Writing

My writings and co-authored works on various subjects.

2023

What’s Theory Got to Do With It? An Examination of the Utility of Planning Theory in Planning Practice. Medium. July 8, 2023.


Urban Planning Graduation Day. Medium. June 17, 2023.


Office Politics in Outer Space. Medium. June 12, 2023.

2022

I Recognize This Bureaucracy. Medium. December 23, 2022.


Embedded Planning in Environmental Justice Communities: Three Takeaways for Practice. Medium. September 17, 2022.


Hostile Architecture in Los Angeles. Medium. June 19, 2022.


Memories of Keenan Avenue in East LA. Medium. March 11, 2022.

2021

The Hustler. Medium. November 28, 2021.


Student Papers Archive. Medium. November 15, 2021.


Abolish Fines at LA County Library. Medium. August 8, 2021.

2020

Embedded Planning Returns to ELARA. Medium. December 18, 2020.


The Unforgettable Role of Cal Poly Pomona in the Development of Embedded Planning. Medium. June 13, 2020.

2019


“We Are a Movement:” Students Advance Embedded Planning at the National Planning Conference. UrbDeZine. May 14, 2019.

2018

We Cannot Plan From Our Desks. Planning. October 2018.

Web: https://www.planning.org/planning/2018/oct/viewpoint/
PDF: https://c1typlann3r.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/we-cannot-plan-from-our-desks_planning-magazine_viewpoint_october-2018_jpbell.pdf


An Urban Planner on the Ground in South Central Los Angeles. UrbDeZine. January 30, 2018.


Library History as Community History: Florence & Graham. Book chapter in, A Paseo Through Time in Florence-Firestone. East of Borneo Books. 2018.

2017

Mutual Aid at Lunchtime. Cultural Weekly. December 6, 2017.


An Open Letter to the Pasadena City Council Urging a Comprehensive Overhaul of the Second Dwelling Unit Ordinance. UrbDeZine. January 29, 2017.

2016

An Open Letter to the Pasadena Planning Commission Urging a Comprehensive Overhaul of the Second Dwelling Unit Ordinance. UrbDeZine. December 12, 2016.


Conference Spotlight: Lessons of Latino Informal Housing Practice at APA CA 2016. APA Latinos and Planning 2016 Winter Newsletter. December 2016.


March to the District: The 1992 Student Walkout at Montebello High School. Cultural Weekly. August 3, 2016.


Cal State Students, the “Fight for Five” Strike is About You, Too. Medium. April 9, 2016.


The Invisibility of Code Enforcement in Planning Praxis: The Case of Informal Housing in Southern California. Focus: The Journal of Planning Practice & Education 13(1), 20-29. 2016. (with Jake Wegmann)

2015

Epitaph for Edward W. Soja. UrbDeZine. December 17, 2015.


Reyner Banham, Mike Davis, and the Discourse on Los Angeles Ecology. UrbDeZine. July 14, 2015.


New Horizons: Libraries, Space, and People. Tame the Web. April 20, 2015.


Libraries, Change, and the Future. Tame the Web. April 6, 2015.


Obstacles to Participation: The Little Free Library Edition. Tame the Web. March 30, 2015.


“This is Our Library, and it’s a Pretty Cool Place:” A User-Centered Study of YA Library Spaces. Public Library Quarterly 34(1), 23-43. March 3, 2015. (with Denise Agosto, Anthony Bernier, and Meghann Kuhlmann)

2014

Response to Comments: The Informal Housing Debate Remains Open. UrbDeZine. November 12, 2014.


Learning from Librarians and Teens about YA Library Spaces. Public Libraries 53(3), 24-28. July 7, 2014. (with Meghann Kuhlmann, Denise Agosto, and Anthony Bernier)


Converting Garages into a Dissertation: A Conversation with Jacob Wegmann. UrbDeZine. June 17, 2014.

2012

Certification of Librarians: An Unproven Demand. Student Research Journal 2(1). 2012.


Libraries in the ‘Hood: A Social History of the Florence and Graham Branch Libraries in the Community of Florence-Firestone, 1912-2012. MLIS thesis proposal. San Jose State University, May 2012.