A year after Katrina, the federal money for rebuilding is just starting to arrive, while the city's mayor has failed to lead the reconstruction.
"The White House response to Katrina may have been a 'failure of initiative,' as the committee probing the catastrophe concluded, but City Hall has also lacked leadership. Mayor Ray Nagin, to date, has been unable to meet the perfectly reasonable requirement that New Orleans come up with a recovery plan before the feds start throwing money at it. A planning process that was to have been completed in May has only just begun."
"Much has been made of the Disneyland effect, whereby New Orleans comes back as a lifeless museum memorializing the culture that it killed off by failing to rein in the forces of gentrification. The older riverfront neighborhoods -- the French Quarter, the Garden District, Marigny and Uptown -- become a playground for the rich in a city without housing for the working poor who once served them.
But there's another scenario that's both more noxious and more likely: not Disneyland, but Shantytown. Given continued mismanagement up and down the political flow chart, the economic revival of the city at the mouth of the continent's mightiest waterway could start hardy, only to peter out"
FULL STORY: For New Orleans, a boom or the end?

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

California Homeless Arrests, Citations Spike After Ruling
An investigation reveals that anti-homeless actions increased up to 500% after Grants Pass v. Johnson — even in cities claiming no policy change.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
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