Rebuilding A Neighborhood, One Step At A Time

In New Orleans, some devastated neighborhoods are beginning to come back to life. But for those performing the revitalization, it is a long and often lonely path.

1 minute read

July 6, 2007, 11:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


"Gentilly, home to about 47,000 people before the storm and a thin fraction of that now, is not dead. Haltingly, in disconnected pockets, this eight-square-mile quadrant north of the historic districts that line the Mississippi River is limping back to life, thanks to the struggles of its most determined former residents."

"But they have had to do so largely on their own, because help from government at any level has been minimal, in their accounts. In recent weeks, some residents have reported getting checks from the state's Road Home rebuilding program, but four-fifths of applicants have not."

"All over the city, a giant slow-motion reconstruction project is taking place. It is unplanned, fragmentary and for the isolated individuals carrying it out, often overwhelming. Those with the fortitude to persevere - and only the hardiest even try - must battle the hopelessness brought on by a continuing sense of abandonment."

Monday, July 2, 2007 in The New York Times

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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

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