Get To Know Colin Lentz

Name: Colin Lentz.

How long have you worked for SRPC? Five years and three months.

Where did you go to college and what did you graduate with? I went to undergrad at Hampshire College and studied urban ecology. I received a Master of Science in natural resources management and public policy from the University of New Hampshire.

What is your role here at SRPC? I am the senior transportation planner. I help manage the transportation program, assist communities in developing projects and finding funding to support those projects, and help community representatives advocate on behalf of the region.

What’s one of your favorite projects or things that you’ve done while at SRPC? Developing a scoring methodology for transportation alternatives projects. These are projects which provide choices for non-motorized users that are safe, reliable, and convenient.

What’s your favorite thing about working for SRPC? The close-knit collaborative environment and that staff get to directly help with community planning and improvement.

Share a picture of a place, or past-time that you would use to describe your “happy place.” Oneonta Gorge in Portland, Oregon

What’s your favorite food? Homemade bread. Or anything from the Beach Pea!

Where did you grow up and one thing you love about that area? Portland, Oregon. If we are being more specific, the Laurelhurst neighborhood. I loved that I could walk to a two-hundred-year-old city park that was near my house.

What song would you choose to start a dance party? I would choose any song by Ella Fitzgerald.

Name one or two movies that you could watch over and over? Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Rogue 1: A Star Wars Story.

What accomplishment are you most proud of? Completing my master’s degree at UNH.

What’s your most used gif/emoji? I don’t use them. I think they’re stupid.

What is one thing you can’t live without? Access to green space and a river.

Where is your top wishlist travel destination? Karate training in Japan. Or a multi-day fly fishing trip on the Deschutes River in Oregon.

Go to ice-cream flavor? Chocolate peanut butter.

Favorite quote or song lyric? “Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.”

― Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker