The city’s post-hurricane redevelopment has failed to include its most vulnerable residents.
After Hurricane Katrina destroyed roughly 134,000 homes in New Orleans, officials including President George W. Bush promised to build the city back “higher and better,” writes Ryan Kushner in Smart Cities Dive. Yet housing affordability is worse than before 2005, and many displaced residents never returned.
“Today, the median sales price for all home types in New Orleans is $335,000, according to Redfin. That price is up nearly 10% compared with last year, putting New Orleans among the 10 cities with the fastest-growing home sales prices in the U.S.” Meanwhile, the percentage of rent-burdened residents grew from 24 percent before Katrina to 34 percent in 2024, and there were 10 percent fewer housing units in the city in 2020 than there were in 2000.
Despite the issues, the city is making some progress. “Last year, voters approved a Housing Trust Fund that allocates at least 2% of the city’s annual budget for affordable housing projects. The fund is expected to bring in around $17 million a year for local affordable housing.” But with federal housing assistance like housing vouchers in jeopardy, New Orleans residents could face even more challenges in finding affordable housing.
Read the full story: Housing affordability was a problem in New Orleans before Katrina. That hasn’t changed.
High Housing Costs Driving Down Transit Ridership in LA
When neighborhoods gentrify and displace lower-income residents, transit ridership suffers, new research shows.
Louisville Launches ‘Anti-Displacement Tool’
After a years-long, tenant-led effort, Louisville will use a new tool to analyze whether a proposed housing development can meet a neighborhood’s housing needs and income levels. If it doesn’t, the city won’t subsidize it.
A Dirty Little Secret: Rising Property Values Are Incompatible With Affordability
Rising property values come with positive community development, but this shift can make neighborhoods inaccessible to low-income renters and fixed-income homeowners.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority