Real Estate developers take note of the major economic impact of trails planned for Jackson County | Independence Examiner

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Audrey Elder, a real estate agent and local history advocate who founded Past to Present Research in Independence, said bike trails are “prime and perfect for small business.” The average rider on the Katy Trail, for instance, spends almost $57 a day and a well-used trail in Wisconsin is adding $30,000 per mile per year to local economies, her research shows. She also points to research suggesting that property values rise noticeably and in direct relationship to the distance from a trail. . . .

Developers are taking note, too. The Paragon Star project in Lee’s Summit will lie at the northeast corner of Interstate 470 and View High Drive – right where the Little Blue Trace Trail and the county’s new trail from the stadiums would converge. That would be an idea place for a trailhead, and Paragon CEO Flip Short cited the same $57-a-day figure that Elder mentioned.

“The economic impact is huge,” he said.

Link: 

Real Estate developers take note of the major economic impact of trails planned for Jackson County | Independence Examiner