Josh Stephens is the former editor of, and current contributing editor to, the California Planning & Development Report, the state's leading publication covering urban planning. Josh formerly edited The Planning Report and the Metro Investment Report, monthly publications covering, respectively, land use and infrastructure in Southern California.
As a freelance writer, Josh has contributed to Next American City, InTransition magazine, Planning Magazine, Sierra Magazine, and Volleyball Magazine. Josh also served as vice president of programs for the Westside Urban Forum, a leading civic organization on L.A.'s fashionable and dynamic Westside. Josh also served as editorial page editor of The Daily Princetonian and, briefly, the editor of You Are Here: The Journal of Creative Geography while he studied geography at the University of Arizona. He earned his BA in English from Princeton University and his master's in public policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Josh can often be found gazing from high vantage points wondering what it all means.
A Planner's View of the Los Angeles Riots
Parts of Los Angeles erupted in flames 25 years ago this week. The causes were varied, but the results were geographic. Planners and community development efforts tried to help, but their effects have been lost in the wind.
City Books For Non-Planning Nerds
As the library of books on urbanism expands by the year, here are some fun, engaging titles for city nerds and non-nerds alike.
'Greedy Developer' Trope: Tired and Counterproductive
Opponents of development often cast themselves as opponents of developers, whom they see as greedy and exploitative. But demonization does no good when developers—profit and all—are a crucial part of city-building.
Trump Raises Stakes For Urban Journalism
At an annual gathering of land use journalists, we came away with more questions than answers about how the Trump administration will treat cities.
Crumbling Of Democracy Bodes Ill For Urban Design
Ironically, some of the greatest architecture of the past came from the most nefarious of sources: monarchies and dictatorships. Democratic design, though, can be bland and generic. What of design in our new undemocratic age?