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.
A New Housing Strategy for Akron, Ohio
The city of Akron has lost 93,000 residents since 1960, so it has room to grow. Now it has a draft housing plan that uses a tax abatement program modeled on examples in Cleveland and Cuyahoga Falls.
Baltimore Students Have to Adjust to Newly Limited Access to Buses
A local politician resorted to holding a bake sale to help fund free bus service for students.
Freddie Mac Releases its 2017 Multifamily Housing Market Forecast
A new report from Freddie Mac predicts rising rents and rising vacancy rates in the national multifamily market. The report also compares submarkets.
Sweden Targets Carbon Neutrality
As the lawmakers in Washington, D.C. prepare to gut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, environmentalists got inspiring news from the country of Sweden.
Maryland Transportation Planning Decisions Under Civil Rights Scrutiny
The infamous cancellation of the Red Line, a decision made by Gov. Larry Hogan shortly after he took office, is a high-profile example of how the state's transportation decisions are short-changing people of color.