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.
Seattle NBA Arena Proposal Back From the Dead—But This Time it's Privately Funded
The mastermind behind a failed plan to build a new NBA arena in the Seattle neighborhood of Sodo has tweaked the plan and come back to the negotiating table. A big question still waiting for an answer: Will the NBA will expand to return to the city?
Poverty in the United States Explained
The Brookings Institution has provided a data-driven examination of the subject of poverty in the United States, to provide the kind of policy nuance and detail missing from the 2016 presidential campaign.
California's Rental Housing Crisis Has Come to the Capital
The state capital of California is starting to see rents that would fit in around San Francisco or Los Angeles. Although explanations are scant, some are blaming the stagnant multi-family development industry.
14,000 Homeless Women and Counting in Los Angeles County
The number of homeless women living in Los Angeles County has increased 55 percent since 2013. Women account for one in three homeless people in the county.
A $1.7 Billion Highway Project Looms in Brooklyn
The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) is built atop of crumbling series of bridges. The city is expected to go in high gear on construction on Brooklyn's only interstate highway by the beginning of the next decade.