Planning For An Overnight Boomtown

Thousands of New Orleans businesses and residents have relocated to the 'New Baton Rouge', 75 miles to the northwest.

1 minute read

September 13, 2005, 5:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Commercial and housing markets are among the most hotly contested. Professional firms chased from New Orleans are setting up offices in former grocery stores. Housing prices are soaring as evacuees bid them up with all-cash offers. Apartments and other rentals are nearly impossible to find.

...City officials acknowledge this burgeoning city also will inherit the urban headaches often associated with breakneck growth, including crowded schools, overtaxed municipal services and gridlocked traffic. Just going five miles across town these days takes 20 minutes.

..In a city running short on space, housing is the most precious commodity. Several homes have been sold sight unseen, for $400,000 and $500,000 cash. One went for $1 million in cash, real estate agent Dorsey Peek says. 'It's like nothing I've seen in 29 years,' she says."

Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism Listserv

Monday, September 12, 2005 in USA Today

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Wastewater pouring out from a pipe.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage

Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

April 13, 2025 - Inside Climate News

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

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

April 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

People walking up and down stairs in New York City subway station.

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving

Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

April 18 - Scientific American

White public transit bus with bike on front bike rack in Nashville, Tennessee.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan

Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

April 18 - Bloomberg CityLab

An engineer controlling a quality of water ,aerated activated sludge tank at a waste water treatment plant.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding

The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.

April 18 - Smart Cities Dive