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.

Colorado OKs $350 Million for I-25 Expansion
Colorado’s new approach to transportation projects is on display with the funding of a new project to widen an interstate freeway, adding bike and pedestrian infrastructure alongside new toll lanes.

Revamped Curb Management Strategies Among Pandemic Changes Likely to Stick in Cities
With so many more people working from home, ordering delivery, and moving around the public realm in new ways, advanced curb management strategies are among the pandemic-era innovations likely to stick long into the future.

D.C., San Francisco Lead Pandemic Work From Home Trend
Remote work increased threefold during the pandemic, but the numbers vary significantly from city to city and region to region. Almost half of D.C.-area employees, for example, worked from home in 2021, according to American Community Survey data.

The Inflation Reduction Act's 'Inadequate' Reliance on Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicles can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but not enough to prevent the worst of climate change and not as much as walkable cities with far fewer cars on the road.

$1.5 Billion Awarded for Transportation Projects, Including $100 Million to Remove a Detroit Freeway
The latest round of federal infrastructure funding includes the largest contribution to emerge, so far, from the 2021 infrastructure bill for the removal of an urban freeway.