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.
Reparative Planning as Movement Building
The "Metro as Sanctuary" campaign provides an example of movement-based planning. This kind of planning is relational and solidaristic, with an emphasis on collective decision-making, complementary divisions of labor, and mutual learning.
'Grandfamily' Housing Fills a Need in the Housing Market
Grandfamily housing, as described by a recent article in The New York Times, is a kind of intergenerational housing model that caters to older Americans raising children.
Calculating Bus Stop Spacing for 43 U.S. Cities
New research documents the distance between bus stops in U.S. cities—a key question for service designers that determines a lot about the public transit user experience.
Statewide Zoning Reform Proposed in Minnesota
The proposed Comprehensive Housing Affordability Act would trade development fees for zoning relief.
When Infrastructure Investments Go Wrong
The United States has a near perfect track record of building the infrastructure it thinks it needs. But the country and its various state and local governments, don't always get the vision right.