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.
How Regional Planning Can Be Antiracist
Under new board president Rex Richardson, the Southern California Association of Governments—the country's largest MPO—has pledged to combat racism through regional planning, including equitable housing development.
How Urban Form Created Classic Rock
A great many factors converged to create the culture and music of the 1960s. A powerful, but often overlooked, factor was the Los Angeles neighborhood of Laurel Canyon. A new documentary provides a case study in urban creativity.
A Detailed Look at Women's Urban Experiences
In Feminist City, geographer Leslie Kern describes the often invisible ways in which cities are unwelcome to women. It's an essential look at the urban gender divide, and it passionately calls for gender equity in the planning profession.
How Christo Unwrapped Municipal Bureaucracy
Christo's site-specific artworks were known for their whimsy and playfulness. But the real beauty of his art lay in his ability to navigate local bureaucracies—and reveal how ridiculous they can be.
In Planning, Reality Can Be Worse Than Fiction
The Showtime Series Penny Dreadful portrays a bleak vision of 1940s Los Angeles. But, unencumbered by regulations and zoning laws, it also displays what great urban neighborhoods can look like.