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.
Eno to Launch Study of High U.S. Transit Costs
The Eno Center for Transportation is answering long-overdue calls for more information about the well documented costs of transit investments in the United States.
To Clear Obstacles to Housing Affordability, Environmental Law Reformed in Washington
State and local lawmakers hope that recent reforms to the Washington State Environmental Policy Act are only an initial step toward ending the law's use as a tool for delaying affordable housing plans.
A Decade of Transit Investments, Quantified
Yonah Freemark gives less-than-stellar marks for the transit investments of U.S. cities in the 2010s.
Maryland Could Join the Statewide Density Club
The ambitious "Homes for All" plan would include upzoning as only one tool for addressing the acute housing affordability crisis in the state of Maryland.
Decline in Coal-Fired Power Reduces U.S. Carbon Emissions in 2019
The energy sector produced ten percent less carbon emissions in 2019 than the previous year—the largest drop in decades. Still, the decline of the coal industry is not enough to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accord.