrounded with valleys, mountains, rivers and lakes. Why the actual fuck would you (or anyone) choose to live somewhere like that, over somewhere like this? And don't say because it's cheap, because here's cheap.

[@abbers0737]

Dredd Mau5 Honestly, it’s all I’ve ever known. My parents got good jobs there, and it a good place to live if you’re into aerospace. It obviously isn’t the best place to live, I know that much for a fact. But I really like exploring the desert and everything around it, so I would never call it boring. You just need to find the right places.

[@みっふ-b9w]

Can you see a ton of stars at night? I'm jealous if you can lol

[@Liggliluff]

@@みっふ-b9w I can only see a kilogram of stars at night.

[@JessicaSilva-oz3ju]

It appears to be missing one of the most desirable things of many cities: a river or body of water

[@romanr9883]

1. buy desert 2. build roads 3. ???? 4. profit

[@jaapjochemlankman3390]

Roman R Wow hahahaha you made my fucking day😂😂😂

[@薛陳月美-r6f]

Jaap Jochem Lankman dislike due to overuse of emojis

[@madmallett]

Roman R 3.The end

[@DaVince21]

薛陳月美 😆🙂😊😍😋😘😉😎😴😝😴😯🤐😪😟😱😬😧😟😳😩😢😤😞😧😧🤠😈👺👽👽💀🤓🤥👿🤠🤧🙉😿🙉😽😾😿🙊👧👴👵🙉😺🙈🤵💁🤵🙋👲🤵🎅👸🙎🎅👰👸👱👰🕺🕴️👥🏂🛌👯🗣️💃🏌️🛀👬🤾🤸🤽👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏎️🤹🏍️🤽👨‍👨‍👧‍👦👉👨‍👨‍👧👈👨‍👨‍👧‍👦👉👨‍👨‍👧👉👨‍👨‍👧👩‍👩‍👧🖐️👍👋🖐️👌🖐️👎💕👣❣️🗨️❣️🗯️💢🗨️👙👜👙👡👘👜💍⛑️⛑️🐯🦁🐵🐅🦁🐃?

[@supamonkey25]

3. Make a racetrack

[@danstrayer111]

Blazing heat, no trees, no water, relentless wind, people like Manson running around. Perfect

[@matthewviramontes3131]

And the mountains aren't even close. It's just nothing.

[@gregbert1037]

What could go wrong!! LOL

[@phillip6500]

I think you're talkin about Lake Los Angeles it's nowhere near Los Angeles and it doesn't have a lake

[@TheDesertwalker]

@@matthewviramontes3131 Tehachapis and Sierra are close, actually. Just a few minutes away,

[@Manie230]

epic redditor that’s also possible in a city. And the plan was that people would move there wich would have mad this a city. All cities once started out with a few houses and only grow over time. If you would have taken a photo of every major city from the sky you could see the growth outwards. What this place lacked was just everything that makes a place suitable for building. It lacked natural protection it lacked water. It’s in a ducking desert wich is already enough for most people to not build a home there. And even if you build in a dessert you build near a oasis.

[@ojas42]

"It has all the amenities you'd expect a small city to have" *shows McDonalds*

[@madmallett]

ojas42 it is America

[@ivanruiz2218]

hahahaha

[@VaderDex]

Well if you are at a McDonald's and you walk 4 feet you will find another McDonald's

[@desertdispatch]

I been to smaller, and cities and communities that have less. and crappier too

[@uncurablekill]

Think that was more coincidence than anything

[@GamingTaylor]

Looks like someone was playing Cities Skylines, spent too much, ran out of money, taxes were too high so everyone left. The end.

[@josephgreen1051]

GamingTaylor Spends all 75,000 dollars on dirt roads

[@mumblic]

exactly my first reaction! ;-))

[@yh2917]

he only connect 1 side of the highway.

[@twone0445]

GamingTaylor and i live here

[@jaouenvezin7355]

GamingTaylor At first I thought t was a video for cities skyline

[@WorldAccordingToBriggs]

I used to go here when I was a kid. We had dune buggies and motorcycles. It was great to cruise through the streets.

[@normalminecraftletsplay]

I like how McDonalds see a city and just grabs it.

[@FranklyWatchingYoutube]

I live in some really small town and there is 3 McDonald's and 5 subways

[@FranklyWatchingYoutube]

The subways are usually empty

[@freeopinion2140]

@@FranklyWatchingKZbin that's because uRsULA the sandwich crusher has ruined their reputation

[@modestoca25]

@@FranklyWatchingKZbin you must be near some major highways or other towns nearby? otherwise that does not make sense.

[@FranklyWatchingYoutube]

@@modestoca25 ik I'm right next to a big city but so I guess it makes sense

[@P98D]

when you are bad at sim city

[@FieldDay]

+Pietro Deligios HAHA

[@Petr75661]

you can still have riots there though

[@Joeink100]

+Evi1M4chine you haven't tried sim city 4000 wich a actually Yano good

[@joshmo1672]

funny

[@THX--nn5bu]

You beat me to it, the exact same thing that I was going to post, I did this a few times in SimCity 4 Rush hour, build slow and develop slow.

[@Grizabeebles]

Ah, drones. Now everybody can do a $2 million helicopter shot.

[@Vok250]

Not if the lobbyists can help it! Getting harder and harder to fly drones legally every year!

[@Grizabeebles]

@@Vok250 -- I think that's the way it should be though. We're getting to the point where drones are going from hobby to widespread commercial use. There needs to be clear, consistent regulation in place or people could get hurt.

[@osdial1]

We had ups and downs lots of them 🤣

[@yakobswells5491]

Grizabeebles you suck these laws for some reason also apply to hobby craft of all sorts and they are fucking everything up for us folks who just like to build planes

[@Grizabeebles]

@@yakobswells5491 -- In that case I suggest you get in touch with one of the many model aircraft associations out there. Here in Canada, the transportation department exempts the MAAC from drone rules because it has its own safety procedures and a 75-year history of operating without incident.

[@theSelodijehermano]

Imagine living in California street in California city, California.

[@logan758]

Most confusing Adress ever

[@wouldntyouliketoknow8904]

hello, my name is California. I am a Californian living in California and I live on California street. I attend California college and I love California. California.

[@stormcloudtheory]

New Hampshire

[@theSelodijehermano]

***** lier.

[@theSelodijehermano]

***** we want to see the receipts.

[@dirtgirl6227]

The mayor seems so proud of her city :) she really loves the place where she lives

[@w3r0ification]

I think anyone would be if they had a job in McDonald's then move to a small town and become a mayor 🤣

[@ih82r8]

She wants her cushy job reelected.

[@xJohnny_Ax]

@@ih82r8 yep, she probably has a nice place in LA with an apartment in CA City so she appears as a “resident.”

