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The Richmond Greenway is one of the great success stories of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) work in urban areas over the past decade. In the early part of the century, the Atchison-Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (AT&SF) helped make the San Francisco Bay Area-community of Richmond a thriving hub of industry. But the decline of the railroad and the industries that supported it saw Richmond fall on hard times, and in recent decades the city has been beset by the familiar problems of crime, low...

By Jake Lynch The urban environment of Compton, Los Angeles, provides a strong example of why Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) Urban Pathways Initiative is such urgent and important work. With less than one acre of open space per 1,000 residents, well below the national recommendation of 10 acres per 1,000 residents, the people of Compton have few opportunities to incorporate physical activity in their day-to-day lives - to ride a bike, to jog, to walk to the store or even to take a relaxing stroll...

They're calling it the "Low Line"--a friendly comparison to New York's now very famous High Line--a 1.1-mile trail through the heart of Helsinki set deep in a gorge carved out a century ago to carry freight trains. Opened in June of this year, the Baana cycleway almost immediately became the second-busiest non-motorized pathway in the city, giving pedestrians and cyclists a world of their own travel from the Western Harbour area to Kamppi and the Töölö Bay. Approximately 5,000 cyclists...

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is continuing its growing involvement in combating some of America's most pressing public health issues. With convenient access to trails widely regarded as one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to combat obesity and inactivity, these urban pathways are now thought of as not only recreation and transportation infrastructure, but also public health assets. Many doctors now prescribe just 30 minutes of walking or biking a day as a proactive step toward...

Though everyone here at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is always pleased to see so much wonderful trail building activity across the country, there is something especially exciting about our Urban Pathways Initiative (UPI). The goal of UPI is simple: encourage trail use and stewardship in urban areas, creating safe and accessible spaces for physical activity. In particular, UPI focuses on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, where urban pathways can be a potent tool for addressing the...

When the Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, welcomed the Morgana Run Trail more than five years ago, there were high hopes for how it would help transform the area. And in the ensuing years the trail proved the catalyst for many wonderful amenities, from public art installations to the construction of a new school. The fall of 2011 brought yet another step forward in Slavic Village's renewal, with construction beginning on a new residential development, Trailside at Morgana Run . The...

From its beginning as an organization dedicated largely to building and promoting recreational trails, in recent years Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) work has expanded to recognize the growing role of trails as urban commuter pathways, transportation networks for car-free families and low-income communities, and much-needed avenues for regular exercise and physical activity. To that last point, the health community recognizes that trails, sidewalks and bike paths are critical pieces of their...