Is Your Community Connected?
/
A greenway, open space and trail network connects people to nature, each other, village and town centers, parks, historic sites, and the other resources found in your community. It also helps connect us to ourselves by providing opportunities for quiet time and reflection.
Individual health is promoted by providing opportunities for walking, bicycling and jogging; but providing green infrastructure also promotes community health by increasing the quality of life, contributing to economic development, providing an alternative means of transportation, protecting landscapes, and protecting wildlife habitats.
Planning a greenway, open space and trail network provides opportunities for your residents and visitors to stretch their legs, but is also vital to protecting natural resources and can contribute to economic revitalization, and encourage tourism. Such planning can be done as a component of a comprehensive plan or as a stand-alone plan.
A greenway is a corridor of open space, and can take the form of a conservation greenway, recreational greenway, riparian buffer, landscape corridor, or greenbelt around a developed area. Ideally, there will be a continuous system of greenways planned throughout the community.
The network plan itself includes an inventory of existing resources, a vision, mapping of the network and destinations, and an action program to realize the vision. The action program is critical to implementing the plan, and typically includes recommendations for zoning and subdivision and land development ordinance amendments to protect open space and facilitate completion of the trail system, official mapping of target open areas, recreational facilities, and trails, and other greenway preservation and trail construction strategies.
SSM can help you keep your community connected.