This week on In Focus, we’re talking about open spaces.

How do you balance the needs of a growing community with the need for open space and trails? This concern impacts communities all across the country and here in New York.

JoDee Kenney is joined by town of Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett, who knows a lot about the topic — Clifton Park, New York, located north of Albany, continues to see a lot of business and residential growth.

Dave Miller, chairman of the Town of Clifton Park Open Space, Trails, and Riverfront Committee, also joins the show to talk about their work, why it’s important to have committees like the Open Space, Trails and Riverfront Committee, what people can do to get involved in helping to protect the open spaces of the state, the benefit of committees like the NYSDEC Region Five Open Space Advisory Committee and more.

According to Parks and Trails New York, our state is a national leader in trail initiatives. We have a well-connected network of greenways linking smaller communities to popular destinations.

And yet the work is far from over.

Dylan Carey, director of Policy and Planning for Parks & Trails New York, chats more about what New York is doing and how you can get involved.

You can watch the full interviews above. And be sure to tune in for a look inside the biggest issues impacting upstate New York on In Focus with JoDee Kenney — every Sunday on Spectrum News 1.