Josh Stephens
Josh Stephens is a contributing editor of the California Planning & Development Report (www.cp-dr.com) and former editor of The Planning Report (www.planningreport.com)
Contributed 304 posts
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.
Secure the Terminal, Secure the City
Some of the reactions to the shooting at LAX revealed troubling attitudes towards public space. Inclined as we may be to tighten security, we ought not sacrifice the richness of public life in the name of safety -- even at an airport.
Kotkin Crushes His (Imaginary) Enemies
Many planners these days are promoting higher densities, especially in urban cores. Urban scholar Joel Kotkin inexplicably takes this trend to mean that a "cult" of planners favors bone-crushing crowds that would turn US cities into slums.
The Chemistry of Safer, Denser Cities
While the middle class sought the refuge in the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s, it turns out that the crime they were fleeing had nothing to do with density, race, or even blight. Mother Jones magazine suggest that it was all because of lead.
Shared Hardship and the Souls of Cities
I can't remember the last time I left the house and gave a moment's though to whether I'd be warm enough, or whether I needed to bring an umbrella. Meanwhile, half the East Coast is underwater right now.
Bike Sharing Reaches the West Coast
Long lagging behind European and East Coast cities, cities in California are poised to adopt bike sharing in a big way. Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Francisco and others are adding the popular short-term rental service to their transportation options.