[@AcaTea]

@@xJohnny_Ax I am a citizen of California City, and the mayor at the time of this video’s production was Jennifer Wood. She lived here, and she has a lot of love for this place. Even being a citizen here, I don’t know where that love comes from, but she certainly loves it here. She’s a nice lady. Just wanted to clear that up.

[@rosyglasses586]

@@ih82r8 being mayor in Cal city is not a cushy job . Mayors only get $500 a month which barely covers the gas money she used to go to meetings and council members only get $300 a month . No mayor in the city did it for the money . The mayor on this video is retired along with her husband , neither of which are rich . She was mayor because she felt a civic duty to help the town from the corruption that had been going on for years . The land games of buying land , and letting the property go because some didn’t like paying their taxes then those same people would buy it back at a reduced price . She helped get that law changed with the state so they couldn’t buy their own property back when it went into default . She was at all the town events , read to kids at the schools , advocated for money for the town , attended festivals , helped with city clean ups , visited citizens when they went to the hospital and helped get new businesses in town . I know all this because I personally know her . She was the best mayor the city has ever had . And this video is very misleading to what the town is really about .

[@MaartenvanRossemLezingen]

Buy some worthless land in the desert, build some roads, sell it for double the money.

[@qantj]

"roads"

[@NukelearFallout]

qantj vulpis There's such a thing called "dirt roads", moron.

[@qantj]

Dirt isn't what most people think when they hear roads, hence my joke which obviously wasn't well received.

[@NukelearFallout]

That makes sense. I live in more of a rural and suburban area (Oregon), so when I hear road I think of both paved and dirt roads.

[@kalifornia8110]

Fallout like eastern oregon?

[@bobbobson2061]

The world's first Kickstarter campaign

[@BlackPixelLP]

Quick, get iDubbz on this

[@mindmaster_osu]

wow

[@pingpong1138]

and like most Kickstarter campaigns it was never finished

[@reactedtugboat7943]

Nah, that was the Statue of Liberty.

[@metalavenger23]

but the guy who started it walked away with the money

[@robert3302]

When I was a kid in the 60's, my family used to go to the State Fair in Sacramento every year. California City had a big exhibit with a scale model and artists pictures showing what it was going to look like when it was finished. It was very exciting. It was a big disappointment when it didn't happen.

[@punker4Real]

@Ticky Tocky it's a Flood Zone see google maps satellite mode you can see the scars from water from space

[@strayboi]

punker4Real the wash is what floods when theres rain

[@easymac79]

3:50 If California City became the super metropolis they dreamed, there wouldn't be any stars, so I'm not sure that's a selling point.

[@childhoodshows7895]

There's stars in Cali rn actors

[@denimchicken104]

It’s a selling point until it isn’t. By then, it won’t matter. Getting the ball rolling is all that matters. Once people actually fill it out and the star go away, it’ll be developed enough that people will have reason to move there, just no stars.

[@JNF-SATX]

If enough YT, TikTok people move there, they could. Sounds like a plan to make the dream come true!

[@ih82r8]

Agreed. And once the place is covered in cement and asphalt and every last inch of desert is bulldozed under, you can forget about the nights cooling down too. People are such fools when it comes to city planning. I hope this never gets any bigger.

[@DavidKnowles0]

@@ih82r8 This is where city should be planning all ready, they should be planting trees, building lakes, and designing the planning code so buildings have to incorporate garden roofs, that only certain plants can be grown in the gardens.

[@garylangley4502]

They forgot to mention that the official plant of the city is the tumbleweed. I knew someone who lived there. His dad was a civilian worker at Edwards Air Force Base, and then retired out there. It is a good place to live if you like to ride dirt bikes.

[@Nimmo1492]

Looks like a failed Sim City save. Should have built a power plant and power lines.

[@firefox3249]

SimCity? More like Cities Skylines, you filthy E.A pleb!

[@3xclusiv3sodak]

"Commander Shepard"

[@firefox3249]

ExlcusiveSodak "Exclusive Sodak"?

[@3xclusiv3sodak]

it's not a question it's a statement idiot.

[@Aaronlcyrus]

He forgot to hook it to the road leading in....

[@Krezmick]

Imagine how confused the pizza delivery guy would be if you ordered a pizza there.

[@choppersworld5094]

If you can get pizza there I’m going. I live 10 minutes northwest from nearest pizza shop and they won’t come to me

[@kimgkomg]

@@choppersworld5094 can't have shit in Detroit

[@GarrettB06]

I live here and there is a pizza place in the town it’s not all empty

[@joshuaa.kennedy8837]

Without a dwelling they will not give you a address.

[@stellarae8257]

It’s actually not a problem at all! We’ve got a pizza place or two and they both deliver to anywhere in town :)

[@emilyblack7342]

Ooh, this is going to confuse archaeologists 3000 years from now

[@ianism3]

lol that's where my brain went too

[@rachelcookie321]

Is it? How?

[@emilyblack7342]

@@rachelcookie321 a sprawling grid of roads and associated infrastructure. Yet, there are no remnants of houses, no signs of a disaster, no middens of discarded chicken bones and broken dishes, no archeological evidence to be found. Why would a culture create such a place and then abandon it? Was this a monument to their gods? The whim of a crazed and despotic ruler? Punishment for enslaved prisoners? A new capitol abandoned at the start of a forgotten war? Our digital records probably won’t last that long, in the end. My guess is it’s going to be a mystery.

[@rachelcookie321]

@@emilyblack7342 well A. They would probably assume that it was a planned city that was all built out but then the economy went down and it never got finished. And B. Unless a massive disaster wipes out the internet and all our documentation, they will easily be able to find out the actual reason.

[@emilyblack7342]

@@rachelcookie321 I won’t argue point A, maybe they could figure that out. But regarding point B, the internet is one of the least permanent means of communication humans have used. Anything digital doesn’t just require discovery and understanding of the language, like a stone tablet would; it requires the technology (hardware and software) to parse it. The internet is not as permanent as you think.

[@therealnathnath154]

I lived at that briefly mentioned Air Force Base nearby. Nobody will move there. It's 100 degrees 9 months of the year and constant gale force winds. Not to mention California's lack of water with its current cities and population.

[@southernboy2446]

Edwards AFB aka back in the day Muroc AFB

[@lord_hemp]

Lmfao

[@milliebarney4354]

Edwards was dull

[@2MeterLP]

I mean, what do you expect in the desert?

[@jlotto203]

same conditions in las vegas and look at its population growth

[@notfelix5106]

When you start a new sim city, And you spend all your money on roads and stuff but you forget the people and the jobs

[@jousemartinez1106]

Isent that citie skylines,

[@janebayot632]

8

[@Voron_Aggrav]

@ViperSA depends on which one, the Older ones where Great, the always online one just killed itself basically, and well Simcity just can't compete anymore with City Skylines, but without those old Maxis titles that for their time and limitations where amazing we'd not have Skylines now

[@garym444]

@ViperSA so do you

[@garym444]

@ViperSA so do you

[@samuelskillern7365]

Why does this seem like a SimCity template?

