Welcome to the Team, Anna!

We’re pleased to offer a self-introduction from a new staff member in the office. Anna Parr’s position is Bikeway & Pedestrian Program Technician. Welcome aboard, Anna!

Hello! My name is Anna, and I am currently a first-year student working on my Master of City and Regional Planning degree at the University of Memphis where I am also assisting a professor in a project about how cities influence music and the stories about cities in music. I am from Olive Branch, MS, which is just south of Memphis, so I have spent a lot of free time in and around the city as I grew up. In December 2022, I graduated from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance with a real estate concentration and a criminal justice minor. Fun fact, before 2020, I was a World Languages and Literatures major studying Korean, Japanese, and French.

I have always been fascinated by cities and the energy that emanates from them. My sister would say I got into city planning because I strongly dislike driving and always point out what could be improved whenever we go somewhere, and she probably does have a point. I used to do a lot of cycling around the city and elsewhere with my dad. Casual rides consisting of just me and him and organized rides like “Gears and Beers” by the Delta Bike Project and the “Polar Bear Ride” with the Memphis Hightailers, as pictured above, have definitely motivated me to have a focus on pedestrian/bike planning.

Additionally, what really cemented my decision to pursue city planning was a study abroad trip to Ireland for two months during the 2022 summer. Some people who live in Ireland would say their systems are not great and need improvement for reasons like having to sometimes wait up to 15 minutes between buses in the Capital City of Dublin, which is, as of now, unheard of in Memphis. In Ireland, I mainly walked everywhere once I got to where I was going whether it was the city of Cork, Killarney, or Belfast, but to get there, I simply took the train or bus.

Pictured below is a traffic signal in Dublin with robotic appearing sculpture art with a large sidewalk in the background taken while on a bus (left) and a sidewalk with a sidewalk grade bike lane in Cork taken while walking from the train station to City Center (right).

Yes, there is always room for improvement; however, the ability to get around the country without a car was liberating and like nothing I had experienced in the States, so I submitted my applications to gain the knowledge with hopes to help others experience that same liberating feeling.