James D. Altenstadter grew up in the Midwest. He studied engineering, architecture, and urban planning and spent nearly forty years in a public service career with local, regional, state, and federal agencies. Jim received an undergraduate degree in architecture from Arizona State University and a graduate degree in urban planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jim currently lives in Tucson, Arizona where his creative activities include painting landscape meditations and writing personal essays. Since retiring, he has renewed his life-long interests in drawing, painting, reading, and writing, and occasionally golf.