CHAPTER 4 PARKS, OPEN SPACE AND GREENWAYS PLAN I TODAY’S CONDITIONS I Educational benefits – providing outdoor classrooms for children and adults. Across the nation, easy access to parks and open space I has become a new measure of community wealth – an Health benefits – increasing opportunities for exercise important way to attract businesses and residents by and reducing stress. guaranteeing both healthy communities and economic health. Recent research indicates that the health outcomes of individuals are determined to a large degree by the DEFINITIONS environments in which they live. According to the Center for Healthy Communities, environmental factors unrelated The following definitions are provided for the purposes of this to the health care delivery system – like air and water quality Plan. Some types of facilities, such as trails, may fit more than and access to parks and recreation – are vital to a healthy one definition. life. Businesses are free to shop for an appealing location and today, according to the Trust for Public Land, prefer Conservation Areas: open spaces, primarily undeveloped communities with a high quality of life, including an land, that have the specific purpose of protecting natural abundance of open space, nearby recreation and resources. pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. DCNR: the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Parks, open space and greenways provide a variety of benefits that contribute to livable communities Greenways: corridors of open space that serve to link including economic, environmental, recreational, natural resource-based or manmade features. Greenways educational and heath benefits. may incorporate both public and private property and be either land- or water-based. Greenway corridors often follow abandoned railways, canals, ridge tops, rivers and stream THE BENEFITS OF OPEN SPACE valleys. Greenways can have many functions: According to the 1995 Allegheny County Greenways Plan , I Conservation Greenways: unimproved corridors parks, open space and greenways provide a variety of primarily intended for natural resource protection. benefits that contribute to livable communities. Some of these benefits include: I Major Greenway Corridors: long-distance corridors (at least 50 miles long) that pass through two or I Economic benefits – attracting and retaining more counties and are recognized in official planning businesses, increasing property values by making documents by counties. They represent the major communities more desirable, enhancing place identity, “arteries” of the developing statewide greenway system. and reducing public costs through better management of natural events such as flooding. I Mega Greenways: greenways of one hundred miles or more, with a completed plan. I Environmental benefits – protecting natural areas, protecting and improving water quality, improving air I Recreational Greenways: corridors that quality, reducing flooding and related stormwater accommodate hiking trails or bikeways, water trails damage, and protecting wildlife corridors that link and multi-use trails. habitats. Greenways Network: a linked system of greenways I Recreational and transportation benefits – and hubs of specifically identified natural resources or open providing opportunities for rails-to-trails, commuter space and manmade features or destinations that influence bikeways, and riverfront development, and enhancing the development of the linear greenway corridor. road and highway corridors. www.alleghenyplaces.com 4E - 1 Heritage Park Regions: specifically-designated I Millennium Trails: a national initiative of the White portions of the state that implement a regional strategy House Millennium Council, in partnership with the for promoting Pennsylvania’s rich industrial and cultural Department of Transportation , Rail-to-Trails heritage to stimulate community revitalization and Conservancy , the American Hiking Society , and economic development. the National Endowment for the Arts , that recognize, promote and stimulate the creation of trails to "Honor "Livable" Communities: communities that offer a wide the Past and Imagine the Future" as part of America's range of recreation and transportation alternatives, including legacy for the year 2000. There are three levels of bicycling and walking, and have a unique character defined Millennium Trails: by natural and/or cultural features. Places are intended to be livable communities. (1) 16 National Millennium Trails; (2) 52 Millennium Legacy Trails (State Level); and Open Spaces: areas of natural quality, either publicly- or (3) 2,000 Community Millennium Trails. privately-owned, designated for the protection of natural resources, nature-oriented outdoor recreation or trail-related I Multi-use Trails: greenways designed for recreational activities. purposes that accommodate more than one type of use (e.g. horseback riding, hiking, bicycling, etc.) Parks: areas, usually publicly-owned, set aside for recreation and relaxation. I Rail-Trails: former railroad corridors converted to trails. I Regional: a “destination” recreation facility, usually large in size, that people will drive long distances to I Water Trails: a recreational waterway on a lake, get to because of the amenities or the events located river, or ocean between specific points, containing there. These parks are usually 200 acres or more in access points, and day use and/or camping sites size, but can be less if it has state or national for the boating public (North American Water Trail significance. Association). I Community: a destination facility on a smaller scale Allegheny County is fortunate to have an extensive network than a regional park that contains at least 1 of parks, open spaces, conservation areas, trails and green - ‘Community Significant Feature’ (see page 4E-6 for ways, as shown on Maps 4E.1a through 4E.1d. complete list). Table 4E.1 establishes classification standards for each I Special Use: a destination facility that has a unique type of park. The standards were developed for Allegheny feature or attraction. County because the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) standards do not fit this topographically I Linear: usually a greenway or trail that follows a complex and primarily urban county with 130 municipalities waterway, abandoned railroad corridor, or ridge line, very well. Allegheny County has 718 municipal parks, 125 and is longer than it is wide. community parks, and 16 regional parks, for a total of 859 parks encompassing approximately 26,900 acres. I Municipal: parks owned by municipalities that do not According to NRPA standards, Allegheny County as a include a Community-Significant Feature. whole has more than 3 times the recommended park acreage per capita. Yet when the NRPA standard is applied to an I Park Node: a small pocket park that primarily serves individual municipality, it may show a much higher or lower one residential, commercial, or office development. ratio of park acres per capita. The distance between population centers and parks, usually Trails: measured as a radius centered on the park, is also often used as a way to assess the need for new or additional park and I Bikeways: off-road bicycle trails and dedicated bike recreation facilities. However, in Allegheny County, the effect lanes along roads. of geography on road systems means there is often a major difference between “crow-fly” miles and miles traveled. The 4E - 2 www.alleghenyplaces.com CHAPTER 4 Table 4E.1 – Park Definitions and Classification Standards for Allegheny County PARK STANDARDS Classification Definition Minimum Size Criteria Service Radius/Area Examples A destination facility, usually large in size, that Usually 200 acres, but can 20 Miles/Allegheny Point State Park, Hartwood REGIONAL PARK people will drive long distances to get to because be less if it has state or County and surrounding Acres Park of the amenities or events located there. national significance areas A destination facility on a smaller scale than a COMMUNITY PARK regional park that contains at least 1 significant NA 3 miles/Multi-municipal Boyce/Mayview Park feature. * Renziehausen Park, A destination facility that has a unique feature or Round Hill Park, Allegheny SPECIAL USE PARK attraction. NA 15 miles/County-wide Islands State Park Usually a greenway or trail that follows a waterway, Dependent on length and LINEAR PARK abandoned railroad corridor, or ridge line, and is NA presence of trails Three Rivers Park longer than it is wide. Parks owned by municipalities that do not include a 1 mile/Primarily local MUNICIPAL PARK NA Twin Hills Park Community-Significant Feature. residents A small pocket park that primarily serves one 0.5 mile/Occupants of the Tot Lots, Plazas, Open PARK NODE residential, office or commercial development. NA development Space * A list of Community Significant Features can be found on page 4E-6. Please note some exceptions may apply to the standards above. park standards developed for Allegheny County therefore State Owned consider service areas as more significant than distances. The more facilities a park contains or the more unique it is, There are two regional, State-owned parks in the County: the larger its service area is likely to be. I Point State Park is located at the tip of Pittsburgh’s Service areas also provide a rationale for multi-municipal “Golden Triangle”. This 36-acre park is a National park and recreation planning. Multi-municipal park and Historic Landmark that commemorates and preserves recreation planning is especially important,