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.
What's a Tree Worth?
The U.S. Forest Service has continued to refine the valuable i-Tree software program, which allows cities to calculate the benefits, in dollar figures, of the urban forest.
Esoteric No More: Facadism Explained
Facadism is a critical concept for evaluating projects that rehabilitate, renovate, or redevelop historic structures—but it's often considered too esoteric for conversation. It's time we all got on the same page.
New Storefront Index Reveals Evidence of Jacobs's 'Sidewalk Ballet'
City Observatory illustrates a key contributor to a vibrant urban environment by mapping all of the businesses in the urban cores of the nation's 51 largest cities.
Self-Driving Cars Have Their Own Lobby Now
A coalition of the automated, if you will, as Ford, Volvo, Google, Uber, and Lyft have formed the new Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets to lobby for the causes of the nascent self-driving car industry.
Resistance Rising Against Port Authority's Manhattan Bus Terminal Plans
Nicole Gelinas writes a column that deliberately establishes an urban vs. suburban conflict over the issue of a $10 billion proposal to build a new Port Authority bus terminal on Manhattan's West Side.