The Times-Picayune

Vincent Marcello intended to build a swimming pool in his backyard, which is built on top of the city's oldest burial grounds. 15 coffins have been excavated so far.

Mattel chose to premiere its "Architect Barbie" at the AIA Convention in New Orleans, and reporter Doug MacCash foregoes the plastic icon to talk to another sort of icon - Andres Duany.

The Times-Picayune reports that the Army Corps of Engineers, under pressure from penny-pinched local governments, has commenced a new pilot study that potentially relaxes the new, stricter standards for levees it set in place post-Katrina.

A group of activists and planners has released a report showing how tearing down the Claiborne Ave. Expressway in New Orleans and turning it into a boulevard would benefit the neighborhood and the city.

According to a new draft master plan, the Clairborne Expressway may be the next freeway to join the nation's growing highway to boulevard movement.

The Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans was deluged in the post-Katrina flooding. Today, a new community emerges with traditional renovations living side-by side with unique contemporary buildings.

Senator Mary Landrieu has threatened to take away some of New Orleans' unused federal dollars if they remain so. Of the unspent $34 million allocated for low-income housing, $11 million will be lost if there are no projects by May 31.

The master plan will replace an outdated, complex zoning law and address urban housing, wetlands preservation, and transit, among other things. New Orleans is finally "poised for sustained growth," according to the plan's lead consultant.

All of Canal Street's red streetcars were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, but up to nine restored streetcars may be in service by the end of the year.

Once New Orleans comes to terms with the fact that it is a shrinking city, the city's culture and geographic location can help bring it back.

New Orleans homeowners have begun receiving letters from the Army Corps of Engineers demanding that they remove objects that obstruct nearby levees' rights of way, including fences and trees. If history repeats itself, this may get messy.

Two years after the program's authorization, 500 cottages intended for residents displaces after Katrina have still not been built. Meanwhile, they have cropped up in Mississippi, which faced less damage overall.

The plan's approval by the city planning commission comes along with criticism about its flaws and lack of funding.

The culmination of a major statewide planning effort -- the new long-term plan calls for communities to build compact neighborhoods and coordinate regional development.

As the community has roundly approved the Unified New Orleans Plan, coordinators of the recovery planning effort have announced that its costs could rise above $14 billion over the next decade. Exact funding sources have yet to be fully identified.

City leaders in New Orleans are looking to the stars of architecture to help recreate the city's all-but ignored riverfront at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

The Greater New Orleans Foundation has approved the use of 16 "technical help teams" -- including one led by Duany Plater-Zyberk -- to help with recovery planning.

Displaced residents tell the City Council that they will return to their 7th Ward housing complex this weekend and will tear down any fences in their way, refusing to wait any longer for official action on permission to return.

In one of the few areas in New Orleans that was not ravaged by Hurricane Katrina flooding, neighborhood residents gathered to protest against the recent placement of a FEMA trailer park.

New Orleans residents warn of civil disorder if they are not allowed to return to their homes.