Public Access and Sense of Belonging

The primary measures of success are to create 40 new sites and improve 60 existing sites, including 30 improved sites in communities with limited access opportunities, around Long Island Sound’s shoreline and its connecting waterbodies in Connecticut and New York. Success will also be measured by an increased sense of belonging, based on findings from public perception surveys of Long Island Sound watershed residents and through program evaluations.

The numerical targets for new and improved sites were established by calculating the number of sites created under the 2015 CCMP and those improved in recent years through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant program and slightly increasing those numbers. A site improvement consists of one or more physical or long-term programmatic changes that improves the site’s accessibility for the public, including people with disabilities, families, and communities with limited access opportunities.

The measure for increasing access is based on a recent public perception survey for the Long Island Sound Watershed, which shows that existing coastal access in many communities is inadequate. State and Partnership-supported programs, events, and major festivals that enable safe use and enjoyment of Long Island Sound and its connecting waterbodies can provide indicators of progress in meeting the overall objective.

Status

Check back soon to see how the Partnership is progressing this objective.

Challenges

Providing additional coastal access faces many challenges, one of the most difficult being development along the coast. The coast of Long Island Sound is highly developed and largely private property. Municipalities contend with the complexities of balancing revenue from additional development, maintaining a quiet neighborhood/community feel for residents, preserving lands, providing public access, and ensuring resources are available to maintain preserved and public properties.

Furthermore, as can be visualized with the Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge Viewer (CIRCA), many coastal Long Island Sound access areas are directly threatened by sea level rise. This will likely pose additional access challenges to consider and address.

In addition to physical and environmental barriers, the 2024 Public Perception Survey of Long Island Sound (p. 12) shows that low-income communities, people under 25, and minority groups are less likely to feel welcome at the Sound’s access sites. Key challenges include:

• Historic exclusion from outdoor spaces. While Long Island Sound Stewardship Areas and state and local parks provide access, they have not always been welcoming. Addressing representation through new stewardship opportunities can broaden participation.

• Limited outreach and programming. Targeted communication, education, and youth engagement can inspire the next generation of stewards.

• Safety concerns and unwelcoming spaces. Improvements such as signage, maintenance, and inclusive programming can make sites more inviting.

• Economic barriers. Parking fees and transportation costs reinforce exclusion. Targeting these barriers along with new spaces provides positive growth.

Ensuring sites are socially welcoming as well as physically accessible is critical. Without intentional efforts, public spaces risk perpetuating inequities in who benefits from Long Island Sound’s resources.

Furthermore, the 2024 Public Perceptions Survey (pp. 12–13) found that stronger connections to the Sound correlate with greater stewardship behaviors—volunteering, conservation, and practices that improve water quality and habitats. For example:

• Convenient access matters. Only two-thirds (68 percent) of watershed residents feel they have convenient access to the Sound or other waters, and those with lower incomes were far less likely to report such access.

• Proximity drives caring. Three-quarters (74 percent) said they care most about the waters closest to where they live, and nearly half (47 percent) said strongly that they care (p. 12).

• Connection builds responsibility. Residents able to picture and name local waters (46percent ) were more likely to feel their actions could make a difference for Sound health (p. 13).

Expanding public access is therefore essential: when residents can easily and affordably reach the Sound, they are more likely to feel belonging, enjoy health benefits, and take responsibility for its care. Without access, communities miss out on the benefits of nature, and the environment suffers from reduced stewardship.

Importance

Public access to the shore for all is an important objective for Long Island Sound Partnership’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.

A 2023 needs assessment that was conducted throughout the Long Island Sound Watershed identified many concerns about public access. Many assessment respondents expressed concerns about limited access to outdoor recreation near the Sound. Other barriers to accessing the Sound cited were debris and trash buildup, high costs associated with parking and travel, lack of available public transportation or accessible routes, access being reserved for residents or private landowners in certain areas, and lack of parking. Some communities feel that measures should be taken to increase feelings of safety or belonging in certain outdoor spaces. In some cases, this concern was based on limited access resulting from private land ownership while in other cases it was associated with historic trends to exclude people of color from outdoor spaces. Futhermore, respondents to the 2024 Public Perception Survey of the Long Island Sound echoed similar sentiments. The 2024 survey found that most people feel welcome in spaces near or around the Sound but low-income communities, people younger than 25, and minority groups were notably less likely to feel welcome compared to other groups.

Findings from the 2024 Public Perceptions Survey indicate that individuals who feel a strong personal connection to Long Island Sound are more likely to engage in stewardship behaviors such as volunteering, participating in conservation, and adopting practices that improve water quality, wildlife, habitats, and resilience. This underscores the importance of fostering belonging and connection, since communities that feel welcome at Sound access sites are more likely to help protect and take care of the Sound. Additionally, the value of natural spaces for recreation is only beginning to be understood. Studies have shown that exposure to parks can improve physical and mental health and can provide cost effective health care opportunities (Larson et al., 2022). More specifically, green and blue spaces can positively impact physical and mental health by reducing harmful exposures to air pollution, heat, and noise, promoting psychological restoration and lower stress, and encouraging physical activity and social interactions/connections (Markevych et al., 2017 discusses three pathways linking green space to health).

To truly reap these benefits, people need to feel comfortable and welcome to visit/utilize public access sites. The value that Long Island Sound public spaces provide may be immeasurable.