Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2006
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department
Recreation, Parks and Tourism Resources
Committee Chair
Steve Selin.
Abstract
As more communities across the country are developing rail-trails and greenways, relationships among community-based nonprofit organizations and local government entities evolve during trail development. Twenty-three participants from the nonprofit and local government sectors in three West Virginia municipalities were interviewed about their relationships and experience in rail-trail and greenway development. This qualitative analysis employs a grounded theory framework and reveals several practical and theoretical findings. Perceived benefits and costs of trail development reported by participants provided a context for how participants relayed experiences indicative of their political and built environments. Factors that constrain or facilitate relationship building between nonprofit organizations and local government entities, as well as the role of community involvement, leadership, attitudes, and planning principles and processes were categories that emerged to support the importance of individual and organizational level social capital in exploring nonprofit and local government relations in rail-trail and greenway development.
Recommended Citation
Pack, Kelly L., "It takes a town to build a trail: Relationships between nonprofit organizations and local governments in rail-trail and greenway development in three West Virginia communities" (2006). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 2469.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/2469