{"id":741892,"date":"2025-04-01T19:59:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T02:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcnews&p=741892"},"modified":"2025-04-01T16:50:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T23:50:50","slug":"modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative","status":"publish","type":"arcnews","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative","title":{"rendered":"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative"},"author":5752,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[425582,422802,981],"tags":[475192,347272,472171,172862,1511],"arcnews_issues":[491792],"class_list":["post-741892","arcnews","type-arcnews","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arcgis-experience-builder","category-conservation","category-green-infrastructure","tag-arcgis-instant-apps","tag-arcgis-storymaps","tag-arcgis-survey123","tag-community-engagement","tag-revitalization","arcnews_issues-spring-2025","arcnews_sections-your-work"],"acf":{"short_description":"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"From the 1800s to the first half of the 20th century, passenger and freight trains along the New York, Ontario, and Western Railway (O&W) served as a great regional connector, linking New York\u2019s Hudson Valley cities of Port Jervis and Kingston and countless communities along the way. Originally established as an industrial route to transport coal, this line traversed the region\u2019s open fields, dense woods, and mountainous terrain, bringing people and goods to areas including the region\u2019s famous Catskills resorts before it was discontinued in the late 1950s."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":741902,"image_position":"right","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal\u2014spanning 108 miles, much of it alongside the O&W line\u2014was hand-dug by workers in the 1820s to ship coal from Pennsylvania to markets along the Hudson River and in New York City. The D&H Canal was decommissioned when the O&W line was constructed, and as transportation infrastructure in the United States evolved toward more efficient railroads and trucking, the O&W rail line was also decommissioned. It ultimately fell into disrepair, leaving a fragmented footprint through the heart of the western Hudson Valley.\r\n\r\nIn recent years, however, the Open Space Institute (OSI), a national conservation nonprofit organization, and its partners have breathed new life into the lands that were once crossed by the O&W and the D&H Canal. OSI\u2019s Growing Greenways plan aims to create, revitalize, and link over 250 miles of greenways, trails, and abandoned rail lines to form an interconnected network of public-use, off-road recreational trails. This trail system will connect cities and people, conserve local landscapes, and create new access to green space. The former O&W and D&H corridor, which extends through three counties and dozens of towns, will serve as the backbone of the entire Growing Greenways network.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis is an exciting project for OSI and for the entire region. We heard from the majority of people that trails are something that the community really wants to have,\u201d said Annie Bergelin, design and capital projects manager at OSI. \u201cBut for this project to succeed and truly benefit the region, it was critical to engage the community from the beginning and allow their input to inform the process.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":741912,"image_position":"left","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"About half of the corridor is already in recreational use, but there are gaps spanning many municipalities. With a desire to involve local residents and groups in the planning process, OSI knew they could not solely rely on traditional methods of community engagement such as distributing flyers, hosting open houses, and attending events like fairs and festivals.\r\n\r\nInstead, OSI used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts to connect with as many people as possible. Staff at the organization created maps and surveys to coordinate with residents, local communities, businesses, government agencies, and environmental experts across the Hudson Valley."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Using GIS to Modernize Community Engagement Efforts<\/h2>\r\n\u201cAt the start of this [project], we knew there was going to be a public survey, we knew there would be direct community input on the routing alternatives, and all of it would need to be put on a map,\u201d said Julia Feller, senior GIS associate at OSI. \u201cWe wanted something easy to build, maintain, and update.\u201d\r\n\r\nWith Esri partner Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. (GPI), an engineering consulting firm, OSI staff initiated a feasibility study, known as the O&W Rail Trail Corridor Study. Their aim was to fully involve local communities in developing a plan for the entire trail corridor, including ways to improve existing trail conditions, site access routes and trailheads, and connect to amenities like restaurants, museums, farmer\u2019s markets, and historical locations.\r\n\r\nOSI\u2019s GIS staff started with ArcGIS Experience Builder\u2014a no-code, customizable app builder\u2014to create a website featuring details about open houses and community events, frequently asked questions, information about the trails, and project resources. The site also contains interactive maps that show historical trail conditions and encourage public input."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":741922,"image_position":"right","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cExperience Builder was a central part of this project,\u201d said Feller. \u201cWe wanted something simple and user-friendly for people accessing this at home or on their phone.\u201d\r\n\r\nAs the project progressed, OSI and GPI staff developed trail routing alternatives as shapefiles, which the OSI team then integrated into ArcGIS Instant Apps. This intuitive mapping app\u2014which has easy-to-use templates and configuration options for web app development\u2014makes it easier for audiences to engage with interactive maps and data and provide input by reading about trail alternatives and entering a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe have something that is living and breathing,\u201d continued Feller. \u201cWe were able to split [the map] up by where people live, because people know their own neighborhood and are able to provide feedback on their own community.