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.
Large Mixed-Use Development the Latest Step in Cabrini-Green's Complete Redevelopment
The process of redeveloping the site of one of the country's most infamous public housing complexes, Cabrini-Green in Chicago, will soon take another substantial step into the future.
Doubling Down on Infrastructure
The challenge facing the nation's infrastructure is massive in scale, requiring ambition lacking since the New Deal and Eisenhower eras. Building on those historic models, the following op-ed suggests a "WPA 2.0" approach to infrastructure.
In New York: No Bus Ridership Without Congestion Relief
Bus ridership has dropped for many years in New York City, but much of the bleeding is concentrated in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Could the congestion problems of the central city be the reason for the declining use of bus transit?
Debating the Legacy of the High Line
A new debate has emerged, starting from a source very close to the project, about the effects of the High Line in New York City.
Cap-and-Trade Back on the Table in Oregon
A new report and hearings by the state's House and Senate environment committees has put a cap-and-trade policy to curb carbon emissions back in play in Salem.