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.

New Train Station in North Bay Brings Commuters One Step Closer to S.F.
The new Larkspur Station on the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) system brings commuters much closer to a ferry across the bay.

Report: 'Racialized Displacement' Followed Rezonings in New York City
The rezonings in question occurred during the Bloomberg administration, but advocates are seizing on the relevance of that experience to the rezonings of the de Blasio administration.

Homebuilders Aren't Keeping Pace With Millennial Demand
Places with a lot of Millennials are building homes, just not enough to keep pace with the large number of Millennials coming of homebuying age.

'Gentle Density' to Save Neighborhoods
Cities looking to follow Minneapolis's lead in overturning the status quo of exclusionary zoning should consider "gentle density," according to this article.

In Defense of Pilot Projects
An initial lack of success of transportation pilot projects isn't always an indicator of long-term viability in a rapidly shifting transportation landscape, according to this article.