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.

Aspen Presses Pause on New Construction, Short-Term Rentals
Residents and elected officials of the famously wealthy mountain town of Aspen don't like the way the city is headed.

Songs About Places 2021: 'Outside,' 'Lockdown,' and Memphis Among the Themes of Another Pandemic Year
2021 was full of songs that centered place in art's reckoning with reality. Were you listening?

Experts Fear a Permanent 'Arousal Breakout' on U.S. Roadways
The reckless and dangerous driving that has been a hallmark of the Covid-19 pandemic could become a more common, permanent feature of life in the United States.

'Daylighting' Project to Restore Nature in the Big Apple
More cities are returning waterways to a more natural state—in some cases unearthing them from subterranean pipes in a process known as "daylighting." A new example can be found, perhaps surprisingly, in New York City.

Biden Commits Federal Government to Carbon Neutrality
President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that aims to cut 65 percent of the government's carbon emissions by the end of this decade and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.