MORE TRAIL ECONOMICS-EXPENDITURES BY RESIDENTS AND TOURISTS

According to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission*, the economic activity associated with protected open space in southeastern Pennsylvania results in more than 6,900 jobs and $299 million in annual earnings.  Total annual expenditures in the five-county region surrounding Philadelphia associated with protected open space equal $566 million. Specifically, 33% of that is generated through tourist activity associated alone. Economic activity associated with protected open space generates $30 million per year in state and local tax revenue.

*Return On Environment- the Economic Value of Protected Open Space In Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, Publication No.: 11033B, 3/2011

These economic effects are not found in southeastern Pennsylvania alone. The economic value attributed to trails’ increasing commerce, home values and the overall desirability of a specific region are well documented nationally, too.  For a good summary of them, see: The Business of Trails: A Compilation of Economic Benefits by Terry Eastin, Executive Director, Mississippi River Trail, Inc.  

In nearby Virginia and relating to a trail I always say the Chester Valley Trail closely parallels, the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, a case study prepared by the Virginia Department of Conservation in 2004 stated: "An estimated 1.7 million adult W&OD users spent in total about $12 million annually related to their recreational use of the trail.  Of this amount, about $7 million was spent directly in the northern Virginia economy by locals and non-locals using the trail. The Estimated 1.6 million local visits accounted for about $5.3 million of spending directly related to the use of the W&OD."(Ibid)

So, the potential economic benefit of completion of the Chester Valley Trail means increased home values (previous post) and large expenditures in the local economy of visitors of all kinds.

PROPERTY VALUES AND TRAILS

Historically, the first knock on a proposed trail in most communities is that property owners adjacent to the trail fear that the trail will detract from the value of their residence.  Several studies, both national and local, have proven that exactly the opposite is true. 

Close to home, a case study by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) and the GreenSpace Alliance* in late 2011 showed that residences throughout the area all benefited from close proximity to open space. Homes in Radnor, PA increased an astonishing $69, 139 in value specifically due to their proximity to the Radnor Trail.  Open space adds $16.3 billion to the value of southeastern Pennsylvania’s housing stock; that’s an average of $10,000 additional value for each house.  

*Return On Environment- the Economic Value of Protected Open Space In Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, Publication No.: 11033B, 3/2011

So, the next time someone expresses fear that a proposed trail will adversely affect their property values, tell 'em about the DVRPC study !

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE CHESTER VALLEY TRAIL

I wrote earlier (“History and Direction of the Project”) that I’m meeting with various business and community leaders here in Chester County to discuss the importance of the Chester Valley Trail to them. One business leader I met with asked me to “help him sell” the Chester Valley Trail to his group by showing what the economic potential of the Trail is.  That is a logical place to start the subject of our next topic: What is the economic potential of the Chester Valley Trail?

To answer the question I had to wade through a lot of studies, some of which seemed biased to me, frankly. They were written by authors advocating for trails because it benefited the group they worked for, for instance. Some were subjective and lacked quantitative measurement: “Better quality of life through exercise by using trails” and that sort of thing. While those points of view might be true, what I wanted was measurement of the benefits to a community of a trail and preferably in dollars and cents. Those studies are out there and here’s what I found:

First, there’s no question that trails provide economic benefits to communities; all the studies agreed on that, biased or not. The essence of those studies basically divided the economic benefits of trails into these groups:

• Real Property Values
• Expenditures by Residents
• Commercial Uses
• Tourism

    

How much and what type of benefits a trail might provide depends on the type of trail it is.  Is it a trail through a rural part of the country that connects towns by traveling through open areas and wilderness where the trail itself is a tourist destination?  Or is it a trail through a more urban area that is used mostly by local residents and commuters with only some travelers making the trail a destination? Can a trail combine both types of rural and urban trail?

I’m going to provide more detail on each of these benefits in future posts on this blog.  I’m going to cite only the most objective studies I’ve found and provide detail on what we might expect from the Chester Valley Trail as it connects King of Prussia and Valley Forge with the Downingtown area.  In short, I’m going to give business and community leaders the sales tools they need to sell the Chester Valley Trail to their groups so that, together, we can build a better Chester Valley Trail and do it with more citizen and community support.

HISTORY AND DIRECTION OF THE PROJECT

In today’s world of reduced funding at all levels of government, leadership is struggling with prioritizing the funds it has and is trying to find ways to make those funds do more.  Inevitably, that means downsizing or, in some cases, eliminating monies for that which is not absolutely essential. 

Faced with these budgetary realities, the Chester County, PA government was reluctant to abandon or downsize a project as important to its citizens as the Chester Valley Trail.  It decided to launch a unique funding initiative that would enable the Chester Valley Trail to still move forward with construction and enhancements, ensuring that the Chester Valley Trail will become a first-class, highly-used rail-trail uniting the highly populated Chester/Montgomery county border area near Valley Forge with Downingtown in the central part of the county.

THE PARTNERSHIP

The Chester County Commissioners asked the Friends of the Chester Valley Trail (http://www.chestervalleytrail.org/), a non-profit organization assisting the Chester County Parks and Recreation Department (http://dsf.chesco.org/ccparks/site/default.asp) in maintaining and enhancing the Trail, to aid a partnership they wanted to form.  They wanted Natural Lands Trust (http://www.natlands.org/ ) to join this effort. The region’s largest conservation organization and a group dedicated to connecting people with nature, Natural Lands Trust would lend its credibility and expertise to a project that would solicit citizen and business support for the Chester Valley Trail.  This effort would leverage the funds Chester County could provide, thereby strengthening the final product and improving time lines for completion.

THE CHESTER VALLEY TRAIL FUNDING PROJECT

The Commissioners asked a member of the Friends group, Ben LaGarde, to act as Director of the Project.  After meeting with Chester County and Natural Land's Trust, they decided that the project’s focus would be divided into two main segments: one, funding enhancements to the existing trail segments that run from east of Exton to the border with Montgomery County near Valley Forge, known as Phases 1 and 2 and; two, funding construction of Phases 3 and 4 from east of Exton to Downingtown.  In late 2011, the project received a boost when it obtained a grant from the William Penn Foundation and sponsorship from the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau to help pay for its expenses. 

During the coming months, Ben will meet with various local civic and business groups to discuss the importance of the Chester Valley Trail to their community and explore ways in which they can contribute to this important Chester County linear park.  “Trails like the Chester Valley Trail have a demonstrated beneficial economic as well as recreational impact on people surrounding them,” Ben says.  “The Chester Valley Trail will link central Chester County and Downingtown with the northeastern section of the County. This will connect Chester County to the Schuylkill River Trail and Philadelphia on the east and The Struble Trail on the west, thus helping form a valuable trail network.  This network will act like a ‘new freeway’ would in a road-less area, bringing new visitors and businesses to serve them to the area surrounding the Trail.  Such trails have been well documented in their beneficial economic effects on areas they touch.”