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.

Sunday Funny: The Onion Calls Out the Auto Industry for its Massive SUVs
This is satire for anyone who has noticed, with fear for the planet and pedestrians, the growing size of pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles manufactured and sold in the United States

The Culling: Four Fewer Scooter Companies Allowed to Operate in D.C.
A controversial evaluation process has produced a final verdict, and four scooter companies are no longer welcome on the streets of the nation's capital.

A First for Houston: Chief Transportation Planner
The newly created position of Chief Transportation Planner for the city of Houston is tasked with working with multiple levels of government to help shift Houston away from its car-centric model.

Friday Eye Candy: A Sorely-Needed Map of New York City Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods don't get the same official boundaries as cities, counties, states, and countries. So how do we know where one neighborhood ends and another begins?

Twitter for Urban Planning
Few social media sites offer the same kind of diversity of information and opinion to a field of study than Twitter does for planning.