Methodology

Visual comparison · no combined score

Visitor-Service Gaps & Opportunities

What it compares. This Measure places the separate OpenStreetMap Visitor Readiness profile and the WVDED/ZoomProspector/Data Axle Business Capacity profile side by side. It does not blend them into one score.

How it is calculated. In the Service-Gap Matrix, six practical-service categories receive equal weight: food and drink, resupply, lodging and camping, water and restrooms, fuel and charging, and visitor/trail support. A nearest mapped candidate within one straight-line mile receives 100 points, over one through five miles receives 50, and none mapped within five miles receives zero. Their arithmetic mean is the access score, ranked across all 11 Focus Town point-radius profiles. A potential multi-category service-gap flag appears only when at least three categories have no mapped candidate within five miles, and it always requires local validation.

The Business-Capacity Comparison keeps business records, represented employees, and sales/revenue represented as three separate metrics. Each has its own competition rank and midrank percentile among the 10 comparable official Focus Town places or census-designated places. Jenningston’s full Tract 9653 values remain visible but are unranked because tract totals are not comparable with place totals. The Opportunity Matrix uses readiness on the horizontal axis with a split at 75 and the selected capacity percentile on the vertical axis with a split at 50; employees are the default capacity metric.

How to interpret it. The matrix identifies questions for service improvement, capacity development, foundational demand review, or established-service-center follow-up. It does not prove demand, business viability, investment merit, or a service desert. OpenStreetMap absence is not proof that a service does not exist, and Data Axle aggregates are not a complete or audited account of local employment or revenue.

Descriptive profile · no score or rank

Visitor Readiness

What it measures. Visitor Readiness describes mapped practical services around each Focus Town using an OpenStreetMap candidate snapshot dated June 21, 2026.

How it is calculated. For each of the six service categories, the profile reports the number of mapped candidates within five straight-line miles, the nearest mapped distance, and one mutually exclusive band: within one mile, over one through five miles, or none mapped within five miles. Distances are measured in EPSG:5070 from one interior representative point for each 2024 Census TIGER/Line place or CDP boundary. Jenningston uses its verified USGS GNIS point because it has no official place boundary. One mapped feature can qualify for more than one category, so category counts should not be summed as unique businesses.

How to interpret it. This is a proximity and mapping-coverage profile, not routing, travel time, accessibility, business size, operating status, seasonality, hours, quality, or a complete inventory. No readiness score, percentile, tier, benchmark, or rank is calculated in this Measure.

Descriptive profile · no score or rank

Visitor-Service Business Capacity

What it measures. This profile presents direct, geography-level aggregates supplied through the West Virginia Division of Economic Development’s ZoomProspector/Data Axle business data.

How it is calculated. The source was retrieved June 8, 2026 and aggregated June 10 using 2024 Census TIGER/Line geographies. For each approved place/CDP or the full Jenningston Tract 9653 proxy, the profile shows business records, represented employees, sales/revenue represented, and the number of source records contributing values. It shows All industries plus four mutually exclusive rows: Retail Trade; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation; Accommodation and Food Services; and All Other Sectors. The four rows reconcile to the all-industry record count. Available provider-approved aggregates are displayed without a contributor-count or field-coverage threshold. If businesses exist but a metric has no source value, the result is unavailable rather than zero.

How to interpret it. These are broad operating-scale aggregates for the selected Census geography, not the five-mile Visitor Readiness radius and not a visitor-only economy. The underlying provider record vintage and detailed employee and sales/revenue field definitions are undocumented. No named-business data, point records, capacity composite, percentile, tier, benchmark, or rank is calculated in this profile.

Scored index · nine required components

Trail Town Story Signals

What it measures. Trail Town Story Signals sequences Focus Town profiles for storytelling and investigation using a reviewed town-level adaptation of Max Wallmus’s nine-component method.

How it is calculated. Ten official Focus Town place/CDP records define the minimum and maximum for each positively directed component. Each raw value is min-max normalized from 0 to 100 and multiplied by its fixed weight: mapped trail access points within five miles (15%); trail miles inside the official place (15%); mapped lodging/camping candidates within five miles (15%); mapped food/drink candidates within five miles (15%); Connectivity Readiness (10%); mapped parking access points within five miles (10%); percent difference between non-overlapping 2015–2019 and 2020–2024 ACS population estimates (10%); current under-18 population share (5%); and reviewed public-land acres (5%). All nine inputs are required and missing weight is not redistributed. Nine official-town records receive a score and rank. Cass is incomplete, and Jenningston’s tract proxy is excluded from every normalization bound, score, story signal, tier, and rank.

