YouTuber Fighting Against Elon Musk’s Plans For New Town In Texas

Elon Musk has plans to build and incorporate a new town outside of Austin, Texas along the Colorado River after buying over 3,500 acres, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. Dubbed Snailbrook, the town would give employees of Musk’s companies like SpaceX, The Boring Company and Tesla, an opportunity to live in homes at below market rates, according to the Journal. But not everyone is happy about the plans.

Chap Ambrose has a small YouTube channel with just 401 subscribers and he’s made it clear that Musk’s changes to the area are not welcome—at least as they currently exist. Ambrose has started a YouTube show called Keep Bastrop Boring and his latest video discusses The Boring Company’s plan to discharge 143,000 gallons of wastewater each day into the Colorado River.

The permit to discuss dumping the wastewater into the Colorado River is being discussed on March 21, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. at the local Hampton Inn, according to Ambrose, and he encourages his small group of viewers to join him. The meeting is only happening because Ambrose petitioned his local state senator about the project.

“The truth is, I’m a newbie when it comes to development and infrastructure and environmental design. What I am the world’s expert in, is living in my house,” Ambrose said in his latest video.

“And I am the expert on what’s it’s like to live next to these companies and try to work with them as their neighbor. Unfortunately it’s not great. They’ve broken promises to us and they continue to ignore state laws that protect the health and safety of my family,” Ambrose said.

What exactly does Musk have planned for the future? Those 3,500 acres that have been purchased could expand to 6,000 acres, according to the Journal. And apparently Musk plans to build a compound for himself some distance from Snailbrook itself.

The new town, which would sit near existing warehouses for SpaceX and The Boring Company, would have homes that could be rented by employees starting at $800 per month, according to the Journal, while comparable homes in the area rent for about $2,200 per month.

Musk would be far from the first wealthy businessman to build a utopian-minded company town. History is littered with the failed company towns of men like George Pullman, who founded Pullman, Illionis as a sort of capitalist experiment to have complete control over his workers.

Ambrose, who also lists some things he likes about Musk and his companies in the video, is concerned about what all that new development will do to the drinking water he and his neighbors depend upon, among other issues. And Ambrose says The Boring Company hasn’t kept its word in the past.

“To put it bluntly, they don’t do what they’re supposed to do, they don’t do what regulators tell them to do, and fundamentally, they don’t do what they say they’re going to do,” Ambrose said in his video.

“So when people ask why I’m concerned about this permit, my honest response is to ask what gives them the confidence that they will follow the terms of this permit when they haven’t done that in the past.”

I’ve reached out to The Boring Company for comment. I’ll update this post if I hear back.