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.
Behold the First-Ever Regional Transit Map of New York
For anyone not a fan of the Seattle Seahawks, the best result of this year's Super Bowl might have been the first-ever regional transit map of New York.
Barrio Logan Community Plan's Political Rift Deepens in San Diego
The city of San Diego adopted the Barrio Logan plan a few months ago, provoking a successful movement to place a referendum on a future ballot. The city’s mayoral race could hinge on the issue, with large military contractors as political donors.

Ranking the '10 Most Exciting Suburbs'
Ranking suburbs on metrics of excitement? That’s a zesty response to the suburb-bashing parlance of the times, and the Movoto Real Estate Blog has done just that.
‘Mass-Transit Super Bowl’ Not-So-Super for Attendees
With parking limited around the stadium for yesterday’s Super Bowl, attendees relied on the New York region’s transit system to get to and from the game. After months of worry about the weather, mass transit was the Least Valuable Player on game day.

How to ‘Not Be a Gentrifier’—Oakland Edition
As an urbanist, it can be easy to think of gentrification as a macroeconomic trend or a collection of data points, not as an individual experience. A community organizer in Oakland would like to bring the issue home for the city’s newcomers.