James Durrett

Biography: Jim Durrett is president of The Buckhead Coalition and executive director of The Buckhead Community Improvement District (CID) – a local governmental entity with taxation power. The mission of the Buckhead CID is to create and maintain a safe, accessible and livable urban environment in the heart of the Buckhead commercial area in north Atlanta. They meet the challenges of growth by investing tax dollars collected from commercial property owners within the district, as well as other funds they leverage from outside the district, to make meaningful improvements in the transportation network and public realm that connect people and places. He has in-depth expertise in transportation, land use and creating livable communities. Prior to heading up the Buckhead CID, Durrett was founding executive director of the Livable Communities Coalition, a not-for-profit organization formed in 2005 to promote smart growth development in the Atlanta region. Prior to that, Durrett served for five years with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) as the first executive director of ULI's Atlanta District Council. In addition, Durrett was with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce as vice president of environmental affairs, and was the senior vice president and chief operating officer of The Georgia Conservancy. Durrett began his professional career as a hydrogeologist in the Atlanta office of Golder Associates, an international geotechnical and environmental engineering consulting firm. Durrett is actively involved in the community and currently serves on the following boards and councils: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) board of directors (which he chaired in 2011); the HUB404 Conservancy; the Biophilic Institute; and the Responsible Property Investment Council of ULI (current chair). From 1998 to 2005, Durrett was a member of the Georgia Environmental Advisory Council, appointed by the Governor to advise the G