Research shows that merely building sidewalks and striping bike lanes on a road doesn’t add much to quality of life…but when a community adds the trail within protected greenspace, then people use it moreso because of the pleasing & safe environment that the trail resides in. The purpose isn’t simply to get from here to there…greenways are an experience for the senses…a park if you will. Greenways also help communities enhance citizens amounts of physical activity, trail users that I have spoken with haven’t been out in decades. Greenways are free and available whether you are 6 or 90. According to Parks & Rec., over 900 users use the roanoke river trail on 2 hour spans on weekends. Plus other city’s have higher housing and property values where the greenway runs close to…..in Charlotte, property values exceed 42% above similiar tracts. Its makes common sense I think; greenways show that a city cares for and desires to use the greenway park-like areas to preserve their natural areas and the trail is there for walkers, recreational cyclists, moms with strollers, roller bladers, and seniors to all have equal opportunity to move within these corridors. Plus I see folks in Roanoke now ride and walk through neighborhoods and meet other people from much different walks of life…without the greenway, it never would have happened….and thats a grand healing elements that does Roanoke good! Lastly what I see here plus in other areas….the greenways aren’t about providing an experienced bike route for cyclists that desire to focus on transportation or racing….streets are for such activities and when you examine the country, the more seasoned communities get that. Roanoke seems to be struggling with this a bit, but its getting better. A bike transportation system may use greenway trails but they aren’t built for simply that type of user.