Last updated: 21st July, 2008

The City of Columbia is considering building a trail connection between the Bluffdale neighborhood and the new Rock Hill Park to Stadium Trail. This will be an incredible asset for the neighborhood, raising home values and improving quality of life.

The project will:

• Allow Bluffdale residents to access the beauty and serenity of the new trail quickly and easily;
• Enable thousands of families on the east side of Columbia to walk or bike safely to downtown and the University campus;
• Expand Columbia’s growing bicycle and pedestrian network, making our city among the most desirable places to live;
• Deter vagrancy, vandalism, and crime in the area.

“Home values will go down.“

• Access to a trail is a selling point. In a Colorado study, 93% of residents living close to a trail felt the trail made it easier to sell their home.

• Columbia residents living close to a trail report a strong sense of safety because the presence of law-abiding trail-users deters crime. An Oregon study reported that homes bordering the Oregon Trail had lower rates of burglary and vandalism than the neighborhood average.

• The City is unable, by law, to reward Mr. Altis' willingness to sell a trail easement with a re-zoning. Any re-zoning request will be dealt with by normal City procedures in full public view. Mr. Altis' land lies in the flood plain or on steep terrain, and has no road access, making any proposal for development very unlikely to succeed.

• Animals and trail-users co-exist happily. Columbia’s trails are among the best places to see deer, coyote, turtles, frogs, owls, and hawks.

• Contact the PedNet Coalition at 289-6479;
• Email Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe at ward6@gocolumbiamo.com;
• Attend the City Council Public Hearing on Tuesday, July 22 at 6:00 pm in the Daniel Boone Building, Council Chambers.