It is any natural or landscaped course for pedestrian or bicycle passage. Greenways are more accessible than the typical community or neighborhood park. Because greenways are linear, they often are adjacent several communities, therefore there is an increased number of people that may use them. This makes greenways ideal places to bring many people together for recreational activities such as hiking, bicycling, or walking the family dog.
Greenways also make terrific connectors.
They may link to parks, nature reserves, cultural features and historic sites, further increasing the accessibility and use of these facilities by providing landscaped, traffic-free paths for pedestrians and bicyclists. In this way, greenways also help to soften the city hardscape, as well as provide valuable habitat corridors. When the greenway is a part of a stream or river channel, such as the growing LA River Greenway, it may even connect the mountains to the ocean. Greenways can improve the surrounding communities by increasing property values and transforming vacant areas strewn with weeds, trash and other debris into community assets. Although narrow, greenways also may provide communities with space for garden plots, and improve air quality and summertime temperatures by providing additional trees and shade.