Greg Lindsey

Access, Equity, and Urban Greenways: An Exploratory Investigation

Recurring issues in the social sciences concern the distribution of public facilities such as parks and equity of access to them. Geographers have observed that access has perceptual as well as physical dimensions and that perceptions of difference can affect use of public space. This study explores the nature of greenways as public space and a set of issues related to equity of access to greenway trails in Indianapolis, Indiana. The study uses proximity as a measure of access and simple GIS analyses of census and other data to assess equality of access. Evidence is provided that suggests that minorities and the poor have disproportionate access to trails. It is also shown that populations adjacent to the trails differ and that the populations along particular trails are segregated. Spatial differences in trail populations are associated with historic land use patterns and population movements within the city. The implications of the findings of difference for use of the greenways system are explored. Implications for management of the greenways system—including achievement of the goal of linking neighborhoods—are also discussed.

CORRELATES OF URBAN FOREST CANOPY COVER Implications for Local Public Works

Scientists and managers often use urban forest canopy cover as an indicator of forest health. Furthermore, canopy cover is often the measure communities use to set tree planting goals. Little is known, however, about factors that contribute to variation in canopy cover. We describe canopy cover in 60 urban areas in Central Indiana. We then propose and test a model that treats canopy cover as a function of ecological and geographic factors, urban form, socioeconomic factors, and a policy index. Urban areas are more likely to have more canopy cover if they are in counties with more canopy cover, have higher proportions of their populations with college degrees, have older housing stock, have both more land and land with slopes greater than 15%, and have denser stream networks. Population density, median household income, and planning and zoning or status as a Tree City are not correlated with urban canopy cover.

Use of urban greenways: insights from Indianapolis

Abstract Planners in many urban areas are working to develop systems of greenways — linear open spaces along natural or artificial corridors, such as riverfronts, streams, ridgelines, abandoned railroad right-of-ways, canals, or scenic roads. Many greenways include trails for active recreasonal use, including walking, running, bicycling, and skating. Previous studies of greenways have classified local trails as those with the majority of users living within five miles of the trail. These studies suggest that levels of trail use depend on location and trail characteristics, but specific factors that determine variations in patterns of use are not well understood. This paper reports the results of counts and surveys of users on three linked greenway trails in Indianapolis, IN. Methods for counting and surveying users are described. It is shown that use of trails is significant, but that intensity and patterns of use vary considerably by trail segment. Results are compared with the findings of previous studies, and the need to refine definitions of local trails to account for trails that serve primarily neighborhoods is noted. Differentiation among local trails, trail segments in neighborhoods, and trail activity type is necessary to design market segmentation strategies for trail development.

Neighborhood Correlates of Urban Trail Use

PURPOSE To model urban trail traffic as a function of neighborhood characteristics and other factors including weather and day of week. METHODS We used infrared monitors to measure traffic at 30 locations on five trails for periods ranging from 12 months to more than 4 y. We measured neighborhood characteristics using geographic information systems, satellite imagery, and US Census and other secondary data. We used multiple regression techniques to model daily traffic. RESULTS The statistical model explains approximately 80% of the variation in trail traffic. Trail traffic correlates positively and significantly with income, neighborhood population density, education, percent of neighborhood in commercial use, vegetative health, area of land in parking, and mean length of street segments in access networks. Trail traffic correlates negatively and significantly with the percentage of neighborhood residents in age groups greater than 64 and less than 5. CONCLUSIONS Trail traffic is significantly correlated with neighborhood characteristics. Health officials can use these findings to influence the design and location of trails and to maximize opportunities for increases in physical activity.

Sustainability and Urban Greenways: Indicators in Indianapolis

Abstract Sustainability has emerged as a major theme in planning. Urban environmental planners frequently recommend greenways as one approach to making places greener, healthier, and more livable. This case study examines whether the greenways system in Indianapolis, Indiana, is sustainable using a framework based on six principles of sustainability recently proposed in the planning literature. Goals of the green-ways master plan are linked to principles of sustainability, and indicators from an ad hoc set of empirical studies of the greenways are used to assess progress towards goals and sustain-ability. Planners can apply this framework elsewhere by linking goals developed in local planning processes to these principles, using available information to develop indicators, and, as part of continuing, iterative planning processes, designing data collection programs that yield more comprehensive sets of indicators over time.

Willingness to Pay for Urban Greenway Projects

Abstract This article reports the results of an experiment to estimate the value of an urban greenway and to test the validity of contingent valuation (CV), and discusses the implications of the results for greenway planning. The experiment concerned peoples willingness to pay (WTP) for greenway projects in a publicly designated greenway in Indianapolis, Indiana, that is mostly in private ownership. In the summer of 1997, a CV survey and an actual solicitation for funds were mailed simultaneously to split samples of greenway property owners, greenway renters, and county residents. The survey and the solicitation asked about WTP for educational, cleanup, and other projects by the White River Greenways Foundation related to management of the Crooked Creek Greenway. The proportion of respondents willing to pay was much higher in response to the survey than the actual solicitation, and hypothetical mean WTP was much greater than the actual contributions. The results suggest that people value greenways, but t...

