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.
Cities and the Hasselhoff Effect
All of a sudden, the viability of driverless cars seems to be on the rise. It's a worrying notion for anyone skeptical about technology. And yet, this advancement may help cities regain the charm and vibrancy they lost in the automobile age.
City Leaders Flex Muscle in Ottawa
Canadian cities are no strangers to rankings of the world's most functional, attractive cities. Even so, the mayors of Canada's 22 largest cities want national leaders in Ottawa to adopt an even more explicitly pro-urban national agenda.
How to Revive a Transit Agency
Under CEO Keith Parker, Atlanta's formerly desperate transit agency is picking up steam after suffering annual deficits of up to $33 million. The service area has expanded, the fleet is being modernized, and voters approved a new transit tax.
Feds Issue Transportation Report Card For 2045
A new study by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation projects mobility patterns of 2045. With projected growth of 70 million people, the pressure is on to invest in infrastructure and bring transportation planning into the 21st century.
Washington, D.C.: A City Held Hostage
A neutral capital "district" may have sounded like a fine idea in the early 1800s. Today, Washington, D.C.—the burgeoning city, not the political fabrication—is crippled by the whims of Congress and a host of anti-urban policies.