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Syd Kitson, a former NFL player, has taken a major step towards creating America’s first city entirely powered by solar energy and using green materials. His firm, Kitson and Partners, bought 90,000 acres of land in Florida in 2006. 73,000 acres of that was sold to the state of Florida for about $350 million, leaving 17,000 acres of land, which is now being developed under the name Babcock Ranch. Kitson plans to power his city using the world’s largest solar voltaic power plant, a $300 million, 75-megawatt plant which would be more than twice the size of the current largest plant, located in Germany, according to Time Magazine. Florida Power & Light has recently announced that they will build the plant and provide electricity.
“Some people think I got hit in the head a few too many times,” Kitson says, “but I still believe deeply in Florida. And the time has come for something completely different.”
According to Kitson’s site for Babcock Ranch he plans on having many green-friendly things around the city. These include electrically powered cars, with community-wide stations to plug into and power them; a magnet school; a walkable and bikeable downtown; and 8000 homes, with smart-grid and smart-home technology to allow maximum efficiency in energy use. "In Florida, everyone has to drive everywhere they want to go," Kitson says. "And everyone thinks the solution to congestion is to build more roads. I think the solution is to design communities so you don't need more cars on the roads."
Of course, all of this does depend on the housing market getting back on its feet. It’s no secret that times have been hard on all businesses, but the real estate market especially has taken a nosedive. Job losses and lack of credit have hit the market with a double shot of inactivity due to consumer problems. In addition, Florida is full of housing proposals that never made it, including a place known as Flamingo which was supposed to be the next great city. It remains to be seen if Kitson can pull this off, but so far he has managed to meet two of his most important goals: getting the land, and getting the right to build on it. Now they must make their lofty goals hold up.
