Jonathan P. Miller came to journalism through an unlikely route—he spent five years working as an urban planner for Los Angeles County before realizing he’d rather write about city development than draft zoning amendments. That career pivot in 2012 took him first to the Pasadena Star-News, where he learned to cover municipal government on deadline, then to the Long Beach Post, where he spent six years building a reputation for detailed infrastructure and housing policy reporting.
What He Covers
As Senior Correspondent at News of Los Angeles, Jonathan focuses on transportation, housing, and the bureaucratic machinery that determines how Angelenos live, commute, and build. His 2021 investigation into contractor delays on the Metro Purple Line extension was cited during Los Angeles City Council budget hearings. His ongoing coverage of the city’s ADU permitting backlog has become a reference point for homeowners, developers, and housing advocates trying to make sense of LA’s regulations.
Jonathan completed a data journalism fellowship with Investigative Reporters & Editors in 2019, training he now applies to dissecting environmental impact reports and tracking infrastructure spending across LA County’s 88 municipalities. In 2022, he received the California News Publishers Association award for explanatory journalism.
LA Roots
A third-generation Angeleno—his grandfather worked as a motorman on the Pacific Electric Red Cars—Jonathan brings historical context to his transit reporting while keeping focus on what’s actually getting built today. He holds a master’s in urban planning from UCLA, which occasionally makes him the person at dinner parties explaining why that road project is three years behind schedule.
He lives in Echo Park with his wife and their two kids, and has logged more hours on the Metro L Line than he cares to count.