Louisiana

As Katrina Cleanup Drags on, New Orleans Falling into Despair

The extent of destruction in New Orleans extends beyond the physical -- the social and civil society infrastructure has also been severely damaged, and is now unable to cope with a new impact of the storm: an epidemic of depression and despair.

June 25, 2006 - The New York Times

Louisiana Island Has That Sinking Feeling

A small Louisiana island community faces the inevitability of losing their homes to the ocean, while the federal government plans a levee system that will exclude them.

June 21, 2006 - The New York Times

5,000 Public Housing Units To Be Razed In New Orleans

Despite criticism from low-income tenants, federal housing officials report that some 5,000 public housing units in Katrina-torn New Orleans will be razed and replaced with mixed-income housing.

June 17, 2006 - The New York Times

New Orleans 64% Smaller

A new report from the Census Bureau documents Hurricane Katrina's effect on demographics throughout the Gulf Coast region.

June 9, 2006 - The New York Times

New Orleans 'Death Traps' Sinking Faster Than Expected

Ground subsidence near levees is reported to be much more drastic than previously thought, according to a University of Miami study.

June 8, 2006 - BBC

Army Corps Accepts 'Blame' For Katrina Levee Failures

In a 6,000-page report, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accepted responsibility for design defects in the levee system that failed during Hurricane Katrina and led to the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans.

June 5, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

National Jazz Center Park Planned For Central New Orleans

Strategic Hotels & Resorts has proposed a plan to build a 20-acre national jazz center and park in the center of New Orleans, to be designed by Pritzker Prize winner, Thom Mayne.

June 4, 2006 - New Orleans Times-Picayune

Frustrated New Orleans Public Housing Residents Plan Return To Destroyed Development

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.

June 4, 2006 - The Times-Picayune

America's Most Surreal Housing Market

What does it take to sell real estate in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina?

May 31, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

Study Finds New Orleans' Repaired Levees May Fail Again

An independent study finds that 3.1 billion in repairs made to New Orleans' levee system won't protect the city from another Katrina-like hurricane.

May 24, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

Redefining The New Urbanism In The Context Of Katrina

Author Matt Dellinger examines the work of the New Urbanists in Mississippi and Louisiana, and whether or not New Urbanism has reached the tipping point in terms of wider acceptance.

May 24, 2006 - Oxford American

Disaster And Environmental Justice: Lessons For Post-Katrina America

A new report from the Russell Sage Foundation discusses the "dark window" that Hurricane Katrina opened -- that of environmental racism in America -- and concludes that an "eco-social" approach is needed to protect poor and minority communities.

May 20, 2006 - Russell Sage Foundation

A Sustainable New Orleans Is Possible

Good planning can rebuild a sustainable New Orleans but politics is moving in the other direction observes Neal Peirce.

May 14, 2006 - The Washington Post Writers Group

Katrina Debris Dumping Opposed By Nearby Community, Environmentalists

With millions of tons of smashed homes and other debris to dispose of, Louisiana State officials are turning to a new landfill site -- across a canal from the largest urban wildlife refuge in the country.

May 10, 2006 - The New York Times

Displacement And Discrimination: The Politics Of Re-Housing New Orleans' Poor

Despite a Senate report that recommended FEMA be dismantled and replaced, the troubled agency is still "holding the purse strings" on recovery in New Orleans, and tens of thousands of residents may be cut off from rental assistance monies next month.

May 5, 2006 - Tom Paine

Struggling To Protect Remnants Of New Orleans' Architectural Heritage

Despite an official "embargo" of the practice, there are reports of people removing "truckloads of architectural elements" from New Orleans every day. Preservationists fear that what isn't stolen will end up in landfills.

May 4, 2006 - Architectural Record

New Orleans To Receive Millions In Government Aid -- From Qatar

Several prominent institutions in New Orleans are to benefit from the generosity of Qatar and other Persian Gulf States.

May 4, 2006 - The New York Times

Bringing New Urbanism To New Orleans

To fund a week-long charrette with over 40 architects, planners, and engineers, New Urbanism founder Andres Duany chipped in $150,000 of his own money. As a result, one neighborhood is much further along in the planning process than its counterparts.

May 3, 2006 - The Wall Street Journal

Eight Months Later, Little Progress In New Orleans

Eight months after hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is still struggling with devastated infrastructure, overburdened and understaffed hospitals, and a denuded public housing stock.

April 27, 2006 - Common Dreams

Lack Of Political Will Points To 'Drenched Future' In New Orleans

Neal Peirce writes that there is a way to rebuild New Orleans in a responsible, sustainable way: make low-lying areas parkland, and build denser neighborhoods on higher ground. But there appears to be no political will to make it happen.

April 25, 2006 - The Seattle Times

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