People's Preferences for Greenway Landscapes:
Survey Ratings of Indianapolis Trails
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People's Preferences for Greenway Landscapes: Survey Ratings of Indianapolis Trails
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What Are Greenways?Greenways are linear open spaces or parks established along natural corridors such as river or stream valleys or along historic infrastructure corridors such as railroad rights-of-way. Greenways provide communities many health, recreational, environmental, and economic benefits. Millions of people use greenways for exercise and fitness or for family recreational outings. Greenways help to conserve forests, provide ecological benefits such as habitat, and help mitigate air pollution and pollution in stormwater runoff. Greenways also provide opportunities for economic development. Many surveys have shown that people believe greenways are assets to their communities and that they may increase property values for trail neighbors. Because of their benefits, communities throughout the United States are constructing greenways. The Rails to Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit advocacy organization, estimates that 11,655 miles of trails now exist in the United States and has initiated a program to increase this to more than 15,000 miles of trails by 2004. According to the Coalition of Recreational Trails, a total of 3,983 trail projects received funding from the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Recreational Trail Program since 1991. The rate at which projects have been funded has recently increased: 1,465 projects were funded during 1999-2000. Good information about all aspects of greenways is available from many different sources. Two nonprofit, advocacy organizations with links to many sources of information available on-line are:
The Special Collections Department of the North Carolina State University Library has developed a Greenways Archive with an extensive collection, including the papers and files Charles Little compiled during his research for Greenways for America, his book that helped to galvanize the greenways movement in the United States (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/archives/greenways/index.html). Within the Federal government, the Trails Program of the National Park Service has conducted several important studies and provided support for many greenway initiatives. The Federal Highway Administration also has published a series of reports on multiuse trails and their roles and functions as part of transportation systems and supports development of trails through its Recreational Trails Program (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rectrail.htm). In Indiana, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Division of Outdoor Recreation leads efforts to develop trails state-wide and, through its Division of Community Forestry, provided funding for this project, including development of this web page. The Indiana Department of Transportation provides funding for development of some trails and, along with the National Park Service and IDNR, helped sponsor the Indiana Trails Study, a comprehensive assessment of trail use in six Indiana communities: Ft. Wayne, Goshen, Greenfield, Indianapolis, Muncie, and Portage. The study, which included surveys of trail neighbors as well as users, found that thousands of people use the trails, that users believe the trails are well maintained, and that most trail neighbors believe that the trails affect their property values either positively or not at all. [Top]
The City of Indianapolis, through the Greenways Division of Indianapolis Parks and Recreation, is developing a system of greenways that eventually will include more than 175 miles of trails in Indianapolis/Marion County. Many other communities in Indiana are developing trails (Source: American Trails, state description):
The Center for Urban Policy and the Environment has completed a number of studies on greenways in addition to this study of people’s preferences for greenway landscapes. Other Center reports on greenways available online are:
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People's Preferences for Greenway Landscapes: Survey Ratings of Indianapolis Trails http://www.trailsurvey.urbancenter.iupui.edu
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