Research Update -Alex Whitman

   The research that I have been conducting is associated with the benefits of trails and people’s opinions towards them. Greatly impacting our project, the opinions and benefits of the trails are one of the major reasons for the consideration of construction. Without providing enough evidence of public support and positive reason for the construction, the public may not want to build the trails.

   The research I have conducted so far, and will continue to conduct, follows the thought process from: what types of health, economic, environmental, and social benefits do the trails create. It also includes the question of; as a result of the benefits created from the trails, is there public approval for more construction?

From the research I have gathered so far I have observed the following:

·       Health benefits- Trails promote exercise, decreasing hospital stays by 30%, and reducing insurance claims by 14%.

·       Environmental Benefits- Trails have been lowering urban temperatures and have help reduced carbon emissions.

·       Social Benefits- Areas near trails have seen a reduction in crime rate, tend to have a greater sense of pride, and tend to be more appealing due to the greener perception.

·       Economic Benefits- Trails have shown to increase property value, increase worker productivity/ improve job satisfaction, and increase tourism revenue.

Lastly, a survey of the people’s opinions on the trails is to come. I will post my further finding and the results of the survey when I later obtain them. Please let me know if there is anything that you think that I should add to my research or the survey.

Thanks

-Alex Whitman

More Survery Questions

Here are some more survey question to add to the ones the Cailen already posted

1.) From a scale of 1 to 5 how willing would you be to pay more taxes a month to be able to have a build and maintain trail, with 1 being very unwilling and 5 being very willing?

2.) How much to do enjoy walking outside on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning you find walking outside dreadful and 5 being you find it very joyful?

3.) Do you live with your family? If so how many family members do you live with?

4.) From which of the following age groups do you belong to?

5.) Are you a male or female?

(I put those questions in there because it gives us the information of what types of people live in area and would be most likely to go on trails versus those that don’t [i.e family versus student]. Also it can give us an estimate of the population that we are trying to sell the trails to)

6.) From a scale of 1 to how much more likely would you use trails if there was some form of a bathroom every mile, with 1 being very unwilling and 5 being very willing? Every 2 miles?

-Alex Whitman