California Surveyors Forums

Hundreds of miles of named streets cut through the desert area known as California City, ending in cul-de-sacs, and looking much like a large suburban community. It is by this metric of its geographical size, that California City can lay claim to being the third largest city in California and 34th largest in the nation. However, on closer inspection one quickly notices something missing: houses. There is absolutely nothing lining these streets, no houses, no electric grid, nothing—just an empty ghost-grid, a mirage of suburbia still waiting to be filled.



https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cal ... f6d24426dc

I was always under the thought that one day the new LAX was going to be built near there, is that true?

I don't know.

Here is another one:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/t ... mXbbxQbgXs

There is absolutely nothing lining these streets, no houses, no electric grid, nothing—just an empty ghost-grid, a mirage of suburbia still waiting to be filled.

This is similar to the saga of Solano City, a city planned in 1913 for 75,000 residents. The city was platted on 1500 acres, a ship channel was cut from the Sacramento River to the site, and a big promotional campaign brought prospective lot buyers from the Bay Area to the site, where they were put up in a big hotel. Trees and even vegetable gardens were planted to make the site look verdant, when in fact it's on some of the most arid range land in the county. Millions of dollars were spent on the project, but it all fell apart when the promoters ran out of money. Not a single lot was ever developed.

I did a boundary survey on part of it about 20 years ago. The ship channel (the Calhoun Cut) is still there, as are remnants of dikes that formed the reservoir that was intended to provide water to the city. But other than that it's a hot, dry expanse of poor soil suitable only for a few cows.

I've attached an article published by the local historical society if anyone is interested in more details.

Thanks! I am interested!

Hey. Happy New Year.

Here is another interesting story.

https://www.nhmagazine.com/riding-the-m ... 7WBNuIqPIY