Resources for connectivity study

[mrbixby]

I am working with a group who is contracted to provide a connectivity study. During the process, (which is still far from deadline) it is becoming more apparent that a select few in the community have voiced concerns to the council about developing a greenway in town due to the perception of increased crime activity. In speaking with other residents, it seems as if there are many others who would love to have this addition to their community. But the vocal minority.....it could table the initiative and this would be a shame becuase its a perfect situation for greenspace development.

I need to be pointed in the direction of white papers, stats, or any product that will help with an education campaign about the actual crime stats for greenway. I have had little by way of results thus far.

Any help, or ideas, would be a godsend. Thanks.

[Michele Zone]

I don't have any resources with such stats but, in addition to looking for those resources, let me suggest a different angle:
Something I wrote last year:

When I attended the 2005 APA Conference in San Francisco last weekend, the first session I attended was 3 hours long and was called “Winning Political and Community Support for Your Project”. The Presenter, Debra Stein, talked about some things I have talked about elsewhere on Cyburbia, such as learning styles, personality type, etc. Yes, the website is mostly to promote her/their business. But there is a page with links to articles they have written: List of Articles. (books are listed at the topic -- scroll down a little to the articles)

At that presentation, one example she talked about from her business experience involved a community protesting development because they felt that some endangered animal (which was really, really cute) would be harmed. Presenting information that this animal would not be harmed by the development (didn't even live in the field they wanted to develop) made no difference at all in their survey results (as far as people being for or against the development). Instead, the approach which worked was to briefly rebutt the emotional protests concerning the cutesy animal and then segueway to talking about the jobs that would be created if this education center (or whatever) was built. Talking about jobs for the community moved numbers and gained them support when only rebutting concerns about the cutesy animal had accomplished nothing. So replying directly to the concern they are expressing may not be the full answer. Managing group dynamics is often not about the "obvious" issues that people claim they are concerned about. You sometimes have to figure out what really gets their attention and address that instead of the item they claim interests them.

[wahday]

Here is a link to a pdf from the Conservation Fund regarding trails, safety, crime and vandalism. Its a fact sheet with bibliographies at the end. A good start.

http://www.conservationfund.org/pdf/fact4.pdf

Wade

[Cardinal]

The Rails to Trails Conservancy has done a couple studies of crime and vandalism associated with trails. They have found that there is no increase, and in many cases it becomes less of an issue.

[jmello]

There have been quite a few studies regrding the increased property values along the Minuteman Bikeway, a controversial multiuse path that runs from Arlington to Lexington and/or Concord, MA. Try Google.

[Shweethaht]

Instead of focusing on convincing them, may I suggest that you assume it will be a problem and fix it with some unobtrusive barriers or other crime countermeasures. There are a bunch of regulations out there regarding htis type of design. Check out the AIA or Corps of Engineers site on Force Protection. It may seem a bit severe, but it can help in civilian situations. If you have any experience with this subject, then you know that security measures can be aesthetically pleasing and still do their jobs. Not every crime countermeasure needs to be a chain link fence.

I am working with a group who is contracted to provide a connectivity study. During the process, (which is still far from deadline) it is becoming more apparent that a select few in the community have voiced concerns to the council about developing a greenway in town due to the perception of increased crime activity. In speaking with other residents, it seems as if there are many others who would love to have this addition to their community. But the vocal minority.....it could table the initiative and this would be a shame becuase its a perfect situation for greenspace development.

I need to be pointed in the direction of white papers, stats, or any product that will help with an education campaign about the actual crime stats for greenway. I have had little by way of results thus far.

Any help, or ideas, would be a godsend. Thanks.