Open Space Systems
from Smart Growth Trends, by Edward T. McMahon (Planning Commissioners Journal #33, Winter 1999)

Almost lost in the 1998 election coverage was mention of the more than 200 state and local open space initiatives voters approved. These initiatives, which will provide nearly $7 billion for farmland preservation, parkland acquisition, and open space protection, reflect another smart growth trend: the development of open space systems.

New Jersey voters, for example, endorsed a constitutional amendment that commits $1 billion to preserving open space and constructing a network of trails and greenways. Similarly, voters in Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, and Rhode Island approved hundreds of millions of dollars for statewide open space protection programs. Localities as diverse as Fairfax County, Virginia; Douglas County, Colorado; and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, also endorsed new funding for community open space protection projects. These initiatives follow on the heels of dozens of other state, regional, and local open space preservation efforts already underway.

Perhaps more important than all the new money is the fact that all levels of government are beginning to recognize the economic, social, and environmental benefits of "open space systems." Thirty of the nation's fifty largest metropolitan areas have developed or are in the process of developing regional greenspace plans, as have hundreds of smaller communities.

Just as regions need to upgrade and expand their grey infrastructure (i.e., roads, transit lines, sewers), so too, they need to upgrade and expand their green infrastructure (i.e., parks, greenways, natural areas). When communities have a road map delineating which land should be preserved, it becomes easier to facilitate development in areas where it is most appropriate. Also, given the growing opposition to sprawl, many officials see open space preservation as a politically acceptable way to shape urban form.

Edward McMahon is a land use planner, attorney, and director of The Conservation Fund's "American Greenways Program." He is former president of Scenic America, a national non-profit organization devoted to protecting America's scenic landscapes. McMahon is a regular columnist for the Planning Commissioners Journal.

Pedestrian Networks
from Making Communities 'Bicycle Friendly', by Bill Wilkinson (Planning Commissioners Journal #10, May/June 1993)

"Planning for bicycles should begin by articulating the community's vision of what it would like to see. For example, a community might have as its vision that "children and adults of average bicycling ability feel comfortable riding in neighborhoods, to school and work, to visit friends, and to shopping, park and recreation facilities."

The next step is to develop a set of policies and a plan to implement the community's vision. In some communities "bicycle advisory committees" can be created to help with this.

The local comprehensive plan should include a set of bicycle policies, and identify specific roadway and greenway improvements, that will help accommodate bicyclists. Related documents, such as local transportation, open space, and recreation plans, offer additional opportunities to call for improved bicycling facilities.

In many metropolitan areas, local jurisdictions also participate in a regional transportation planning process through a Metropolitan Planning Organization ("MPO"). New federal transportation legislation requires that new transportation plans and programs include consideration of bicycling as a mode of transportation. Similar requirements extend to state transportation agency programs. Local planning commissions and bicycle advisory committees should work with their MPOs to ensure that policies supportive of bicycling are incorporated into regional and state transportation plans.

Another important step that planning commissions can take is to see that local ordinances, regulations, and standards help bring about the improvements needed in roadways, and the dedication and development of new greenway facilities. ...

The final step is to allocate the resources necessary to bring about the improvements required to implement the community's plan. The key to success at this stage gets back to step one: public participation. ...

Some community leaders have found that not only does investment in better bicycle facilities help address transportation and air quality problems, but it also serves to develop public goodwill. After all, there are few issues where the public can see and enjoy such an immediate improvement for such a relatively modest cost. And, perhaps even more significantly, bicycling is something that directly involves most households -- from families with kids to older citizens seeking to stay fit. These days, it's nice to find something that the public and public officials can all agree on and feel good about."

Bill Wilkinson has served as the Executive Director of the Bicycle Federation of America since 1986.

Greenways
from Planning Paths for Your Community, by Anne Lusk (Planning Commissioners Journal #10, May/June 1993)

"Money: There is money to build greenways.

Planning: Greenways won't be built unless you plan.

You: Planning Commissioners need to work with their citizens to plan a community greenway system.

What's A Greenway: Greenways include bike paths, linear parks, or rails-to-trails. Greenway plans can be developed by anyone, but one logical group to spearhead planning is the local or regional planning commission. Money is available for greenways, primarily through the new Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act ("ISTEA") when communities plan them as part of their overall transportation system.

The word "greenway" is a combination of the English word "greenbelt" and Frederick Law Olmsted's "parkway." William Whyte coined the word in 1959 when he wrote about greenways in his book, The Last Landscape.

Greenways received strong support from the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors in their important 1987 report. The Commission recommended that "communities establish Greenways, corridors of private and public recreation lands and waters, to provide people with access to open spaces close to where they live, and to link together the rural and urban spaces in the American landscape. ...

No better project exists to unite a community under one roof -the sky -- for one cause than a greenway. The planning commission can take the lead role in orchestrating planning for greenways, or support others. There is money available to support the planning and development of greenways. As a planning commissioner, you can help educate your community about the benefits of greenways, and see that they happen."

Anne Lusk started working on greenways in 1981 when she was hired by her town to develop a path. The resulting Stowe, Vermont, Recreation Path has been widely recognized as an outstanding example of effective greenway planning and design. Anne writes and travels around the country lecturing on greenways.

Greenways
from Greenways: Humanizing the Urban-Industrial Environment, by Laurence C. Gerckens, AICP (Planning Commissioners Journal #10, May/June 1993)

"In the late 1880s, Frederick Law Olmsted, the Elder, a landscape architect from Cambridge, Massachusetts, undertook construction of the "emerald necklace" park system in Boston, preserving the Back Bay Fens as an urban open space, linking a number of green areas in a lineal pattern of parkland that "draped" like a necklace around the City of Boston.

In 1893, in Kansas City, Missouri, landscape architect George Kessler suggested a metropolitan parks plan for the city that extended far into the surrounding countryside. He argued that acquisition of parkland strips ("paseos") in remote farmland prior to development would be far less expensive than acquiring parkland after the area had developed. These interconnected "greenways" would assure provision of open space for future populations, and would be excellent locations for roadways, lending access through green areas to future neighborhoods, while bringing the natural environment back to the daily experience of the urbanite.

Charles Eliot, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, eagerly grasped these principles to extend Olmsted's "emerald necklace" idea to the entire Boston Metropolitan Area, realizing the nation's most extensive regional greenway system by the turn of the century. Boston, with the guidance of Olmsted and Eliot, and Kansas City, fulfilling the vision of George Kessler, became the leading greenway-based cities as America entered the twentieth century.

The concept of structuring the American city through provision of narrow green travel corridors, generally following waterways, received considerable impetus with construction of the Bronx River Parkway at the end of the First World War. ...

The greenway was a method for preserving stream beds and river bottoms from development, for assuring the continued experience of green spaces, trees and fields in the daily travel patterns of urbanites, and for providing safe limited-access travel ways connecting the far-flung parts of megalopolis. The greenway lent the appearance of "naturalness" to an industrialized America, provided recreational open space close in to urbanized districts, and softened the hard edges of an industrialized state.

Larry Gerckens is national historian for the American Institute of Certified Planners and an independent professor. He teaches university-level courses on American city and regional planning, and is a frequent speaker at local, state, and national planning conferences through his company.

Gerckens has authored several articles for the Planning Commissioners Journal, including, Ten Events That Shaped the 20th Century American City, in PCJ #30 (Spring 1998).