Photo credit: Renee Rosensteel, Courtesy of Rails to Trails Conservancy
The Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition (IHTC) is working to complete and connect a system of multi-use trails across 51 counties in western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and southwest New York. One of the coalition’s supporting organizations, Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC), realized that IHTC trails can have a greater impact on the regional economy, so they set out to explore the economic potential of the trails. They hired Amy as the lead project consultant.*
Dates: November 2022 – July 2023
Client: Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC) / Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition (IHTC)
Location: Western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, southwest New York
Outdoor Assets: Multi-use trail network
Project Type: Research and Report Development, Community Engagement
Project Background
Though the IHTC has been working collaboratively for 10+ years, RTC wanted a better understanding of how the multi-state trail system impacts the regional economy. They engaged Amy to take the lead on exploring the economic and community development potential of IHTC trails.
*Amy has provided a variety of consulting services to the coalition since its inception, including this report and a 10-Year Evaluation & Success Strategy completed in 2022.
Approach
In collaboration with the RTC, Amy helped to assemble a Steering Committee, interviewed subject-area experts, held focus group discussions, and hosted a workshop to determine how to work toward the goal of greater economic and community development impact. This was an eight-month project that included more than 100 stakeholders.
A huge “a-ha” moment for both Amy and the Steering Committee was the realization that quality economic development cannot occur without carefully considering the needs and desires of local residents. From the report:
“The project team experienced a paradigm shift early in the project. While aware of the importance of community development efforts and quality of life measures, the project began with a laser focus on economic development. Before long, we recognized that effective economic development initiatives are intertwined with community development and quality of life improvements. Economic development cannot be pursued in a vacuum if the goal is to bring lasting benefit to local communities. This recognition became one of the project’s guiding principles.
Similarly, the team began to recognize that the narrative surrounding the trail economy needs to change from jargon-laden economic impact language to a message around “building local wealth and healthier, more vibrant communities,” words that can be easily understood and widely embraced. Beyond semantics, the intent to build local wealth and healthier communities represents a commitment to those already living in the region.”
Photo credit: Jason Cohn and Renee Rosensteel, Courtesy of Rails to Trails Conservancy
Deliverables
The project deliverable was a 37-page report entitled “Unlocking the Economic & Community Development Potential of IHTC Trails: Positioning Regional Multi-use Trails as Part of a Growing Regional Economy.”
Impact
This report puts forth 23 actionable strategies for unlocking the community and economic development potential of IHTC trails. The report emphasizes that any recreation-based economic development initiative must prioritize building local wealth and health. Possibly as important as the strategies and recommendations was the paradigm shift that’s described above. Centering community needs and finding ways to build local health and wealth through trails are most essential.
