Linear parks are the ultimate in land re-use--they connect communities, employ existing infrastructure, and improve the environmental sustainability of the area around them. So it is no wonder that they are starting to appear everywhere. They're easy to install and maintain, and most of the time they instantly transform the communities they run through. After all, one year you have a rail line as your neighbor, and the next a park. Which would you choose?

The latest is the Farmington Canal Greenway, designed by Balmori Associates. The park rests on nine miles of an old rail line and connects New Haven with Hamden. It is part of a much larger system called the Farmington Canal Trail, an 84-mile long bike/walk path. The park easily winds between forest and urban environments, incorporating local plant species along with it, and that makes it Character Approved.

[Image: The Architect's Newspaper