Jake's blog
Jake's endorsements for NYC Mayor
In order of how I think you should rank mayoral candidates them in the Democratic primary: Zellnor Myrie. Brad Lander. Scott Stringer. Adrienne Adams. Zohran Mamdani. Here's my reasoning: Zellnor Myrie is my first choice because his housing policy is the best by far, and if you're following me, you know that I support building as much housing as possible. Brad Lander is quietly competent and also pro-housing. I voted before Trump's ICE agents arrested him on nonsense charges, but good for him for standing up for the rule of law. Scott Stringer and Adrienne Adams are fine, and neither...
A primer on what it takes to publish a book
I ran into a friend a little while ago, and she mentioned she's putting together a manuscript. She wanted to pick my brain about getting a book published, and I figured it'd be about time to make a blog post about this, since I get a lot of requests from would-be authors. Keep in mind, this is going to be about general nonfiction; I have no idea what the market for fiction or academic books look like. If you want a specific timeline, check out this post I wrote two years ago. The first step is to write something really,...
Let's talk about how poorly LA is meeting its state housing quotas.
Bottom line, up front: the quota system has been as toothless as the old quota system, and more aggressive measures are needed to build more housing. A few years ago, I was hopeful that the new state housing quota system would get LA's cities to get off their tuchuses and build more housing. I'm sad to say that I was wrong. Let's go back a few years to 2021, where the state established that Greater LA needed 1.35 million new units between 2021 and 2029. The grand total permitted, halfway through this eight-year cycle, is 132,839, less than 10% of...
My review of the new NYC subway map is out!
Check it out at Vital City.
A true story about the California bar exam
Note: Our regularly scheduled programming will resume shortly. This is an anecdote which has nothing to do with transport or housing. If you don't know, to become a lawyer, you have to pass the Bar Exam, and it's been in the news that the latest California bar exam has been a clusterfuck. This doesn't surprise me at all, because the California Bar just doesn't give a shit. They didn't care when it was 54 degrees inside a test center or give anyone a break when an earthquake hit in the middle of the exam. Nope, keep writing, they said. I've...