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As The Urban Conservancy turns ten, it reflects on its origins, plans a party and issues a report on Canal Street’s identity crisis. Read more.

From the Greenway to the Gulf Coast
Progress continues to be hard-won with both urban and regional sustainability issues. Mayor Landrieu has signed the contract with landscape architecture firm Design Workshop; public meetings soliciting input into the Greenway’s design will begin soon.

And while national media attention about the BP Oil disaster continues to wane, locals understand the urgent need to continue working on issues related to the Gulf Coast. The purpose of the Delta Discussion Group is to share information on strategic responses to the lingering impact of the BP drilling disaster, options for long-term coastal protection, and the restoration of a sustainable Gulf ecosystem. Read more.

The City We Want

In December of 2006, when a journalist asked for my impressions of Freret Street, I said that Freret was a microcosm of New Orleans, and represented the entire city’s potential to flourish once again. “Where Freret Street goes, so goes the city,” I said. Earlier this month, The Times-Picayune published a story titled “Freret Street Resurgence Brings Art Galleries, Theaters, Restaurants.” With Freret Street as our metaphor, there is every reason for optimism. Read more.

Building a Healthy Relationship with Water
In the wake of the fifth anniversary of Katrina, there has been considerable focus on New Orleans’ relationship with water. We have been hearing of innovative ways to provide increased flood and storm protection, not only with gates and pumps, but by more fully incorporating water into our city environment. But reactions to these insightful plans have also shown that there is a significant fear of water, in particular a fear of drowning, and this is affecting our ability to embrace these ideas. Read more.

New Orleans 5 Years After Katrina
This month, as the “Katrina babies” head off to kindergarten, we New Orleanians are collectively taking stock of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we want to go. Two recent reports offer yardsticks to measure our progress and lack thereof. The Urban Conservancy has a few measurements of our own for your consideration. Read more.

LSU/VA Hospital Project: Too Big to Fail?

On Feb. 23, the City Planning Commission voted 5-1 to approve street closures within the footprint of the proposed VA hospital, despite lingering and legitimate concerns regarding design, location, financing, and due process and fair compensation for residents and businesses displaced by the project.

Know Our Strengths, and Play to Them

To attract new capital to New Orleans, we tend to market the city’s assets - its distinctive character, its beautiful architecture, its music. Meanwhile, the underlying deficiencies that keep investors away - crime, poverty, low literacy - continue unabated.

Who Pays for Tax-Free Online Retail?

When Maple Street Children’s Bookshop announced its closing after nearly thirty years in business, owner Cindy Dike pointed to three forces that conspired against her continued success: the flagging economy; the opening of Borders Books on St. Charles Avenue; and a shift in consumer habits to online shopping.

Mid-City Gains a Walgreens, Misses an Opportunity

A new Walgreens store is under construction on the long-derelict Robert grocery site at the intersection of N. Carrollton Ave. and Canal Street.

With this project, Mid-City gains a low-density, single story, single-use construction much like any of the other 50-odd Walgreens stores already saturating the New Orleans market and the 7000 other stores nationwide.

Legislation affecting the Master Plan and proposed LSU/VA hospital complex.

Lafitte Greenway and proposed LSU/VA hospital complex updates.

Two Local Events Celebrate Legacy of Visionary Urban Thinker

“No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at…suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities, you’ve got to get out and walk.”
—Jane Jacobs

Call for Independent Analysis of New Orleans’ Medical District Plans

For more than a year, a debate has raged over the sites for new hospitals for Louisiana State University (LSU) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Currently, two different plans are being discussed and as recently as last week, Louisiana Secretary of Health and Hospitals Alan Levine — the state’s point person on the hospital issue — said that no decisions have been made and both plans were still on the table.

Call to Action: Oppose Nagin’s Executive Order Limiting Public Input on Contract Awards

Mayor Nagin seems to equate “transparent” with “unseen.” While the public clamors for transparent governance, the Mayor tries to shove as much of his administration’s process on the awarding of contracts as he can behind closed doors, out of public view. Read Arnie Fielkow’s official statement.

Summer 2005 Newsletter [PDF] includes a discussion of what lessons the residents of Iberville housing project might learn from the failed redevelopment of the St. Thomas. Also an introduction to two new members of The Urban Conservancy team and Ten Reasons to Shop Locally!

The Spring 2005 Newsletter [PDF] includes a discussion of The Urban Conservancy’s work with locally-owned businesses on St. Claude Avenue as well as a special pull-out shopping guide for the St. Claude Avenue area.

The Winter 2004 Newsletter [PDF] includes an update on the Stay Local! program, the Urban Conservancy TV show, goals for 2004 and more.

In the Summer 2003 Newsletter [PDF], The Urban Conservancy introduces a new project: Stay Local! Also, a discussion of designing communities in ways that promote promote the health of residents. And, the fundamental flaw underlying Mayor Nagin’s Safe School Zones initiative.