Simply put, a greenway is a corridor of land or open space.
Greenways are often natural areas that conserve wildlife,
but they can also be places that provide recreational opportunities,
such as parks or biking trails. A prime example of a greenway
is the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Georgia to Maine.
However, not all greenways are vast, open trails. Greenways
can also be a city’s interconnected system of parks.
Greenways provide accessibility so that each and every
person can have the opportunity for recreation, or to view wildlife.
Greenways also make communities livable and improve
the quality of life.
“Linkage is the central theme and goal of the greenway
concept - to reconnect and preserve natural land and water
habitats…” - Keith Hay, Greenways and Biodiversity,
Landscape Linkages and Biodiversity, 1991
“The dream is to spiderweb this entire nation with
so many green threads, principally along streams and ridges,
that every citizen would be only minutes away from one.”
- Noel Grover, Land & People, 1994
In fact, in one of the country’s most unlikely
places, New York City, a complex, interconnected system
of greenways exists, thanks to the vision of the city’s
most prominent landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted.
His vision of greenways created an integrated system
of parks ranging from lower Manhattan all the way to
If Greenways are possible in the most urban city in
America, shouldn’t they be possible in New Jersey?
“Greenways allow us to treat land and water as a
system, as interlocking pieces in a puzzle, not as isolated
entities.” - Ed McMahon, Director, American Greenways
We encourage all those involved in conserving open space,
farmland, and historical sites in New Jersey to consider the
possibilities with Garden State Greenways.