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Bill Gates is Buying Land in Arizona to Build a "Smart City"
An investment firm run by Bill Gates has put down $80 million to develop a planned community in Arizona. The 25,000 acres of land is about 45 minutes west of Phoenix, in an area called the West Valley. The community, which Gates wants to turn into a "smart city," will be named Belmont.
"Belmont will create a forward-thinking community with a communication and infrastructure spine that embraces cutting-edge technology, designed around high-speed digital networks, data centers, new manufacturing technologies and distribution models, autonomous vehicles and autonomous logistics hubs," Belmont Partners, the Arizona real state investment company involved in the deal, said in a news release.
The proposed freeway I-11, which would connect the Belmont area to Las Vegas, makes the land an ideal spot for a new community, according to Ronald Schott, the executive emeritus at the Arizona Technology Council. Of the 25,000 acres, 3,800 will be used for office, retail, and commercial space. Another 470 acres will be used for public schools. That leaves enough space for 80,000 residential units.
Also at TheUSBPort, Fossbytes, CNET, and Real Estate Daily News.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 15 2017, @10:37PM (2 children)
A century ago, there was a commune in the high desert, less than 100 miles north of Los Angeles.
I'm a Pinko and I only recently learned about Llano del Rio [googleapis.com], east of current-day Pearblossom [googleapis.com] in the Antelope Valley.
A Socialist politician bought 9000 acres "with water rights*" and started a community.
* A "right" is something they can't take away from you; clearly this thing was something else--something very Capitalist in its nature.
They were successful for several years, [counterpunch.org] with a viable economy. [wikipedia.org]
...then their "right" to the water was clawed back.
.
If this Arizona thing is to be successful, there can be no such thing as "waste" water.
All water will have to be recycled repeatedly, just like on the space station.
Toilets are the main users of water in a residence.
I see, as a necessity, composting toilets [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [alternet.org] and biogas digesters. [sswm.info]
For years, I've imagined a place that was built with a separate filtered gray water system for watering plants.
(The OC treats black water to a potable state, but only uses that for watering e.g. golf courses.)
...and, of course, growing grass is strictly out.
If a plant doesn't produce something edible, don't bother growing it|don't waste water on it.
Years ago, I mentioned [soylentnews.org] places in an OC city where they had replaced grass with Astroturf.
(The Harris & Associates picture is now 404.)
The guy I mentioned who had xeriscaped his lawn in 2010 is looking like a genius these days.
(SoCal is still in drought.)
.
I also see all properly-facing surfaces being coated with solar cells (slanted walls as well?).
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by t-3 on Wednesday November 15 2017, @11:44PM (1 child)
The water issues could be resolved with a little landscaping (see the swales built for flood control during the FDR era, and which are now green, lush, and noticeably cooler than the desert surrounding them, you can see them on Google Earth, and they are located in a national park so you can visit, I'd recommend it), which would also reduce flash flooding. Not paving over the rivers would also help. The water was plentiful in that area when it was managed correctly, now they try to get out out of the area ASAP by building concrete waterways. If you haven't been, check out the museums and archetypical sites in the Phoenix area, it's a real eye opener.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 16 2017, @02:11AM
noticeably cooler than the desert surrounding them
I like the sound of that--especially for a place noted for having water coming out of the "cold" tap that's every bit as hot as the stuff coming out of the "hot" tap.
I was worried that any water exposed to the air would evaporate and be a loss to what I figured should be a very closed|controlled system.
Maybe my conception is mostly wrong.
(In the comments on this topic at the other site, someone mentioned floaty balls on the surface of reservoirs.)
would also reduce flash flooding
That sounds good too.
Seems like Capitalists are doing the opposite everywhere they touch.
Not paving over the rivers...
Amen. Up in the city of L.A., they're trying to undo the stupidity of the Army Corpse of Engineers where they had turned the Los Angeles River into a concrete ditch.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]