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In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom used his first State of the State address to level about the high-speed rail. The Los Angeles-to-San Francisco project would cost too much and, respectfully, take too long, he said at the time. Newsom was taking issue with a plan first laid out in 2008 that promised a 2 hour 40 minute high-speed rail journey between S.F. and L.A., funded by a $10 billion bond. Those travel time requirements, combined with a too-low estimate for the initial funding, had made the full project practically impossible to execute. So California came up with a solutionsort of. For the past six years, the state has focused its energy and funding on a 170-mile section in the middle of the route connecting the Central Valley cities of Merced and Bakersfield. Now the newly instated CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, Ian Choudri, is imploring Newsom and the state legislature to reverse course once again. Choudri is publicly declaring what has been intuitively obvious to anyone with the vaguest sense of the states geography: Merced to Bakersfield is not a great high-speed-rail corridor. A politically and economically viable system needs to connect the states major population centers. It needs to make good on what voters were promised in 2008 when the project was introduced. Choudri has succeeded in one part of his mission: getting the state to extend its funding commitment to the project to the tune of $1 billion per year through 2045. But thats just the start of what he’ll need to accomplish to make high-speed rail a reality in California. Choudri has asked the state government to consider a new plan that would expedite connections to the Bay Area and Los Angeles area using private funding. While hes at it, he has put out a laundry list of procedural reformspiggybacking off of the ascendent abundance movement popularized by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompsons best-selling bookthat could grease the wheels of a project notorious for delays. It could be a do-or-die moment for California high-speed rail. The Trump administration is seeking to claw back more than $4 billion in grants, and Republicans in Congress have made clear that no new federal funds will be forthcoming as long as theyre in power. (The California High-Speed Rail Authority, or CHSRA, is fighting the administrations funding clawbacks in court.) The program is now at its crossroads, Choudri said at a press conference in August. We can choose to let the challenges of the past define the program’s future, or we can meet the moment by supporting high-speed rail with the right tools and partnerships to make the kind of meaningful progress we all want to see. A completed traffic-rail overpass in Tulare County [Photo: CHSRA] A long time coming Choudri has been talking about making major changes to the project since shortly after he took the CEO job a year ago. In August, the CHSRA offered the most detailed look at what those plans could entail in a published report. The 2025 Supplemental Progress Update Report states that the current project, connecting Merced and Bakersfield, could be completed by 2032 at a cost of $37 billion. But it would be saddled by an ongoing operating deficit of at least $30 million annually, violating the terms of the 2008 ballot measure, which requires the project not to receive operating subsidies. That deficit would also make it impossible to bring in private investor partners. A rendering of the planned Bakersfield station [Image: CHSRA] By contrast, the report finds that a route connecting Bakersfield and Gilroy, on the rural fringes of Santa Clara County, would generate an operating surplus of roughly $300 million. Under this plan, high-speed trains would continue up to San Francisco on tracks shared with Caltrain. Construction would cost $54 billionnot including an additional $3 billion to $6 billion to electrify and improve Union Pacific-owned tracks connecting Gilroy and San Joseand be complete by 2038. An additional connection from Bakersfield to Palmdale, where riders could transfer to local trains for Los Angeles or, potentially, to Brightline trains bound for Las Vegas, would generate an even greater operating surplus, of more than $600 million annually. Combined with the section up to Gilroy, this scheme would cost a total of $87 billion and could also be ready by 2038. Those operating surpluses could be used to pay back investors over time, or to fund future extensions of the line. A rendering of Brightline’s Las Vegas train [Image: Brightline West] All of these scenarios would be value-engineered to be cheaper and more feasible to construct than previously envisioned. The railrod would be designed to handle steeper grades and sharper turns, limiting the expensive tunnels and viaducts that would be needed. Stations would be far smaller and less elaborate. Choudri also hopes to maximize other revenue streams, like building transit-oriented development around stations, using railroad corridors for fiber-optic cables and electrical transmission lines, selling clean energy, and even building AI data centers. To do this, and build the railroad, the CHSRA wants more power to streamline its own activities through permitting reform. These proposals build off of the abundance-inspired California