How to interpret it. Mapped candidates are not verified establishments or lodging rooms; the ACS comparison is two five-year estimates rather than an annual population trend; mapped parking points do not measure parking capacity; and public-land acreage is an assigned rollup, not acreage clipped to the town. The five-axis radar is a separate profile display and does not enter the score. Facility-reported Known Visitors appears only as radar context where available. This Measure is not a funding, investment, feasibility, need, demand, or service-desert score.

Scored index · availability-first

Community Need

What it measures. Community Need is a comparative screen for household, labor, mobility, and internet-adoption pressures.

How it is calculated. Five 2020–2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates receive equal weight: poverty rate, unemployment rate, median household income, households with no vehicle available, and households with no internet access. Each available value is positioned within the statewide official West Virginia place/CDP distribution. Higher poverty, unemployment, no-vehicle, and no-internet shares increase the component score; lower median income increases it. The index averages every available component and requires at least one. ACS 90% margins of error and reliability classifications remain visible but do not exclude a reported estimate under this Measure’s availability-first rule.

Geography and coverage. Jenningston’s full Tract 9653 proxy can be evaluated against the place/CDP benchmark but does not enter the benchmark population. Ten Focus records currently score with all five components; Cass has no usable component and remains unavailable.

How to interpret it. A higher score means higher measured need, not better performance and not a diagnosis of why a condition exists. The ACS no-internet measure describes household adoption, not broadband availability.

Scored index · 60% component coverage required

Access and Service Gap

What it measures. This Measure screens for trail-relevant places where local mobility constraints and mapped access services may be comparatively thin.

How it is calculated. Four public-source components receive equal weight: shorter distance from the town boundary to the trail; higher ACS 2020–2024 share of households with no vehicle available; lower OpenStreetMap access-service candidate count within five miles; and lower OpenStreetMap water/restroom candidate count within five miles. The two OSM counts use ln(1 + count) before percentile-style scoring so a few very large counts do not dominate. Data Axle is not used. At least 60% of the four components must be eligible. The ACS no-vehicle component is eligible only when its estimate is standard or caution reliability and its 90% confidence interval excludes zero.

How to interpret it. A higher value means a stronger potential access/service-gap or follow-up signal. It is not a deficiency finding or a categorical service-desert designation. Proximity is straight-line planning context, and incomplete OSM mapping can create an apparent gap that requires local verification.

Scored index · source-specific benchmarks

Connectivity Readiness

What it measures. Connectivity Readiness combines household internet-adoption context with observed fixed and mobile Speedtest performance.

How it is calculated. Six components receive equal weight when available: ACS 2020–2024 broadband-subscription share; the inverse of ACS households with no internet access; 2025 Ookla fixed download speed; the inverse of fixed latency; 2025 mobile download speed; and the inverse of mobile latency. Each component uses its own official place/CDP comparison distribution. The score averages all available components and requires at least one. Every available town-level Ookla observation enters the score; fewer than 50 observed tests sets a visible low-volume warning but does not exclude the value. All 11 Focus Towns currently receive a score, with partial coverage shown where applicable.

What does not enter the score. The map layer titled “Latest observed Speedtest performance by tile, 2019 Q1–2026 Q1” is separate display-only context. Modeled cellular coverage, households with no computer, and satellite-internet subscription share are also contextual and never enter this score.

How to interpret it. Ookla summarizes where tests were observed, not universal broadband availability, advertised service, provider coverage, or guaranteed performance. ACS measures household subscription/adoption, not the presence of a network.

Scored index · trail and nature context

Recreation and Stewardship Opportunity

What it measures. This Measure describes relative trail relationship, mapped recreation assets, and public citizen-science activity.

How it is calculated. Five components receive equal weight: shorter distance from the town boundary to the trail; more trail miles inside the official place boundary; more mapped OpenStreetMap recreation/nature candidates within five miles; more iNaturalist observers; and more iNaturalist species represented in public observations. OSM and iNaturalist counts use ln(1 + count) before percentile-style scoring. At least 60% of components must be eligible. The iNaturalist summary covers observations dated January 1, 2019 through June 20, 2026.

What does not enter the score. Public-land, easement, amenity, private-recreation, and facility-reported visitor rollups may appear as related context, but they do not enter this Measure.

How to interpret it. A higher score means more mapped recreation/nature endowment, direct trail relationship, or observation activity in the source data. iNaturalist activity is not true species abundance or a habitat inventory. Mapped assets do not establish condition, quality, access, ownership, capacity, or economic effect.

Scored index · contributor scorecard

Recreation Opportunity

What it measures. Recreation Opportunity is the commercial-recreation-base companion to the trail/nature Measure above. It screens where mapped recreation assets, outfitter presence, and existing business density may support discussion of visitor activity.