[@properjuicytv7458]

becuase ur name is samuel

[@TackKeyNack]

Huuuuuuuh?

[@CoffeeSuccubus]

build it in simcity 3000

[@FreekyFreezer]

why refer to simcity when there is a godlike city builder made by paradox?

[@CoffeeSuccubus]

***** Paradox is the king of games.

[@MannyN420]

Basically a real life Sim City account that has been abandoned. LOL

[@JerryRigEverything]

This is absolutely fascinating. Thank you!

[@llll-lk2mm]

I like your taste jerry!

[@Artuar3CRaFT]

Fr

[@PurpleRanger69]

Give me an electric car plz. Thx

[@DJ.LakeSea]

More stars than Holywood……. That's generally the case in the middle of a desert with no lights around.

[@Pieceoreece]

Also building a city in a low light-polluted area is probably not a great way to preserve said low light-polluted area lol

[@57thorns]

Yes, that is kind of a stupid thing to point out. Unless there are a lot of local celebrities, like astronauts, air force pilots and the like that counts as stars. I imagine it is a nice retreat reasonably close to both the Space Center and the Airforce Base, without being on either of those. Or a vacation home for B list celebrities.

[@doctormcboy5009]

u noticed that 2!

[@childhoodshows7895]

There stars in California city just there old

[@alertchimp]

Fill it up and watch the stars disappear. She's just parroting the sales pitch.

[@AlqGo]

What? He managed to sell a wasteland and make profit? Fucking genius.

[@iam_tenko1213]

That's what Las Vegas once was, look at it now.

[@AlqGo]

iAM_TeNKo How many cities have developed like Las Vegas?...Yep, just one.

[@iam_tenko1213]

Wrong... Adelanto California UTC−8 City 31,765 Apple Valley California UTC−8 City 69,135 Barstow California UTC−8 City 22,639 Boulder City Nevada UTC−8 City 15,023 Bullhead City Arizona UTC−7 City 39,540 California City California UTC−8 City 14,120 Henderson Nevada UTC−8 City 257,729 Hesperia California UTC−8 City 90,173 Hurricane Utah UTC−7 City 13,748 Ivins Utah UTC−7 City 6,753 Kingman Arizona UTC−7 City 28,068 Lake Havasu City Arizona UTC−7 City 52,527 Lancaster California UTC−8 City 156,633 Las Vegas Nevada UTC−8 City 583,756 La Verkin Utah UTC−7 City 4,719 Leeds Utah UTC−7 Town 820 Mesquite Nevada UTC−8 City 15,276 Needles California UTC−8 City 4,844 North Las Vegas Nevada UTC−8 City 216,961 Pahrump Nevada UTC- 8 Town 43,000 Palmdale California UTC−8 City 152,750 Ridgecrest California UTC−8 City 27,616 Santa Clara Utah UTC−7 City 6,003 St. George Utah UTC−7 City 72,897 Tehachapi California UTC−8 City 14,414 Twentynine Palms California UTC−8 City 25,048 Victorville California UTC−8 City 115,903 Washington Utah UTC−7 City 18,761 Yucca Valley California UTC−8 City 20,70... And that's just in the Mojave.

[@AlqGo]

iAM_TeNKo What makes you think cities like Pahrump, Ridgecrest, Tehachapi and many others are comparable to Las Vegas? No offence to people living there but this list is laughable.

[@iam_tenko1213]

Cairo, Egypt pop - 9 million...also in a desert

[@GraverFILMS]

Looks ideal for illegal street racing

[@TomScottGo]

+Graver Maybe not racing, but they have actual, legal trails out there for ATV offroading. (The mayor mentioned it, in a bit of the interview we didn't use!) Also there's something called Wasteland Weekend, inspired by Mad Max...

[@JapaneseModernist]

+Tom Scott Wasteland Weekend? Are there lots still available for purchase??

[@Reziac]

+Clever Brunozoid Plenty, all the time. There are realtors who make a career out of flipping lots in this area. Be aware that if power doesn't already reach the lot, bringing it in will cost you ... well, in 1984 it was $40/foot, doubtless much higher now. Attaching to the municipal water system will set you back around $15,000. If you're out of its range, drilling a well costs somewhere between $25,000 and $60,000, depending how deep they have to go. (When I had to replace my well pump in 2007, that alone cost me $11,000.) So the low prices on these lots are kinda deceptive as to the total cost. OTOH Kern County is pretty easy to deal with and permit fees are much lower than in most of SoCal (don't know about CA City which might have its own permit system on top of that). If you're outside the city limits, there's basically no restrictions on what you can build or do... tho on that note, take care that your lot isn't in a declared kangaroo rat habitat area, cuz if it is you're not allowed to do ANYTHING with it.

[@Shadow77999]

+Rez Zircon thx for the comment, im buying one of those lots and wanted to be better informed first

[@hhs_leviathan]

*_DEJA VU_*

[@snoozz336]

I immediately think this would be an amazing place to host a race.

[@IntenzBeatz]

True... I like the way you think

[@garykuyper4669]

There's a lot of them actually. Generally just for CA state, there must be a dozen. Here in the desert, it's mostly off road which is fine. I saw a few guys try to ditch the cops out there, but copters make it look hopeless at that point lol.

[@thomas.r344]

Years from now on TV: On the next episode of Ancient Aliens Season 19 we see first evidence that the extraterrestrials visited California. Could these carvings in the earth be a landing zone for spaceships? Or is it part of an interstellar map they used to navigate space?

[@Mikewee777]

Thomas Reichpietsch , funny because it is true.

[@oneplussixelectricflame2471]

ancient aliens actually show lots of important information and ancient sites, you exaggerate too much

[@hotpockets2224]

@@oneplussixelectricflame2471 you take things too seriously

[@roguishpaladin]

Funny thing is that it's like one town over from Mojave, CA, which is an actual landing zone for spaceships.

[@iguanapete3809]

Like the Nazca Plains.

[@LoganAllec]

True Story: I flipped a house here a few years back.

[@dragonman1871]

Has it landed yet?

[@davidskidmore8612]

Your really strong wow 👏

[@FlyingJournalism]

I want to build my own airstrip there, who wants a free flight up there?👍👍✈

[@brentricci9063]

I am currently in the process of doing this also

[@scanjett]

you don't actually realize how many stars there are if you live in a big city or near one.

[@FieldDay]

+scanjett As our teams are in LA and NYC, we second that!

[@audience2]

As the world replaces all its lights with LEDs it should use light fittings that direct the light downwards.

[@chrism1516]

It would be nice, but everything we do in the roads would probably be harder with red light, imagine trying to drive with a dim red light. One city that does use the red light idea is San Diego (maybe) but they use a red phosphorus burning light that is more orange than red, as it is a bit more useful for the roads.

