Check Out Carrie Scarff’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carrie Scarff.

Hi Carrie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a landscape architect and planner for Five Rivers MetroParks, a conservation-based park agency that takes seriously its responsibility to connect people in the Dayton region to nature. We particularly step up to the challenge of connecting people to nature in the area. As a part of this work, I co-led a group of nine partners the development of the Dayton Riverfront Plan in 2018. The plan looks at opportunities to take advantage of the four waterways that converge in downtown Dayton to lift the neighborhoods that surround them, using the dynamic qualities of rivers to increase social, recreational, ecological, and economic vibrancy.

I’ve been focused lately on the Wolf Creek that bisects West Dayton, the largely underserved Black portion of this still segregated city. The potential to leverage this gorgeous creek for the neighborhoods that barely know it’s there—hidden as it is behind walls of honeysuckle—is enormous. Abandoned (and sometimes contaminated) industrial and housing sites offer the opportunity to create a contiguous open space corridor along both sides of the creek. Opening access to the waterway from its confluence with the Great Miami River across from downtown to four miles upstream would offer residents from a dozen low income neighborhoods. Completing the bikeway to the region’s 350+ miles of connected, off-road trail network, the largest in the nation, would offer residents alternative transportation and a great metal and physical wellness asset. Creating parks would offer kids and families the rejuvenation of nature within a five minute drive. The public investment in this urban waterfront would likely return a private investment ten times greater, as it typically does across the country.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Funding for public investment in recreation is always a challenge—not just the up front capital, but even more so, the ongoing operational costs. Perhaps even more challenging, though, is gaining the attention and input of the people we’re truly trying to reach with these improvements. These are lower income neighborhoods, so if a person is working two jobs or has to take three buses to get to a decent grocery store, they don’t have time to come to a public input meeting. So how do we reach them? We’re learning ways, but we need to continue to learn and connect, to develop the authentic relationships that are necessary to work together to build a Wolf Creek corridor that would feel at home to those who live there. The physical, mental and emotional health benefits of spending time in nature for both kids and adults are significant and well established, but not everyone thinks of nature as their go-to. Our job is to make the opportunity an easy fit, and that takes a lot of effort. It’s worth it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As the Chief of Planning for Five Rivers MetroParks, I’m responsible for planning, design, and construction, GIS, and land acquisition and protection. I’ve worked at MetroParks since 1997. I started at the agency when RiverScape was just getting off the ground, and I was MetroParks’ project manager for that project. I think I specialize in finding ways to bring complex projects to fruition. The best way to do that in Dayton is to call in your friends—to partner. This town has incredible collaboration among the government and non-profit agencies that are working to improve the community. Out-of-town consultants consistently tell us how rare that it. It’s a privilege to work with all those dedicated people and watch what they can make happen. I’m proud to contribute to those collaborations.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
For those in public service or trying to better thei community, have a vision, be patient—a bold vision may take decades—and above all, be persistent. Gather partners by selling the vision to them and let them add their contributions. Then just keep going. Change direction as yo need to, but find the path and keep working at it.

Contact Info:

• Website: metroparks.org and daytonriverfrontplan.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/metroparks
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fiveriversmetroparks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FiveRiversMetroParks