How it is calculated. The source point score adds two points for each nearby mapped recreation asset, two points when at least one in-corridor outfitter is present, and zero to three points for the source business-density tier. The dashboard converts the raw point total to a 0–100 min-max scale using the 27 scored communities in the contributor scorecard. Ten current Focus Towns have source scorecard rows; Jenningston remains unavailable rather than receiving an invented value.

How to interpret it. A higher score means more of the specific mapped/source-package conditions above. It is a provisional comparative discussion score, not a funding formula, business-readiness certification, demand estimate, market study, or proof that an asset is operating or accessible.

Scored index · higher means more pressure

Capacity Pressure

What it measures. Capacity Pressure is a watch-list signal for infrastructure and environmental questions that may need review before tourism growth is treated as easy opportunity.

How it is calculated. The source point score adds two points when three or more identified water systems serve fewer than 100 people; two points when no municipal community water system is identified; one point when total business count is below 10; and two points when town geometry intersects mapped karst. The dashboard converts the raw point total to a 0–100 min-max scale across the 27 scored source communities. Ten current Focus Towns have source scorecard rows; Jenningston is unavailable.

How to interpret it. A higher score means more pressure or watch-list conditions, not better performance. The score does not establish water capacity, water quality, infrastructure failure, development unsuitability, geotechnical risk, or a causal constraint. Water-system assumptions, business counts, and karst mapping require local and technical review.

Scored index · ACS residence one year ago

Recent Mobility Transition

What it measures. This Measure estimates the share of residents age one and older who lived in a different house one year earlier.

How it is calculated. From ACS 2020–2024 table B07003, the numerator sums people who moved within the same county, from another West Virginia county, from another state, or from abroad: (B07003_007 + B07003_010 + B07003_013 + B07003_016) / B07003_001 × 100. The 90% margin of error is propagated from the source estimates. The 0–100 score is a percentile-style position among 385 West Virginia places/CDPs with a valid reported percentage and an age-one-or-older denominator of at least 100. Every valid Focus value is scored even when its reliability flag is caution or high uncertainty. Ten Focus records score; Cass has no valid denominator.

How to interpret it. A higher score means a larger one-year mobility share. It does not show net population growth, where all movers went, why they moved, whether movement was positive or negative, or whether the trail influenced it.

Scored index · ACS residence one year ago

Outside-County Arrival Signal

What it measures. This Measure estimates the share of residents age one and older who arrived from outside the current county during the prior year.

How it is calculated. From ACS 2020–2024 table B07003, the numerator sums people who moved from another West Virginia county, another state, or abroad: (B07003_010 + B07003_013 + B07003_016) / B07003_001 × 100. The 90% margin of error is propagated. The 0–100 score is a percentile-style position in the same 385-place/CDP benchmark used for the mobility measures. Every valid Focus value is scored regardless of reliability class; the uncertainty remains visible. Ten Focus records score, and Cass is unavailable because its denominator is invalid.

How to interpret it. A higher score means a larger estimated outside-county arrival share. This is not town-level net migration: ACS residence-one-year-ago data does not count departures or produce a complete origin-destination flow table. County IRS migration flows shown nearby are separate county context and are not allocated to towns.

Scored index · ACS residence one year ago

Residential Stability

What it measures. Residential Stability is the inverse companion to Recent Mobility Transition: it estimates the share of residents age one and older who lived in the same house one year earlier.

How it is calculated. The ACS 2020–2024 formula is B07003_004 / B07003_001 × 100, with a propagated 90% margin of error. The 0–100 score is a percentile-style position among the same 385 West Virginia places/CDPs with valid data and an age-one-or-older denominator of at least 100. Available Focus values are scored regardless of reliability class. Ten Focus records score; Cass is unavailable.

How to interpret it. A higher score means a larger same-house share. It may reflect stability or low churn, but it can also coexist with limited recent movement or other constraints. It is not automatically stronger readiness, population retention, housing quality, or economic success.

Scored index · public-source capacity context

Visitor Economy Capacity Context

What it measures. This Measure compares current mapped establishment intensity, service-category breadth, broad workplace-job intensity, and available county employment specialization. It is separate from both the OSM Visitor Readiness profile and the licensed Data Axle Business Capacity profile.

How it is calculated. Four eligible components receive equal weight as midrank percentiles: classified OSM establishments per 1,000 residents; the percentage of six visitor-service categories represented; 2023 LODES JT02 broad visitor-sector workplace jobs per 1,000 residents; and final 2024 QCEW county private-employment share in the same broad sectors. OSM components require at least five distinct mapped establishments. Town-grain components use a project small-place peer group of official West Virginia places/CDPs with 2020 Decennial population from 100 through 5,000. The QCEW component compares counties only where all selected sectors are disclosed. At least three of four components are required, and the score averages the eligible components. Eight of 11 Focus records currently score. Jenningston’s tract proxy can be evaluated but does not enter the official-place peer distribution.