[@kreeperkiller3223]

+Herbert Grabbottom Yes because everyone who comments on a video on youtube is automatically a Westerner, you ignorant piece of shit.

[@DR-54]

and you do if you live in the middle of no where trust me they're everywhere

[@RauSiMic]

Some future civilization is going to come and think there was an enormous cit there and it got wiped by nuclear war or something

[@melo7572]

No they wouldn't because there's no artifacts

[@jonanddy]

@@melo7572 Ok Melo

[@myriadmemento1298]

@@melo7572 You're not volunteering to become an artifact?

[@dizzymindy6024]

Lmao

[@Shmozone]

He should have played City Skylines. Never start big, rip.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

fuck skylines ,simcity is OG

[@twisted9285]

girlsdrinkfeck simcity is garbage

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@dark zeratul i disagree, its dumb city skylines makes u lay down power cables like its the 1930s again and water pipes ? thats so sim ciity 2000 ... so glad simcity 5 got rid of that nuisance ,also the rate people die in the game is unrealistic

[@Randze]

@@girlsdrinkfeck I'm pretty sure theres a big difference between a $30 game and a free game

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@@Randze free what?

[@CC-ts2se]

Haha, my Grandmother purchased a plot there. Someone in the family still owns the plot. We went out and visited it a few times.

[@CC-ts2se]

She lived across the valley on the mountain in Phelan!

[@haydenknapp8521]

A few times?? why did you need to go more than once?

[@CC-ts2se]

@@haydenknapp8521 I was a child. It was not choice. Hahah

[@CC-ts2se]

@@haydenknapp8521 I think they might have been trying to figure out who was going to pay the taxes. Ahhahah

[@jeffreyruiz21]

@@navjotsingh8800 ha I bought one at auction 2 1/2 acres for 5k

[@davidrossington9756]

If you build it, they MAY come.

[@speedy01247]

If you build it they will come, buy most of it, then do nothing with it and let the land fall back into the government's hand's.

[@davidrossington9756]

speedy01247 Sounds accurate.

[@tange-lq5jg]

TheLyingTruthTeller untrue

[@JackC11111]

The Field of Dreams movie was good

[@Ragnar6000]

they built Detroit too.........and its rotting away!

[@BillyTubememe]

in da future ppl are going to think aliens bult those "glyphs" (roads i mean)

[@FieldDay]

+Guy Kazemeka SOOO TRUE!

[@sharpe3698]

out that, "they appear to have had a religious purpose"

[@MrMrMaran]

+Guy Kazemeka Probably not, because they follow the same pattern with lots, streets, boulevards and cul de sacs as any other american city. The city is well recorded in many documents all over the world, and if there is a big disaster where all of known history is forgotten, humanity would likely go with it as well.

[@BillyTubememe]

MrMrMaran Yeah but maybe a fire may break out and destroy documents and maybe cities would be different in the future...

[@MrMrMaran]

+Guy Kazemeka Except a fire isn't going to happen all at once all over the world. And even if cities look different in the future, we will still have some old cities around. We constantly discover old cities like the one near Angkor Vat in Cambodia, I'm pretty sure we aren't going to be confused about it's usage. Not 100 years from now, or 10000 years from now.

[@samA-qr9ru]

I used to ride my dirt bike out there for days! I miss it.

[@xboboax1]

same I live up in the mountains behind CA city now cause we hated the dessert, but i still miss my bikes :(

[@MrPROGAMER56]

still go there except the riding fees keep going up

[@mehdibouchaffra868]

Lmaooo

[@mehdibouchaffra868]

I just responded to a comment from 1 year ago.

[@fredweller1086]

My father bought a lot down there in the early 70's. Waited years for power and water to be brought in... as promised. Never was. Sold the lot about 15 years later. Lost his arse on that one. The good news is the rest of his investments did well. But that was one big mistake... For many folks.

[@57thorns]

He was there with the rest of the high risk investors. You win some, you lose some, but you never buy to live.

[@EvilAnomaly]

Actually grew up partially in this empty town in my teen years, glad I did too compared to the ghettos of L.A at that time which I was originally from. Would I live there as an adult, not a chance in hell but I'm glad I spent my teen years there!

[@57thorns]

A step up from the ghetto, a few steps down from where you ended up? Seems like congratulations to a job well done is in place.

[@guywhite667]

The mayor says there is plenty of space. Well, that's pretty common in the desert. Is there any water?

[@fartfarmer4951]

Was gonna say go grab a cactus but I didn't see any... lol bet they are stingy as hell with the water atleast towards homeowners who don't make large contributions...

[@Senaihh]

Plan was to build a dam there

[@continental1970]

no water but the scorpions are the size of my 12 inch running shoes, no bull...a lot of snakes too.

[@jackmoore3499]

There is a water cleaning facility nearby many aqueducts and a lake which was supposedly to be what the city was built around.

[@jackmoore3499]

The lake is at a park though and it’s not like you could go in it or just use it, you wouldn’t want to anyways it is kind of gross.

[@FieldDay]

Ever heard of California City? Well by land it's the 3rd largest city in California, only no one came to build! Tom Scott is the best!

[@Steamrick]

+Field Day Too bad that the North American Southwest is likely going to experience more and worse droughts in the next century, so California City is going to ultimately fail due to one huge showstopper: lack of water.

[@Reziac]

+Steamrick Municpall water for desert communities doesn't rely on rainfall; it relies on wells drilled into deep aquifers (the ones I'm familiar with in the area go down 1500+ feet). But I agree, it's a limiting factor. And not because of drought, but because California's water management is sheer lunacy -- even in drought years, FOUR TIMES as much precipitation flows downhill into the sea as is used by Californians, but since no reservoirs have been constructed since the 1970s, water use relative to water storage capacity has become massively lopsided. For that you can thank "green" activists who are less concerned with the fact that every living thing uses that stored water (every reservoir built by man becomes a haven for wildlife), than with driving California into water bankruptcy.

[@seigeengine]

+Steamrick Unlikely. We already rely on massive distribution chains for resources, and with rising populations, there's only so much land with direct availability of water. If something causes the city to fail, it's unlikely to be droughts.

[@Steamrick]

seigeengine Except that those resources are being used up increasingly rapidly and the massive distribution chain is barely a fraction of what's really needed once groundwater dries up. It's already happening - just take a look at the Hoover Dam water level, it tells you everything you need to know about the water system in the entire region.

[@seigeengine]

Steamrick Except that those are problems we already solve,

[@kct9967]

I remember going out there as a kid, my parents were actually thinking of moving out there back in the 60's. I believe they also had model homes to look at back then.

[@eightbitminiboss]

Used to live there while my Dad was working at Edwards AFB nearby. I was in the Mojave High School (at the time, Cal City didn't have a high school) band that played at the opening of the McDonalds because it was a such a big deal, lol. Also there was a Chevron there for a time, until it burned down and approximately the entire town was there watching it burn...

