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.

How California Plans to Slow the Corporate Takeover of the Residential Market
The state of California is trying to prevent a repeat of one of the most significant consequences of the Great Recession: large Wall Street interests buying for-sale housing in bulk for conversion to apartments.

Five More Affluent NYC Neighborhoods to Upzone
In keeping with the goals of the Regional Plan Association's Fourth Regional Plan, New York City must continue its nascent trend of rezoning for more building capacity in affluent neighborhoods.

Massive Residential Development Revealed in Chicago's Near North Side
New details have emerged on a project the Chicago Tribune is calling this one of Chicago's most ambitious development proposals in decades.

Protections Stripped From Alaska's Tongass National Forest
The Trump administration has, in the past week before the election, achieved one of the largest rollbacks of public land protections of its entire tenure.

Court Complaint Accuses Redfin's 'Minimum Price Policy' of Redlining Minority Neighborhoods
A bombshell investigation accuses an online real estate company of a contemporary form of redlining.