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The purpose of the original provisos was to mitigate the impact of a large grocery store operation that extends into a residential neighborhood with no buffer between it and the residences. The provisos also helped level the playing field as much as possible between this large commercial operation and the small local businesses it joined on Magazine St.

Whole Food’s explanation that their customer base has grown such that they have to ask for this expansion of their operation is answered by asking them to please open another Whole Foods location - thus reducing congestion at this location and better serving the community.

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A groundbreaking new study, the Indie City Index, ranks all 363 metropolitan areas in the U. S. according to the vitality of their independent retail sectors.

Produced by Civic Economics, the index analyzes the share of retail sales captured by independent retailers and assigns a score to each metro. In regions that score above 100, independent retailers capture a larger than average share of spending, while chains are more dominant in those metros that score less than 100.

The Indie City Index also ranks cities within their region and within their population class, identifying those that outperform their peers.

Perhaps most useful for civic and community leaders, the index identified 36 metro areas that outperform their peers in both their region and their population class. While this list includes many of the leading scorers overall, there are a number of additional cities that rank as top performers by this measure, including New York; New Orleans; Portland, ME; Poughkeepsie, NY; Tucson; Louisville; Boston; Asheville, NC; and Charleston, SC.

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Read the Data Summary: Download file

Released in August 2010, this report is a sobering look at the costs of shoring up deteriorating drainage, sewerage and street infrastructure, and the need to prioritize and coordinate investment in improvements for the long-term health of the city.

The controversial engineering firm hired to manage New Orleans’ massive rebuilding effort has been operating for more than two years under a dubiously awarded contract that has allowed it to overbill the city repeatedly even as the bricks-and-mortar recovery work it oversees has lagged, according to a draft report by the city’s inspector general. Read the report.

The Nagin administration is poised to sign a contract with the highly respected planning firm of Goody Clancy to complete a Master Plan for New Orleans - a plan that will direct the future use of land as well as the rebuilding of the city. Part of that contract will entail the creation of a new Zoning Ordinance that will assist in the implementation of the plan. That planning effort will include citizens in the planning process, and it will utilize the conclusions reached in the numerous planning efforts that citizens have been engaged in seen Katrina devastated this city.

So that the Master Plan when completed will be followed by public officials as well as private citizens, so that in the future land use regulations and capital expenditures will be required to be consistent with the plan, and so that henceforth all citizens will be structured into the planning process, the Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP) District 1 Steering Committee supports the amendments to the Home Rule Charter recently prepared by Smart Growth for Louisiana. Furthermore, in order to receive a favorable vote on the Charter amendments from the City Council and to have the Council place these amendments on the November 4, 2008, ballot to receive a favorable vote from the electorate, the Steering Committee forwarded a copy of the nonprofit’s Charter amendments, with accompanying cover letter and a Citizen’s Guide to Land Use Reform, to each Council member. (A copy of the Charter amendments and accompanying materials are attached to this E-mail.)

I ask that each of you — and the organizations that you are associated with — to join with the UNOP District 1 Steering Committee in supporting the attached Charter amendments, and that you request the City Council to approve the amendments and to place them on the ballot for a vote in November. With work soon to begin on a Master Plan and a new Zoning Ordinance for the city, we now have the opportunity to establish a planning process to go along with this serious undertaking that can gain the respect of citizens - both here and across the nation. This is a great opportunity — shame on all of us if we do not take advantage of it.

Respectfully yours,

William E. Borah
President
Smart Growth for Louisiana
533 Esplanade Avenue, Suite B
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
(504) 944-4010
(504) 942-3176 (fax)

Download a copy of the proposed amendments [PDF]

An in-depth analysis of federal Katrina spending since 2005. The Institute reveals that, out of the $116 billion in Katrina funds allocated, less than 30% has gone towards long-term rebuilding—and less than half of that 30% has been spent, much less reached those most in need.

Download a copy of the Blueprint for Gulf Recovery [PDF]

Download a copy of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission’s Urban Planning Final Report [PDF].

Overview of the Baker Bill [PDF] establishing the Louisiana Recovery Authority by Partnership for Working Families and Brennan Center for Justice.

This memo provides advocates with a discussion of specific problems with the original version of H.R. 4100, the Baker Bill. A revised version is expected to be introduced around December 7th. The memo focuses on one aspect of the Baker Bill, namely its failure to provide for significant local control over the shape of redevelopment, and suggests areas of improvement.

This article is a supplement to a research project report — Organizations at Risk: What Happens When Small Businesses and Not-for-Profits Encounter Natural Disasters [PDF] and published by the Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI).

How can we create a zoning plan that unifies New Orleans City Government? [PDF] Land use attorney Daniel Mandelker, from his January 14th 2002 presentation.

Downriver Riverfront [PDF]. New Orleans City Planning Commission. Esplanade Avenue to Industrial Canal. Final Draft. August 2005.

The Big Greedy [PDF] A Background Check on the Corporations Vying to Take Over New Orleans’ Water System. A special report by Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, September 2001