Jake's blog
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,...
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...
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,...
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...
Let's talk about safety on public transit, and the sense of disorder that prevails in California these days.
I've just arrived in Los Angeles for stop no. 7 on the book tour for The Lost Subways of North America. I'm going to be giving a talk Monday at 7pm at Village Well in Culver City. LA friends, I'll be here until Wednesday, and I'd love to hang if you're around. I have some thoughts, having returned to LA after being away for a bit. Every time I come back to Los Angeles, I'm shocked at just what people in LA put up with. The casual level of disorder that Angelenos put up with has apparently spread everywhere, and...