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.
The Bike as a Symbol of Freedom
It's no geographic accident that so many of the images emerging from nationwide protests have featured numerous protestors on bikes. These forces have been coalescing for years.
Pandemic Expected to Dampen Enthusiasm for Mixed-Use Developments
The retail component of the mixed-use development business model is expected to face a long, challenging downturn, and developers and designers are looking in other directions to make ends meet in the meantime.
Ithaca Approves Historic #CancelRent Legislation
Ithaca, New York is the first city in the nation to go through with a plan to cancel rent, giving three-quarters of the residents in the city a needed safety net as the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis persists into the summer.
Watch: Responding to Anti-Black Racism in Planning and Urbanism
A must-watch conversation between BIPOC researchers and advocates working in the realm of planning and urbanism is available to watch on YouTube.
Can it Happen Here? Is it Happening Here?
An urban planning scholar of foreign conflict shares insights into how recent political unrest in the United States resembles and distinguishes from the ethnic and nationalistic conflict experienced in other countries in recent decades.