Michael Marsicano makes the case for the Carolina Thread Trail, a cross-state network of greenways connecting multiple counties. Communities with trails, clean water, and tree canopies will have economic advantages as people move toward more livable places. He credits volunteer Ruth Shaw and executive Dave Cable for driving the project forward.
In a world of screens all around us, we are living with pictures of the great outdoors rather than experiencing our natural environment. The Carolina Thread Trail is designed to enable easy access to an environmental amenity from wherever you live in the region. In Ruth Shaw as our volunteer champion, we could not have picked a more passionate an articulate spokesperson. And in Dave Cable, we could not have had a more competent executive. It doesn't take a crystal ball to tell you that communities with environmental amenities will have a distinct economic advantage. Cities with open spaces, clean water, tree canopies, clean air, parks, greenways, and trails will be the cities Americans are going to flock to. in the future. We were very deliberate in naming the system of greenways and trails the Carolina Thread Trail, a thread that would weave 2 states together, connect multiple counties, enable citizens and their families the opportunity to meet one another and socialize as they walk the greenways. Everybody knows that I'm an arts guy. I love the arts because I'm passionate about The beauty of art, how it uplifts us. But art is man-made. Our natural environment is equally as beautiful. It is equally as inspiring. But we are losing it. The Carolina Thread Trail is enabling us to preserve that natural beauty, which is every bit as important as the arts.