[@FieldDay]

+digitaldiatribe Thanks for sharing!

[@KuraWulf]

+digitaldiatribe Pretty much the exact same circumstances here, Except I went to school on base(Desert High School) because cal city is pretty ghetto. Moved away a year or two ago, glad to have gotten out of there. While the video is pretty optimistic if you have actually been there you know its not that well off.

[@KuraWulf]

I mean, when I was living there our house was robbed so :P Im sure its getting better, and it was never a terrible place, just dusty and didnt have much going on.

[@SkyFoxCode]

Just checked the real estate and the prices for houses is actually pretty dang good. I live in ABQ right now and honestly this place sounds like a dream. If I ever have a job where I can work from home and make a decent income, I would totally move out there. I love the desert.

[@gamezoid1234]

It's like simcity but everyone decides your city is shit.

[@daveboz1984]

i actually lol'd :D

[@RingxWorld]

but magnasanti

[@FoxVox]

Me and about 5000 other folks flood California City every September, and they are some of the nicest most accommodating people! There may not be a bustling downtown area, but it's more than made up for in charm! Thanks from the Wastelanders, CC!

[@EmRawson]

Hell yeah I read your comment and knew it had to be a fellow wastelander!!

[@mxkcrm]

Y'all going this year?

[@golubhimself]

When you make a lot of roads in Cities Skylines

[@doeeyez00]

My father is the treasurer of California City. He has lived there for over 20 years while working at Edwards AFB and he loves his city.And the Mayor was spot on about the stars, no where have i ever seen so many and things like the milky way so clearly.

[@ThePoptartster]

I lived in the next town over for half my life.. the Mojave is beautiful, but it's dead. Kids end up doing drugs and getting into trouble because there is nothing happening out there. "The only thing to do in a desert is leave."

[@fooshfoosh]

+ThePoptartster Ya, kinda sad that a place called California City was made in a land locked part of Ca. No ocean, trees, rivers, etc. Not a great location really...

[@ThePoptartster]

fooshfoosh Well there is the Mojave river. It's landlocked and flows inland... when it flows. And Death Valley is nearby. Also the air is really quite good.

[@Reziac]

+ThePoptartster There's "nothing happening" in much of the flyover midwest either, yet kids there don't get into more trouble than average (if anything, less). The real problem is that Los Angeles uses their north county area as a dumping ground for perps and early-releases, so lowlife have kinda tended to congregate around these desert communities -- far enough from civilization that no one can see what they're up to, close enough to L.A. to have an easy market for drugs and stolen property. Kids copy their peers, and if that's what they're seeing around them -- well, yeah, it's not a good thing. And the desert itself isn't dead. It's loaded with life, all of it HUNGRY!!

[@ThePoptartster]

Rez Zircon The High Desert was nicer until the economy tanked. So many houses were abandoned, and the banks rented them out to lower income families fleeing the inner cities.

[@Reziac]

+ThePoptartster Yep, that's for sure. :( Got to where it was tough to find good tenants, too.

[@rahkinrah1963]

I remember going through that area numerous time with my parents "way back when"...and seeing what appeared to be road cuts (like for a new subdivision). We always figured it was someone's plan for a "development. So this is it.

[@IvanTravels]

California city mayor is a bit optimistic

[@seigeengine]

+Ivan Travels And why not? They seem to be doing fine, and they have the land to grow as they need to.

[@TitoTheGeek]

Field Day keeping the part where she rants about journalists showing the desert was a bit ironic.

[@ragnkja]

+Tito1337 I think her main rant was about *only* showing the desert.

[@TitoTheGeek]

+Nillie Yeah so Field Day included three shots of the city...

[@choppedfoxx3488]

+Ivan Travels My brother has a business and lives in a town of 15,000, he is doing very well for himself and ive hlped his business a few times and slept in that city for a few weeks, 15,000 is nothing to scoff at

[@jcxxmotoxx]

It's a great place to stage to go dirt biking into the Mojave desert. I've also used it as a gas stop making a big 90ish mile loop from Ridgecrest toward Paiute Peak, fun ride.

[@bengold121]

My dad brought a land in California City in the 80s ; he always tells me while growing up in L.A. that his land will be develop soon. We keep coming once in a while to California City and still was not develop; so finally he just sold the land because he was getting too old and didn't want to pay the land taxes any more. I think that was a wise decision. People who bought those land back then thought it was a new gold rush and a dream to own a land; but unfortunately was scam. Meanwhile their neighboring city Palmdale and Landcaster was developing much faster than Calfornia City because they had the space industry (not any more). Anyway, I hated that land because it was in a hot desert.

[@punker4Real]

it's doing well with rush hour traffic now available on the weekends

[@Pcarnevaaa]

You do realize climate change will change that right? Places that were hot are now going to be cold. The coast won't be the coast for long after the large earthquake or "big one" comes. Only a matter of time.

[@timbehrens9678]

@@Pcarnevaaa Blade Runner is a great movie, but I haven't seen that much rain in LA back in 2019. It is going to be even dryer in the near future.

[@justayoutuber1906]

like swampland in Florida. First rule: location, location, location.

[@rachelcookie321]

I don’t think you can really call it a scam. The city just didn’t develop as much as they hoped. They didn’t trick people to steal their money.

[@Herrcampzalot]

Well this explains The Nasca Lines of peru! Now I get it!!! lool

[@petroshagos6149]

lolol

[@pak3ton]

Hisotry of nasca lines Inca emperor: i want pyramids, as aztecas, mayas, egytians. Builder: i cant do that.... i have a better idea. Inca emperor: well not bad. :v

[@sirnate9065]

If this is not well documented it will be one of the big mysteries in a few hundred years.

[@max2themax]

Well now it´s on the youtube.... It will live FOREVER.

[@arkalbin7408]

Someone quick report this until it's removed

[@salemsaberhagen8390]

lol as if youtube or the internet will last hundreds of years

[@jamesbond9975]

+David Frigault Will the Internet survive though? I highly suggest you familiarize yourself with European hate speech laws because they're coming to the Internet. ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/hate_speech_code_of_conduct_en.pdf

[@jamesbond9975]

David Frigault Oh little buddy it's already happening in Europe. www.theverge.com/2016/7/13/12170590/facebook-hate-speech-germany-police-raid Americans don't have to worry about getting arrested just having videos and comments censored and deleted.

[@crazypeepsbrosk1]

you won't see any more stars when people move there.

[@lucaswvargas3826]

I thought the same.

[@youvegotmail9205]

to letters XD

[@308_Negra_Arroyo_Lane]

Except that there's no fucking water.

[@KerplunkyGames]

That never stopped anyone before... LA Canal ring a bell?

[@308_Negra_Arroyo_Lane]

LoL, and how's that working out?

