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.
Preview L.A.'s New Crenshaw Light Rail Line, Opening in 2020
Curbed Los Angeles takes a tour of the Crenshaw Line, currently doing test runs in Los Angeles and Inglewood and expected to open to the public in summer or fall 2020.
Pontiac, Comeback City
Employment in Pontiac has risen 14.2 percent since 2010, the city is fiscally sound, and development investments continue.
An Incremental Upzoning Approved in Tacoma
Though it stops well short of a citywide upzoning, the city of Tacoma has still expanded its planned development envelope by upzoning residential neighborhoods around the city.
'Heirs Property' Could Help More Black People Enter the Homebuying Market
There's an estimated $34 billion in property stuck in legal limbo in Georgia, and some, like the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, think it should be leveraged for social equity.
Judge Shuts Down Right Wing Group's Extra-Governmental Border Wall Construction
Concerns about the impact on a nearby butterfly preserve, a judge in Texas finally shutdown private construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.