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.
State Supreme Court: Development Can Block Views of the Brooklyn Bridge
In a tale as old as New York City, residents are upset that a development project, already underway in Brooklyn, will block view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
Study Measures Street Connectivity for Evidence of Sprawl's Decline
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds evidence of the decline of sprawl as the dominant form of construction in the United States and attracted lots of media attention in the process.
Book Review: 'City by City'
A Planetizen review of "City by City: Dispatches from the American Metropolis," edited by Keith Gessen and Stephen Squibb, finds too much to fault in the book's essay about Los Angeles.
California State Supreme Court Upholds Inclusionary Zoning Laws
The California Building Industry Association (BIA) had taken its case to the State Supreme Court, but in the end the court decided that municipalities could require developers to set aide a portion of units for affordable housing.
Lack of Data Still Impedes Multi-Modal Trip Navigation
A call for all transportation agencies to open their data.