Planning Report Interviews Ed Blakely About New Orleans Recovery

Noted L.A.-area scholar Ed Blakely helped Oakland and L.A. rebound from earthquakes; now he's turning to the resurrection of New Orleans. The Planinng Report features an interview.

2 minute read

January 11, 2007, 1:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


Though the devastation in New Orleans took place a continent away from L.A., the city of New Orleans has enlisted Southern Californian Ed Blakely to leads its recovery efforts. A former professor at USC and UC-Riverside and longtime advocate of smart growth, Blakely led recovery efforts following earthquakes in both L.A. and the Bay Area. Blakely recently spoke with Th Planning Report about his new appointment as Recovery 'Czar' and his strategy for reviving New Orleans.

Among the interview questions:

"TPR: What was the nature of your job interview with New Orleans Mayor Nagin? What did you need to hear from him? What authority did he grant you?

I told him what needed to be done, and he pretty much listened and asked me what authorities I would need to do it. I told him I needed full authority of his office and full authority to call my own shots and hire my own staff and use funds to do this job, and he just said, yes, you got it.

I told him the first thing we had to do was get out of the planning mode and get into the action mode. We have to start building some things in order to restore public confidence. We have to set up a system so that people who want to come back can come back somewhere in New Orleans as soon as possible. It might be in stages. They might come back to one area of the city, and then they might move into other neighborhoods in a year or two."

[Editor's note: The full text of this article is available to subscribers, or for a modest fee.]

Wednesday, January 10, 2007 in The Planning Report

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