And so I was delighted to read recently that the Goulburn Mulwaree and Upper Lachlan Shire councils are exploring the feasibility of converting a disused rail corridor between Goulburn and Crookwell into a public asset for recreation, exercise, transportation and tourism.

Rail-trails are a proposition I have learned much about over the past few years. After getting into journalism at the Crookwell Gazette, Goulburn Post and Braidwood Times, I now work in media and communications for a large rail-trail nonprofit in the United States, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

In the mid-1980s there were just a handful of rail-trails in America. Today there are more than 1,800 totaling 21,000 miles across all 50 states.

Though many of the early rail-trails were in rural expanses connecting infrequent towns, today they also run through the middle of the busiest cities in the world, including New York, Chicago, D.C. and Boston. They carry millions of commuters, joggers, walkers and rollers of all kinds every year.

Outside of the cities, destination rail-trails are now recognised as powerful tourism assets and economic engines. Users of the Great Allegheny Passage in Pennsylvania spend an estimated $40 million a year, all of it supporting the handful of small towns along the way. These are communities that, until the creation of the trail, were suffering a steady and prolonged economic and population decline after the withdrawal of steel and manufacturing industries, and the railroads that serviced them.

In rural Appalachia, the Virginia Creeper Trail is worth $25 million in direct spending a year, much of it on lodging and food from local businesses. And in Dunedin, Florida, the downtown business occupancy rate increased from 30 percent to 95 percent following the establishment of the nearby Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail.

The other pronounced economic impact of trails we have seen is on property values. The National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Realtors found that trails were the second most-desired amenity for potential new homebuyers. Homes near trails consistently sell for better values than homes without nearby trails. Research by the University of Cincinnati in 2013 found that homebuyers were willing to pay a premium of $9,000 to be within 1,000 feet of the nearby Little Miami Scenic Trail.

And despite usual opposition to trail projects based on fears of increased crime, vandalism, or impact on property, in our 25 years of study we are yet to hear of a trail having a negative impact on a community’s economy, safety or quality of life. It just doesn’t happen, and more often than not opponents soon become champions when the benefits they doubted become real and tangible.

But let’s be realistic. The kind of traffic, activity, business development and economic impact mentioned above is a long way off for a Goulburn to Crookwell rail-trail.

However, even the most modest of rail-trails have been successful in increasing business activity in the communities they connect to. Over the past four years I have visited many main streets of similar sizes to both Crookwell and Goulburn. There, owners would tell me that the scale of their business was such that even a boost of a dozen extra hamburgers, or four extra lodgers, or just a handful of additional visitors in their store each weekend made a noticeable impact to their bottom line.

Often that impact made it possible to hire another local kid to work weekends, give the place a coat of paint, or keep the store open during quieter months.

Here’s what I also heard: “This business opportunity made it possible for me and my family to stay here.” “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the business we get off the trail.”

That’s where the rubber meets the road for small towns – creating economic opportunities sufficient to keep families from having to chase jobs elsewhere. It might only be a small bike mechanic shop, or converting your back room into a bed and breakfast, or a catering service to trail tourists, but the cumulative effect of even a small uptick in human traffic is more opportunities for local entrepreneurs and more opportunities to make a living in the place you grew up in, the place you love.

All of this talk about economics and tourism of course ignores the fact that a flat, well-surfaced trail for walking, biking or jogging will be a great community asset for the people that live here, particularly those who are looking for a simple, convenient and free way to be active and be healthy.

As physical inactivity and obesity become increasing health problems in Australian communities – unfortunately following the terrible lead of the United States – we consistently see that towns with rail-trails like the one proposed here are healthier, happier (regular walking is proven to combat depression and other mental ailments), and spend less on costly, reactive health care.

The rail-trail project will certainly have its critics and detractors. Citizens who care strongly about what’s happening in their community, and how their state and local tax dollars are spent, are justified in questioning whether the cost of a study, or land purchase or trail construction, is a good investment.

What I can tell you is that many towns just like Crookwell, and many cities just like Goulburn, have pondered these same questions over the past 25 years and found that repurposing disused rail corridors into a place of public activity, tourism and recreation soon repays its cost many times over.

I hope residents and businesspeople support their local councils’ diligent study of the benefits inherent in a Goulburn-Crookwell rail-trail, and keep an earnest eye open to the opportunities it may create. For this former local, it would make the dream of returning to my home town all the more possible.

Jake Lynch is a former Rural Press journalist now working for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Washington, D.C.