Student Corner: Durham’s Blueprint for Equitable Community Engagement

<p>What started as community push-back on Durham’s proposed rails-to-trails development has turned into a model for standardizing equitable and inclusive engagement. Here’s how community concern about the Durham Belt Line resulted in a shift in culture development and the creation of Durham’s Equitable Community Engagement Plan.</p> <p>Background on the Durham Belt Line Project</p> <p>Originally built in 1892 to support the American Tobacco factory, the Durham Belt Line was purchased and used by railway company Norfolk Southern from 1900 until the late 1990s. Since then, the rail spur has sat idle until The Conservation Fund and the City of Durham acquired it in 2017 with plans to convert it into a 1.7-mile linear park in the model of New York City’s High Line, Atlanta’s BeltLine, and the Downtown Greenway in Greensboro, NC.</p> <p></p> <p>The Durham Belt Line sits on 18 acres that starts on Chapel Hill Street on the edge of City Center and runs north through the West Village District and east through Old North Durham to Avondale Road. The greenway would connect with the South Ellerbe Creek stormwater restoration project already under construction as well as the American Tobacco trail to the south of downtown. (Source: DURHAM HERALD-SUN and the City of Durham)</p> <p>Community Concerns about Equity and the Belt Line Project</p> <p>Durham leaders conceived of the Belt Line project as an opportunity to increase access to green space and the range of transportation options for nearby residents. Stewart Engineering, the lead firm for the Belt Line Master Plan, estimated that the number of households in these neighborhoods with access to open [...]</p>