FROM RAIL TOWN TO TOWN:

SCHOOL

UNDERPASSES EXAMINING INHERITED CENTRAL BUSINESS SPACE & PLACE DISTRICT ELEVATOR ALONG MIDWESTERN RAIL DEPOT

HOTEL

INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

STOCK YARD

SWITCHING YARD AUSTIN DUNN MADRID, IA 1951 MOTIVATIONS

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT RAILS TO TRAILS TRAIL TOWNS PLACEMAKING

A TYPOLOGY OF TRAIL GEOGRAPHIES

A TYPOLOGY OF SPACES & STRUCTURES

CASE STUDIES ROCHEPORT MO - KATY TRAIL MADRID IA - LANESBORO MN - TRAIL

REPLICABLE STRATEGIES

SO WHAT TRANSPORTATION & EFFICIENCY Calories per Gram perCalories per Kilometer Gram

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/05/oh-so-efficient-bicycle.html INTIMACY MAY 15th, 2017 Booneville, MO GOOD

ALSO GOOD

NOT GOOD

1,300 MILES OF MIDWEST GLORY AN UPPER BASIN GREENWAY SYSTEM MIDWEST HISTORICAL RAILROADS 40 mi 1850-PRESENT CENTRAL

ACTIVE & ABANDONED LINES 40 mi BOONE MARSHALLTOWN AMES

HIGH TRESTLE TRAIL

DES MOINES METRO

INDIANOLA 10 mi CENTRAL IOWA TRAIL SYSTEM 10 mi AMES

MADRID SLATER

WOODWARD HIGH TRESTLE PERRY BRIDGE

ANKENY MINBURN MADRID

HIGH TRESTLE BRIDGE

WOODWARD 50,000 VISITORS ANNUALLY BENTON MACKAYE An Appalacian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning 1924 Orleans Sibley Spirit Lake McIntire Milford Riceville Cresco RidgewayDecorah Elma Alta Vista Calmar Primghar Orange Charles City City Clermont Sheffield Laurens Bradgate Belmond Sumner Elkader Rolfe Tripoli Rutland Clarksville Hampton Allison Waverly Readlyn Humboldt Coulter Storm Thor Shell Rock Denver Sioux Lake Hazleton Sageville City Waterloo Sageville Fort Dodge Correctionville Cedar Falls Independence Dyersville Dubuque Sergeant Bluff Rockwell Farley Grundy Hudson Lake City Eldora Center La Porte City View Lohrville Hubbard Bellevue Urbana Breda Story Conrad City Zearing Gladbrook Dysart Vinton Center Point Carroll Garrison Robins Springville Spragueville Marshalltown Marion Jefferson Ames Olin Toledo Cedar Mount Rhodes Tama Jamaica Madrid Huxley Rapids Vernon Clinton Perry Sheldahl Baxter Solon Camanche Yale Minburn Ankeny Mingo Long Grove Audubon Iowa West Panora Johnston Valeria Eldridge Linden Urbandale Altoona City Branch Exira Pleasant Hill Bettendorf Adel Waukee Riverdale Shelby Brayton Des Moines Davenport West Carlisle Riverside Muscatine Atlantic Des Moines Indianola Keota Conesville Oakland Council Washington Columbus Bluffs Junction Silver City Morning Sun Malvern Afton Chariton Albia Ottumwa Fairfield Stanton Albia Imogene Derby Eldon Humeston Shenandoah Diagonal Burlington Mount Ayr Leon Centerville Keosauqua Coin Donnellson Blanchard Lamoni

Abandoned Rail Rail-Trail Rail-Trail Towns 30 mi What has been left behind by the railroad?

How can it be transformed into places for people on trails? RAILS TO TRAILS

National Trails System Act (NTSA) & Railbanking

Nationally: 23,429 miles & counting

Back-door access to cities and ecosystems

Fink et al. 2001 TRAIL TOWNS

Benton Mackaye & the Appalachian Trail

Rural Revitalization

Tourism & Economic Development

Booneville

Rocheport

Portland

Field sketches of rail-trail towns along the Katy Trail

Mokane KEY ELEMENTS OF A TRAIL TOWN (Allegheny Trail Alliance):

TRAILHEAD: access to the trail. PORTAL: point at which user exits the trail with intent of visiting community. PATHWAY: corridor between Portal and Center. Tebbets GATEWAY: enterance to the community. CENTER: central business district; hub for goods and services NODES: points of interest Jefferson City PLACEMAKING

Space & place (Agnew 2011)

“Each place only happens once” (Schneekloth & Shibley 1995)

Rail-trails as placemaking

Field sketch of rail-trail town along the Katy Trail What has been left behind by the railroad? How can it be transformed into places for people on trails?

A TYPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO

TRAIL-TOWN GEOGRAPHY

SPACES AND STRUCTURES A TYPOLOGY OF TRAIL-TOWN GEOGRAPHY

(ATA 2005) REMOVED TRAIL ALIGNMENT infrastructure to connect town & trail signage in lieu of visual connection

Heritage Trail

Farley, IA ADJACENT TRAIL ALIGNMENT

infrastructure connections (on or off road) visual permeability trail-side development

Rocheport, MO

Katy Trail INTERNAL TRAIL ALIGNMENT clearly marked infrastructure vehicular conflict encourage dismouting from bicycle

Root River Trail

Lanesboro, MN A TYPOLOGY OF STRUCTURES AND SPACES

RADICAL DEPOTS BRIDGES GRADING

GRAIN YARDS TUNNELS & ELEVATORS UNDERPASSES RADICAL GRADING

root river trail DEPOTS

Consistent parkitecture on the Katy Trail

Gothic Revival style

http://www.lakesnwoods.com/LanesboroGallery.htm LANESBORO DEPOT LANESBORO VISITOR CENTER BRIDGES GRAIN ELEVATORS YARDS

https://theperrynews.com/solar-and-wind-energy-economic-development-spur-perry-annexations-rezoning/ TUNNELS & UNDERPASSES A CASE STUDY APPROACH

The value of case studies is their ability to

“retain holistic and meaningful characteristics of real life situations”

Yin 1994 What is a successful town? One indicator: THE BIKE SHOP MIDWESTERN RAIL-TRAILS EXPLORED

Summer 2017 Bike Tour Outside of Bike Tour

Katy Trail (MO) Illinois Prairie Path (IL) Great River Trail (IL) Military Ridge State Trail (WI) (IA) Nature Trail (IA) Great River State Trail (WI) High Trestle Trail (IA) (MN) Heart of Iowa Nature Trail (IA) (MN) Chichaqua Valley Trail (IA) Chippewa River Trail (WI) River Valley Trail (IA) Red Cedar Trail (WI) Trestle to Trestle Trail (IA) Buffalo River State Park Trail (WI) Great Western Trail (IA) (MN) Gay Lea Wilson Trail (IA) Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail (MN) (IA) CASE STUDIES

Lanesboro, MN Root River Trail

Madrid, IA High Trestle Trail

Rocheport, MO Katy Trail

Inset maps via OpenStreetMap. Other map data via Iowa DNR, Missouri State Parks, and Geospatial Commons QUICK FACTS

Rocheport, MO Madrid, IA Lanesboro, MN Katy Trail High Trestle Trail Root River Trail

Founded 1825 1883 1869

Southern Minnesota Missouri-Kansas-Texas Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Railroad Railroad; Chicago, Mil- Railroad Paul Railroad waukee, St. Paul Railroad

Trail Constructed 1989 2003 ~1985

User Count 35,000 /yr 48,653 /yr 86,000 /yr

Surface Type Crushed limestone Concrete Asphalt

Minnesota Department of Natural Missouri State Parks; Rocheport MO City of Madrid, Dallas/Boone County Resources; Lanesboro Chamber of Key Players & Bed and Breakfast Association; City of conservation, Iowa Natural Heritage Commerce; Root River Trail Towns, Jurisdictions Rocheport; Friends of the Katy Trail Foundation; Friends of Boone Coun- Inc.; The Lanesboro Heritage Preser- ty Trails vation Commission; City of Lanes- boro BUSINESS DISTRICT

DEPOT

TUNNEL BRIDGE YARD Center Business District Gateway Routes of Engagement ROCHEPORT Trailhead Water Feature Portal Natural Area Nodes

Structure inherited from railroad

Diana Bend Conservation Area to the West Replica depot as trailhead & City Hall

200 ft N Imagery via Moniteau Creek crossing Google Maps Tunnel & Bridge as gateway Switchyards as trail parking

BUSINESS DISTRICT

ELEVATOR

DEPOT YARDS Center Structure inherited Business District from railroad MADRID Gateway Routes of Engagement

Trailhead Water Feature Portal Natural Area Nodes

Underpass: mural on infrastructure

Alleyway portal connects trail to town Quonset hut repurposed as watering hole

Grade separated crossing 20 ft elevation change Grade separated crossing Switchyards as trailhead parking

