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.
Ordinance Would Limit Chickens, Livestock in Chicago Residential Neighborhoods
Noise and smeall are the common complaints as more residents of urban areas bring animals to their home to live more sustainably.
Self-Scooting Scooter Startup Wants to Solve Clutter Problem
Autonomous micromobility could solve some of dockless bike and scooter share companies' largest remaining challenges, like the local availability of scooters and conformity to local and federal regulations.
Study: Historical Redlining Maps No Longer a Proxy for Black America
Black Americans have moved on from formerly redlined neighborhoods, and other minorities and whites have moved in. The wave of presidential campaigns that have based housing policy proposals on redlining maps might be misguided as a result.
So You Want to Be a Planning Commissioner?
San Francisco provides a case study of the immense challenges and scant rewards that await you in a job as a planning commissioner—planning outcomes suffer as a result.
Transit Dreams Follow 'Wheel Tax' Proposal in Madison
After Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway proposed a $40 "wheel tax," otherwise known as a vehicle registration fee, the debate heated up about what the revenue could fund, or whether it's necessary at all.