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.

Study: Sprawl is Bad for Public Health
Smart Growth America has released the "Measuring Sprawl 2014" report, which updates the 2002 report "Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact."

Top Ten Fake Futures Most Likely to Destroy Planning As We Know It
The following is a list things that are never going to happen, because if they did, urban planning as we know it would cease to exist.
Nome, Alaska to Lower 48: What Polar Vortex?
The residents and government of the city of Nome, Alaska are unimpressed with the whining they heard this winter.

Bar Brawl Breaks Out Over Kelo v. City of New London
A brawl began after a disagreement over the nuances of the Supreme Court case that protected the power of the government to use eminent domain to transfer ownership of private property for the purposes of economic development.
Pets.com Employee Shuttle Has Been Circling San Francisco Since 2000
Residents say an old Pets.com employee shuttle still drives the streets of San Francisco, seemingly at random. The driver, a mystery to all, emerges from the shuttle occasionally to buy a burrito and a Chronicle. But no one ever sees his face.