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.
A Milestone for the American Community Survey
After releasing new five-year estimates this week, the American Community Survey now offers three sets of five-year data that don't overlap, providing even more data for the analysis of local trends.
Transit's Big Day at the Ballot Box
Even with the fiscal uncertainty of the pandemic, voters around the country overwhelmingly supported new funding for public transit projects.
The Next Generation of Nuclear Power Could Come Closer to Home
Nuclear regulators have recently given the green light to a new kind of nuclear reactor, the small modular reactor. A recent article in The Urbanist explains the case for a nuclear-powered urbanism.
New York State Pension Fund Divests From Fossil Fuels
The announcement this week that the state of New York's employee pension fund would divest from fossil fuel industries sent shockwaves through the industry and the environmentalism movement this week.
Local Zoning Controversy Raises Bigger Questions About Race and Discrimination
A zoning application in the city of Woodbridge, Connecticut has interests on both sides of the issue lawyering up, and the reverberations from the controversy reach all the way to the state capital.