California City

A Man with a Dream

The vision that Ben Perez was sold in 2017 began in 1958, with one man's dream to build a utopian desert city from scratch. This LAist Studios podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at <a data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-stringify-link="http://BetterHelp.com/LAist" href="http://betterhelp.com/LAist">BetterHelp.com/LAist</a> Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Deep in the Mojave Desert, there is a little town with a big name and a bizarre history: California City. For decades, real estate developers have sold a dream here: if you buy land now, you’ll be rich one day. Thousands of people bought this dream. Many were young couples and hard-working immigrants looking to build a better future. But much of the land they bought is nearly worthless.  In this new podcast from LAist Studios, host Emily Guerin tells a story of money, power and deception.