New Orleans

Two seven-story buildings, proposed for the former site of Holy Cross School in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, have created heated controversy in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward. In question is the character of the city’s riverfront neighborhoods.

April 3, 2014 - The Atlantic Cities

Detroit recently replaced New Orleans as the American city with the highest rate of blight. As Detroit undertakes its plans to shrink, which includes a massive blight removal campaign, what lessons from New Orleans bear repeating?

February 27, 2014 - New York Times

A new report called “Sustaining Prosperity: A Long Term Vision for the New Orleans Region,” authored by Joel Kotkin, celebrates the rebirth of New Orleans and sets a five point plan for ensuring New Orleans’ long-term prosperity.

February 19, 2014 - New Geography

In the search for cutting edge, sustainable construction techniques, Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation may have taken a wrong step in its selection of materials. The nonprofit is spending $150,000 to replace rotting stairs and decks.

January 5, 2014 - The New Orleans Advocate

A study of streetcar-adjacent development patterns in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina provides lessons for the many U.S. cities building and planning new streetcar lines.

December 11, 2013 - JPER

Marooned in an ocean of crumbling homes, declining city services, stray dogs, and crime, as many as 10,000 Detroiters live in areas that are unlikely to rebound. What incentives can the city devise to get them to relocate?

October 9, 2013 - Bloomberg News

New Orleans is planning a novel approach to managing the city's perpetual threat of floods. Instead of trying to prevent and pump out every last drop, the city will slow and store stormwater under a 50-year, $6.2 billion program of retrofits.

September 11, 2013 - Grist

The centerpiece of a $500 million plan for redeveloping New Orleans' riverfront is an 'iconic' sculpture, replacing the empty World Trade Center tower. Roberta Brandes Gratz argues the city should focus on small steps instead of a tourism boondoggle.

June 26, 2013 - The Lens

In 2002, Louisiana lawmakers passed a 30 percent film tax credit. Since then, the state has become the third most productive in the industry, second only to New York and California.

April 15, 2013 - Atlantic Cities

Brad Pitt's Make It Right foundation has built 90 cutting-edge homes in New Orleans' largely abandoned Lower Ninth Ward. Stores and services have stayed away, however, prompting many to wonder if the area will ever become a livable community again.

March 13, 2013 - The New Republic

Appealing to artists is a common method of urban revitalization, but keeping artists and musicians around after a community is revitalized is an equally difficult task.

February 7, 2013 - Global Site Plans - The Grid

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, it's time to reconsider the allegiance of cities to professional sports teams.

February 3, 2013 - Next City

Mark Byrnes explains the recent renovations - both inside and outside - of New Orleans' Superdome, home to Sunday's Super Bowl. The work was funded, at least in part, by FEMA.

February 2, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Roberta Brandes Gratz examines the many differences, and few similarities, between the two most devastating urban storms of recent memory. Among the most elemental differences: one devastated neighborhoods, one a city; one was man-made, one natural.

January 25, 2013 - Citiwire

While Washington bickers over partisan issues, mayors in the rest of the country are showing strong leadership and innovation. Newsweek has compiled a list of the top cities pushing education reform, public safety, quality of life, and job creation.

January 1, 2013 - The Daily Beast

Thanks to a $2 million federal grant, New Orleans is embarking on a study focused on improving the city's Claiborne Avenue corridor, which sits adjacent to an elevated stretch of Interstate 10. The project's public outreach effort begins next month.

November 30, 2012 - The Times-Picayune

In an astonishing interactive graphic and accompanying opinion piece, Benjamin Strauss and Roberr Kopp outline several likely scenarios for the impact of rising seas on America's urban areas. New Orleans and Miami Beach could be completely submerged.

November 26, 2012 - The New York Times

After months of development, a group of Code for America fellows has unveiled a new web application that seeks to assist communities in identifying and cleaning up New Orleans's blighted properties, reports Emily Badger.

October 22, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

New Orleans is shaking its distressed-city status as an influx of investment heads to town. National retailers and developers, many of them first-time investors in the city, are looking to set up shop.

September 28, 2012 - The New York Times

Seven years after Katrina made mincemeat of the city's flood protections, Hurricane Isaac is bearing down on the Crescent City. Ingrid Norton looks at what's different this time around.

August 28, 2012 - Next American City