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 Tower the Height of the Empire State Building…in Brooklyn
The wave of skyscraper construction in New York is about to jump the East River.
Working Toward Open Data for Building and Construction Permits
The potential of a standard, easily accessible data set tracking building and land use permits could completely change the way the public interacts with changes in their community.
Debating the Feasibility of Retrofitting Suburbia
Is the challenge of retrofitting sprawl intractable or unavoidable?
Safety Improvements Needed for Pacific Coast Highway Through Malibu
A consistently miserable record of crashes and fatalities, including pedestrians and collisions with parked cars, is compelling the city of Malibu to undertake a large number of safety improvement projects along the Pacific Coast Highway.
Mapping the Location and Scale of U.S. Electricity Capacity
A series of maps from The Washington Post answers the questions of how and where the United States gets its energy.