New Urbanists Focus On Gentilly, Louisiana

"Having already run post-Katrina public workshops in Lake Charles, Abbeville and St. Bernard Parish under the Louisiana Recovery Authority's sponsorship, the Miami-based town planning firm of Andres Duany was itching to gain a foothold at the epicenter of recovery brainstorming: New Orleans."

"The media-savvy, 56-year-old Duany, who long ago gathered accolades and a measure of scorn after his design of the quaint Florida town Seaside, is tackling myriad planning questions in Gentilly. He is presiding over hearings, including one Thursday night, and work by dozens of volunteer architects and planners from around the country -- adherents of a New Urbanist movement that favors traditional city patterns friendly to pedestrians."

"'We couldn't think of a better place to do this than Gentilly,' Duany said. 'It provides all the examples of architecture and all the challenges of urban planning we'd expect to find in the whole region. There are rich and poor residents, high and low ground, new and old structures. Everyone in New Orleans will see themselves in some aspect of Gentilly.'"