James Shelby

James became interested in planning when he was studying architecture in Chicago. He had always been interested in the form and shape of buildings, but his enthusiasm for affordable housing encouraged him to look beyond architecture. At the time, many of the tall "high rises" in Chicago where lower-income citizens resided were unsafe, in poor condition, and not family-friendly. "I changed my major from architecture to city planning in response to a need to improve the living conditions of those living in high-rise public housing," James says.

Today, James is a Deputy Commissioner for the City of Atlanta's Department of Planning and Community Development. In his current leadership capacity, James is heavily involved in various service oriented projects geared toward improving the quality of life for the City of Atlanta and its residents. James embraces the needs and concerns of citizens by making recommendations to the Mayor of Atlanta and city council on the city's growth and development. Among these responsibilities, James is also involved in writing housing policies, which strive to ensure that everyone in the City of Atlanta, including workforce, has the opportunity to find a safe and affordable place to live, work and play.

Before coming to Atlanta, James was a planner in Mississippi and Illinois. He has worked on everything from transportation and design to economic development and environmental studies, and much more. He was the board director of the American Planning Association from 1992 to 1996.

In his free time, James enjoys photography, fishing, traveling and spending time with his grandchildren.

Mariia Zimmerman

Yes, she does have 2 i's in her name

Mariia works for a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., called Reconnecting America.  Reconnecting America promotes building great communities that are connected by transit, which includes trains and buses.  It also shows how communities can have more affordable housing and diversity.  Mariia helps plan transit projects and also gives talks and writes about transit, affordable housing, and diversity.

One thing Mariia loves about transit is that good transit (and for her that is usually a train) makes it so much easier to get around a city, saves gasoline, and helps the environment.  What's more, she would rather travel to work on a train, listening to her I-Pod and reading a good book, than sitting in a car in a traffic jam.  She believes that we can work together to make sure that more kids, adults, grandparents — everyone — can have more transportation choices.

Since becoming a city planner it has been important for Mariia to find ways to make our cities better places to live and work, and in doing so protect our farmlands and open spaces for people and animals to enjoy.  "We're all connected," she says.  "We need to make sure that human and animal habitats are good places to live, work, play, pray and learn."

How did Mariia become interested in city planning?

Mariia says: "I grew up on a farm in rural Minnesota and seldom went to the city. However, one particular trip that made a big impression on me was when I was in 6th grade and my family stayed in a high-rise hotel in downtown Minneapolis. From the window I could see for miles and was just amazed at how a city and all the streets worked together. The city at night was one of the most beautiful things I'd seen. My dad thought I was crazy. When I went to college, I loved my urban geography class that talked about how cities developed and the relationship between people and cities — a lot of it unchanged from the time of the Romans until today. The combination of history, economics, the environment and architecture that planning includes just fascinated me, and still does."

Besides planning, what are some of Mariia's other interests and hobbies?

Maria says: "My biggest and favorite 'hobby' is being a mom to my 5 year old son. He loves trains and bicycling. We've traveled around to a lot of different countries to ride their trains and to bike. Seeing China was one of my favorite trips. We visited a 'small city' of 5 million people and rode a Maglev train that went over 300 miles per hour!"  A Maglev train is a train that levitates above the tracks using magnets.

Mariia also loves the outdoors and farmland she works to protect.  She enjoys going back to visit her family on the farm in Minnesota.  She also loves hiking in the Shenandoah and Appalachian mountains with her family and friends.  When she moved to the East Coast, she was amazed at how green it is and how many great places there are to hike and explore.

Even when she's not at work, Mariia enjoys being involved in her community.  She is a member of her county's transportation commission, a group of citizens who get to review different plans in the county to build new buildings, improve their streets, create new bike paths, and provide transit.