Placemaking Week 2024

When complete, the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network will feature 35 miles of multi-use trails that connect 75 city neighborhoods to one another and to parks and green spaces, job centers, and other anchor institutions such as libraries and schools. Trails can serve as powerful catalysts for placemaking, because they help tell community stories and history by inviting trail users to notice and engage with one another and with their neighborhoods as they travel the trail network on foot, in a wheelchair or on bicycle.  In this session, participants will join staff and partners of RTC to learn how to harness the power of trails to engage local neighborhoods in creating, adapting and activating their community’s public spaces. This session also will address top challenges in trail development, from creating a project vision and building a coalition, to engaging the community and ensuring that equity is centered throughout the trail development process. Drawing from experience within the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network Coalition, RTC and partners will highlight strategies for unlocking the power of trails to connect people with public spaces, community history and culture, and one another.