Hi everyone, apologies for the un-announced two week hiatus. I spent much of that time with the family in New York City, seeing friends and relatives. (I spent most of my 20s in the city and try to get back at least once or twice a year.)
I’ll be back to my usual cadence with PUBLIC COMMENT essays next week, but today I wanted to share some news about my forthcoming book, Build or Die (available for pre-order at bookshop.org). First off, the book now has blurbs! Here’s what people are saying:
“Ned Resnikoff is one of the heroes of the YIMBY movement. While there have been a number of foundational works on our housing crisis written in the last few years, Resnikoff brings something different to the genre—real work in the trenches of the struggle combined with deep theoretical sophistication and a powerful point of view. Build or Die is a destined to be a classic, a book that those who care about making our cities genuine engines of opportunity will continue to reach for in years to come.”—Steven Teles, professor of government and policy, Johns Hopkins University and senior fellow, Niskanen Center
“The East Bay district I represent has been rocked by the intertwining crises addressed in Build or Die: soaring housing costs, a strained public transit system, and cities that bear the scars of historic redlining and exclusionary zoning. Our urban centers are in crisis, and our community members suffer the consequences. To understand where we go from here, research like Ned Resnikoff’s is invaluable. With a journalist’s relentless curiosity and a policy analyst’s deep subject matter expertise, Resnikoff has dedicated himself to the betterment of our cities—a defining fight of our times.”—Buffy Wicks, California State assemblymember
“Rarely do you find a prescient journalist, a captivating writer, and a committed activist in the same person, but Ned Resnikoff is all three. In Build or Die, Resnikoff explains how a century of political choices produced today’s housing crisis and how Democratic cities, by failing to make good on the promise of competent government, risk becoming complicit in the far right’s campaign to discredit liberalism itself. This is a bracing diagnosis of the housing crisis from one of the best qualified housing journalists of our time.”—Jerusalem Demsas, editor-in-chief of The Argument
“In prose as vital and engaging as the cities he celebrates, Resnikoff offers a compelling guide to fixing our urban spaces—and our democracy.”—Yoni Appelbaum, deputy executive editor, The Atlantic
“Build or Die is a deeply informed account of why the housing, transportation, and governance challenges facing American cities are not inevitable but the result of policy decisions that we can change. Ned Resnikoff is a trusted expert and wise voice in the burgeoning pro-housing movement and speaks from a place of hard-fought experience, rigorous research, and fundamental care. Build or Die is for anyone who cares about the future of American cities—and the hope and promise of American multiracial democracy itself.”—Annemarie Gray, executive director of Open New York
I have a great deal of admiration for all the people quoted above, so I was honored to receive their endorsements. Also, did I mention the book is available for pre-order at bookshop.org? My understanding is that these pre-orders are pretty important for the fortunes of a book. If this book does well, then maybe I’ll get to write more of them; if that’s something you’d like to see happen, then please consider reserving your copy today!
Speaking of which, I have one more book-related announcement: we’re getting close enough to the release date that I’m beginning to schedule book events. If you’re interested in booking me to speak, either in-person or virtually, please email me.
Thanks for taking an interest in my writing thus far. I will (probably, hopefully) have more announcements to share before too long.