New Orleans Small Business Rising from the Ruins

As proposals for big-box retail projects mount in New Orleans, many small business owners who are returning to the city worry about the coming competition. A documentary is currently being filmed about the recovering city's business atmosphere.

1 minute read

April 25, 2008, 12:00 PM PDT

By Nate Berg


New Orleans is a city of unique culture and fierce loyalties to the local. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, locally-owned businesses led the return to neighborhoods throughout the city, joining residents in the expensive and risky rebuilding effort. Chain stores and restaurants, meanwhile, remain boarded up nearly three years later, counting rooftops and awaiting municipal subsidies.

Dana Eness, Executive Director of the Urban Conservancy, finds in the filming cause for both hope and concern.

"Hanson Hosein and his assistants have been touring the city with their cameras to find out how a wide variety of mom-and-pop businesses are faring in post-Katrina New Orleans. See a three-minute in-production preview on Hosein's Independent America Web log: http://www.independentamerica.typepad.com/."

"The clip includes comments from Edward Blakely of the city's Office of Recovery Development and Administration as he bicycles with Hosein through a Katrina-damaged neighborhood."

"Blakely tells Hosein that 'the pressure from the ordinary citizens' is to bring more big-box stores. Blakely concedes that big boxes may 'put these . . . little guys out of business,' but he insists that citizens he is hearing from say they're focused on their own rebuilding efforts and 'can't think about that guy's business.'"

Thanks to Dan Houston

Saturday, April 19, 2008 in New Orleans Times-Picayune

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

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

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.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of California High-Speed Rail station with bullet train.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself

The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

May 19, 2025 - Benjamin Schneider

Two Rivian trucks charging at Rivian branded charging ports.

US Senate Reverses California EV Mandate

The state planned to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, a goal some carmakers deemed impossible to meet.

7 hours ago - CALmatters

Metal U.S. Geodetic Survey marker in stone in Arizona.

Trump Cuts Decimate Mapping Agency

The National Geodetic Survey maintains and updates critical spatial reference systems used extensively in both the public and private sectors.

May 22 - Wired

Close-up of 10 mph speed limit sign.

Washington Passes First US ‘Shared Streets’ Law

Cities will be allowed to lower speed limits to 10 miles per hour and prioritize pedestrians on certain streets.

May 22 - The Urbanist