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.
Opening on January 1: The Most Expensive Subway Ever Built
There will be a lot of hoopla when the Second Avenue Subway opens in Manhattan on the first day of 2017. Some writers are making sure that one important detail isn't getting lost in the celebration.
China Announces Massive High-Speed Rail Investment
China will spend $503 billion on high-speed rail by the beginning of the next decade.
5 Positive Environmental News Developments from 2016
The idea that 2016 was an unequivocally and uniformly bad year is getting thrown around very casually these days. Here are a few reasons for why that narrative is overstated.
Money Leftover from Superstorm Sandy Repairs Now Funding Parks in Queens
A boardwalk reconstruction project in Roackaway Beach, funded by FEMA after Superstorm Sandy, has money leftover. The public is invited to help decide how the money gets used.
Obama Designates Two New National Monuments
Before this week, President Obama added more acreage to national monuments than any previous president. The final 1.35 million acres, designated this week, are a controversial final flourish.