- March 3, 2022
- In the Media
Journalism Meets Transportation Planning
Kimley-Horn’s Lydia Statz Details Her Decision to Pivot from Journalism to Transportation Planning
Lydia Statz, AICP
Transportation Planner
In an interview with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Lydia Statz explained how her start in journalism at the school led to a career in Urban Planning. After working as a reporter for the Daily Jefferson County Union, Lydia decided she wanted to receive her master’s in Urban Planning, guiding her to Kimley-Horn as a Transportation Planner. This change allowed Lydia to work closely on projects that helped her to realize her passion for sustainability, including projects like Hennepin County’s Vehicle Miles Traveled Reduction Study.
“The transportation choices available to you influence every part of our daily life, including where we live, what jobs you have access to, how you access healthcare and education, and your overall health. I’m proud every day to help cities work toward providing more options to bike, walk, and use transit rather than relying on driving everywhere.”
Though she pivoted her career path, Lydia says 85% of her job is still communication, telling the narrative of how she and her team can enhance the way neighborhoods are built. She’s found her journalism degree and experience to be extremely useful in the design and planning of each project she touches.
About the Expert
Lydia Statz, AICP
Lydia specializes in transportation and mobility planning and has had the privilege to work in over a dozen states and a wide variety of communities throughout her four years with Kimley-Horn. Lydia is passionate about working with communities and organizations to identify ways to advance community goals through smart mobility investments. Lydia is known for her tailored approach that calls on both national best practices and local community priorities to develop plans that make smart use of limited resources. Her experience includes many multimodal plans that integrate bicycle, pedestrian, transit, shared mobility, street design and freight operations, mirroring the complex planning environment of an urban university campus.