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.
$8.5 Billion, 19.3-Mile Light Rail Line Approved to Connect L.A. and Surrounding Cities
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has approved a plan to build a light rail route currently called the West Santa Ana Branch Project.
A Novel Defense Against State-Mandated Density: Mountain Lions
Woodside, a small town in the South Bay Area of California, has invented a new method for resisting state-mandated zoning reforms.
The Great Plains Real Estate Boom
Cities on the Great Plains were giving away land in recent decades in the hopes of attracting new residents. Now they have a different challenge: responding to a sudden, but still modest, spike in demand.
Lawsuit Challenges Zoning to Limit Church Soup Kitchens
Local residents of Brookings, Oregon say a local church's meal services during the pandemic were attracting crime and vagrancy, so the city passed a zoning ordinance that limited the number of days the church could serve meals to two a week.
Opinion: When Transit-Oriented Suburban Mega-Projects Go Too Far
The architecture critic for the Globe and Mail finds fault with two massive development proposals in the Toronto suburbs.