Fear, rumors, and looking the other way. How salesmen have sold the fantasy of California City for so long.
Fear, rumors, and looking the other way. How salesmen have sold the fantasy of California City for so long.
From This Episode
The Green Tea Garden is a Chinese restaurant that also contains the only bar in California City that is not part of a veteran’s hall.
(
Chava Sanchez/KPCC
)
This sign, on the outskirts of downtown, welcomes visitors to California City.
(
Chava Sanchez/KPCC
)
The California City Airport is more like an airstrip: it is unmanned and unlocked. At night, anyone can walk around on the empty runway, where a fuel tank is painted with an optimistic slogan about the city’s future.
(
Emily Guerin
)
A bus stop stands in front of an empty lot in California City. Around 14,000 people live here, but much of the land in the city is undeveloped.
(
Chava Sanchez/KPCC
)
Marine Corps pilots used to drop bombs on what is now California City, using the buttes as targets. Today, a metal cross stands atop one of them, overlooking the largely empty Mojave Desert.
(
Emily Guerin
)
Documents from the Kern County Assessor’s office show how Silver Saddle was able to sell the same pieces of land over and over.
(
Kern County Tax Assessor's Office
)
On October 1, 2019, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) issued this press release announcing the agency shut down Silver Saddle.