My interest in bicycle and pedestrian planning began not long after moving to Portland from a small farming community in rural Oregon. Accustomed to driving everywhere back home, I quickly realized the futility of continuing with that behavior in Portland. Within a few months I gave up. I sold my pickup and exchanged it for a used 10-spd—a lifestyle change that would lead to my interest in the field of planning.
In those first months of becoming a bicycle commuter I discovered bike lanes and bike boulevards and new ways to experience the city. I became a bicycle advocate and began volunteering with the BTA on their NE Bicycle Boulevards campaign. Later, while enrolled at Portland State University, I was employed by PSU Transportation Options to help improve the walking and bicycling conditions on campus for university students and staff. As an intern at Alta Planning + Design I am learning about the best, most innovative, and successful methods for designing highly walkable and bikeable communities. Communities that will enable others to make the same choice I did—get out of their car and into their community.
