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.
A New Guide to Participatory Planning
A new guidebook by the Montréal Urban Ecology Centre can help improve a critical part of the job for all planners.
Using Instagram to Create a Blight Inventory
The Innovation Team in Mobile shows that sometimes innovation can be delivered through commonplace technology.
Study: Resurgent in the U.S., Bike Ownership Stagnates Worldwide
Of the 7.3 billion people living on the planet, one in every 12 owns a bike. Despite appearances, however, that number has not increased much in recent years.
Damage Control for New York's Big Zoning Proposals
One of the nation's most ambitious efforts to upzone neighborhoods in the hope of spurring more market rate and affordable housing supply is up for debate in New York City. A lot of people don't like the plan.
AIA Gold Medal Goes to the Dynamic Duo of Venturi and Scott Brown
The 2016 Gold Medal is considered a rebuttal to the Pritzker Prize, which neglected to acknowledge Denise Scott Brown when it awarded Robert Venturi in 1991.