Alum Profiles
Jim P. Urban ’89
Director, Oldham County KY Planning & Development Services
Current vocation:
Director, Oldham County KY Planning & Development Services
What were you doing before you applied to the Conway School?
Sole Proprietor, Wholesale Fruit & Produce Business
What brought you to Conway?
A desire to become more engaged in community development.
How did you first learn about Conway?
An “old school” ad in a newspaper!
What advice do you have for someone just starting out in the field?
Be open to public sector positions which allow you to be intimately involved in public policy which shapes the community in which you live.
What are you doing right now, and what do you love about it?
My position is incredibly diverse including economic development, storm water and floodplain management, land-use and regulatory policy, building code enforcement, personnel supervision, problem solving…
List one or more books that you find influential in the field of ecological design and/or planning.
Rural by Design by Randall Arendt
What is your favorite tool?
My vocal chords
Which aspects of your Conway education do you use in your current work?
At Conway I learned how to be an “archidetective” and see the parts, from micro to macro, of the whole. The humanities portion of our education helps me write, speak and think and to observe, decipher and teach every day.
What should we have asked you in this interview that we haven’t?
Question: If I was given an opportunity to rethink my decision to go to the Conway School what would it be? Answer: Change absolutely nothing. Conway changed my life’s trajectory and has led me to where I am today.