Team Approach Adopted for New Orleans' Recovery

"A Greater New Orleans Foundation panel overseeing a neighborhood recovery planning effort on Friday approved use of 16 technical help teams, a blend of local and out-of-state consultants, and said the project will hit its stride by mid-August.

Veteran New Orleans planner Stephen Villavaso assembled a consultant team that will play a central role in the months-long process, crafting a citywide infrastructure plan and coordinating the work of teams that advise individual neighborhoods.

And one of the neighborhood consulting teams is Duany Plater-Zyberk, led by New Urbanist architect Andres Duany, who already has held high-profile workshops in Gentilly and in other south Louisiana communities.

Members of the New Orleans Community Support Foundation, a panel set up to administer use of a $3.5 million Rockefeller Foundation planning grant, were bullish about neighborhood-driven plans helping to land major recovery grants.

But there was no applause from a restive crowd at the K&B Plaza Building for an announcement of consulting teams. There were demands for details about how the process will play out."