Strategies
Think beyond existing conditions to create the future. Monroe County is rapidly developing, and pressures on quality of life are continuing. Incorporating alternative transportation results in multiple benefits, including:
- Healthy lifestyles: alternative transportation systems remove physical barriers to create safe, pleasant environments to walk or bike.
- Increased property values: alternative transportation systems within a half-mile of homes has proven to increase property values and encourage infill development.
- Smart growth: inclusive transportation systems encourage less dependence on the personal automobile and allows a community to grow in a economically, environmentally and socially responsible way.
- Reduced congestion: progressive communities are realizing that providing alternative transportation means reduces the number of vehicles, especially for short trips.
- Social interaction: alternative transportation systems provide infrastructure that encourages social interaction.
The Karst Farm Greenway is being embraced and supported equally by reisdents and developers, validating the quality of life-based economic development goals of the Alternative Transportation and Greenways System Plan.
Places
The Monroe County Alternative Transportation & Greenways System Plan incorporated "Place" into its recommendations. By identifying and incorporating local heritage features into trail elements, the unique qualities of Monroe County are celebrated. The Karst Farm Greenway interpretive signage and educational features reflect the Karst geology and morphology. Trailheads emphasized the use of limestone, the local stone indicative of southern Indiana.
Connections
The three-mile long section of the Karst farm Greenway in the west side of the county begins at Karst Farm Park, continuing north to Vernal Pike. Providing connections to the YMCA from the Park, it's character ranges from a rural experience to that of a more urban experience within the Gifford and Endwright Road rights-of-ways. It provides connectivity and walkability linking Karst Farm Park, the YMCA, Ivy Tech, the Indiana Center for Life Sciences, and the Highland Park and Grandview Schools.
