Friends of Lafitte Greenway

Friends of Lafitte Greenway (Friends) is the official private partner to the City of New Orleans in planning, development, programming, and operations on the Greenway. Our mission is to build, program, and promote the Lafitte Greenway as a great public space. We envision a healthy, vibrant Greenway that equitably connects people to nature, their destinations, and each other.

The Lafitte Greenway is New Orleans’ premier infrastructure reuse project, a 3.1-mile long linear park and multi-use trail in the heart of New Orleans. The Greenway features recreational facilities, fitness and cultural programming, open green space, and innovative stormwater management features. The Greenway is managed through a collaborative public-private partnership agreement between Friends, the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORD), and the City of New Orleans. The Greenway opened in 2015 after years of community-driven support, transforming an abandoned railroad corridor into a public green space that connects an array of diverse New Orleans communities. 

Friends formed in 2006, when community members saw an opportunity after Hurricane Katrina to rethink the landscape and transform vacant land into a linear park and trail. What began in the minds of those community members grew into a non-profit and community-wide advocacy initiative to create a new public space that would create economic, environmental, health, and cultural benefits for New Orleans. Today, Friends of Lafitte Greenway drives community planning and visioning for the Greenway’s continued development, stewards this environmental corridor, and leads robust cultural and recreation programming and community engagement.