The story of citizens' action in the creation and development of an urban nature park and regional commuter trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Local officials are making investment decisions to enhance the quality of life in their communities and to improve economic development conditions. These new programs are not municipal give-aways, or, as some call them, corporate welfare programs, but efforts to invest wisely in downtown areas and neighborhoods with the goal of revitalizing them, with the hope that business and commerce will follow. This work presents case studies from Atlanta, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Berkeley, Boulder, Cambridge, Charleston, Chattanooga, Chesterfield County, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, DuPont, Grand Forks, Hampton, Hartford, Hayward, Houston, Kansas City, Lake Worth, Little Rock, Madison, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Bedford, Newark, Oakland, Orlando, Petuluma, Portland, Saint Paul, Santa Monica, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. The case study topics include streetscapes, public plazas, museums, libraries, cultural parks, walkways and greenways, major infrastructure improvements, transit and transportation enhancements and other works.