Latest Thing in Urban Greenery

New York City started it all with Central Park back before the Civil War and they changed the way people looked at parks and spawned hundreds of showcase parks around the country.

In NYC one of the newest and most popular parks is called "The Highline".  A stretch of unused elevated rail line converted into a long narrow winding park.   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/12/us/atlanta-beltline.html

The NY Times article says it best:

"The High Line in New York, which turned an elevated stretch of Manhattan rail line into a linear park, is perhaps the best known of the nation’s urban infrastructure makeovers. Chicago’s has also converted an old elevated track into a greenway, christening it the 606. Miami’s Underline is reimagining 10 miles of underused land under its elevated Metrorail system as an art-lined “urban trail.”

NYC's "High Line" Park

Another view of NYC's "High Line" Park

It has spawned several similar parks around the country.  One of the latest is in Atlanta called "The Beltline".  Click on image to enlarge.

Atlanta's BeltLine

From the above NY Times article:
"Private investment along the entire proposed route [of Atlanta's Beltline] has surged to $3 billion. Foundations and private donors have given more than $54 million for paths, parks and other amenities. Home prices have risen in formerly overlooked working-class neighborhoods where the BeltLine is set to expand."

People don't just like parks - they love parks.  And it raises property values and makes people want to move back into cities.