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In the News
Commentary: Local Business Growth Attracts Outside Interest
Oct 5, 2009
To attract new capital to New Orleans, we tend to market the city’s assets - its distinctive character, its beautiful architecture, its port facilities. Meanwhile, the underlying deficiencies that keep investors away - crime, poverty, low literacy - continue unabated.
Study Touts Impact of Local Merchants
Sep 22, 2009
Every $100 spent at a locally owned business on Magazine Street recirculates an average of $32 through the local economy, according to a study released Tuesday. The same amount of money spent at a national chain recirculates an average of $16 back into the local economy.
Give Local Retailers a Level Playing Field
Oct 2, 2009
Letter to the editor by Dana Eness and David Guidry:
Consumers are drawn to the convenience and savings that tax-free online shopping provides, but don’t realize that they pay for it in significant ways.
Video Interview by Scout Prime
Mar 30, 2006
Scout Prime came to New Orleans to see first-hand how the city is doing. During her visit, she interviewed Geoff Coats.
Grant Awarded for New Orleans Project
Mar 7, 2006
The Urban Conservancy and planners from the University of Missouri-Kansas City have been awarded a grant by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
On Monday HUD awarded a $274,000 grant to support efforts to study and plan for the recovery of a series of New Orleans neighborhoods.
Many big visions for new Big Easy
Oct 12, 2005
Interviewed for The Christian Science Monitor, The Urban Conservancy argues for an inclusive and community-based approach to difficult land-use issues in the rebuilding after hurricane Katrina.
“It may turn out that there are areas where it was a bad idea to build in the first place, and there are going to be hard, painful decisions, but we as a community need to make those decisions together,” says Geoff Coats, cofounder of the Urban Conservancy, which works to protect New Orleans buildings and communities. “It’s very important that it not be some commission of 12 wise men.
A Battle to Rebuild Looms in New Orleans
Oct 2, 2005
The Urban Conservancy’s Geoff Coats is interviewed for a Boston Globe story about the rebuilding of New Orleans.
UC Articles and Publications
New Web Portal Connects Donors to Local Gulf Groups
Jul 14, 2010
“The nature of the BP Gulf disaster—a man-made, corporate disaster aided and abetted by lack of regulatory oversight—makes fundraising a challenge,” says Eness. “People want to hold BP’s feet to the fire and demand it pay for remediation. But donors need to understand that there are limits to what BP will pay for. The work of independent nonprofits is critical to safeguarding the quality of life along the Gulf Coast and ensuring BP and government are held accountable.”
Commentary: Local Business Growth Attracts Outside Interest
Oct 5, 2009
To attract new capital to New Orleans, we tend to market the city’s assets - its distinctive character, its beautiful architecture, its port facilities. Meanwhile, the underlying deficiencies that keep investors away - crime, poverty, low literacy - continue unabated.
Give Local Retailers a Level Playing Field
Oct 2, 2009
Letter to the editor by Dana Eness and David Guidry:
Consumers are drawn to the convenience and savings that tax-free online shopping provides, but don’t realize that they pay for it in significant ways.
Expanding the Frames: A Response to “Framing the Urban”
Aug 17, 2004
City and Community is an academic journal dedicated to publishing research and theory that explore the social aspects of the metropolis. In August 2004, City and Community published three articles exploring the controversial redevelopment of the St. Thomas housing development in New Orleans.
Wal-Mart: The Nature of the Problem
Jan 31, 2002
Written for The Rogue, Wal-Mart: The Nature of the Problem explores the choice facing New Orleans as the community debates the introduction of a Super Wal-Mart into the urban core of the city. The focus is on the long-term economic impact of the development. Read it here