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'Metropolitan x,enwa s: G Connections Y Green or orb an Areas s Y the year 2O}, So Percent of all Ameri- cans will live in urban areas. A surprising statistic? ,Vot when we consider the mass migration toward met- ropolitan areas that has oc- curred in this country since the start of the Industria! revolu- tion• In their quest to maintain a connection with nature while reaping the economic and cul- tural benefits of City life, Ameri- cans have historically settled at the' paint where city meets country. This has resulted in the suburban sprawl which surrounds most Arnerican cities. The more these suburbs grow, the more urban and suburban residents are cutoff from the natural environment. In her book, The Cranfle Carden, Anne Whiston Spire describes the effects of the "sub- urban phenomenon" with these words "The magnitude of 19th and 20th Century migration to the suburbs eventually brought the environmental problems or the city to the countryside. and created a massive wall of Pri- vately owned property between those who live within the inner City and the rural precincts be- yond, a wall even more effec- tive in separating the city from the surrounding countryside than the extensive fortification Of 17th and 18th rope).•• century {;~u_ Todav,s greenwav move_ ` meet is both a A a 31 solution to the suburban d ll. In Charles Little'sbook entitled ti Creenways for America a b'reenwav is defined as "linear, own space established along Oithc=r a natural corridor such as a riverfront, stream valley or Bet _ ,, ,vrurk Conservation Fu Hirth of the jetro and Renaissance and Fund eiiscuss the rYTetra Corridor /Oe Davis Project. Jroln the by Elizabeth Porter and Wink Hastings ridgeline, or overland alon railroad right-of-way g a conveSted to recreational use, a canal, a scenic road or other route.,, Park managers, elected officials and citizens across the United States are working to create gralnwav systems, weaving there into metropolitan areas, connecting the city with the country and reacquainting PFople with their natural envi- ronment. ofa Oft n considered the "lungs $rCenwav systems provide the built environment with open space, areas for natu- ral resource protection, outdoor recreation opportunities, wild_ life migration routes, alternative transportation routes and circu- latory systems for cleaning air and water. A greenway system is Frequently a combination oi" natural and man-made corri- dors that connect the open space Pieces of an entire metropolitan arca. The types of, and Pur- poses for, greenways are so varied that any community can Identify its own OPPOrtunities and crew to a green wa v system tailored to its own needs and resources. Of the many benefits Of a greenway, perhaps none is more important than the ability of a greenway to protect a region's character, fostering a sense of place" so important to a communi tv's residents. Greenway systems are a response to the dilemn-ja pre- sented by WiII Rage when he said "Land, they just don't make it anymore." These linear systems can be created by stitch- ing together abandoned lots and railroad corridors, waterfront