
Elon Musk is building Texas Utopia
It might not matter if Elon Musk can’t redesign Twitter to his design. He reportedly has ambitions to build a real-life utopia.
After an incoming Wall Street Journal Report, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, Elon Musk has purchased thousands of acres of farmland outside of Austin, Texas. He is said to be planning to build his own city in the countryside. The WSJ says that in meetings with landowners and real estate agents, Musk and his representatives have described a utopian city where his employees could both live and work on the Colorado River.
Boring Co. executives have reportedly been exploring how to incorporate a town in Bastrop County, 35 miles from the state capital of Austin. People who know about the plans say Musk wants Boring, SpaceX, and Tesla employees who live in and around Austin to have access to apartments to rent at cheaper rates than they would at an iconic one tech hubs like the notoriously expensive San Francisco, California.
The diary reports that the city is already more real than not. The property, which could become Musk’s utopia, borders incomplete SpaceX and Boring Co. facilities in Bastrop. According to WSJ, the site is already home to several modular homes and recreational facilities, including a pool and gym. Signs at the location say it is “Snailbrook, TX, est. 2021” – “Snailbrook” also refers to Boring’s unofficial mascot, the snail.
Insider notes that Musk has expressed utopian inspirations in the past:
In 2021, Musk released an “urgent” plea for more housing in Austin, Texas, as SpaceX and Tesla sought to fill hundreds of jobs in the area. At the time, Musk said he planned to found a new city called Starbase at SpaceX’s launch facilities in Texas, about a five-hour drive from Austin. But while SpaceX employees have taken over much of Boca Chica, Texas, it’s unclear if Musk ever fully built the city.
Utopian concepts based on the requirements of the automotive industry are not new. Henry Ford’s failed Fordlandia was an attempt by the Ford Motor Company to establish a rubber plantation in the Brazilian Amazon in the 1920s. Ford envisioned a self-sufficient, American-style community with homes, schools, churches, and modern conveniences. It would house thousands of workers and supply latex for Ford’s tire manufacturing.
Poor planning, glaring cultural missteps and labor disputes doomed Fordlandia from the start. The land bought for the failed experiment was sold back to the Brazilian government.
However, where Henry Ford failed, Musk has enough input from creatives to help. The WSJ reports that he has consulted several in his circle about Snailbrook, including Kanye West, the hip-hop mogul’s architectural designer, and Musk’s ex and mother of two of his many children, singer Grimes.