Our readers can also make their proposals for new district names!
Every Wednesday, we now go around the different neighborhoods to not only present them, but also to help you find « real » names for them, relating to their history, their geography or their daily life. After district 6 last week, place today at number 7, managed by the district council “Le 7 – La Goulfie”.
La Goulfie and its kindergarten of the same name as well as Barleté (named after the stream that runs through the district) are the names most often mentioned when referring to district 7. Will this be enough to win the vote during the attribution of the new name of the district?
The « 7 » whose southern part also marks the extreme south of the city of Agen, bordering the town of Boé, is in the form of a quadrilateral.
Two distinct islands
Bounded to the north by avenue de Colmar, to the east by rue de Péchabout (which runs alongside the MIN) to the south by rue Pierre-Mendès-France and, finally, to the west by part of boulevard Édouard- The courtyard. This quadrilateral is crossed from northwest to southeast by rue de Barleté. This long artery divides the neighborhood into two distinct blocks. Towards the enclosure of the chamber of agriculture, there is a succession of small streets with bucolic names (rue des Vergers, impasse Cerise, etc.) made up of individual houses with their small gardens. This green island would be very quiet if many motorists did not use its streets to avoid the traffic lights of the ring road… The district council is also working to find solutions to curb this incessant flow of cars. On the other side of rue de Barleté, around La Goulfie school, there are residences originally built to accommodate employees of the Golfech plant and now occupied by an extremely mixed population. A little further north, the oldest part of the district is also occupied by fairly old individual houses, again with their own gardens. Around the water tower – in this point defined by rue de Barleté and avenue de Colmar – is the Abbé-Pierre residence which is home to many travelers who have decided to drop off their suitcases there.
The 7 is made up of many residential areas, like here rue Jules-Raimu where developments have made it possible to slow down the speed of cars.
Local stores
The whole challenge of this district consists, in order to give it a real life close to that of a village, to bring together populations who have very different lifestyles: between those who like to take advantage of their enclosure and remain confined in their garden and those who, on the contrary, appreciate being outdoors – for example, around the City Parc in the immediate vicinity of La Goulfie kindergarten. The establishment of local shops could encourage meetings between inhabitants of this district, and add social ties. In the meantime, the district council imagines multiplying the activities, in particular cultural, hoping that La Goulfie will come to Barleté and vice versa.
“The main attraction is the social mix”
Myriam Amadei, president of district council 7.
What are the main attractions of your neighborhood?
Myriam Amadei, president of district council 7. “Our district has many green spaces, wide arteries, which gives it this modern and airy appearance. We are connected to the city center by many bus lines. There is certainly a lack of a few local shops, but those in the commercial areas of Boé or the city center remain close. I would like to tell you that, in my view, the main attraction of this district is nevertheless its social mix. »
How has your neighborhood evolved in recent years?
“We see young parents arriving in our neighborhood, which gives it a new dynamic. If the social mix is indeed a reality, it must be admitted that it is not always easy to mix the populations who live in the housing estates with those of the most residential blocks and vice versa. The City Parc has nevertheless allowed young people from all walks of life to rub shoulders with their parents, in an excellent spirit. »
What projects will they see the light of day soon?
“As in all districts, we have road improvement projects (repair or maintenance). Two projects are close to our hearts. The one that interests La Goulfie with the aim of reducing traffic (which only passes through our neighborhood) and its excesses. We are also carrying out a global reflection on the very busy rue de Barleté, with its narrow sidewalks and lack of parking. We also want to develop cultural activities, music and theatre, in conjunction with partners (Hang’art, social centre, etc.) to encourage exchanges, particularly between generations. »
Avenue de COLMAvenue de Colmar, inaugurated in 1977 by Doctor Esquirol.
Toponymy recalling the agricultural past of the sector
The district is limited to the north by the avenue de Colmar opened in 1977, to the west by the boulevard Edouard-Lacour created around 1885, to the south by the rue Mendès-France (ex-Péchabout), and to the east by a section of rue Péchabout which has kept its name. This last street is the « descendant » of the road of the same name already present on the cadastral plan of 1809.
A stream now invisible
Another component of the old landscape, but natural this one, the Barleté stream which was fed by a small lake bordering the rue Péchabout but on the side of the municipality of Boé. This small stream then flowed towards Agen up to the level of rue du Chanoine-Marboutin. It disappeared from view after being bridged.
Rue de Barleté, which divides the district into two parts from north to south, inherited its name and runs parallel to it. It follows the route of the old road from Agen to Barleté, which was therefore also the name of a locality.
To the east of rue de Barleté, the housing estate of La Goulfie (name of a locality) was created in the 1980s. The names of almost all of its streets ‒ des Jardinailles, des Vergers, des Moissons , du Pré-Bertin (name of a locality) ‒ including Place des Vignes, Impasse Cerise and Allée du Ruisseau (de Barleté), recall the agricultural past of the area. The very present vegetation by the many trees and hedges still gives it a country air.
To the west of rue Barleté, contrasting with the individual pavilions of the subdivision and the tight mesh of the many other houses, rise the apartment buildings of the Cité Barleté.
Telescoping
Built on the initiative of the town hall of Agen in 1985, its scattered buildings, pyramidal in shape, offering 180 dwellings, mark the end of large complexes such as the old Tapie or Montanou city. The streets bear the names of French writers of the 20th century. Note, however, that of the rue des Capiscols along the nursery school, from an Occitan word meaning « director of a cathedral school », a school therefore dependent on the Catholic Church. Curious telescoping between a contemporary secular school and an old medieval term referring to a religious educational establishment!
F. Stephanus and the research group of the Academy on the streets of Agen
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