Naming right(s)

Can a dumb idea be good publicity? It seems most people think it's silly for the City of Carbondale to change its name. But many other cities have successfully accomplished it!

Why change it at all? The wikipedia sez "the name "carbon" comes from Latin language carbo, coal, and in some Romance languages, the word carbon can refer both to the element and to coal.
And coal is still important to the region

Last year, a Colorado town estimated it would cost nearly $1 million to change its name, according to the Rocky Mountain News: Costly name change considered to alter Commerce City's image. A local poll showed voters preferred "Stink Town" 54% (indicating the unreliability of unscientific polls, or the power of Commerce City's stench.) In March, 2007, the locals voted 890 for a name change and 1980 against.

So, yeah, maybe it's a bad idea to change the City of Carbondale's name. Would changing it to "Colbertdale" be worth a million dollars worth of publicity? If not, how much money would it take to convince the Carbon-ites to change? A billion? Enough to upgrade The Arena, fix the classrooms, and finance The Varsity renovation? Couldn't the City be renamed Cartoondale for that kind of money?

And what about Stephen Colbert? Aren't any nay-sayers thinking of how best to honor the man who gave us 'the Paducah-Carbondale Corridor'? (audio clip) Change a Street name? How about calling the alley that runs from Castle Perilous to City Hall the "Colbert Corridor"? When Stephen visits, the limo can take that route to the Civic Center.