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.

Crack in Bridge Connecting Arkansas to Tennessee Comes With Consequences, Debate
Goods movement on the Mississippi River, as well as truck traffic on a key interstate, has ground to a halt after a crack was discovered last week in a bridge on Interstate 40 connecting to Memphis.

Minneapolis Eliminates Parking Requirements Citywide
Minneapolis joins the avant garde of cities implementing a dramatic overhaul of the parking requirement status quo that has been a primary determinant of the form and function of cities for nearly a century.

Report Breaks Down Pandemic Rent Burdens by State and Metro Area
The share of U.S. households facing rent debt is decreasing as the economy begins to recover from the pandemic, but rent debt is still concentrated by geography and demographics around the country.

I-5 Widening Kicks Off in Downtown Seattle
Congestion relief is promised as the Washington Department of Transportation begins to rework the existing I-5 roadway in Downtown Seattle to mitigate a stretch of freeway with a reputation as the state's worst bottleneck.

Fourplexes on the Legislative Agenda in San Francisco
San Francisco, the poster child for runaway housing costs and displacement of existing residential populations, could be on the cusp of a change of plans.