Success Stories Page 6

Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga | Photo courtesy The Trust for Public Land

Transforming Chattanooga: How Rail-with-Trail Is Shaping the City's Future

Posted 06/26/15 by Katie Harris in Building Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Rail-with-Trail, Tennessee

Dubbed the "Dirtiest City in America" in 1969, the Chattanooga of today is leaps and bounds away from that bleak vision. The "Scenic City" now boasts a flourishing outdoor culture and can proudly consider itself a healthy place for recreation, green space and living a full and healthy life.

Elroy-Sparta 50th Anniversary Celebration - left to right: Stephanie Klett, Wisconsin secretary of tourism; Kurt Thiede, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Keith Laughlin, RTC president; Brigit Brown, Wisconsin trails coordinator; and former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson | Photo courtesy RTC

The Trail That Started It All: Elroy-Sparta Celebrates 50 Years

Posted 06/15/15 by Elizabeth Striano in Success Stories, America's Trails | Tagged with Community Events, Success Stories, Wisconsin

Earlier this month, one of the oldest rail-trails in the nation turned 50! RTC President Keith Laughlin joined local leaders and residents from several towns along the trail’s path at a 50th anniversary ceremony sponsored by Friends of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail.

A still-standing coaling tower relic on the Armstrong Trail | Photo by Ron Steffey

A Well-Fought Battle for Good: The Armstrong Trail

Posted 05/23/15 by Katie Harris in Building Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Overcoming Opposition, Pennsylvania, Success Stories

The 36-mile Armstrong Trail was forged in a fire hotter than any other. And, as the saying goes, those types of fires forge the strongest steel. Read about the incredible history of the creation of this western Pennsylvania rail-trail.

Avid cyclists and 80-somethings Jack and Jeannette Ralston of Tennessee | Photo courtesy Jack and Jeannette Ralston

“They Think We’re Nuts”: Being in Their 80s Won’t Stop This Biking Duo

Posted 04/27/15 by Katie Harris in Trail Use, Success Stories | Tagged with Encouraging Trail Use, Tennessee

Remember Jack and Jeannette Ralston, the amazing couple who recently achieved a 70-years-plus dream of riding their bikes in every state (their story was originally featured in a 2013 issue of Rails to Trails)? They are still going strong! The Ralstons just took a trip to the Tweetsie Trail, a recently completed and stunningly beautiful rail-trail outside of Johnson City, Tennessee.

Atlanta's Eastside Trail | Photo by Ryan Gravel

Transforming Atlanta

Posted 04/21/15 by Rebecca Serna in America's Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Connected Systems, Featured Magazine Articles, Georgia, Success Stories, Tourism and Economic Stimulus

Today, a decade and a half after Georgia Tech graduate student Ryan Gravel laid out a simple, elegant vision for Atlanta's former railroad tracks in his master’s thesis, it’s safe to say that the city is once again being shaped by the convergence of railroad tracks and development.

Photo by Joe Gall

Made in Detroit: Energy, Optimism and the Resurgence of America's Motor City

Posted 04/08/15 by Jake Lynch in Success Stories | Tagged with Biking, Featured Magazine Articles, Michigan, Success Stories

At the Motown Café and Grill on East Jefferson Avenue one October morning last year, a small group gathers in a booth near the window. The visitors peer out, studying with some interest the wide roadway in front of the diner. Minutes pass between solitary cars. The six lanes of East Jefferson Avenue—as wide as most interstate highways—are for the most part empty. “For people who do what we do,” says one of the visitors, a man from Ohio, “this city is amazing.” Around the Motown, eyebrows are raised. It is a description that, in recent times, is not often heard here in Detroit.

The Bay Trail is helping to preserve the natural beauty and heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area region. | Photo by TJ Gehling

San Francisco Bay Trail: Environmental Icon, Public Asset

Posted 03/18/15 by Katie Harris in Success Stories, America's Trails | Tagged with California, CelebrateTrailsDay, Trail Destinations

On March 28, 2015—people around the nation will be getting out to celebrate their favorite pathways and kick off spring in honor of RTC’s third annual Opening Day for Trails. As Opening Day approaches, we're pleased to bring you this great example of how a trail in the San Francisco Bay Area is getting people where they need to go—and helping to preserve the region's environmental legacy and natural beauty.

Midway across the span of the Chartiers Creek Bridge | Photo courtesy Kordite | CC by 2.0

Pennsylvania's Montour Trail

Posted 03/16/15 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Building Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Local Organizing, Maintenance and Volunteers, Pennsylvania, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

In terms of rail-trail mileage, Pennsylvania dominates, but in a crowded field, the Montour Trail—which forms a 55-mile arc around western Pittsburgh—is a standout with plenty of “wow” moments.

David Ira Kagan immediately after achieving his 2014 goal of riding 5,458 miles | Photo courtesy David Ira Kagan

No Excuses! How a Tenacious 66-Year-Old Achieved His 5,458-Mile Cycling Goal

Posted 02/23/15 by David Ira Kagan in Success Stories | Tagged with Health and Active Living, Pennsylvania, Success Stories

For some of us, the cold reality of winter is enough to stop us in our tracks…curtailing our grand plans to get out on the trail and be more physically active. But not so for Kagan, who, despite numerous health issues and some sporadic East Coast weather—managed to achieve his 2014 biking goal of 5,458 miles.

Photo courtesy Girls in Gear

Bike-Savvy Middle Schoolers Help Reclaim—and Redesign—Columbus Streets

Posted 02/03/15 by Katie Harris in Success Stories, Taking Action | Tagged with Biking, Ohio, Schools and Young People, Young Champions

A formidable group of young women travels the streets of Columbus. Helmet clad, they roll through town on their bikes, searching for sidewalks and bike lanes and assessing street lighting. They know the names of the city council members who represent them, and you may find them behind a microphone at a town hall meeting advocating for the local bicycling movement. They also help cyclists themselves; they can fix a flat bike tire without giving it a second thought. They are an impressive group. Oh, and they’re in middle school!

A Black Women Bike DC/Kidical Cupcake Ride | Photo courtesy Randall Myers

Yes, Black Women Bike!

Posted 02/03/15 by Katie Harris in Success Stories | Tagged with Biking, District Of Columbia, Success Stories

It was a simple exclamation from a young girl that set Veronica Davis’ wheels in motion to found one of the District of Columbia’s most vibrant female bike clubs. As she rode through her southeast Washington, D.C., neighborhood on a summer afternoon in 2011, she watched this girl tug her mother’s sleeve and yell, “Look, mommy! Look at that black lady on a bike!”

The Bella Donnas | Photo CC Jillian Imilkowski

Ride, Women, Ride

Posted 01/09/15 by Katie Harris in Success Stories | Tagged with Biking, Success Stories, Wisconsin

When Carmen Berte met The Bella Donnas, Milwaukee’s self-described “premier all-girl, noncompetitive, mentoring and motivational cycling group,” in 2008, she wasn’t sure it was the right place for her. Her hesitation didn’t last long.