Urban Planning

I was quoted in this recent article by Robert McLendon: As residents started to trickle back into Mid-City after Hurricane Katrina, people looked at the mess around them and came to a realization: The storm may have been responsible for the wreckage, but the city was broken in many ways long before it made landfall. […]

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 […]

Here’s a letter which I hope to present directly to representatives of Goody Clancy at tonight’s District 4 meeting (6PM @ Jesuit). Dear Goody Clancy, Friends of Lafitte Corridor has been reviewing the Master Plan draft. It is quite impressive. However, there are several points that concern us. We believe that the revitalization of the […]

Here we go again, I thought, as I sat down at the MCNO meeting last night. Once again New Orleanians are being asked to engage the planning process. But, in fairness, this time is different. This is for the New Orleans Master Plan, which will have the force of law. And another thing that’s different: […]

Thanks to my friend Jason Neville for bringing this choice piece of research to my attention: “We put rats in relatively large areas with objects and routes resembling those in Manhattan,” explains Prof. Eilam. The rats, he found, do the same things humans do: They establish a grid system to orient themselves. Using the grid, […]

Yesterday I spoke with Jennifer Weishaupt, president of Mid-City Neighborhood Organization, about the possibility of the VA hospital at the site of the old Lindy Boggs Medical Center (Mercy Hospital). As you may be aware, Victory Real Estate Investments has assembled some parcels of land, including the old hospital. They were hoping to build a […]

I cajoled Xy into attending our local meeting of the School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish on Tuesday night. It reminded me of the infamous “Summer of Planning.” Specifically it reminded me of the America Speaks sessions which I never attended (having already been burned out by the Lambert process) but which I read […]

I’m famous at last, quoted in an article on the Village Voice website by Anya Kamenetz, a former New Orleanian. “I’ve lost all sense of what’s normal,” says New Orleans resident Bart Everson. His house, which took on five feet of water, stands at a crossroads in the city’s recovery — one of the points […]

I’ve finally taken a stab at completing the section of our Mid-City Recovery Plan which deals with the issue of local control. These ideas are not my own but are based on conversations with the Mid-City Governance Committee and others in the community.

Alan G. has some questions and criticism relating to the impending UNOP voting process, by which New Orleans neighborhoods are supposed to choose planning teams.

Everyone’s working themselves into a tizzy over the Unified New Orleans Planning process. The local blogosphere is abuzz, to the point I’m not sure where to start linking. Me, I’m getting plenty déjà vu — so I’m sitting this round out. I’ll stay engaged with the actual grassroots effort in my neighborhood, but I’ll let […]

The eighth article about our renovation appeared in the Times-Picayune this morning.

This past weekend felt like a watershed for my neighborhood, but it also left me feeling overwhelmed. Our Mid-City recovery planning meeting with Clifton James took place Saturday morning, and it was both uplifting and inspiring and surprising. We’d expected Clifton to make some sort of presentation. Instead, he pretty much turned it over to […]

I’m going to try to articulate a few ideas knocking around in my head about the recovery of Mid-City. Remember, the City Council’s planning process is now underway, and the common wisdom seems to be that if we don’t participate, we’ll be flattened. Also, please realize that I don’t consider myself any kind of expert […]

So I went to the neighborhood planning meeting for Mid-City and Gert Town Saturday morning, and was deeply disturbed by what I saw there. Something doesn’t smell right. It’s not just the lack of publicity for this particular meeting. The whole process seems suspect. The aim is to come up with a recovery plan for […]

I got my sample ballot. Here’s how I plan to vote in the runoff Saturday: Clerk, Criminal District Court Nick Varrecchio, Democrat, Ballot # 21 Mayor, City of New Orleans “Mitch” Landrieu, Democrat, Ballot # 61 Councilmember(s) at Large Arnie Fielkow, Democrat, Ballot # 73 Councilmember, District B Stacy Head, Democrat, Ballot # 92 I […]

The more I think about it, this stinks to high heaven. The location? The timing? The absence of any publicity? It’s as if they’re going out of their way to make sure the community isn’t involved in this “inclusive community-driven effort.”

An architect/planner from Baltimore gave me the following advice at the AIA dinner I attended last nite: “Don’t let a bunch of architects and planners tell you how to rebuild your neighborhood.”

According to a story in the morning paper, our neighborhood has four months to prove its viability. This is according to the new plan from the mayor’s Bring New Orleans Back commission. (Actually it’s supposed to be unveiled this afternoon. I guess someone leaked it to the paper.) It appears to be a compromise between […]

Tag: Urban Planning

Re-Cranking the Manifesto

Greenway Planning Meetings: Your Participation Is Critical

Dear Goody Clancy

At the Meeting

NOLA vs. NYC: Rodent’s Eye View

VA Lindy?

So Dark the Con of Man

“I’ve lost all sense of what’s normal.”

Local Control

UNOP Democracy

Planning Not To

Story #8

Overwhelmed

Mid-City Needs a Plan

Fattening Frogs for Snakes

How I’m Voting in the Runoff

Council-Sponsored Planning Meeting

Advice

Four Months