There’s turkey and yams, pumpkins and pies, dressings and gravies. And then there’s Black Friday, Super Sunday, and Cyber Monday. Thankfully, chain stores, big boxes, and internet retailers have left one little gap in the holiday hubbub and local businesses have taken the initiative to to claim it as their own. Small Business Saturday encourages consumers to shift their focus to local stores and shops, augmenting the stimulation of the local economy. As multiple studies report, including one by The Urban Conservancy, significantly higher revenues are reciprocated throughout local communities when consumers shop, buy, and stay local.

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This year, the impact of small, locally owned and operated businesses reaches far and wide. Reflecting both an international and community-oriented awareness, New Orleans businesses like Baba Blankets and Gifts and the Community Book Center in Treme get some deserved recognition for their wide-ranging benefits and a lot of support from StayLocal! and The Urban Conservancy, who urges us to live local, love local, and StayLocal! during the holiday season. See the full story as reported by WGNO, and kindly re-gifted by Mideast and North Africa Financial News and Bayou Buzz.

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The Delta Discussion Group and The Urban Conservancy will host “Getting it Done Together: The Public’s Role in Shaping Our Coast’s Future” on Thursday, June 23, 2011, from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM, at the Longue Vue House & Gardens, 7 Bamboo Road, New Orleans, LA. This panel of experts will detail the opportunities for public input in long-term state and federal processes critical to the future of coastal Louisiana.

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With Oilspilldonation.org, Urban Conservancy was able to “create something that would allow people to follow their heart and donate - whether that meant to coastal, marine, or other sources. This would [facilitate donors to] cut through [red tape].”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Scout Prime came to New Orleans to see first-hand how the city is doing. During her visit, she interviewed Geoff Coats.

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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.

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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.

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The Urban Conservancy’s Geoff Coats is interviewed for a Boston Globe story about the rebuilding of New Orleans.

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The Delta Discussion Group and The Urban Conservancy will host “Getting it Done Together: The Public’s Role in Shaping Our Coast’s Future” on Thursday, June 23, 2011, from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM, at the Longue Vue House & Gardens, 7 Bamboo Road, New Orleans, LA. This panel of experts will detail the opportunities for public input in long-term state and federal processes critical to the future of coastal Louisiana.

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“These awards honor businesses and individuals who persevere in the face of adversity and are critical social and economic anchors within their communities and their industries,” said Dana Eness, executive director of The Urban Conservancy.

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“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.”

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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.

more»

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.

more»

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.

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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

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