Volts Is the brand new city in California for real?
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Mar 11, 2026 
Jan Sramek, founder and CEO of California Forever and urbanist focused on master‑planned cities. He discusses a plan for a walkable new city with Barcelona‑style superblocks, large‑scale land assembly, and funding from patient capital. They cover secret land buys, density guarantees, site resilience, and the project's street grid, parks, industries, and child‑friendly design.
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Scale Lets Developers Front Load Amenities
- Masterplanning at large scale solves the chicken-and-egg problem by allowing patient capital to front-load transit, retail, schools, and parks.
- Owning contiguous land lets California Forever subsidize early retail and infrastructure until the market supports them.
Own Enough To Capture Value From Public Amenities
- Internalize positive externalities by owning a meaningful share of retail, offices, or rental stock so investments in parks and ambience benefit you directly.
- That alignment sustains long-term upkeep unlike small one-off suburban developers.
Use Minimum Density Rules To Ensure Walkability
- Guarantee minimum densities to prevent suburban sprawl by zoning for a floor rather than a ceiling; California Forever proposes 20 units/acre generally and 30 units/acre downtown.
- Those figures align with California government code definitions of 'affordable by design.'