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Mapping Apps Will Help Shape a Connected Trail System<\/h2>\r\nThe first phase of the community engagement process used ArcGIS Survey123 to build and circulate a survey regarding the trail corridor. During OSI\u2019s community survey, the app let residents and other stakeholders answer questions about how they use the current trail system and what they would like to see from a potential connected trail.\r\n\r\n\u201cOur team members were able to go in and look at the survey results as they came in,\u201d said Feller. \u201cWe also translated the whole survey into Spanish using the beta translation feature, which saved a lot of time and made the survey accessible to a wider range of people.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe OSI team found success in leveraging GIS to modernize its approach to community engagement. The online survey was live for three months during summer 2024 and was completed by more than 1,100 respondents. Happily, OSI learned that more than 98 percent of survey takers supported the O&W trail revitalization."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":741942,"image_position":"left","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"OSI knows that the trail build-out won\u2019t happen quickly; a greenway corridor conversion is a multiyear project. But with GIS, staff have the tools in place to gather input and provide updates to the community.\r\n\r\n\u201cExperience Builder allows us to gather, maintain, and share data\u2014both spatial and nonspatial\u2014in a single, easily accessible online space,\u201d said Neil Jordan, director of geospatial strategy at OSI. \u201cWe\u2019ve found this to be an effective tool for efficiently communicating a significant amount of information, both internally and externally.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn the future, OSI staff plan to use GIS to support their efforts in maintaining a strong network of community leaders along the O&W corridor and to generate donations for greenway projects. Feller emphasized the value of the organization\u2019s new website as a powerful tool for building engagement and educating people about the work they are doing.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe will continue to share the website in our communities so that people can see active projects and stay up to date as the Growing Greenways initiative progresses,\u201d she said."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Center","content":"For more information on OSI\u2019s Growing Greenways plan, read the \u201cGrowing Greenways: Connecting the Western Hudson Valley<\/a>\u201d ArcGIS StoryMaps story.","snippet":""}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nModern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative | Spring 2025 | ArcNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative | Spring 2025 | ArcNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/arcnews-banner-moderngis-wide.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative | Spring 2025 | ArcNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/arcnews-banner-moderngis-wide.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative\",\n\t \"name\": \"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative | Spring 2025 | ArcNews\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2025-04-02T02:59:31+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"ArcNews Articles\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/41c803b2ea8734c36f9c4e9586d1449d\",\n\t \"name\": \"Amy Ambard\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f356480172f8ad0bc8d72b855e84171c52f1944c7c7779f3e425d73bf3efa3c7?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f356480172f8ad0bc8d72b855e84171c52f1944c7c7779f3e425d73bf3efa3c7?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Amy Ambard\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative | Spring 2025 | ArcNews","description":"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative | Spring 2025 | ArcNews","og_description":"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/arcnews-banner-moderngis-wide.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative | Spring 2025 | ArcNews","twitter_description":"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/arcnews-banner-moderngis-wide.jpg","twitter_site":"@Esri","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative","name":"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative | Spring 2025 | ArcNews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-02T02:59:31+00:00","description":"The Open Space Institute used ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Instant Apps, and ArcGIS Survey123 to modernize its outreach efforts.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/modern-gis-apps-let-public-engage-in-planning-major-greenway-initiative#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ArcNews Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Modern GIS Apps Let Public Engage in Planning Major Greenway Initiative"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/41c803b2ea8734c36f9c4e9586d1449d","name":"Amy Ambard","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f356480172f8ad0bc8d72b855e84171c52f1944c7c7779f3e425d73bf3efa3c7?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f356480172f8ad0bc8d72b855e84171c52f1944c7c7779f3e425d73bf3efa3c7?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Amy Ambard"},"url":""}]}},"sort_order":"9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcnews\/741892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcnews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/arcnews"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcnews\/741892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741892"},{"taxonomy":"arcnews_issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcnews_issues?post=741892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}