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.

New Single-Family Homes Shrank in 2019
The Census Bureau's "Characteristics of New Housing" report shows declining size among single-family homes built and sold new in 2019.

Civil Rights and Historic Preservation: A Case Study from Northern Virginia
The civil rights debates of the 1960s and 1970s influence city planning in Alexandria, Virginia to this day.

Coping With Rent Burden
The rent eats first, they say. But how do people survive when the rent also eats almost everything?

Comprehensive Update to Washington State's Growth Management Act Expected in 2021
Effective planning processes offer immense financial savings, and there's never been a more pressing need for both. The state of Washington is setting out to prove the planning dividend.

Open Container Laws Ditched in Cincinnati's The Banks Entertainment District
The trend toward the liberalization of outdoor drinking laws continues in Cincinnati. The turned is prevalent enough that this isn't even the first example of a "designated outdoor refreshment area" on the Ohio River.