Environmental Quality Act exemptions the state legislature passed in June, one of which specifically exempted high-speed rail stations and maintenance facilities from environmental review. Another permitting reform bill that would have allowed neutral third parties to provide construction permits and capped the amount of time such permits would be allowed to take died in committee in August. A different bill that would empower the authority to capture profits from transit-oriented development is pending. The project scored a major victory on September 10, when the state legislature and Newsom agreed to extend CHSRAs share of cap-and-trade funds through 2045, ensuring the project will receive $1 billion per year in funding. It is the single largest funding commitment the project has received in its history. With this consistent revenue stream, Choudri believes private investors will come calling to help get the railroad out of the Central Valley. Over the summer, the authority received 31 responses to its request from private entities interested in getting involved in the project. The part of the community that came in a strong way was the equity partners, Choudri said at the authoritys August 28 board meeting. The authority is continuing to have more detailed discussions with these groups. Another potential model for partners is to make an up-front investment and then earn their money back by operating passenger trains, freight, or other services using the projects infrastructure. This is done in many other countries, Choudri noted at the board meeting, and many of those same firms are among those that responded to the authoritys request for expressions of interest. However, in his statement celebrating the cap-and-trade funding, Choudri also suggested that a greater financial commitment from the state would be needed to get the project out of the Central Valley. We must also work toward securing the long-term fundingbeyond todays commitmentthat can bring high-speed rail to Californias population centers, where ridership and revenue growth will in turn support future expansions. A rendering of the planned Merced station [Image: CHSRA] New line, new challenges The Bakersfield to Gilroy to San Francisco plan appears to be the authoritys favored option going forward, though Choudri insists that it would be a building block to completing the entire system. The NorCal-first phasing, leaving the project more than 100 miles and a mountain pass away from Los Angeles, has historically been an impediment to securing L.A.-area politicians support. This plan would also require other challenging maneuvers. It would nix the city of Merced from the route after years of big promises, angering leaders there. It will also require negotiating with Union Pacific, and identifying additional funds to upgrade the stretch of track it owns between Gilroy and San Jose. (In a statement, Union Pacific said it had previously discussed sharing track with California High-Speed Rail along that segment, and is open to continued discussions.) Additionally, the plan would require a repeal of a 2022 law that limited spending outside of the Central Valley. The pivot may even contravene the terms of the 2008 ballot initiative. As California Policy Center fellow Marc Joffe has observed, the slower travel times on that Gilroy to San Jose segment could render the total San Francisco to Los Angeles journey impossible to make in under 2 hours and 40 minutes, violating the ballot initiative language. Joffe, a longtime critic of California High-Speed Rail, believes the best way forward is a new ballot initiative laying out a more manageable project, roughly in line with what Choudri is currently proposing. With recent polls showing Californians remain broadly supportive of the project, that could be a winning proposition. Whats undeniably clear is that Choudri is finally leveling about the project in a way no public official has done. Hes not simply pointing out the overambitiousness and underfunding of the initial concept; hes also laying out more modest steps that could get a useful project up and running in our lifetimes, in his words. That means reckoning with the morass of procedural obstacles that have turned practically every lawsuit and permit into a delay, and the overdesigned stations and track structures that the project blithely pursued despite the escalating costs. Instead of shooing away private-sector partners, as the CHSRA has done in the past, Choudri is welcoming them in with the humility that outside entities might know a little bit more about building high-speed rail than a state agency with no prior experience. Perhaps the Trump administration’s threats arehaving a focusing effect for everyone involved. Newsom, hero of the anti-Trump resistance movement, would be loathe to concede defeat to the president on the states signature infrastructure project. Democrats skeptical of the project are probably going to be wary of aligning themselves with Trump. The abundance movement has offered a new vocabulary for liberals to support cutting red tape for projects like this one. Indeed the book Abundance cites California High-Speed Rail as the epitome of liberal governance gone wrong. Choudris fixes for the project look like they came right out of the abundance playbook. The tides have turned. The question is whether its too little, too late.
