Jake's blog

Let's talk about NYC's new congestion pricing scheme, and its effects on traffic.

So, if you haven't heard, today is the first day of Manhattan's congestion pricing. The long and short of it is, to enter Midtown and Downtown Manhattan on surface streets or the East River bridges is now $9; the other crossings had their tolls raised by $9. It came to be because the subways melted down in 2017, including fatal crashes. The State needed money to fund the subways, and so a grand bargain was struck to set up new tolls. A couple of students at Brown set up a bot based on Google Maps data to track drive times...

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Let's talk about California Governor Newsom's order to clear out the homeless encampments.

Let's talk about California Governor Newsom's order to clear out the homeless encampments.

BOTTOM LINE, UP FRONT: Clearing the encampments is a necessary but not sufficient step to ending the housing crisis. Governor Newsom gave the green light, in the wake of the Grants Pass Supreme Court case, for both state and local governments to crack down on homeless encampments. I'm not against clearing encampments. Tent cities are a public health hazard, and they turn public spaces into zones that decent people avoid. Sidewalks, squares and parks should be for everybody, not just an extension of Skid Row. Decent people everywhere shouldn't have to put up with this shit. But having said that,...

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End of the book tour, and 99 Percent Invisible

  I made the last book tour stop on the 99% Invisible podcast, with Roman Mars.  It's the largest audience I think I've ever had, and it marks the end, ten cities, fifteen stops, and three printings later. It's been gratifying to meet so many people, and to discuss something that has been my labor of love for so long.  I was still in law school when I started working on my transit maps. This was my hobby, a side project. I never thought that The Lost Subways would turn into what it is today.  It's given me the opportunity...

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Let's talk about how California's new housing reforms aren't going far enough.

Let's talk about how California's new housing reforms aren't going far enough.

I've mostly finished with my book tour, and so now I have a certain amount of free time to start writing again about housing and transport.BOTTOM LINE, UP FRONT: California needs to stop picking around the edges of current housing law and revamp it wholesale.I've posted on here a lot about how it's a big deal that California has finally turned a corner on its actual policy.  It represents a major break from the assumptions of the past - that housing and growth weren't necessary.  It's even more encouraging that the State is putting its money where its mouth is,...

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Deleted Scenes from The Lost Subways: Sacramento's Evolution Into a Big City

Deleted Scenes from The Lost Subways: Sacramento's Evolution Into a Big City

Today's deleted scene is about Sacramento, California, the state's capital. Sacramento, California started out as a big city, and grew into a small town. In the 19th century, Sacramento was the second-largest city in California, it was the western terminus of the First Transcontinental Railroad, and it was the epicenter of the California Gold Rush. Thus, it made perfect sense when state legislators decided to move California’s capital there in 1854, after a few false starts in cow towns like Benicia, Vallejo and San Jose. But after the Gold Rush quieted down, Sacramento slipped into relative obscurity for nearly a...

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