RE: Southwest Trail and Our General Well-being
To the Pulaski County Quorum Court: I was so excited to hear about the FLAP grant coming through this spring that all I could do was see the benefits and possibilities. I didn’t even consider that someone might oppose such a wonderful addition to our state’s outdoor recreational roster. Then I took a weekend trip up to Northwest Arkansas to ride the Razorback Greenway and loved it, knowing we in Central Arkansas could do just as much good with our spaces. Alas, some of you think that a couple hundred thousand dollars is too much to spend on making our area more attractive to current residents, potential residents, and tourists. So let’s start with numbers: “ The Outdoor Industry Association released a study in 2012, Outdoor Recreation Economy Report , that shows that outdoor bicycling participants typically spend $71 billion per year on "trip related sales," which is the category that best encompasses bicycle tourism. Overall spending for bicycling part...
