In the two and a half years Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) has been working with the people of New Orleans on the redevelopment of the Lafitte Corridor, a hopeful, intangible vision has transformed into both a solid, actionable plan, and a grassroots movement.

In post-Katrina New Orleans, with unprecedented attention focused on reconstructing land-use and development patterns, the 3.1-mile former rail and canal corridor through the heart of the city represents an extraordinary opportunity for a greenway of park space and trails that serves a variety of needs for residents and businesses. Tremendous local energy to make something more of the neglected space manifested itself in the formation of the Friends of Lafitte Corridor (FOLC) in 2006.

RTC began a working partnership with FOLC in 2009. Our goals were their goals--a public place that encouraged community interaction and recreation, allowed residents to walk and bike through their city, and stimulated local businesses and neighborhoods surrounding the corridor. What began with the basic effort to spread word about the status and opportunities of the Lafitte Corridor reached a significant milestone this month, with the unveiling of a shortlist of design options produced by a consultant that reflect the community's significant input.

Also this month, RTC launched a new, key tool in the effort to ensure the Lafitte Corridor plan benefits the diverse, and often underserved, population of downtown New Orleans. The Lafitte Corridor and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Urban Pathways Initiative: An Emerging Opportunity to Connect Neighborhoods to Healthy Living, contains a thorough inventory of the landscape, infrastructure, businesses and community places in and around the corridor, as well as a unique compilation of existing land-use plans for the area.

"What we want to see is a greenway that is accessible for residents and connects to local businesses and amenities," says Kelly Pack, RTC's director of trail development. "In order to do that, planners need to have solid information on where those populations are, where the amenities are, the schools, the stores."

Significantly, the document also includes a nuts-and-bolts action plan for maintaining vital community involvement as the plan proceeds, when sketches give way to groundbreakings and actual construction. For example, RTC's GIS database of sidewalks and ramps will assist the city's newly formed Complete Streets Advisory Committee in determining where improvements are most needed so residents can safely walk and bike in neighborhoods around the Lafitte Corridor.

It contains recommendations for the creation of local groups charged with building community gardens, painting murals and producing trail maps--low-cost initiatives that RTC and our local partners have used successfully in other UPI projects in Washington, D.C., and Cleveland, Ohio.

And RTC's inventory of more than 100 local businesses in and around the corridor will not only steer greenway patrons to nearby food outlets and stores, but will also be used by chambers of commerce and business planners in identifying untapped commercial opportunities.

"As long as the greenway is developed in a way that encourages non-motorized transportation, it will certainly connect more people with their neighborhood businesses," Pack says. "The economic stimulus created by public greenways like this is well known. A blueprint on how to get there is one of the valuable resources this document will provide."

Another is the benefit of RTC's tremendous experience with similar projects around the country. Community engagement efforts in Cleveland and D.C. helped transform little-used urban corridors into places of community, recreation and transportation. The vision for the Lafitte Corridor is a grand one. Fortunately, the models are in place for how to bring it to fruition.

The city of New Orleans plans to complete the design phase by summer of next year, with construction slated for 2012 through 2014.