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Sunday, June 1, 2003
Paths to better living
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||
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Also on this page: MAINE WALKWAYS | |
Timothy Carr has spent his 53 years in the Pleasantdale neighborhood of South Portland. So when he reignited the once-defunct neighborhood group there last fall - at the time the city was proposing to extend the Greenbelt walkway - Carr wanted to voice the residents' concerns. Where the walkway hugs some homes there was debate between the city and the neighbors, said South Portland site planner Jim Gailey. But now that the trail extension is completed, even Carr, who voiced some skepticism over the walkway, is one of the trail's most frequent visitors. The longtime Pleasantdale native's reasons for using the footpath go to the heart of why a new state coalition of environmental and health advocates believe Maine needs more urban walkways. "The last two to three years, I got very much wound up in my work," said Carr, a retired fire chief. "I did not exercise. And my health suffered. Now I'm a diabetic and have some things associated with that. It's not too late to get a handle on it. I got a wake-up call. Now I'm back into it and have increased my amount of activity." Saturday morning - as communities statewide celebrate National Trails Day - South Portland will christen its new section of the Greenbelt and unveil the trail's L.L. Bean-sponsored kiosk. The trail's upgrade is one example of what the Healthy Maine Walks Coalition hopes to achieve around the state. The coalition was given Gov. John Baldacci's endorsement last month when he announced the group's formation and the importance of its registry - found online at www.healthymainewalks.org - in listing community walkways around the state. The group aims to help local communities create or expand local trails in Maine towns to promote healthier living, said coalition member Burnham Martin with the National Park Service. He said the coalition's vision is for every community to have at least one designated walking route so that people have a place they can get to easily. More than half of Maine adults, or 56 percent, are overweight, and one in five of those Mainers is considered obese, according to the Healthy Maine Walks Coalition. While Maine is made up of many well-known woodland paths and hidden trails throughout its 16 counties, the need for urban trails, both aesthetically pleasing and convenient, is paramount to improving the health of the state's population, Martin said. For Martin, expanding Maine's scenic walkways is part of his job with the National Park Service's Rivers and Trails Program. But he recognized two years ago it also was of interest to many health organizations. While the intrepid walkers will always exercise, Martin said many others will join them if there is a handy footpath nearby. "Studies have shown if you provide people a path where people know it's safe to gather and appropriate and sometimes there is a social element, you can encourage people who are not walkers," Martin said. Gailey said such paths sometimes do more than wooden trails in getting a greater number of people out exercising. "People use the Greenbelt to walk to work, to walk to shopping, to walk to their neighbors," he said. "As streets become busier with cars . . . people want an alternative route of transportation." Creating, even extending, such trails is not easy. Since the South Portland section of the Greenbelt was started in 1979, Gailey said, it's been cobbled together piece by piece over time to form its current 3.4 miles. The Pleasantdale section, which is less than a mile long, was paid for with $492,000 from the Department of Transportation and another $146,100 from the city of South Portland, Gailey said. There is another 1.4 miles of trail that is needed to connect South Portland to Scarborough, Gailey said. While the trail wraps around some scenic vistas looking over Casco Bay and the Portland cityscape, it also leads pedestrians away from water views and into neighborhoods, making it very much an urban path. The Greenbelt through South Portland extends over an active rail corridor or is built on an old rail corridor cutting through three neighborhoods. Martin said these are the kinds of paths the coalition intends to direct communities to create. "We try not to use the word 'trail,' " Martin said. "Some of the trails on (the registry) are surfaced, some are natural setting trails." Martin said Portland Trails is another good example of a network like the kind the Healthy Maine Walks Coalition hopes to promote. Although, when Portland Trails was formed 12 years ago, it evolved out of an interest in preserving open space and greenways people could enjoy, not a need to address health concerns. Nathan Smith, one of the founders of Portland Trails and the organization's first president, said the group's formation was in response to the shoreway access plan commissioned by the city of Portland. The plan set the goal of establishing 30 miles of trails in 50 years along various Portland greenways and waterfront property. Portland Trails set about trying to do that in five years, Smith said. While the idea of staying healthy was implicit in that objective, Smith said weight loss was not a topic at the group's first meetings. "I don't really think health was mentioned. . . . We weren't thinking about obesity when we were setting up Portland Trails," Smith said. "But it's a natural fit. Health is implicit in recreation." The trail group, which has established or mapped 27 trails in and around Portland, has two of its trails on the state's new walkway registry: the Back Cove and Eastern Prom paths. Nan Cumming, the group's executive director, said it was asked to submit a single trail, but because those two connect, they appear as one on the registry. Many footpaths are published by trail organizations and outdoor groups, but Martin said many Mainers and visitors to the state don't know where they are. "I'm amazed. I'm in the trail business and in my spare time I go for walks with my kids. There is so much stuff based in Brunswick that I don't yet know about," Martin said. "Maybe if I didn't have kids, I could explore more freely and widely. They're great little walkers, so I've picked out walks I do for them." Some believe expanding the state's network of urban trails will have benefits beyond promoting better health. Carr said walkways bring communities closer together as more people travel the same footpaths. Gailey believes the value of homes near such walkways increases because of the nearby footpaths. "Houses on the market near the walkway are listing 'Greenbelt nearby,' " Galley pointed out. "People are using it as a sales pitch these days." Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:
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