Workplace jobs, resident workers, and suppression. LODES JT02 means All Private Jobs located in the area. The component sums Retail Trade; Transportation and Warehousing; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation; and Accommodation and Food Services. It does not include Construction or Education and is not a tourism-only jobs count. The separate Resident worker context uses ACS B08124 and B08126 for residents age 16+ who did not work from home; it is not jobs located in town, establishments, visitor spending, or a score input. QCEW values suppressed to protect identifiable employers remain unavailable, are excluded from scoring, and are never replaced with zero or estimated.

How to interpret it. A higher score means greater relative intensity, breadth, and available specialization within the named peer groups. It is not absolute capacity, a complete business inventory, a forecast, a demand estimate, a feasibility result, an investment ranking, or evidence that the trail created jobs.

Descriptive profile · no score or rank

Household Context

What it measures. Household Context presents current household estimates, a bounded two-period household comparison, occupied-housing tenure, and when current householders moved into their present homes or units.

How it is calculated. Current households use ACS 2020–2024 table B11001 with the published 90% margin of error and reliability classification. Where the source and official geography are comparable, the page compares non-overlapping 2015–2019 and 2020–2024 B11001 estimates and calculates a root-sum-square margin of error for their difference. B25003 supplies owner/renter tenure. B25038 supplies occupied-unit move-in categories; the compact summary derives the share whose current householder moved into the unit in 2010 or later.

Availability. Cass remains unavailable when its current household estimate is zero or otherwise unusable; the source response is not presented as evidence of no households. Jenningston remains explicitly labeled as the full Tract 9653 proxy, and its historic comparison is withheld pending tract-comparability approval. The optional broader-area view shows whole county, tract, or block-group observations and never substitutes those values for a Focus Town.

How to interpret it. The two ACS points are not an annual series or automatic proof of statistically meaningful change. B25038 describes tenure timing for occupied units; it is not migration origin, population movement, housing demand, or community viability.

Descriptive evidence library · no shared scale

Trail Study Evidence

What it contains. Trail Study Evidence preserves source-audited trail metadata, source-listed community relationships, population/location context, route alignments where defensibly sourced, and individually scoped study cards. Each study keeps its own source, period, geography, definition, units, and caveat.

How it is assembled. The current library contains 10 trails, 180 source-listed trail/community relationships across 176 Census geographies, and eight individually scoped study cards; one candidate study remains withheld because its primary source was not audited. Where KH supplied a community population that reconciles to ACS 2020–2024 profile variable DP02_0088E, the relationship shows that estimate and its 90% margin of error when numeric. Of 180 relationships, 150 have a displayable population. Census internal points are location context only. Exact Focus Town matches receive an “Also an ALT Focus Town” badge and cross-link, but the match does not create a town-specific impact estimate.

Available community rings use one fixed population-size scale across all selected trails; margin of error does not change symbol size, and unavailable populations use a small muted ring. Six supplemental route alignments plus the approved Allegheny Trail route are shown only where source linework is defensible. Ghost Town Trail, Elk River Trail, and Erie to Pittsburgh Trail remain undrawn rather than being inferred from community points or connected across source gaps.

How to interpret it. The dashboard does not score, rank, benchmark, total, or place the studies on a shared monetary axis. A result reported for another trail is not an Allegheny Trail impact estimate, forecast, causal finding, navigation route, current access statement, or proof of economic transferability.

Descriptive infrastructure context · no score or rank

Bridge and Culvert Condition Context

What it measures. This Measure shows West Virginia Department of Transportation-reported Good, Fair, and Poor condition classifications for structures within 30 straight-line miles of the full approved Allegheny Trail route.

How it is assembled. WVDOT’s bridge service, described as current April 2026, supplies the displayed condition, owner, maintenance, name, year-built, and location fields. An exact full-identifier join to the annual 2025 Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory is used only to distinguish bridges from NBI-sized culverts; it does not replace WVDOT’s condition. Distance to the nearest route feature is measured in EPSG:5070 and grouped into within 10 miles or over 10 through 30 miles. The display contains 787 structures: 232 Good, 430 Fair, and 125 Poor; 542 are within 10 miles and 245 are over 10 through 30 miles. Structure class is known for 780 records.

How to interpret it. “Poor” is the source condition class and does not mean unsafe, closed, or unusable. Near the route does not mean the structure carries or crosses the trail. Straight-line proximity is not driving distance, dependency, hazard, detour, inspection advice, or an operational finding. Owner and maintenance fields are filters and record details, not performance measures.