Forget The Controversy -- New Orleans Recovery Is Model City Planning

"Suddenly, there's been relief from the old, everything-for-sale Louisiana political game -- a process that for generations repelled good city planning by way of constant sell-outs to special interests."

"How? Desperate for recovery, post-Katrina New Orleans welcomed visits and counsel from a cross-section of America's best urban thinkers -- a blue-ribbon panel of the Urban Land Institute, officials of the American Planning Association and others. And leaders actually listened."

Attorney and historic preservationist William Borah "credits Paul Farmer, executive director of the American Planning Association, for telling New Orleans a sober truth Borah's preached for a lifetime: the city's master plan must have the force of law, or under-the-table deals will vitiate all the best development plans. And that's just what the report now recommends: a legally-enforceable master plan."