[@KerplunkyGames]

Awful, thats the point. :P

[@someone-ji2zb]

Awful because of our governor's misplaced spending. I wonder where our raised income taxes and raised small business taxes have gone off to... certainly not towards building aqueducts.

[@RoninDays]

Groundwater is likely plentiful unless LA or LV are pinching it all tbh. (which is likely)

[@markbowles2382]

Tom, I'm glad you're still at this, I think you've got something speacial, maybe a few something speacials, that make you a natural presenter of good interesting topics - thanks for sticking with it for so long and cheers from NE FLA.

[@chrisishereo2434]

3:50 "More stars in California City than in Hollywood". Just another way to say how empty your city is.

[@Rapture582]

lol that woman was such a shill

[@iliatchaplinski]

Well, she was the mayor. If your mayor does not speak well of your city, it is time to get a new mayor.

[@cassiedurbin4059]

Ay tho. It’s good for a small town BUT the nights in cal city in the middle of nowhere is beautiful. Seeing all the stars. But we have more abandoned houses than filled houses. And people just ride the dirt roads 🤷‍♀️ it works.

[@hegeliandetective1034]

I'd enjoy seeing the stars at night

[@Pcarnevaaa]

Or... or... wait for it. Realizing how shitty hollywood and the elites have become today. With all of them pretending to know what is best for the masses but completely disconnected from reality.

[@nathanielpillar8012]

Just tell the Chinese about this. They will fill it up in no time.

[@briansammond7801]

The Chinese have plenty of ghost cities of their own.

[@kellenanthoney4588]

The Chinese send workers to CC to set up drug houses, where they do everything from grow cannabis to cook meth.

[@abbers0737]

Dude. They did. There was a whole cartel XD

[@voli293]

No. We want the city to actually look good

[@european-one]

You should watch some documentaries about these Chinese city's. Essentially the local governments are funding these to artificially boost short term economic growth. If they stopped their economy would suffer. The buildings they construct cut so many corners to get up wuickly and you can see buildings only 3 years old where the concrete is already crumbling because it wasn't build correctly/ bribes were taken etc. In the dessert they would collapse in about 4 months

[@speedwolf]

That spaceport will be the city's eventual success.

[@HammaneggsAirborne]

All that needs to happen is have Elon Musk's rockets become rated for launching over land, and that would be a great place.

[@jackmorris303]

or Virgin Galatic run their tourist space flights from there. That'll be one way to bring in huge investment.

[@PunchMyPriest]

A spaceport in the desert? It will become a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

[@HammaneggsAirborne]

Look who's talking.

[@stormcloudtheory]

You had best be cautious.

[@conorjamesmahoney5941]

2:15 OMG I just noticed that the map says "City of California city" LMAO

[@stevenvanhulle7242]

"City of California City, California"

[@geothon]

@@stevenvanhulle7242 COCCC

[@dolst]

For the naming process, they consulted with the Department of Redundancy Department. Surf Wisely.

[@maggiejetson7904]

Because if you don't say that it could mean a County of California, you know, a city called YouKnowWhat in the County of California.

[@dinahmyte3749]

That's name of a lot cities. My college town was City of Iowa City, Iowa.

[@motofoto11]

This location has a drastic problem that will doom it... NO WATER

[@ryandonahue5141]

the next great wars will be for water

[@gamalielgoodman]

+Ryan Donahue mad max much

[@tokahontas9990]

+Ryan Donahue no, I 100% promise they won't, we care more about resources that don't cover our entire planet

[@edofluit7026]

no it wont xD

[@jluehring]

The rest of Southern California where people actually live is already in enough of a water crisis, they are not going to spend billions to pipe precious water out to the middle of the Mojave

[@MysteryBlokHed]

I might be overly sensitive, but I feel really bad for the guy who built the city.

[@snatched.8135]

Dont be. Like the guy says at the end, the dude made his money. Everyone may have laughed at his failed city, but he laughed all the way to the bank.

[@idkdrew]

Adam Thompson-Sharpe he made money

[@snatched.8135]

Nothing in Particular Well he was a business man. What he was interested in was money. If he had been some kind of politician or wanted to create a specific type of city different than anything else then perhaps he could've been sad about it. But I dont think that was the case here. I think he was happy with his money.

[@FunkSoulBrother7]

He was a piece of shit scammer. fuck him

[@ShaunCheah]

Well, his city just hasn't fully blossomed yet. World population isn't stopping at 8 billion, and California is going to be relevant for a long while. I think there are better odds for California City filling out the remaining lots before the year of our Lord 2300 rolls around than there are for it failing completely. China's got similar plans; they've built entire actual cities, not just the roads. They're very vacant and kinda spooky but they're well-maintained and just waiting for a population to make the move from the provincial areas into the 21st century. This sort of generational-based forward-thinking is the reason why China has been so successful lately and why I believe they'll continue being successful in the future. Wish they were better about human rights, but we've got Scandinavia for that, I suppose.

[@TomsBackyardWorkshop]

I live near Cal city. You couldn't pay me to live there. They have a terrible crime rate and a huge drug problem.

[@crapper1]

that sums up most of the state

[@JohnJFebreeze]

+crapper1 have you ever been to California LA is bad but Northern California is the best

[@pjdillon7982]

I live near there too I've heard of it but didn't know anything about it kinda like zyzzx

[@MrYouarethecancer]

Sums up most of minority America.

[@hissoldier2002]

I also live near there.... they have a terrible football team

[@JoeBob79569]

_"You can see all the stars here"_ is maybe a bit misleading. I mean, now you probably can, but when thousands of people come to live there, with all their light pollution, you won't be able to. It's like a self unfulfilling prophecy.

[@raterbeast]

I really want to hoon my impreza there now.

[@blazers12369]

i was legit thinking the exact same thing😂

[@ChargerHouse]

That'd be cool, so badly want to do a flaming burnout in my scraping low Bumer.

[@sadrobokiller4]

If you can get there you totally should man!

[@scottcarlson9265]

I seriously was thinking about the same thing in my WRX

[@faisal3398]

If I can get there, I'll make my own rally course

[@alibarron7558]

The land was obtained from the U.S. Government through the "mining claim" process in which one had to do a certain amount of improvements on a claim and then the Government would give you the almost free deed to the land. After obtaining the deed one could do anything you wanted with the land. I was working with the land surveying firm that laid out the mining claims in the early 1960s. The Government actually gives you a "patent" and not a "deed" in verbage.

[@tesmith47]

Another example of how the government helped to make SOME people rich white males

[@kylefowler5082]

this is an underrated comment

[@mihaim3587]

Those are the Lion Estates, when Marty came back to 1955 :))

[@paulleckner8235]

Funny!

