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Outdoors Community Celebrates 25 Years Of Building A Sustainable Southwest PA
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Pennsylvania is a national leader when it comes to outdoor amenities. The Commonwealth boasts over 1,370 miles of rail trails, over 1,900 miles of water trails, and is number one in the nation with 138 open rail trail projects. And these are just a few of the outdoor recreation accomplishments to celebrate.
Southwestern Pennsylvania showcases a bounty of outdoor recreation opportunities. From miles of recreational trails for walking, jogging and cycling to single-track mountain bike riding; from heart-pounding white water to relaxing flat water paddling, from horseback riding to in-line skating, orienteering, hiking, and rowing—the list goes on and on. Yet these opportunities did not always exist.
2011 is a milestone year for many outdoor organizations in the region. October 1 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Head of the Ohio, the third largest one-day rowing regatta in the country, taking place here in Pittsburgh and hosted by the Three Rivers Rowing Association.
Twenty five years ago marks the completion of the very first section of the Great Allegheny Passage, a nearly level hiking and biking trail that connects users from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland. In 2007, the GAP earned a place in the Rails-to-Trails Hall of Fame and was named one of “10 Great American Bike Trails” by Forbes Traveler in 2009.
This past June, the local nonprofit Friends of the Riverfront celebrated its 20th anniversary. Through the work of dedicated staff, partners, and volunteers, Friends continues to expand the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, a pedestrian trail and greenway system in the Pittsburgh region running for 22 miles along both sides of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, and also continues to expand the Three Rivers Water Trail System, a network of access points, resting places, attractions and amenities for users of watercraft on Pittsburgh’s rivers.
More than $112 million has been invested in riverfront parks and trails, catalyzing over $3.5 billion in riverfront investments in Pittsburgh’s downtown, according to Riverlife, which works in partnership with many stakeholders to make Pittsburgh’s riverfronts the environmental, recreational, cultural and economic hub for the region.
There have been many more accomplishments over the last two decades related to connecting people to the outdoors. Last week, the Port Authority of Allegheny County announced 100 percent of its bus fleet is now outfitted with bus-mounted bike racks, the origins of which started ten years ago through a program initiated by Sustainable Pittsburgh to connect bus-riding cyclists with local parks and trails. Bike Pittsburgh, established in 2002 to make Pittsburgh safe, accessible, and friendly to bicycle transportation, helped advance this project to completion.
Venture Outdoors, celebrating its 10 year anniversary this year with a milestone of 10,000 members, reports that in 2005, its social venture, Kayak Pittsburgh, served just under 6,000 people. Six years later, in 2011, VO expects that number to top 18,000—despite a five week delay in opening its downtown location and only a month of operations at North Park.
Outdoor recreation is a key component to a region’s sustainability in that it promotes healthier lifestyles, boosts the local economy, helps to attract and retain talent, is affordable and within reach of all communities, and fosters a sense of environmental stewardship.
The increased participation in outdoor activities in southwestern PA (as suggested by surveys, increases in memberships to outdoors groups, new trail construction, the opening of stores like REI [both South Side and Settlers Ridge locations] and L.L. Bean), demonstrates this region is on the path to sustainability. Sustainability is the ongoing process of integrating economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality into decision-making.
Sustainable Pittsburgh, a nonprofit working to accelerate the policy and practice of sustainability in southwestern Pennsylvania, serves as convener and facilitator of the Outdoor Recreation Partnership.
The Partnership is a voluntary network of independent agencies and organizations which share common goals and have come together to achieve these goals through collaboration. Together, the group works to make outdoor recreation a hallmark of quality of life in southwestern Pennsylvania and a key element of the region's strategy for prosperity.
Following are current members of the Outdoor Recreation Partnership: Bike Pittsburgh; Bour Associates; Family Tyes; Friends of the Riverfront; Pennsylvania Environmental Council; Progress Fund (Trail Town Program); Sustainable Pittsburgh; Three Rivers Rowing Association; and Venture Outdoors.
To learn more about outdoor opportunities in southwestern Pennsylvania, visit the Wall are Bad website, supported by the partnership, connects individuals to 400+ outdoor clubs and groups in the Pittsburgh region.
Walls are Bad is a campaign to increase awareness of and participation in outdoor recreational activities like hiking, biking, paddling and more, here in southwestern PA. Get engaged through facebook.com/wallsarebad and twitter.com/wallsarebad.
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10/3/2011 |
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