I've always been known by friends and family as a transportation geek, but since giving up my car when I moved to Portland in 2005, walking and bicycling have become a fundamental way of life and a passionate professional endeavor. It's enlivening to experience the world around me everyday by being a part of it, not from behind a windshield and a big hunk of metal.
As a planner, it's not surprising that I love cities. But what I love most about cities – and what I think makes them thrive – is the human interaction, the cultural and intellectual exchange that occurs from people being face to face, walking and bicycling through the bustling city.
Recent Projects
- Way to Go!, Marin County, CA
This three-year individualized marketing program was a key part of WalkBikeMarin (Marin County’s implementation of the Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Program). The “Way to Go!” program reached over 14,000 residents in the cities of Sausalito, Greenbrae/Larkspur and Novato, and San Rafael. Nearly 20% of households participated, and two-thirds of post-program survey respondents reported that the “Way to Go!” program motivated them to walk, bike, and take transit more instead of driving. Cathy’s role includes program logistics and outreach, event planning and coordination, writing documents and reports, and GIS mapping. - Safe Routes to School, Santa Clarita, CA
Cathy is part of the Alta team implementing the Safe Routes to School Program in Santa Clarita. As part of the program, she developed a training to enable parents and other community members to implement a Walking School Bus program at local schools. Cathy has organized and facilitated other encouragement events as part of the program, including an International Walk and Bike to School Day event at four Santa Clarita schools and an interactive Safe Routes to School booth for the City’s Earth Arbor Day event. She has also coordinated evaluation efforts for the program, including parent surveys and student classroom surveys. - WalkBikeMarin Programs, Marin County, CA
Cathy managed a series of programs to encourage safe walking and bicycling in Marin County as part of the County's Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program. She coordinated a bicycle and pedestrian safety marketing campaign that included memorable safety messages published in 20 newspapers, advertised on 40 local buses, and printed onto hundreds of promotional items. Cathy also managed Share the Path and Lights On campaigns. The Share the Path effort included local multi-use path outreach to encourage safe and respectful trail use, while the Lights On campaign distributed bike lights to unlit bicyclists on dark fall evenings. Cathy also coordinated other outreach efforts for the program, including tabling events at farmers' markets and other major community events.. - Transportation Solutions for Washington Park, Portland, OR
For the culminating project of her Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program, Cathy worked in a group of six to develop a multi-modal transportation plan for Portland’s Washington Park. She served as project manager, wrote and designed documents and reports, and conducted research, field studies, and public outreach events.