[@TheEastside661]

I used to visit my grandma here in the late 90’s. We’d drive up from Los Angeles. Good memories & yes it is indeed the epitome of “The Middle of Nowhere”

[@Reziac]

I used to live about half an hour away, in the far western part of the Mojave Desert. There really is nothing out there to attract average people under normal circumstances, but since the price of housing has gone so high closer to Los Angeles, being 1.5 hours away from the real job market has become less inhibiting, and it's become a bedroom community where you can still buy an inexpensive lot and put up an inexpensive house... if you don't mind the commute. But if you don't love the desert, there's really nothing to attract you. Most people leave the moment they can afford something closer to civilization. Me, I became a desert rat and stayed for 28 years, and left with sore reluctance. That vast expanse of wild wasteland is joy to my eyes.

[@seigeengine]

+Rez Zircon One of these days I'm going to go to a desert and likely be profoundly disturbed. I've spent my entire life so far in water-plentiful very green areas.

[@ragnkja]

+Rez Zircon Coming from the coast of Norway, the main thing I would miss there would probably be the sea. I definitely don't mind dark, starry skies.

[@Reziac]

+Nillie Yeah, when you get out far enough to escape the light pollution, the sky is amazing -- on a moonless night, the stars can be bright enough to cast shadows.

[@Reziac]

+seigeengine My sister says to me, "What do you see in this place? There's nothing here!" And I replied, "That's right! miles and miles of beautiful, wonderful, NOTHING!" When I first moved to the desert, I hated it. But it grew on me, and I became a proper desert rat... I've since moved back to Montana, but I'll probably always miss the desert.

[@ragnkja]

Rez Zircon I'm glad I live in a small village, rather than a town or a city. I've tried that for a few years, and really missed the stars I'd grown up with seeing. Living somewhere with so much light pollution that I couldn't even see Cassiopeia or Orion's Belt is definitely not for me!

[@LordSandwichII]

Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? DRAG STRIPS!!! :D :D :D

[@LordSandwichII]

***** Or a rally circuit? Anyways, my car is British and eat any American car around corners... ...right after I've sorted out the problem with the carburetor, that is! XD

[@DannyMinick]

not everything has to be rally. drag racing is quite popular.

[@chrism1516]

Just go out there Thanksgiving weekend!!!!! :D

[@thewiirocks]

Very true once upon a time. Not so much anymore. My Camaro has little trouble hanging with "the big boys" and in the upper models can easily eat their dinner. Invoke the 'Vette and the cornering value for your money is pretty damn good. (Especially if they've finally got the Z06 problems sorted.)

[@operator8014]

Well, we make the Corvette as well, which will CRUSH nearly anything costing even twice as much around the Nurburgring.

[@shaneware2939]

I wonder how many of these post-war desert oasis planned communities were platted and never built. I recently discovered that my family owns a plot in the middle of the Chihuahua Desert in NM, exactly like this.. huge planned community platted and laid out with streets, but never built upon.

[@AaronOfMpls]

There've been some of those in Florida too -- platted during the land boom of the 1920s but never really built on before it went bust. Heck, there were also some "paper towns" here in Minnesota -- platted in the 1850s, but never developed due to the Panic of 1857 (financial crash/recession) killing off demand, and/or railroads bypassing them in the 1860s and later.

[@jordan_beard]

It appears to be missing one of the most desirable things of many cities: a river or body of water

[@jeffmurray4627]

it has a lake that's well......not used....check out Lake Shore Inn in California City. Abandoned hotel. Photos of it remind me of Detroit. Seeing it also makes you feel the same.

[@MrPolloloco52]

I wouldnt drink bloody water. Its easier to have a water well drilled and a septic system installed.

[@uhhidk8253]

@@jeffmurray4627 that's a really tiny lake. Where does it gets its water from?

[@goodtalker]

LA, Phoenix, and San Diego....all within the top 10 in the US in terms of size and population and, essentially, not next to any significant water supply. Water is siphoned off the Colorado at Parker, Arizona bound for LA and then south to San Diego. Just up the river, the same thing happens with the Arizona Central Water Project. It takes water inland over 300 miles. California City, more than likely, never had a chance.

[@goodtalker]

@Sam Erens I do not understand your question Sam.

[@THELANKANCOMRADE]

Ah the 60s and the exciting space craze. Wish I could go back.

[@LitFart]

Ah yes, the 60s. Wish I could go back to be tricked by the government into thinking they cared for space travel for purposes other than a glorified pissing contest.

[@kalebbruwer]

+Umbrius Spacex is privatising space travel, so soon we can forget all about needing the goverment for it.

[@Solid_Hank]

The 60s wasn't that good. There was smoking on planes, lead in gasoline, asbestos, disease, and drugs.

[@kalebbruwer]

Ryan Franke yea, I think I'm happy in this time where people protesting about pathetic things is most people's biggest problem.

[@FreakingThomas7]

Wait, drugs were bad?

[@daniels1293]

I remember when we moved to Florida in 2008 because of the housing recession an we moved behind a new subdivision being built, and the same week we moved there the construction stopped, I think like 3 houses got part way built, and some of the roads got paved but it was almost two miles of empty lots.

[@blindeagle2194]

lol, the stars will disappear the more the city grows though...

[@ThatBigFail]

+Blind Eagle Not necessarely. Who says there will be any highrises or tall buildings? Most of the buildings will probably just be suburb houses.

[@grindstone4910]

+ThatBigFail Light pollution drowns out visible stars.

[@blindeagle2194]

+Grindstone Exactly :)

[@ThatBigFail]

+Grindstone In Denmark where i live, we mostly have surburban houses and some highrises, but in the nighttime the stars are most of the time still highly visible.

[@KOSAMAGAMES]

+Blind Eagle Its true, In Glendale Arizona you can see so many stars and its anything far from a small empty town.

[@johnnyc.5979]

I always like your videos, interesting, easily digestable, straight to the point, and not overly long. Thanks.

[@SuperReviews4you]

Once of my favorite places to dirtbike.

[@Dive-Bar-Casanova]

Have you ridden to the Husky memorial?

[@moto5513]

@@Dive-Bar-Casanova Been there several times.

[@George_Azeria]

More Tom Scott plz

[@FieldDay]

+George Jordan Go check out his channel! He put up some other really interesting looks into California while he was here!

[@George_Azeria]

Field Day That's where I came from, I didn't know you lot had uploaded! :D

[@LandonWard]

Just a thought production-wise, I'd stabilize the quad footage and get a lav mic or something to avoid the whirring of the quadcopter props so your "backing out" shots catch people off guard. I think that would add to the production value. Just a thought.

[@solidkingcobra]

that zoom out at the end was dope.

[@alonknaan4536]

I would highly recommend the podcast "California City" from LAist studios for the WAY more thorough story about the past of this city.

[@tekoeko]

Thank you just want I was looking for

[@sazhawk]

Where can you see all the stars? Guess what As it gets more populated you'll see less stars So eventually you'll see none, just like in every other big city Just too much light

[@jayaybe1]

.........and in other news, bear shits in woods.

