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Staff Biography

Stephen Fesler

Senior Reporter

Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.

Recent Articles

Sunday Video: The Right Bus In The Right Place

American transit agencies often limit themselves in the types of buses that they use, but when is it right to have three-/four-/five-door buses, double decker buses, and single and double articulate buses? Reece Martin...

Sunday Video: Convention Center Madness

Like yours truly, Ray Delahanty of CityNerd is at this year's National Planning Conference in Minneapolis. And like yours truly, Delahanty is spending a lot of time in a sprawling downtown convention center. In...

Community Transit Set To Eliminate Special Commuter Fares

With riders connecting to light rail instead of using direct bus connections to downtown, Community Transit is phasing out its $4.25 commuter fare. Fares will be a flat $2.50 across the agency's system.

Sunday Video: All The Ways Car Dependency Make Things Worse

Ray Delahanty of CityNerd goes through a litany of reasons why car dependency makes American society worse off from public health and environmental quality to public safety and economic security. This video may trigger...
A train makes the turn on elevated tracks near Mount Backer Station.

Sound Transit Speeds Up Delivery of 10 Link Cars to Handle Crowds

The 10 extra light rail vehicles will be put into service in early 2028 and help ease crowding as Sound Transit operates the 1 Line from Federal Way to Lynnwood.