Emporium Borough Trail Feasibility
The purpose of this project was to conduct a feasibility study for the establishment of two (2) downtown trails located in Emporium Borough, Cameron County, Pennsylvania. The feasibility study considers the potential benefits of trail development including promotion of recreation, tourism, and environmental and historical education; as well as the potentially adverse effects of trail development such as environmental constraints, financial feasibility, and public willingness.
The resulting feasibility study compiles this data, weighs all impacts, and provides a summarized recommendation for future trail development.
Based upon the downtown nature of the project and the network of both existing and proposed trails surrounding the area, a key component of the study was the analysis of Emporium as a Trail Town. Specific to this task, was the research and analysis of a viable service area. From this area, census data and consumer spending data was compiled and compared to established Trail Towns to determine the overall feasibility of reinvigorating Emporium and transforming the community into a successful Trail Town.
This study provides a roadmap for developing the Emporium Levee and Main Street trails, as well as initiating general downtown revitalization efforts within the Borough. Local support is vital to the successful development of all outlined recommendations; therefore public input was used to vet all recommendations and serves as a backbone to this study.