[@voli293]

No not really. Newer cities have implented new lights and systems to fix this problem. If this were to become a major city then im sure there will still be plenty stars to see.

[@yoshster0612]

that's why there are more stars in California City XD

[@hegeliandetective1034]

Not unless you design the street lights better. Idiot.

[@steve1978ger]

City of California City, California

[@MrValanthe]

Brought to you by the Department of Redundant Departments Department.

[@powder-phun949]

I wanted to make that exact comment

[@powder-phun949]

The City Of New York City, New York.

[@acasualescapedscp4418]

This has all the charm of Tom Scott's videos with some more, amazing! And a huge, open area with nothing for miles? Sign me the hell up! I'd move there in a heartbeat, oh, the stars you could see.

[@jeanettewaverly2590]

Save for a small "downtown" that's fairly decent, most of the inhabited portions of California City have become a desert slum. When I was looking for rural property, a few years ago, my agent wouldn't show me any listings there.

[@worleyzack]

I would rip my dirt bike through all those city roads

[@jonmacdonald5345]

Zack Go For it pop a wheelie for me!

[@FknDopey]

People do rip through on dirt bikes and quads we have a dirtbike track out here

[@iannichols385]

It's poplar to camp around the Cul de sacs and race down the streets

[@squidreuel]

i think CAl City OHV is there and there is a lot of ridding to be done there, i go down to jaw bone every winter to ride, its great.

[@Ryan-mg8gb]

Cough cough country roads

[@DeJayHank]

Aaaand now I want to play Sim City..

[@ender_scythe2879]

+DeJayHank ew, here's $20 go buy Cities Skylines.

[@SeaMoreVatman]

+ender_scythe he probably means to say "Sim city 4"

[@DeJayHank]

+ender_scythe Haha, yeah I've already played Cities Skylines a lot and prefer it to Sim City, but I just wanted to make a more relatable comment =)

[@ender_scythe2879]

DeJayHank lol

[@aceman0000099]

SimCity 4000!

[@harryboberson4851]

*Less than 15,000 people living in the city* Me, an introvert: *Packing bags intensifies*

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

A big city is better for introverts than a small town or a village where everybody knows everyone. In the big City everybody ignores everybody.

[@harryboberson4851]

@Sam Erens I do live in Canada, weirdly enough...

[@R_P_K]

The same thing happened outside of surprise AZ. They even poured asphalt roads for the huge neighborhoods that where planned. But the housing bubble burst and nothing was built.

[@FieldDay]

+reed petchnick Facinating

[@DeaconG1959]

Also see Palm Bay, Florida...the entire southwest quadrant of the city is absolutely empty except for hunters and joyriders, with the original gravel roadways still in place (though crumbling away badly). There's already 100k folks there and they could drop another 25k in the SW area (called by the locals "the Menagerie") and not fill it. They're building a road called the St. John's Heritage Parkway in an attempt to get folks to move in here, but the construction has been slow and they've reduced the footprint from a 4-lane expressway to a two-lane road.

[@TEAMCREAM_96]

free race tracks

[@fartamplifer]

I like the “City of California City” poster behind the old guy.

[@nate_storm]

@ಠ_ಠ *CoCC

[@DasIllu]

Ok, what i learned from SimCity: 1. Build a town hall 2. Build a PD and a FD 3. Depending on version build some other stuff 4. designate commercial and industrial area nearby 5. Profit !

[@GamesFromSpace]

They probably forgot to place roads leading to other regions.

[@AnarchistMetalhead]

+DasIllu while that is the way to do it in simcity, it is precisely the opposite of what you need to do in real life government leeches off the productive people in society, so creating all the government buildings without a population to leech off you just created a dead weight at a loss of whatever it cost you

[@aceman0000099]

but more people will invest in a place with good security

[@MBSNAPZ]

Make this into an awesome racetrack, one that will bring in a lot of income, racers and then many tourists following the activities. Almost like a challenging desert version of the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany!

[@MiguelMartinez-ke3op]

thats actually a great idea!

[@caydensmith1236]

Mad max

[@jackmoore3499]

Speaking of mad max a lot of people who participate in a mad max event that takes place there. There is also a Honda test track Kia test track and public race tracks.

[@chrisguy95]

We just call it cal city and use it for dirt bike races.

[@dustojnikhummer]

Yeah, they could be renting it to dirt races, build an actual racetrack etc

[@iReima]

when you spend all your budget on roads in sim city

[@Drakotar]

A perfect location for people who have been displaced due to a natural disaster if the fault line does shift and cause widespread chaos.

[@Reziac]

+Drakotar Not exactly. One of the major faults runs nearby, and the top layer of soil is compacted sand and fine dust that liquefies under stress. And if you don't have a deep well and a way to pump it, there's no water to be had. (I used to live about 20 miles from there as the crow flies, in a good water area, and my ranch well was 405 feet deep with water at 270 feet. The municipal wells are about 1500 feet deep.)

[@Drakotar]

Rez Zircon Ah, I had no idea one of the major faults was nearby haha. I suppose its still a great location for future construction or experimental architecture, shame to see a project go to waste. Thanks for the info! :)

[@thanmurphy3261]

+Rez Zircon Furthermore, its not like there is infrastructure for tons of people.

[@Reziac]

+Than Murphy Nope. And the area has temperature extremes, +120F is not unusual in summer, and it can get below zero in winter. Most urban folks could not tolerate that. Also, once you get away from the already-developed areas, there's no electricity. So it's not exactly the ideal place to plunk down an emergency tent city.

[@Reziac]

+D'Andre Pierce I lived in the desert 1984-2012, my place was just west of Antelope Acres. Usual summer max at my place is 117F but I have seen 122F, and 126F at Ridgecrest (gets hotter up there), and even hotter in Death Valley. Usual winter minimum is zero but I've seen it get to -10F. Can't help what you haven't seen, but I work outdoors year-round so I kinda have to pay attention to the weather. Oh, and thanks for the quality discourse, brings a tear to my eye for the heyday of Usenet.

[@Darkyahweh]

If they build solar panels on every other lot and make me pay zero on power I would consider it.

[@thebeststooge]

I saw water so it could be done.

[@tonystroemsnaes554]

but why not just a powerplant? Faster, cheaper and more efficient

[@Darkyahweh]

That works too if I don't get charged...

[@waaey4925]

Tony Stroemsnaes Bad for the environment I suppose.

[@LanternOfLiberty]

Work used to take me there on a regular basis. Pot is the focus and the City Council doesn't want the city to actually grow since they keep rejecting businesses and making it extremely hard to establish there. Walmart wanted to build their store there, strategically located between Mojave, Tehachapi and Ridgecrest. The city council said that Walmart could not buy the land outright they would have to rent it for several years and be subject to increased taxation at the council's whim. Walmart just laughed and built-in nearby Tehachapi instead, so now the jobs are there instead.