Category:
E-Commerce
I don’t care about Starbucks. Madrid now drowns in indie coffee shops with coffee brewed from specialty beans that are flown in by winged unicorns and roasted to perfection. In this city, the green mermaid feels as relevant as a McDonald’s next to Casa Botín (the oldest restaurant in the world, opened 51 years before the United States declared its independence), Dabiz Muozs three-Michelin-starred DiverXo, or any other of the best restaurants on the planet that reside in Madrid. But for all my Eurotrash snobbery, I also dont hate Starbucks. In fact, I credit it as the first place in Madrid that actually offered a cup that didnt taste like it could resuscitate a fentanyl victim or kill an ironman triathlete. For a long time, Spanish coffee was strong, but not very pleasant. [Photo: fitopardo/Getty Images So when I learned that Starbucks planned to open a new flagship store in the troubled Santiago Bernabéu Stadiumhome of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol and host to Taylor Swifts fansI had to see it for myself. I live just around the corner from the stadium, so I took along my personal Lego architect (my son) for commentary. His verdict? Oh boy! And oh boy it is. [Photo: courtesy of the author] This isn’t your typical neighborhood Starbucks. We entered through the rather bland storefront, which looks just like every other restaurant and bar integrated in the stadium facade. But beyond the door there is a foyer with digital displays that completely cover the walls. They illustrate the journey of coffee, according to the company, in animated impressionistic sequences. [Photo: courtesy of the author] A destination in a destination The cool starts when you walk into the central atrium. Concrete columnspart of the old stadium’s brutalist bonessoar toward the ceilings. Custom fixtures and plants line the walls. There is a big metal-and-wood staircase flanked by a large suspended sculpture, created by Madrid artist Cristina Mejías: a flowing ribbon that, according to the company, is an abstract Starbucks Siren that echoes the stadium’s curves. It accentuates the impression of never-ending space ahead of you. [Photo: Starbucks] On the bottom floor, there is your usual Starbucks counter, where you can order coffee and food. The company says the design pays homage to the original Pike Place store in Seattle and to the energy of Madrids San Miguel Market, an iconic iron fixture designed and built by Spanish architect Alfonso Dubé in 1916, now turned into a gourmet food court. To me, it feels nothing like San Miguel despite the use of metal, but whatever. Its a welcoming space that, unfortunately, was overcrowded (the stadium is Madrid’s top tourist destination, according to city officials). [Photo: courtesy of the author] The upper floor is what really got us going La madre que me parió! (literally, The mother who birthed me!one of Spains equivalents to Holy f%ck!). Its comprised of different lounge areasthere are small tables for small groups and large community tables, a library/reading space, and a giant mural that says MADRID. But the real attraction is the unobstructed view of the Bernabéu pitch, courtesy of floor-to-ceiling widows that stretch the entire length of the space. [Photo: courtesy of the author] On the right is the Reserve Bar, with a menu of delicious beverages and plates. Theres even a cheesecake created by chef Albert Adri, currently of Michelin-starred restaurant Enigma; Adri was the pastry chef at his brother Ferráns three-Michelin-starred elBulli, considered one of the world’s best restaurants before its closing in 2011. Starbucks boasts its mixology bar serves cocktails crafted by Coffee Masters who’ve competed in international championships. [Photo: Starbucks] I ordered a croque monsieurwhich was huge, with actual béchamel sauce, very good Emmental and Gruyre, and equally good ham on excellent sourdough breadand a Special Reserve cold brew coffee. My son got a strawberry croissant and a stracciatella (gelato) shake. The food was legitimately goodrestaurant quality, not chain store-y at all. [Photo: Starbucks] Can you watch games? I wanted to know if it was possible to watch games on match days. Unfortunately, you cant. Starbucks says, “On match days, the store is closed a few hours before kickoffthis is to allow the usual security checks to take place at the Stadiumand reopens around an hour after the game concludes. The store has to be closed to allow VIP seat holders to reach their seats, but it remains closed and doesnt serve food for the duration of the game, the spokesperson says. Starbucks says Bernabéu is among its largest coffeehouses, rivaled only, perhaps, by its other Reserve Roasteries in Chicago and Taipei, Taiwan. Superlatives don’t matter here. Spanning almost 10,000 square feet over two floors, this Starbucks feels like the biggest coffee shop I’ve ever seen. The fact that it is integrated into an iconic location could have been a problem, but Starbucks is conscious about where it isthe city of Madrid and the Real Madrids stadium. The company built everything around those elements, rather than dropping corporate branding onto generic retail space. The Chicago and Taipei Starbucks dont have the fundamental element that makes this the greatest Starbucks shop in the known universe: the views into the legendary pitch of the Bernabéu Stadium, home of the greatest soccer team of all time. It feels more like a destination that happens to serve coffee than a coffee shop with a nice view. I just hope there wont be a line out the door every day.
