New Orleans
Duany on Restoring New Orleans
Andrés Duany observes that American planners and architects are misunderstanding New Orleans by thinking of it as an American city rather than a Caribbean one.
New Orleans Endangers Funds by Not Using Them
Senator Mary Landrieu has threatened to take away some of New Orleans' unused federal dollars if they remain so. Of the unspent $34 million allocated for low-income housing, $11 million will be lost if there are no projects by May 31.
When The Planners Go Marching In
There’s just one problem with academia. Sometimes it can be so … academic. In the interest of getting out into the world, I’m writing this post from Nawlins (nee New Orleans), where 16 other Penn planners and I are spending our weeklong spring break doffing our tops for beads and booze doing pro bono city planning work. For most of us, it’s been nothing short of a paradigm shift—and the week ain’t over yet.
Defeating the Prison-Urban Neighborhood Cycle
Two-thirds of people who leave prison go back within three years, and many who leave prison go back to particular urban neighborhoods. New Orleans want to spend more smartly in areas whose community life is disrupted by such a cycle.
Glimpsing into New Orleans' First Master Plan
The master plan will replace an outdated, complex zoning law and address urban housing, wetlands preservation, and transit, among other things. New Orleans is finally "poised for sustained growth," according to the plan's lead consultant.
Ninth Ward, The Movie: How To Really Rebuild New Orleans
New Orleans is still struggling, especially its hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward. The economic recession has been bad news for development all over the world, and it's really not helping things down in New Orleans. The federal government's broke, states are cutting costs, and local government is practically bankrupt. But even in tough times, there is one place where business always seems to be good and money's always flowing: the movie industry. Maybe New Orleans should look to Hollywood as a means to recovery. It has the money, it has the incentive, and it's proven that it actually has the power to make it happen.
Plugging into Planning: Baltimore and New Orleans
I am enjoying the last day of my Independent Activities Period (IAP) – the period after winter break in which all students at MIT can take one of many non-credit or for-credit course offerings at MIT, set up a winter externship, or just do nothing. This amounts to six weeks of bliss!
Greening New Orleans
In the slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is finally getting into the green movement.
Friday Funny: Rats Prefer Manhattan
Rats choose Manhattan because if its logical street grid, according to new research by a team of zoologists and geographers at Tel Aviv University, who are using rats to test wayfinding in cities.
New Orleans Riverfront Redevelopment Approved
Plans to redevelop a section of the Mississippi Riverfront in New Orleans have been approved and construction could begin by the end of 2009.
First Homes Completed in Brad Pitt's New Orleans Effort
In New Orleans' Ninth Ward, Hurricane Katrina's devastation is painfully evident. But a philanthropic homebuilding effort led by actor Brad Pitt aims to help the neighborhood rebuild. The first homes in that effort have just completed construction.
NOLA Medical Campus to Replace Historic Buildings
A proposed New Orleans hospital will have to be built on top of an historic neighborhood that some residents feel that they have just regained. Those in favor of the project insist that the selection of that site was necessary.
New Orleans' Streetcars Make a Comeback
All of Canal Street's red streetcars were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, but up to nine restored streetcars may be in service by the end of the year.
Community-Based Progress in Post-Katrina New Orleans
The grieving period has ended, and now resilient New Orleaneans are taking it upon themselves to rebuild their beloved city. Though it's sure to be a slow process, this could very well be community organization at its best.
A Shrinking City is Not a Failed City
Once New Orleans comes to terms with the fact that it is a shrinking city, the city's culture and geographic location can help bring it back.
New Orleans Planning By Force of Law
New Orleans residents this Election Day will decide whether to grant the "force of law" to the city's master plan, making it more difficult for officials to make amendments and exceptions for specific projects. The master plan has yet to be written.
Post-Katrina Housing Goes Ikea
Following the Ikea model, home builder John Sawyer is bringing a new -- and cheaper -- process to affordable housing in New Orleans.
Corps Requests Removal or Levee Encroachments
New Orleans homeowners have begun receiving letters from the Army Corps of Engineers demanding that they remove objects that obstruct nearby levees' rights of way, including fences and trees. If history repeats itself, this may get messy.
From Bad to Worse in NOLA
The economic crisis is the latest hindrance to stall rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. From issues of boosting homeownership to restoring tourism, the Big Easy's road to recovery is looking bumpier than ever.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
