b.rox

The coolest thing about this year’s hike, from my personal perspective, is that I’ve had hardly anything to do with organizing the event. (Term limits, y’know.) Yet still it chugs along. That’s extremely gratifying. But there are other cool things: This year we’re reversing direction, hiking toward the river for a change, so people can [...]

Most if not all of the major spiritual traditions on our planet seem to embrace the path as a metaphor. Maybe that’s why I’ve found the prospect of a greenway in the Lafitte Corridor so inspiring over the years. There’s been something very compelling about imagining a trail in what is currently fallow, empty land [...]

These meetings are coming up week after next. This is what FOLC has been working for these last five years. These meetings will begin to shape what the greenway will be. If you’ve got specific ideas, this is how to let them be known. Or just come to learn about the Lafitte Corridor and give [...]

Perils for Pedestrians episode #174 was just released today and will be appearing on stations across the country. The first interview is with yours truly. This was shot back in January of 2010, so some info I present is not current. For the latest, stay tuned to folc-nola.org.

There is an unfortunate pattern which sometimes emerges in local reportage, wherein community groups are incorrectly depicted as opposed to economic development. In reality, most community groups merely want to be engaged in the development process to ensure the highest quality outcome. I’ve seen it happen before, and so I get a little nervous sometimes. [...]

This morning was the Lafitte (Corridor) Greenway Strategic Kickoff Meeting. It ran from 7:30 to 9:00 AM, which was a tad problematic for me. I’m usually getting my girl to daycare around 9 AM, and I really hate to rush our morning routine. Yesterday morning, she got into a mood and hid under the dining [...]

We had almost 400 people hiking the Lafitte Corridor this year. We had two City Council members and a Senator. We had planners from Design Workshop. But there were two people in particular I was especially happy to have with me. This is the first time Persephone or Xy made the hike. Persephone can perhaps [...]

I’ve been walking around with a big goofy grin for the last week. I got the news last Thursday. It seems that the City of New Orleans has at last signed the contract with Design Workshop that will allow the planning and design and eventual construction of a greenway in the Lafitte Corridor. Finally! This [...]

I’m quoted in a story which appeared in yesterday’s New Orleans Picayune. Many thanks to Annette Sisco for a fine writeup.

Some months ago, at a meeting with some folks from the Rails to Trails Conservancy, I was bemoaning the difficulties of sustaining our outreach efforts in Friends of Lafitte Corridor. As an all-volunteer organization, we often run into limits of time and energy, and burnout is an ever-present danger. Kelly Pack suggested the idea of [...]

Oops, time is getting away from me, but good things are happening. I also posted this on the FOLC site, but frankly my blog gets more traffic. See, we’re planning to do this year’s hike of the Lafitte Corridor in small groups instead of one monolithic horde. To pull that off we need a critical [...]

I’m quoted in this here article in The Gambit.

Hike the Lafitte Corridor will take place this year on April 16, 2011 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Since establishment, each year Friends of Lafitte Corridor (FOLC) holds a hike where they lead the community through the three-mile stretch that will soon be constructed into a greenway. The greenway will link neighborhoods including the French Quarter, [...]

Last night FOLC had its annual board election. I was excited but also a little nervous. We had a bigger slate of candidates than ever before, fifteen in all, for eight open seats. I wasn’t up for re-election myself; our terms are staggered and mine ends next year. But I was nervous because there was [...]

Saturday morning I was out early conducting a short tour of the Lafitte Corridor. I was skeptical about how many people would be up for a hike at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, but pleasantly surprised when a dozen people showed up, plus a half dozen more who joined us in progress. We walked from [...]

I was headed to a meeting of the Lafitte Greenway Steering Advisory Committee this morning. I was riding down Conti, just a block or two from our old house, and I crossed through what appeared to be a small puddle. Mind, it hasn’t rained here in a couple weeks, so this puddle was bubbling up [...]

Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made. — Otto von Bismarck I had the chance to observe a bit of sausage-making yesterday. I attended the meeting of a committee charged with selecting a team to design a greenway for the Lafitte Corridor. A little context may be in order. [...]

I’m quoted in this Gambit article by Sarah Eddington. I use big words like “maximal” and “expeditiously” and “stuff.”

I have quotes in a couple recent press releases regarding the city’s reacquisition of the so-called LIFT parcel, which brings us back full circle.

Saturday was the Sixth Annual Hike of the Lafitte Corridor, a great day for me — or it would have been, if it wasn’t sandwiched between the death of two pets and some other personal drama I don’t want to go into right now. As it was, my mind was just a bit clouded. The [...]