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posted Aug 3, 2020

Minimizing Risk and Liability

by Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation Parks Division

This document is a best practices manual intended to give guidance and direction on minimizing risk and liability for persons with an interest in operating and maintaining trails. Specifically, it seeks to help trail operators, managers and owners, mitigate risk and reduce liability, that can arise from trail design, trail use and maintenance operations. The techniques discussed here are intended to be applied with prudence and due consideration of the particular circumstances of each trail.


posted Jan 30, 2020

Greenways and Crime on Nearby Properties

This study investigates the question of whether the presence of a greenway increases the risk of crime occurring on the properties adjacent to the greenway.


posted Jan 29, 2020

Examining the Impacts of an Urban Greenway on Crime in Chicago

Using multiple analytical approaches, our study showed that creation of Chicago’s 606 was associated with decreases in violent, property, and disorderly crimes between 2011 and 2015


posted Jan 28, 2020

Rail-Trails and Safe Communities

by Rails to Trails Conservancy

The experience on 372 trails


posted May 30, 2018

Protection From Liability: Promoting The Use And Development Of Recreational Trails

The Courts and the Legislature have expressed a clear policy to permit the use of available recreational property, both public and private, in its natural condition, without placing the burden and expense of altering the property and defending claims for injuries on the landowner.


posted Apr 3, 2018

Six Myths of Community Trails: The Case of Bonneville Shoreline Trail

by Carl Knoch with Rails to Trails Conservancy

The goal of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) is to link communities along the ancient Lake Bonneville shoreline terrace of Utah's Wasatch Front.


posted Apr 3, 2018

Trail Effects on Neighborhoods: Home Value, Safety, Quality of Life

​Are trails safe? How do they affect property values of adjacent residents?


posted Mar 13, 2018

Nebraska Rural Trails: Three Studies of Trail Impact

Documenting the impact of Nebraska’s developing trail system, using surveys to learn more about usage patterns, public safety, property values, and community quality of life along three rural rail-trails.


posted Mar 13, 2018

Omaha Recreational Trails: Their Effect on Property Values and Public Safety

Despite increased promotion of trails for health and recreation, critics of new trail development continue to raise questions about the suitability of trails in neighborhoods. Concerns often focus on the impact of trails on property values and public safety in different types of neighborhoods.


posted Mar 13, 2018

Study of Two Successful Canadian Rural Trails

A brief study of two successful rural trails, one utilizing an active irrigation canal alignment (Calgary to Chestermere Lake) and the other converted from an abandoned rail line (The Iron Horse Trail-Elk Point to Heinsburg).


posted Mar 13, 2018

Evaluation of the Burke-Gilman Trail's Effect on Property Values and Crime

This study looks at property values and crime rates adjacent to the rail-trail.


posted Feb 19, 2018

Reducing Crime One Trail at a Time

by Brittain Storck with Alta Planning + Design, Jamie Rae Walker, Ph.D Texas A&M Extension, Lisa Beyer with Alta Planning + Design

Fighting crime through design.