FYI Update April 2026

Dear friends,

In 2015, the Urban Conservancy developed the Front Yard Initiative (FYI) as a resource to counter excessive residential paving. We secured philanthropic support to incentivize homeowners to remove paving to reduce their flood risk and that of their neighbors. Since its inception, FYI has provided financial support to 168 homeowners, resulting in the removal of 96,000 square feet of paving resulting in 4 million gallons of water annually diverted from our overburdened pumping and drainage system.

After over a decade, we have made the difficult decision to sunset the financial incentive portion of the Front Yard Initiative. One of the most important aims was to build an incentive model  that was functional, sustainable, and scalable – to develop a residential depaving program on a small scale that a large entity with a dedicated funding source could take citywide. We are very proud to have accomplished this goal.  With every project, we improved New Orleans’ safety through stormwater management while empowering residents to reduce their exposure to flood risk, extreme heat, and other climate impacts.

Rest assured that despite these changes the Front Yard Initiative is alive and well. With your help, we’ll continue to advocate for citywide financial incentives and credits for residents who want to ease pressure on our drainage system by reducing runoff from their property.  We will continue to provide technical assistance at no cost to assist homeowners looking for ways to take action. Finally, we will continue to implement, educate and advocate for neighborhood-level nature-based solutions to address our greatest climate challenges, including extreme heat and flood risk. Feel free to reach out any time with questions, comments, or ideas.

Sincerely,
Dana Eness, Executive Director
dana@urbanconservancy.org
(504) 717-6187 (office)
(504) 232-7821 (cell)