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.
First: Portland's Citywide Skateboard Count
According to a first-of-its-kind count of skateboarders in Portland (long known as a mecca for the sport), thousands of skateboarders in Portland are on the streets everyday, with few accommodations made to the popular mode of transportation.
Whole Foods Moving into a Food Desert in Chicago's Englewood Neighborhood
Why would Whole Foods—a company colloquially known as "Whole Paycheck" and as a staple of wealthy neighborhoods—open an 18,000-square-foot location in one of the most impoverished parts of Chicago?
A Planning Career to Help People Share—Bikes, of Course
The following interview, as published in the 4th Edition of the Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs, features Kimberly Lucas, bicycle program specialist for the District Department of Transportation.
Using Social Media to Celebrate Historic Buildings
For almost as long as social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram have been in existence, users have had a morbid fascination with examples of derelict and destroyed architecture. Social media, however, can be more celebratory of the past.
Defending the Metropolitan Council as Political Support for Regional Planning Wanes
An editorial in the MinnPost supports the regional planning of the Metropolitan Council in the Twin Cities metro area, which has been beset by a string of controversial decisions.