There are environmental, economic, and social benefits to green infrastructure in Lancaster city.

Green infrastructure cleans the water, cleans the air, manages stormwater, reduces energy usage, and restores habitats. Simultaneously, investment in green infrastructure is less costly than gray infrastructure. It increases property values, benefits the local economy and enhances the livability of our city. Living in a greener city has been showed to increase the health and happiness of its inhabitants and reduce crime as well.

The Economic Benefits of Green Infrastructure: A Case Study of Lancaster, PA.  This case study estimates the value of several of the co-benefits of Lancaster’s Green Infrastructure Plan. The case study highlights the importance of including the multiple benefits of green infrastructure in cost-benefit assessments, as well as the importance of adding green infrastructure into planned improvement projects.

The above case study applied the methodology discussed in The Value of Green Infrastructure: A Guide to Recognizing Its Economic, Environmental and Social Benefits (Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and American Rivers, 2010).  The Guide compiles extensive research on the benefits of five green infrastructure practices in eight benefit categories to develop a generalized methodolgy for valuing additional benefits of green infrastructure.