200 ft Imagery via N MADRID, IA | HIGH TRESTLE TRAIL Google Maps

Path as portal to town

BUSINESS DISTRICT

DEPOT

BRIDGE LANESBORO

4

Grain storage

Depot-style visitor center

4 3

3 Street crossings

1 Structure inherited from railroad

Center 1 Business District Gateway Routes of Engagement Trailhead 200 ft Bridge as gateway Water Feature Portal Imagery via Natural Area Google Maps N Nodes

CASE STUDIES, IN SUM

Rocheport, MO Madrid, IA Lanesboro, MN Katy Trail High Trestle Trail Root River Trail

Proximity to iconic Trail alignment into Historic character bridge and metro area historic downtown Dramatic natural features Trail-side businesses Thriving tourism What works and adaptive reuse of economy Human-scale urban buildings form Natural Features Connections to core

Signage and wayfinding Steep grades between Alignment lacks clarity can improve user town and trail remain a upon entering downtown navigation of spread-out What can barrier assets work better Lacks engagement with Build connection to agriculture-related Develop public spaces adjacent park infrastructure along trail REPLICABLE STRATEGIES

1. COMMISSION ART ON (BIG) INFRASTRUCTURE

2. MAKE CONNECTIONS

3. ESTABLISH VISUAL PERMEABILITY (OR SIGNAGE)

4. PROMOTE ADAPTIVE REUSE

5. CREATE MOMENTS

6. RELATE TO NATURAL RESOURCES DRAMATIC APPEAL “Already basic it can be made spectacular. Here is something to be dramatized.” -Mackaye on the AT

AN BASIN GREENWAY SYSTEM REUSE OF INFRASTRUCTURE RURAL REVITALIZATION MEANINGFUL & MEMORABLE PLACES FOR PEOPLE REFERENCES Francis, M. (2001). A case study method for landscape architecture. Landscape Journal, 20(1), 15-29. Agnew, J. (2011). Space and place. Handbook of geographical knowledge, 2011, 316-331. Fleming, Steven. (2012). "Cycle space: Architecture & urban design in the age of the bicycle." Allegheny Trail Alliance. (2005). Trail towns: Capturing trail-based tour- ism. A Guide for communities in Pennsylvania. National Park Service. (1976). National Register of Historic Places Inven- tory - nomination form for Rocheport, MO. https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/ Campbell, C. & Smallenberg, G. (1986). Landscape heritage & community nps-nr/76001108.pdf. change. Vancouver: University of British Columbia. Rails to Trails Conservancy. (2018). Root River State Trail: A Brief Histo- Clay, G. (1980). Close-up: How to read the American city. University of ry. https://www.traillink.com/trail-history/root-river-state-trail/ Chicago Press. Reid, C. (2015). How the bicycle beats evolution and why Steve Jobs was Fronteddu, R. (2000). Place-making at UBC: planning a heritage trail. UBC so taken with this fact. http://www.bikeboom.info/efficiency/ Undergraduate Research, Open Collections. Reps, J. W. (1965). The making of urban America: A history of city plan- Lanesboro Heritage Preservation Commission. (2012). City of Lanes- ning in the . Princeton University Press. boro Downtown Preservation Commission Design Guidelines. http:// www.lanesboro-mn.gov/cmsAdmin/uploads/lanesboro-guide- Salamon, S., & Tornatore, J. B. (1994). Territory Contested Through lines-june-2012_001.pdf Property in a Midwestern Post‐Agricultural Community. Rural Sociolo- gy, 59(4), 636-654. LIAA. (2013). Trail Towns - Capturing Trail-Based Tourism: A Manual for Communities in Northern Michigan. Schneekloth, L. H., & Shibley, R. G. (1995). Placemaking: The art and practice of building communities. Wiley. MacKaye, B. (1921). An Appalachian trail: A project in regional planning. American Institute of Architects. Schwieterman, J. P. (2004). When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment (Vol. 2). Truman Missouri State Parks. (2012). Katy Trail Economic Impact Report. Synergy State Univ Press. Group, Pragmatic Research, Inc., James Pona Associates. https://mostate- parks.com/sites/mostateparks/files Katy_Trail_Economic_Impact_Report_ The Progress Fund. (2017). The Trail Town guide: Revitalizing ru- Final.pdf ral communities with bike trail tourism. https://www.trailtowns.org/ wp-content/uploads/2017/10/TrailTownGuide.2.pdf Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota. (2016). 2015 State Trail User Count. https://www.parksandtrails.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2015-PTC- Trail-Count.pdf

Harkness, T. (1990). Garden from region. The meaning of gardens, 110-19.