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.
Palo Alto Includes Industrial Rezonings in its State-Mandated Housing Element
Palo Alto, a Silicon Valley city with a history of exclusionary zoning tactics, has produced a new Housing Element that calls for more than 6,000 housing units to be built in the city by 2031.
Where and Why Rezonings Are More Likely to Succeed
A new analysis of developer-initiated rezonings in Louisville, Kentucky sheds light on how the land use regulation system works.
Skyscraper Proposed for Austin Would Be Tallest in Texas
The skylines are starting to catch up to the hype about everything being bigger in Texas.
Elizabeth Warren Points to Development as a Path for Electoral Success
An op-ed written by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) details Democrats’ recent track record of large-scale capital investments and calls for more.
Scooter-Share Company Tosses Financial Reports
Bird was counting money in customers’ digital “wallets” as revenue, and has admitted that financial statements from 2020 and 2021 “should no longer be relied upon.”