Lindsay Walker, Intern

While I was fortunate to be able to walk, bike and skate to elementary school as a child, as a resident of the suburbs, getting to locations outside my subdivision wasn't too easy. Getting my driver's license offered me the freedom to explore further, but it also came with some headaches: insurance payments, auto repair, high gas prices, and infuriating traffic (how much time was wasted just sitting there?!). 

Then I went to Europe and rediscovered an alternative way to move myself around. It felt good to start my day walking to work in Ireland, to ride a bike around Amsterdam without concern for traffic, or to get lost in a book on the train headed for my next destination. My travel was safe and convenient. It saved me a boat-load of money and gave me the satisfaction of knowing my environmental footprint was tiny. Best of all, it allowed me to make connections with wonderful people whom I likely never would have come to know had I been cocooned in the cockpit of a car. It was fun, efficient, and it just made sense.

Since those travels, my appreciation for active transportation has grown tremendously and I want to see biking, walking and public transit become real transportation options for people, regardless of their age or income, in every community. Alta Planning + Design is helping to achieve this vision in communities across the country and I'm excited to be a part of it.