Category:
E-Commerce
Sitting on a hillside between the mountains and the ocean in Lahaina, Hawaii, this new neighborhood of brightly-colored cottages did not exist a year ago. The housesmost of which were built in factories in Colorado and Idaho and delivered to Maui on a bargeare temporary homes for families who lost everything in the Lahaina wildfires in 2023. Theyre also a new type of housing for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Built to meet local and international building codes, theyre very different from the cheap, toxic trailers that FEMA deployed 20 years ago, when Hurricane Katrina displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Some of those trailers had formaldehyde levels that were 75 times greater than safe levels. They were poorly insulated and never meant for long-term housing, but some families were stuck in them for years. [Photo: Liv-Connected] The cottages in Hawaii, by contrast, use materials chosen to maintain healthy air quality. The homes are filled with light, with huge windows and high ceilings. They were built to be durable, with the potential to be turned into affordable long-term housing after their temporary use. They could be a model for future disaster response. But as the Trump administration pushes to dismantle FEMA, its not clear what will happen to the homes nowor what will happen during the next disaster. [Photo: Liv-Connected] Rethinking disaster housing Liv-Connected, the New York City-based modular home company that designed most of the new Hawaiian cottages, didnt originally plan to build disaster housing. But the startup, founded in 2019, got attention from the disaster relief world after it made some early prototypes. The companys first goal was to lower costs by making transportation easier for modular homes. The team saw the potential of building Lego-like homes efficiently in factories, but it also saw that other modular companies had failed in part because the homes were expensive to move, and building big factories in multiple locations was even more expensive. We just said, all right, our modular can be differentits going to fit on a flatbed truck, says Jordan Rogove, CEO and cofounder of Liv-Connected. We worked backward from there: How do we get a really great house that fits on a standard flatbed? [Photo: Liv-Connected] While shipping a fully constructed volumetric modular house might require a couple of oversize trucks and cost $16 to $18 a mile, a home that fits on a flatbed truck could cost $2 to $3 per mile instead. The companys basic design includes some fully built pieces, like the kitchen and the bathroom. But most of the house can be flat-packed and then quickly assembled on-site. The installation in Hawaii turned out to be different. Because the homes needed to travel more than 2,000 miles over the open ocean on a barge, it made sense to fully build each house and ship them in complete, watertight sealed units. (Future homes delivered to the continental U.S. could use the less expensive flat-packed version.) But there were other reasons that FEMA picked Liv-Connected to provide more than 100 homes for the site. [Photo: Liv-Connected] The houseswhich range from a 480-square-foot one-bedroom unit to a 980-square-foot three-bedroom homeare designed to help improve well-being, with high ceilings, wood-paneled walls, and outdoor views. “It’s just more generous and dignified,” Rogove says. “Our understanding of providing accommodations like that is that healing happens a lot faster.” Outside, the homes are painted in different colors, both as a nod to buildings that were lost in the fire and to help the development feel more like a neighborhood. “I think the issue with those FEMA trailers is that they’re all identical, and then it starts to have this quality of barracks,” he adds. “So there isn’t a sense of neighborhood or a community.” [Photo: Liv-Connected] The homes are also designed to last, with fire-resistant siding and tight insulation. They could stay in good condition for decades, versus months or a few years for an old FEMA trailer. “In our discussions with FEMA, you really need to do better for people,” Rogove says. “If you are willing to spend upward of 20% to 30% more than you would for a trailer, you can have a home that could be used for up to 30 years. So it could be deployed multiple times as opposed to a single deployment and then basically tossed into the garbage.” [Photo: Liv-Connected] Building the neighborhood After the wildfires in August 2023, FEMA invited