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.

Op-Ed: FEMA Failing to Respond to Housing Displacement After Disasters
With President Trump in Florida, Diane Yentel writes about the many people there still living without shelter after Hurricane Michael last year.

Neighborhood-Based Apps and the Socialized Fear of Crime
Violent crime is at the lowest rate in decades, but don't tell that to the people who use neighborhood-based apps like Nextdoor, Citizen, and Neighbors.

Ride-Hail Drivers Strike Today. Will Riders Boycott?
Uber is expected to be valued at $91 billion for an Initial Public Offering this spring. Initial investors will get rich. Drivers won't get much.

The Best Places for Bikes in the United States
PeopleforBike has released its most comprehensive analysis yet of how well cities and towns provide bike infrastructure and succeed in attracting people to active transportation.

Leonardo da Vinci and Urbanism
Leonardo Da Vinci gets credit for many inventions and creative breakthroughs, but his contributions to the theory of city making gets less credit.