Craig and Kathy Della Penna are both experienced bicyclists who have done extensive touring on rail trails and have stayed at numerous bed & breakfasts on those journeys.
Craig is a full-time REALTOR® specializing in antique homes and residential properties near to rail-trails or other greenways. Recently this unique real estate practice was featured in two articles in National Association of Realtors [NAR] trade magazines. It was also recently mentioned in a Boston Globe editorial, an article in the Wall Street Journal and in United Airlines in flight magazine—Hemispheres. He is also one of only a small handful of realtors in the northeast to receive Green designations from both NAR and the U.S. Green Building Council. More at: http://www.craigdp.com
He also has a small consulting firm—Northeast Greenway Solutions—set up to help bring cogent solutions to communities developing rail trails and greenways. Within a 100-mile radius of his house in Northampton, there are over 200 such projects underway. He is involved in over 70 of them. NEGS also produces an html newsletter on real estate and trail development in the region that goes out to over 11,000 advocates, decision-makers in 12 states. http://www.greenwaysolutions.org
He has also set up a land acquisition company—Central Highlands Conservancy, LLC that steps in and buys former railroad corridor in Massachusetts that is in danger of being sold off to adjacent landowners. CHC then sells to a local land trust who will develop the trail as a part of a larger network for CHC’s costs plus expenses. CHC has currently saved 3.2 miles and four large bridges. http://www.chc-llc.org
He is also the author of three books on rail trails and numerous op-ed pieces/guest editorials on the value of smart growth development, rail-trails and residential real estate. In their 10th anniversary issue, THE RIDE MAGAZINE named him as the most effective advocate for bike and rail-to-trail issues on the eastern seaboard. He has given almost 1,000 lectures on these subjects in 18 states and Canadian provinces and the past 18 months, he has spoken at major conferences in Virginia, New York and California on these topics.
Kathy is a dedicated walker who is out on our trail both morning and night. She works for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Review Examiner. She is also the chief weeder and maintainer of our gardens, the colorist and decorator of our old fixer-upper house and the one who makes it all possible.
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