James Brasuell, AICP is the former editorial director of Planetizen and is now a senior public affairs specialist at the Southern California Association of Governments. James managed all editorial content and direction for Planetizen from 2014 to 2023, and was promoted from manging editor to editorial director in 2021. After a first career as a class five white water river guide in Trinity County in Northern California, James started his career in Los Angeles as a volunteer at a risk reduction center in Skid Row. Prior to joining Planetizen, James worked at the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design, as an editor at Curbed LA, as editor of The Planning Report, and as a freelance contributor for The Architect’s Newspaper, the Urban Land Institute – Los Angeles Chapter, FORM, KCET, and the California Planning & Development Report.
New Levels of Car Dependence Follow Seattle's Growth
By any measure, Seattle is growing at a breakneck pace. But with those new residents come cars, and all the infrastructure and land use inefficiencies they bring.
How Not to Do a Pedestrian Safety PSA
For your consideration.
Even Older Buildings Are More Energy Efficient Than Ever
An analysis of trends in energy-efficiency improvements reveals the success of policies enacted during the previous decades.
The Left Critiques YIMBYism
There are two fundamental flaws with the emergent "YIMBY" approach to planning and development politics, according to this article in an influential magazine of the American left.
Breaking: Controversial Trinity Toll Road Officially a No-Go
Dallas has ended decades of debate about a highway project proposed to run along the Trinity River.