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.

Preventing Crime, One Park at a Time
Deborah Marton, executive director of the New York Restoration Project, connects parks and open space to improved public safety.

How, and Where, a Big Transit Oriented Density Bill Would Allow Change in Oregon
Analyzing the potential outcomes of Senate Bill 10, one of two statewide upzoning bills under consideration in the state of Oregon this year.

In the Eyes of the Law, Drivers Aren't Playing Fair
A new paper accounts for all the ways "the legal system puts its thumb on the scale for drivers to the detriment of everyone else: transit users, cyclists and pedestrians."

Neighborhoods 2020: Details on Minneapolis' Next Big Planning Effort
Minneapolis wants to diversify its neighborhood organizations, racially and economically. The Neighborhoods 2020 plan would require those organizations to meet diversity standards.

Freedom Rides Transit With Unlimited Transfers
One transit rider sings the praises of an experiment that allows Toronto transit riders a two-hour window of unlimited transfers on the TTC system.