America's Most Sought-After Planner

"...After almost five years of human pursuits in D.C., the city's acclaimed planning chief is on the brink of divinity... Altman and his staff have spent more than four years writing the plan for the rebirth of the river. They've spent the past six months aggressively lobbying the D.C. Council to establish the corporation.

Today, Altman's office has a staff of about 70 and a reputation for attracting the brightest planners in the country... 'Altman is one of the few planners in the country to have successfully married planning and development,' " says Larry Vale, head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Department of Urban Studies and Planning.