Josh Stephens

Can today's contemporary architects, schooled in modernism and invention, in fact incorporate the sort of green building materials and techniques that make a real difference? And does design really matter? Josh Stephens takes a look.

Josh Stephens reviews two biographies of cities, The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of An American City and Reno’s Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City.

Josh Stephens feels driven to bring attention to last year's Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses by Stacey Mitchell. The book argues that mega-retailers have not only drained the American economy of much of its entrepreneurial spirit, but also have contributed to the degradation of the social fabric, intellectual life, and built environment of cities and towns across the United States.

Latinos in the U.S. may be at the forefront of the movement towards urbanism, particularly in their use of public space. Josh Stephens talks to James Rojas and other planners and thinkers on the effect of the Hispanic community on the built environment, and its effect on them.

Josh Stephens reviews James Howard Kunstler's novel of post-peak oil existence, World Made By Hand.

Say you're a big city. But right next door is an even bigger big city. What do you do to stand out? Josh Stephens explores the unique plight of America's so-called stepsister cities.

Josh Stephens reviews "The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art, and Music Drive New York City", by Elizabeth Currid -- a look at the planning, sociology, and history behind New York's creative economy. While Currid's observations and theories are enlightening and sometimes entertaining, the book misses its opportunity to establish a strong case for planning's role in the cultivation of a creative economy, says Stephens.

Nathan Glazer's From a Cause to a Style: Modernist Architecture's Encounter with the American City reveals how this influential social movement's good intentions shaped the look of the 20th century.

With Sprawl: A Compact History, author Robert Bruegmann has become a favorite sprawl apologist, yet his flawed arguments and dismissal of the most serious concerns of the anti-sprawl movement ultimately add little to the prevailing land use debate of our time, writes Josh Stephens in this book review.