News-Record.com

We met with a group of downtown greenway boosters, primarily from Action Greensboro, on Tuesday.

They made an impassioned and reasoned case for the ambitious (and expensive) "bi-ped" path, which has been adopted as the signature project of the city's Bicentennial Commission.

Among the advantages they cited:

1. The availability of "pots" of state money to help finance the $26 million initiative.
2. The health benefits in a community in which obesity is a problem.
3. The relative safety of such paths. They say there has been very little crime on Greensboro's existing paths and that greenways are in general safer than anywhere else.
4. Their belief that the paths will boost real estate values.
5. The paths can help boost development.
6. The greenway provides a safe haven for cyclists and walkers.
7. The paths' potential to connect communities.
8. Greenways' appeal to young people.

They made some good points and eased some of my skepticism.

I'm especially hopeful that such a path dedicated to walking, jogging and biking might help erase the invisible downtown dividing line between the traditional black and white communities.

And cyclists could use a safer place than our streets, which, even with the new painted bike lanes, are not very hospitable to bicycles. There are still hazards from backing cars in driveways and at intersections.

I don't know about property values. I'll have to see more data on that. And there are plenty of opportunities to walk for exercise around here already.

As for the concept in general, I love it. Greensboro's greenways are some of its best assets and I use them regularly.

But $26 million is a lot of money, even if much of it is raised privately.

I'll study this some more and report back.