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.
On Housing, Cities' Traditional Political Labels No Longer Apply
Historically liberal cities belie their supposed concern for human welfare by rejecting new development. Meanwhile, more conservative cities have seized the moment to become more progressive, innovative, and inclusive.
The YIMBY-NIMBY Debate Gets 'Uninteresting'
Labels like "YIMBY" and "NIMBY" may be crude—but so what? One of them wants to solve America's housing crises. The other does not. Un-housed and under-housed people cannot wait for a perfect ideology to come along, writes Josh Stephens.
Will SB 9 and SB 10 Make Any Difference?
In dramatic fashion, the movement to undo single-unit zoning is going statewide in California with the passage of SB 9 in California. It's an emotional, moral victory for housing advocates—and a ton of work for the state's planners.
An Oasis In The Desert
A redesign costing a mere $12 million transformed the main street of the desert city of Lancaster, Calif., from an ordinary retail strip to a genuine place. If Lancaster can do it, any city can.
The (Nearly) Glacial Timescale of Planning
Planners are used to taking a few years to develop plans, and maybe a few more for development to take hold. For some of California's biggest projects, it's more about decades than years.