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.
Cars Retake Their Place on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach
Ocean Drive in South Beach is the site of an ongoing pilot project in making space for pedestrians and businesses in space previously devoted to cars. Advocates and some local politicians don't like the direction that the experiment is headed.
A New Generation of Community-Led Planning in New York
With a benchmark success in demanding rights for the community during an ongoing rezoning process in Inwood, a neighborhood in Manhattan, a new generation of community-led resistance to top-down planning is coalescing in New York City.
Staten Island Ferris Wheel Back From the Dead
With much of the infrastructure for the failed, 630-foot Ferris wheel project partially in place, investors are looking for ways to bring the New York Wheel back to life.
Michigan to Study Feasibility of Toll Roads
The search for new road funding continues in Michigan.
New York Poised to Become a Biking City
Could the pandemic be a tipping point for a century of car-centric planning in New York City's to give way to a more bike-friendly city?