Elon Musk plans to build his own city. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the South African businessman has bought 1,416 hectares in the US state of Texas to build 'Snailbrook', a community where the workers of his companies SpaceX and The Boring Company will be able to reside full-time.
The metropolis of the owner of Twitter, SpaceX and Tesla will have, in addition to rental housing at an affordable price, sports equipment and a swimming pool, allowing its employees to carry out their workdays and live in the same place. According to sources close to the project, it would be a "sort of Texas utopia along the Colorado River."
‘Snailbrook’ would be located on the outskirts of Austin, next to the facilities of the aerospace company SpaceX and the tunnel construction company The Boring Company. This last company has a pet snail, hence the name of the community created by Musk (from snail, snail in English).
The houses in that city will have two or three rooms, at a price of 800 dollars a month (less than 800 euros), in an area where rents reach 2,200 dollars a month, according to WSJ. In the event of dismissal, employees will have to leave the home within 30 days. As for Musk, the tycoon would have his own residence in the community, as well as another home outside of it.
Information published Thursday by The Wall Street Journal cites county deeds and land records, public emails, state license records, and statements from several landowners in the area.
Far from being a small community, 'Snailbrook' is four times the size of Central Park in New York, so it will be able to accommodate hundreds of workers. Some reports say that the tycoon will own almost 2,000 hectares.
Several local residents have stated that the first foundations of the utopian city can already be seen, making it clear that construction is going from strength to strength. Likewise, a programmer from the area, Chap Ambrose, alludes to the mystery of the project: "They want to keep it a secret and do everything before people realize what is really happening." On Musk's part, no one from his environment has provided details about it.
The billionaire has spoken out against the Californian "state bureaucracy", going so far as to ask the Austin authorities in 2020 that the regulations not "get in the way" in their professional projects. In fact, in 2020 he announced the move of Tesla's headquarters from California to Texas, blaming coronavirus-related restrictions.
The lax environmental, labor and social requirements in terms of zoning laws make Texas a perfect enclave to carry out this idea. In addition, The Boring Company could eventually build tunnels in Austin, according to a report in the Austin American Statesman last February.
In order to be incorporated into the county, the city of Elon Musk must have a minimum of 201 residents, a requirement of Texas law that must be approved by a local judge. Bastrop County has confirmed to the Journal that it has not received an application to incorporate.
In the last decade, many technology companies have begun to create spaces for their workers where the boundaries between personal and work life blur with one goal in mind: to encourage them to work longer hours. Musk, who became a trending topic due to the conditions he demanded of Twitter workers after taking over the company, now goes a step further.