Valuing the benefits of the urban forest: a spatial hedonic approach

This paper measures the benefits of the urban forest by examining its effect on housing prices. A Geographic Information System is used to develop a measure of the urban forest, the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, from satellite imagery and to construct other variables from a variety of sources. Spatial hedonic housing price models for the Indianapolis/Marion County area are estimated. The models indicate that greener vegetation around a property has a positive, significant effect on housing price, holding everything else constant. This effect is dominated by measures at the neighborhood level. These findings indicate that property owners value the urban forest, at least in part, by the premium they pay to live in neighborhoods with greener, denser vegetation. These findings also indicate that public action to maintain and enhance the urban forest may be warranted. Planners and urban foresters can use these findings to inform public and policy debates over urban forestry programs and proposals.

Urban Greenways, Trail Characteristics and Trail Use: Implications for Design

This paper illustrates how remote sensing technologies and geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to enhance modelling of urban greenway trail traffic and to draw inferences about the relationships between features of trail design and trail use. Measures of daily trail traffic come from a network of 30 infrared counters deployed over a 33-mile trail system in Indianapolis, Indiana. Among other results, the paper illustrates how Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data obtained from an aircraft platform can be used to create three-dimensional surface models from which trail viewsheds can be measured and characterized. Regression modelling is used to correlate trail traffic with these viewshed characteristics and with other neighbourhood and control variables. The results provide empirical support for several design hypotheses. Other factors being equal, daily trail traffic is positively correlated with the openness of trail viewsheds, the greenness of trail viewsheds relative to surrounding neighbourhoods, and the diversity of land use within trail viewsheds. Trail traffic is inversely correlated with visual magnitude, a measure of the interconnectedness of a viewshed. Although theory suggests higher levels of pedestrian traffic may be associated with shorter block lengths, trail traffic is positively correlated with block length in trail neighbourhoods. Planners and designers can use this evidence base to enhance greenway planning and design.

Day-of-Year Scaling Factors and Design Considerations for Nonmotorized Traffic Monitoring Programs

General procedures, including the estimation of annual average daily traffic (AADT) from short-duration counts, have not been established for nonmotorized traffic monitoring programs. Continuous counts of nonmotorized traffic were collected at six locations on the off-street trail network in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2011. A new approach for estimating AADT values from short-duration counts, the use of day-of-year factors, is demonstrated. Analyses of variability in count data can be used to design a monitoring program that uses both continuous and short-duration counts of nonmotorized traffic. Five core conclusions may be useful for developing nonmotorized monitoring programs: (a) day-of-year scaling factors have smaller error than does the standard (day-of-week and month-of-year) method of AADT estimation, especially from short-duration counts (<1 week); (b) extrapolation error decreases with short-duration-count length, with only marginal gains in accuracy for counts longer than 1 week; (c) errors in estimating AADT values are lowest when short-duration counts are taken in summer (or spring, summer, and fall) months (April through October); (d) the impact of sampling on consecutive (successive) versus nonconsecutive (separate) days on AADT estimation is minimal but may reduce labor requirements; and (e) the design of a traffic monitoring program depends on the acceptable error, equipment availability, and monitoring period duration. Trade-offs in short-duration-count lengths and estimate accuracy will depend on resource constraints. Analysts can use day-of-year factors to improve the accuracy of AADT estimation. Analyses of variability in traffic counts can strengthen the design of monitoring programs.

Tourist Support for Marine Protection in Nha Trang, Viet Nam

Environmental planners often propose tourism as a means of financing programmes to protect significant environmental areas. Surveys of tourists can provide useful information about the significance of environmental problems, trade-offs among policy objectives, willingness to pay (WTP) for protection programmes and preferences for different payment mechanisms. In Khanh Hoa Province, the provincial Peoples Committee, the Ministry of Fisheries and the World Conservation Union are working to implement Viet Nams first marine protected area (MPA) in Nha Trang Bay. This paper reports the results of a survey of local and other Vietnamese and foreign tourists to islands that will be included in the MPA. The majority of respondents thought rubbish on the beaches, water pollution and vendors on beaches were problems and that the MPA was a good idea. Foreign tourists were significantly more likely to perceive environmental problems than were Vietnamese tourists, and persons who agreed there were environmental problems were significantly more likely to support the concept of an MPA, despite the potential for possible economic effects with distributive consequences. WTP for protection was modest and positively correlated with education and income. Although foreign tourists were on average willing to pay more, a larger proportion of Vietnamese tourists were willing to pay some amount to support the MPA. Analyses indicate that changes in income and education expected with economic development will increase both awareness of problems and WTP for protection. The results of this analysis are both encouraging and cautionary. The need for an MPA is clearly recognized by most tourists, and most tourists are willing to pay small fees to support the MPA. Given that education has significant impacts on both perceptions of problems and WTP, educational programmes may be an effective strategy for managing the competing objectives of protection and use.