This section holds a collection of StayLocal, Front Yard Initiative, and Urban Conservancy reports available to the public. You will also find a collection of Urban Conservancy newsletters.

Urban Conservancy Newsletters

New Orleans Independent Business Trends

The success of the independent business community is vital for New Orleans’ economic future, as well as its sense of community, character and place. This annual report gives a snapshot of how our independents are faring, and arms us with insight on how best to foster a thriving independent business sector.


Front Yard Initiative Homeowner Reports

FYI strives not only to incentivize homeowners to remove impermeable pavement, but also to advocate, inspire and to help guide New Orleans into a more sustainable future. It is our hope and our goal that this report may bring a greater understanding and awareness of the importance of GSI on residential properties and that this in turn increases the implementation of GSI. We want to thank all of our FYI participants and green sector contractors for their indispensable help in bringing New Orleans that much closer to a green future!


My Heart Is Tied Up in This Place: Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Plaquemines Parish’s Local Businesses

Local independent businesses play a fundamental role in the community. Yet in the aftermath of large-scale disaster they are often overlooked, and the suffering of individual local business owners has historically received scant attention.This report, however, puts local businesses at the forefront. Focusing on the impact the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill had on independent businesses in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, we sought to answer several questions.

The study, conducted and published by the Urban Conservancy in 2012, was made possible with generous funding from the Committee for Plaquemines Recovery and the blue moon fund.


Magazine Street Report

Throughout 2013, StayLocal received reports from member businesses along Magazine Street about a tide of unaffordable rent increases occurring along the corridor, coinciding with an increased interest in Magazine Street from national chains. In response to these reports, StayLocal surveyed Magazine Street independent business owners to assess the pervasiveness of this trend.


Thinking Outside The Box

This study was undertaken to provide the people and policy makers of New Orleans with tangible economic guidance in choosing between strategies to restore commercial services to the entire city.