H. Pike Oliver
Pike Oliver has worked on real estate development strategies and master-planned communities since the early 1970s, including nearly eight years at the Irvine Company. He resided in the City of Irvine for five years in the 1980s and nine years in the 1990s. As the founder and sole proprietor of Urbanexus, Oliver works on advancing equitable and sustainable real estate development.
Early in his career, Oliver worked for public agencies, including the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, where he was a principal contributor to an Urban Strategy for California. Oliver taught real estate development at Cornell University and the University of Washington. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the American Planning Association and a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable.
Oliver graduated from San Francisco State University's urban studies and planning program and earned a master’s degree in urban planning at UCLA.
C. Michael Stockstill
A native Californian, Michael Stockstill received a degree in Journalism from Humboldt State University in 1971. After a year as a legislative staff member in the California Assembly, he worked as a reporter and editor in Orange County before joining the Irvine Company in 1978. During his thirteen-year career there he helped formulate and implement strategy for major planning and policy issues, including a multi-year effort to pass a half cent sales tax for local transportation improvements.
Stockstill also worked for the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which built the first toll roads in modern California history, as well as CalOptima and Southern California Edison. He concluded his career as a public affairs consultant. Stockstill moved to Irvine in 1975 and was active in local government, youth sports, and education while raising a family there. Now retired, he lives in Irvine and writes for national magazines including Planning and Parks and Recreation. This is his first book.