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.
Mapping the Happiest Places in the United States (Disneyland Not Included)
Researchers from Harvard and the University of British Columbia used "self-reported life satisfaction data" from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to locate the cities and regions where Americans are most happy (or unhappy).
Real Estate Woes Hemorrhaging Wealth from the Middle Class
An article on the Washington Post Wonkblog shows how deeply the real estate crash impacted the wealth of the Middle Class—now on the tail end of three lost decades.
Southern California First: Freeway Teardown Project Coming to Long Beach
Funded by a grant from the California Department of Transportation, Long Beach released an RFP for conceptual and design services for a plan to transform the Terminal Island Freeway into a "regional serving greenbelt and local serving road."
Debate: How Much should 'Starchitects' be Faulted for Urban Ills?
In response to a recent polemic by Witold Rybczynski against the global proliferation of iconic but disconnected projects by starchitects, the New York Times hosts a debate that addresses the question: Are superstar architects ruining city skylines?
Study: Bikeshare Replaces Transit Trips in Minneapolis, Washington D.C.
Eric Jaffe dives into evidence that bike share should be considered an essential component of a multi-modal public transit network.