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.
Atlanta Streets Alive Hopes to Shift City’s Perceptions
Maria Saporta reviews the latest Atlanta Streets Alive event, which shuts down streets to vehicle traffic and turns them over to people, held over the past weekend in the historic neighborhood of West End.
Washington D.C. Getting a Giant Greenhouse
A company called BrightFarms is developing a 100,000 square-foot greenhouse on a vacant lot in Washington D.C. The farm will provide jobs for locals and reduce the environmental footprint of the food sourcing process.
Which Way, Dallas?
Architecture critic Mark Lamster describes Dallas as a city at a defining moment in its history. He poses the following questions: “What are our goals, and how do we achieve them? What exactly do we want Dallas to be?”
Ranking the Most Resilient Cities
Resilience has entered into the planning and urbanism lexicon as a large challenge for all places pursuing prosperous, sustainable futures. A new study examines the world’s leading cities for lessons in resilience.
Biking Boom Takes to the Sidewalks
The city of Santiago, Chile offers a cautionary tale for cities amidst a biking boom that don’t rethink the mode balance on their streets: there’s nowhere for bikers to go except the sidewalk.