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.

Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance Proposed in Oak Park, Illinois
The suburb made famous by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway is considering an inclusionary zoning ordinance in the hopes of enabling more affordable housing development.

What Infrastructure Crisis?
Interstate highways are actually improving, according to a recent analysis. What if the infrastructure crisis is a matter of perspective, and not some universal truth?

Find Your City's 2080 Climate Change Twin
Want to know what the weather will feel like after climate change takes hold? There might be a hotter and drier place already on the planet that can offer clues.

Delinquent Car Payments Reach Record High
More people are three months behind on car payments today than at the height of the Great Recession. That's bad news for the economy.

Virgin Trains USA Won't Go Public After All
A planned IPO has been called off.