ECONOMIC IMPACT
Carmel resident discusses economic
development impact of trails and
greenways
June 2, 2008
©
Talk of The Town, posted
with permission.
By JENNIFER
ZARTMAN ROMANO
Editor
Ron Carter has seen the
benefit of trails and greenways
in his community just outside
Indianapolis. Carter, a four-term councilman
and president of the Carmel,
Indiana, redevelopment
commission, spoke to Columbia
City Rotary members last week not
about the obvious health and
recreational benefits of trails
and greenways – but instead
Carter spoke about the economic
sense of providing such amenities
in a community. Aware of some of the issues
locally with the proposed
development of the Eel River
Trail, Carter hoped he could
share an outsider’s perspective
on what makes trails great and
why every community should at
least consider the possibilities
of trails and greenways. “As I have been involved in
government’s service over 20
years, I can see what trails and
greenways can do for a
community,” Carter said.
After seeing the positive ways
Carmel has benefited from trails,
he now travels the state speaking
on the economic development
impact of trails. From the
standpoint of a struggling
economy, Carter feels trails and
greenways are, “tools that can
help a community immeasurably.”
He adds that such amenities are a
viable economic entity and help a
community differentiate itself
from its neighbors.
Carter was very involved with
the development of the Monon
Trail, a stretch of non-motorized
trail that passes through Carmel. Carter shared that like the
local Eel River Trail, there were
opponents to the project when it
began there several years ago.
But, he added, even some of the
most influential opponents to the
project are now some of its
biggest supporters – particularly
when it comes to boasting about
the economic impact the trail has
had on the surrounding community
and the growth in real estate
values for properties adjacent to
or adjoining the Monon Trail.
According to Carter, the
property within a six block
radius has become a magnet for $1
billion dollars in investment. He said that there are now
properties valued at $800,000 to
$1 million adjacent to the trail
and that a $400,000 per property
housing area has been constructed
specifically to be near the
location and to have access to it
for their residents. "It has been proven that
residential property values
increase dramatically near
trails,” Carter said. “A trail makes for beachfront
property when you don’t have
those physical attributes,” he
said. “This can be your
attribute.”
Carter spoke about companies
drawn to Carmel because of the
trail, including an employer that
brought with it 850 jobs. “We
offered nothing in the way of tax
incentives, but we did offer a
full package of amenities that
all of our residents enjoy,”
Carter said. That employer,
enticed by amenities such as the Monon
Trail, has since reinvested
further in the community.
Carter found that some of the
most vocal opponents to the
project are some of those who’ve
benefited most from its
development, finding unique ways
to capitalize on the space. One
opponent, who used the proposed
trail space personally and didn’t
want anyone else using it, fought
against the project. Later, after
the project moved and ahead and
was completed, he said, “This is
the best thing that’s ever
happened to our community.” “This
is one of the best anecdotes I
can share about trails and
greenways,” Carter said.
Carter described abandoned
railways in Indiana as former
“economic generators,” main
arteries for the movement of
goods and a vital part of the
economy. “We’ve taken out those
economic generators, but when we
add them back in (with trails and
greenways) – they become economic
generators again to revitalize
towns,” he added.
Talking about concerns about
the safety of trails, the type of
people who use them and what
surrounding property owners can
expect, Carter was adamant that
safety is not much of an issue
once trails are in place. “It’s really hard to carry a
Smith & Wesson in spandex bicycle
shorts,” Carter said. “It’s not
bicyclist shooting holes in signs
or tossing beer cans along the
road.” “There’s nothing to fear from
people who bike up and down
streets and trails,” he said. While police initially
patrolled the greenway, the
police explorer post occasionally
patrols the trail on busy holiday
weekends. “We have no crime on
the Monon,” Carter said. “It is
the safest place in our
community.” Carter also shared that there
are laws in place to protect
adjacent property owners.
“Trails are easy to maintain,
too,” Carter said. “Plus, once
it’s built, you don’t have to
program it…people already know
what to do.”
Carter, a Rotary member in
Carmel, shared that the local
Rotary there was among the first
to donate for the building of the
Monon Trail and, today, everyone
still remembers that
organization’s $6,000 gift.
Carter sees trails as a vital
part of a community’s total
economic development initiative.
“I think that transfers to most
communities,” he said. “We want
to be able to offer as many
amenities as we can.”
“Basically, you’re taking a
linear junk yard (abandoned
railway beds) and transforming
them into linear parks that lots
of people can enjoy,” he added.
