Pathway to Prosperity: Missouri's Katy Trail Is a Beautiful Model for Commerce | Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

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Now in its 26th year, Missouri’s Katy Trail supports small businesses across the state and serves as a model for other rail-trail projects nationwide.

Missouri’s nickname—the “Show Me State”—reflects its residents’ prudent tendency to question unsubstantiated claims, so when early proponents of the Katy Trail began advocating for its creation in the mid-1980s, it was only natural that their assertions of increased tourism and economic prosperity met with a few skeptics. However, the trail has proved its worth several times over in the quarter-century since it opened, and it now supports more than 400,000 recreational users each year as well as dozens of communities and hundreds of small businesses statewide.

The path to prosperity hasn’t been without its bumps, and ongoing challenges demonstrate the continuing need for oversight and advocacy. Still, the 237.7-mile Katy Trail shines as one of the most robust rail-trail projects in America. In September 2007, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) inducted it into the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame, the second of only 30 trails nationwide to receive this honor.

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Pathway to Prosperity: Missouri's Katy Trail Is a Beautiful Model for Commerce | Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

MoBikeFed comment: The Missouri State Parks Economic Impact report, showing over $18 million annual economic impact from the Katy Trail, here:

http://mobikefed.org/2013/03/katy-trail-186-million-annual-economic-impa...