‘Starbase,’ Musk’s Vision To Create a New City in Texas, Takes Flight

Elon Musk’s plan for a new city along the Gulf Coast of Texas is poised to become reality this weekend.The incorporation of Starbase, which would be a planned community surrounding the future headquarters of Space X at the southern tip of Texas, is nearly a done deal with a vote taking place Saturday.Mr. Musk has been pushing for the 1.5 square mile area near Boco Chico Beach to become Starbase for nearly four years, making pleas for his engineers, technicians, and builders to move to this area of the Rio Grande Valley as he makes plans to transfer Space X’s main offices from California.With nearly 200 of the 283 eligible voters already casting early ballots, and broad support from residents in the region, the measure is expected to pass.With 247 resident lots already in place, only 10 are owned by people who are not employees of Space X, according to records in Cameron County. A majority of those residents have been registered voters since 2021.“I think more people will want to live here because why wouldn’t you want to live next to the most amazing thing that’s happening on Earth?” one of the few non-SpaceX employees who owns a home near the Space X facility and runs a launch-viewing business, Anthony Gomez, said to CNN.The unincorporated town, now known as Boca Chica Village, is a small residential neighborhood next to Space X’s recently built one-million-square-foot factory with an array of tiny homes, Airstream trailers, and single family homes. Infrastructure for Starbase is already under way, including the construction of a privately funded K-12 school, called “Ad Astra,” Latin for “to the stars.”While Starbase has wide support, some in Cameron County have raised issues.“The question always comes back to: Are you using public power to benefit a private interest?” Jared Hockema, city manager of nearby Port Isabel and chairman of the Democratic Party in Cameron County, said to CNN. “Nobody is against progress. It’s a great company, great innovation. There’s a lot of good people working there. They do a good job. But are they respecting the public interest in everything they do?”Both Starbase and Space X sit right next to Boca Chica Beach — a public state park popular with anglers and sun worshippers. Some have expressed concerns that Space X would take over the land.Earlier this month, the state legislature held a hearing regarding a pair of bills that would give municipalities with “spaceports” the authority to limit access to public beaches, essentially providing Space X with the ability to shut down Highway 4 into Boca Chica Beach without approval from Cameron County. But with access to Gulf Coast beaches a constitutional right in Texas, the measures were shot down.Residents in nearby Brownsville and the rest of Cameron County also have long voiced concern about Space X’s impact on the local environment, with a consortium of local groups alleging in 2023 that the company polluted nearby waterways, according to the Texas Tribune.“They’re claiming they’re bringing economic incentives, but the rent is going up, the roads are crumbling,” a community organizer from the Rio Grande Valley, Bekah Hinojosa, said to Politico magazine. “It is getting harder to live here. All this seems to benefit is fancy restaurants with Space X clientele.”Locals have also complained about the sound from intense explosions during rocket launches, as well as earthquake-esque rumblings that cracked the foundations of homes and even blew doors off the hinges.With Saturday’s vote for incorporation expected to pass overwhelmingly, the three candidates who are running unopposed to govern Starbase will automatically assume office and go full steam ahead with further development of the town.All three candidates, for the position of mayor and two for city commissioner, are Space X employees, according to a report from The Texas Tribune.Starbase is not the only community Mr. Musk has planned in the Lone Star State. Since 2021, facilities for the Boring Company, Space X, and Starlink sit on a compound called Hyperloop Plaza, situated on the edge of Bastrop, a hill country town about 40 minutes from Austin. The compound will also house the headquarters for his social media platform X, with plans already under way to develop a residential community on the compound.Named Snailbrook, a reference to the Boring Company’s mascot, the site already has modular homes sitting on the land behind the company’s facility. Originally sited for 100 homes, the plan has since been scaled down in favor of two other development projects in the area, including Snailbrook 2, which will contain 21 two- and three-bedroom houses, and another development codenamed “Project Amazing.” The planned development of 110 homes down the road from Hyperloop Plaza could offer a lease-to-buy option for prospective homeowners. Mr. Musk has also gained approval from Bastrop County to operate an “Ad-Astra” school there as well.The development of the compound has already fueled a rush of new residents to Bastrop. Since 2020, the sleepy little burb’s population has grown by nearly 20 percent, with a consistent growth rate of 5 percent each year. It is estimated that the town’s population will increase another 42 percent over the next five years, raising the population to 20,000.Locals there also have mixed feelings about the pace of growth.“I think I share the same opinion with a lot of other people in the community. The growth is good, but it’s too quick,” a painter who operates a gallery on Main Street in downtown Bastrop, Mike Salvo, told The New York Sun in December. “If we are going to grow another 40 percent like they predict, that’s huge, and our infrastructure needs to be able to handle that. Mr. Musk, bring your big toys here and enjoy our small town, but we want to [grow] smartly.”

‘Starbase,’ Musk’s Vision To Create a New City in Texas, Takes Flight

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