The Schuylkill River Trail, which is part of the evolving, 3,000-mile-long East Coast Greenway, is now considered to be Philadelphia’s refuge, writes Ashira Morris for the Reasons To Be Cheerful.

But Mid-Atlantic Manager for the East Coast Greenway Alliance Daniel Paschall noted that this was not always the case. When a park along the riverbank was originally envisioned by Schuylkill River Development Corporation, it was isolated both by the highway traffic along with train tracks in addition to already being choked with trash.

The group has organized neighbors to work to solve the issue and has since cooperated with the Alliance to get funding and proceed to connect segments of the path.

“People were yearning for open space,” said Joe Syrnick, who has served as the president and CEO of the Corporation for close to two decades. “Once the trail was under construction, literally the next day people were out running around the bulldozers. It didn’t take long to figure out this was going to be successful.”

The Corporation also coordinates cleaning around the trail and has helped restore habitat along the riverbanks.

Read more about the success of the Schuylkill River Trail in Philadelphia in the Reasons To Be Cheerful.

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In 2021, the Schuylkill River Trail was named third-best riverwalk in the United States.