developers to submit proposals for the homes the following March. In late June last year, Liv-Connected learned that it was selected to provide 109 homes in a first installment. (Two other companies provided a smaller number of houses, with 167 total in the development.) Then it worked with two manufacturing partners to begin building. One of FEMA’s requirements was that the homes would be delivered by November 2024. “We effectively had about two months to build 109 homes,” Rogove says. “And then another two months to have all of them installed.” At the same time, engineers were preparing the site. Hawaii offered state-owned land for FEMA’s temporary use at no cost. At a Colorado factory owned by Liv-Connected’s partner Fading West, a crew of workers spent 12-hour days on the project, building as many as 10 homes each week. Guerdon Modular Buildings, in Idaho, was contracted to build the final 25 homes, and it finished in two weeks. Then the houses were trucked to the Port of Seattle and spent three weeks on a barge to Maui. Just before Thanksgiving, families started moving in. The process was incredibly fast, although the factories say that it could be even faster if FEMA could preapprove particular designs. “If FEMA had a library of preapproved modular plans, we could start production within seven to 10 days of a natural disaster, Tommy Rakes, CEO of Guerdon, said in one case study of the project. These homes could be shipped anywhere in the continental U.S. in three to five days, installed, and occupied within a day. In under three weeks, displaced victims could have permanent homes. Having additional factories in some areas could also help. Fading West has talked to the Hawaiian government about the possibility of setting up a local modular housing factory to avoid long-distance transportation. The state also sees the potential for modular housing as a way to help it deal with the affordable housing crisis. [Photo: Liv-Connected] An uncertain future In FEMA’s original plan, families would have up to five years to live in the homes in Lahaina, paying a fair market rent that’s limited to 30% of a household’s gross income. But the development may now close as soon as next February. FEMA would have to grant an extension to the state to keep it open later and continue providing financial assistance. The agency says that the state’s request is currently under review, but it didn’t provide more details. It’s not clear what will happen next, or where the homes will end up when the project ends. Trump has called for eliminating FEMA and tried to cut billions in disaster funding. FEMA originally planned to build another 231 modular disaster relief homes in Lahaina, Rogove says, but that doesn’t appear to be moving forward. “It’s been absolute silence,” he adds. “So I think the likelihood of that happening seems to decrease day by day.” FEMA says that it isn’t planning another 231 homes. In future disasters, it’s not clear how FEMA will handle housing or what role modular homes will play, though the agency says that modular homes may be considered when they’re a fit for local requirements. It’s possible that states may push the solution forward faster. In Maui, the state of Hawaii partnered with a nonprofit developer on another modular neighborhood built near the FEMA site. Texas has explored the idea of building modular housing in advance and storing the units in warehouses in key citiesready to deploy in a disaster. In California, Liv-Connected and other modular housing manufacturers are offering options to residents trying to rebuild after the Los Angeles fires. “What we’ve seen so far is states stepping in to fill the gap, in the absence of the clear organizational order that was there before,” Rogove says. “I think that’s probably what it’s going to look like for the next several years. That fills me with hope for the states that have the capacity to do that. And I have a lot of reservations for states that don’t have those types of resources.” In Hawaii, the state government says that FEMA’s assistance has been critical over the last several years through hurricanes, flooding, fires, and volcanic activity. “While state, local, and private resources have supported recovery, they are limited in scale and speed,” Gov. Josh Green wrote in a recent letter about the agency. “Timely federal deployment remains crucial to meeting the needs of affected communities.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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