Turns out we can have nice things provided we name them stupidly

Because this project's advocates have stuck with it through several years of stops and starts, New Orleans is on the verge of getting a new three mile cross-town linear park along the right of way originally established by the old Carondelet Canal.

The City of New Orleans owns most of a 3.1-mile linear right-of-way along a former shipping canal and railway that once connected the historic French Quarter to Bayou St. John. The right-of-way is unique in that it traverses a cross-section of the City that captures its two hundred year settlement pattern, ranging from the colonial-era settlement of the Vieux Carre to the mid-twentieth-century suburban neighborhood of Lakeview. It has long been the objective of the City and community to convert this special right-of-way into a greenway, comprised of publicly accessible open space, recreation areas, and other amenities. The project is now one of Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s “Committed Projects.” At the heart of the greenway a bicycle and pedestrian trail is desired that would facilitate travel among diverse, adjacent neighborhoods.

The greenway or something like it has long been on the drawing board or in the imaginations of New Orleans residents and now is closer to becoming a reality than it ever has been. This afternoon begins the first in a series of public meetings designed to collect input regarding the types of amenities and functions the park should offer. The Gambit blog provides us with a schedule of topics.

Meetings begin at 4:30 p.m. at Sojourner Truth Community Center (2200 Lafitte St.)

Monday, Aug. 15: Recreational Activities and Programming AND Corridor Education, Employment and Jobs Opportunities

Tuesday, Aug. 16: Greenway Arts and Interpretive AND Transportation, Stormwater, and Infrastructure

Wednesday, Aug. 17: Land Use and Urban Design AND Housing and Economic Development Strategies

Thursday, Aug. 18: Financing, Operations and Maintenance

Friday, Aug. 19: Health and Environment

A general community meeting on the project will be held at 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 20 at Delgado Community College's Student Life Center (615 City Park Avenue).

Two more weeks of workshops scheduled for November 2011 and February 2012 will be announced soon.

If you're attending, please feel free to suggest a few possible naming rights sponsors for Councilman Fielkow's consideration.

The Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday agreed to recommend that the full council consider Fielkow's suggestion that Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration solicit advertising and marketing firms to figure out what city assets might best attract paid sponsorships.

"I believe we have the chance to market and sell everything from advertising on local governmental access (cable TV) channels to potentially some naming rights for some of our city-owned buildings to a whole slew of inventory, " Fielkow said.

Obviously the BP Greenway has a nice ring to it but we should probably endeavor to buy (or in this case be bought) local. Old New Orleans Rumway? Wagner's Meatshaft? Entergy Path Presented by Cox?