How will the completion of the Naugatuck River Greenway Trail impact the region?
Pathway to Revitalization – Economic Impacts of Phased Completion of the Naugatuck River Greenway explores that question, looking at how the complete buildout of the NRG Trail over time will impact the region’s economy through construction costs, operating expenditures, user amenity benefits, user expenditures, health impacts, as well as potential impacts on population, employment, income, and fiscal impacts. The study concluded that the benefit to the economy will far outweigh the cost associated with trail development.
COMMUNITY SUMMARIES
Impacts were also broken out locally and included in summary pamphlets for each of the communities along the NRG Trail Route:
NVCOG partnered with the Naugatuck River Greenway Steering Committee (NRGSC), the University of Connecticut College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources Department of Extension (Extension) and The Connecticut Center of Economic Analysis (CCEA) at the UConn School of Economics to conduct this study.
The study was generously funded by the Connecticut Community Foundation, The Katherine Matthies Foundation, The Valley Community Foundation, and The Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut with assistance from the Northwest Hills Council of Governments. The study was endorsed by both the Naugatuck River Greenway Steering Committee and the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments Board.