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WELCOME TO THE NEW ORLEANS NEIGHBORHOOD REBUILDING PLAN WEBSITE updated 01/2007
Here you will find the official Neighborhood Recovery Plans of the City of New Orleans that were unanimously approved by the New Orleans City Council and accepted by the Louisiana Recovery Authority on November 6th, 2006. Feel free to browse the site for the Final Neighborhood Plans as well as related documents, maps, and presentations that were created during the planning process. Please check this site regularly for updates, events, and information. RECOVERY AND REBUILDING CONFERENCE HELD ON SATURDAY FEB 3RD The AALP, in conjuction with NOLANRP, held its 2nd annual "Recovery and Rebuilding Conference" on Saturday Feb. 3rd from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at the St. Maria Goretti Church Center, 7300 Crowder Blvd. in New Orleans East. Now that all of the conceptual and project planning processes are basically complete, the next phase is to develop an IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY and ACTION PLAN Thus, this year's focus was on the CITIZEN role in implementation of the recovery and rebuilding plans and developing a Citywide Citizen's Recovery Coalition to protect and advance the recovery and rebuilding interests of the most impacted residents and neighborhoods. The meeting was attended by New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin as well as New Orleans Recovery Manager Dr. Edward Blakely and LSU researcher Dr. Ivor Van Heerden. Dr. Van Heerden detailed the need for comprehensive levee protection that protects all areas of the city. He reminded participants that areas such as New Orleans East suffered needlessly from storm surge that was funnelled through the MR GO. Closing this waterway and rebuilding the marsh buffer by diverting the Mississippi River will lessen the impact of future surge events. Mayor Nagin and Dr. Blakely reiterated their desire that all areas of the city be rebuilt in an equitable manner. Blakely further stated that all plans will be reviewed by his office and released in a One New Orleans plan. RECOVERY STRATEGY FRAMEWORK FOR THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS as presented by Dr. Edward Blakely On January 13th, 2007 The African American Leadership Project, Lambert Advisory,and SHEDO, LLC, hosted a Neighborhood Rebuilding Plan leadership meeting at St. Maria Goretti Church in New Orleans East. At this meeting, Dr. Edward Blakely, the city's new recovery manager, outlined his five point recovery strategy for the City of New Orleans: 1 HEALING AND CONSULTATION-Build a comprehensive program that engages residents and resources in the recovery process and sustains community participation in shaping the future development of the City, Parish, and Region. 2 PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL SECURITY-Reduce physical and emotional threats to personal security and re-establish basic human health and educational services that enhance emotional and social quality of life in the city for all residents in all locations. 3 INFRASTRUCTURE RECONFUGURATION FOR THE 21ST AND 22ND CENTURIES-Use the recovery process as the opportunity to design and develop leading edge physical and social infrastructures in order to make the city competitive globally. 4 DIVERSIFY THE CITY AND REGIONAL ECONOMIC BASE-Develop a new, diverse economy that strenghthens and augments the traditional economic base of culture, tourism, and natural resources with a strong focus on international trade, digital media and production, health systems and preventative health management. The goal of this diversification is the repositioning of New Orleans as the gateway for international trade with South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean trade zones. 5 DEVELOP A SAFE, SECURE, AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE SETTLEMENT PATTERN-Ensure that the residential and commercial rebuilding and resettlement plan improves community physical land use hazard security while meeting the challenges of global climate change, environmental justice, and community sustainability (economic, social, and physical) A NEW ORLEANS STUDY GROUP? Given the holidays, some people probably did not have the opportunity to read an important report issued by some of the nation?’s most respected former government officials. If you didn?’t read the report you may have missed the bi-partisan panel?’s finding that ?“the people have a democratically elected government that is broadly representative?” however, the government has not been ?“providing basic security, or delivering essential services.?” Or that, ?“There is great suffering, and the daily lives of many show little or no improvement. Pessimism is pervasive.?” That?’s Page 1. Quote car insurance The report?’s assessment gets grimmer. On Page 20, ?“government is not effectively providing people with basic services: electricity, drinking water, sewage, health care, and education.?” On Page 21, agencies ?“can do little more than pay salaries, spending as little as 10-15 percent of their capital budget?” and then goes on to find that they are constrained by a lack of technical expertise, corruption, inefficiency, and ?“extensive red tape put in place in part to deter corruption.?” Of course, although many of these findings might have been inserted in a report about New Orleans and the surrounding Parishes after Katrina, this wasn?’t written about New Orleans or any other area on the Gulf Coast but is the findings of the Iraqi Study Group. On the one hand, the report raises the question as to why a study group of equal esteem and influence has not been established to follow up on the situation in the Gulf Coast. This still may come to pass. On the other, it establishes the benchmark for the most basic of services that should be expected from government: security from crime, reasonably priced and stable electric supply, working water and sewage systems, reasonable quality education, health care, and streets, roads and the provision of transit. Additionally, the report makes clear that citizens deserve a government that is well managed and not corrupt but one that also does not put in place layer upon layer of red tape for the appearance of doing something to combat corruption. Since Katrina, New Orleans and many of the surrounding Parishes have not achieved many of these benchmarks. The water and sewer systems still require over $800 million in immediate unfunded repair, one of the best health care systems in the country is ironically on life support, huge holes in streets continue to go without repair due to a lack of funding, and businesses continue to struggle to find workers because low and moderate wage employees still have few places to live. No plan for moving forward can accept the existing conditions or even the currently proposed funding for infrastructure renewal as the benchmark. If so the plan will not have even aimed for what our government says Iraqis should expect, let alone Americans. It is now time for neighborhood groups, the business and financial community to come together with elected officials to advocate in Washington for the full funding of repairs required in the City in a constructive and focused way. The Neighborhoods Rebuilding team is going to work with city officials over the next several weeks to develop a clear structure through which the residents and business community at every level can coordinate a campaign to support the expansion of the federal and state investment in New Orleans and surrounding communities. Stay tuned for further notice and our best wishes for an improved and prosperous 2007. Sincerely, Paul Lambert MAYOR NAGIN APPOINTS NEW RECOVERY MANAGER The New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilding Plan also looks forward to working with Dr. Edward J. Blakely, recently appointed as the city's new recovery manager. Dr. Blakely will head the Mayor's newly created recovery office and will oversee the implementation of plans and priorities that were identified by citizens throughout the planning process. Since Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Blakely has been actively involved in the recovery process by leading local recovery workshops and advising leaders and planners. He comes to New Orleans from Sydney, Australia where he is Chair of the Department of Urban Planning at the University of Sydney. Dr. Blakely brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the position, having overseen the recovery of Oakland, California after a series of fires and earthquakes as well as providing leadership to New York City after the events of September 11th, 2001. LET'S REVIEW SOME KEY FACTS ABOUT THE RECOVERY We have, however, become increasingly concerned about the accuracy of some of the data which is being disseminated and being used to form conclusions within some of the current, ongoing planning efforts in the city. The concern is that faulty and misleading data will be used by stakeholders and private investors in making decisions about when and where areas of the city will be rebuilt. Two primary areas of concern are post-storm damage estimates and critical infrastructure damage. One current planning process stated that 55 percent of surveyed units were damaged in excess of 75 percent with 99 percent of those damaged more than 75 percent. In actuality, the City's own data, along with FEMA's, shows that far fewer units had in excess of 50 percent damage and only a small fraction sustained catastrophic damage greater than 60 percent. Given that 50 percent damage is an important threshold with regard to rebuilding decisions, an inaccurate portrayal of these statistics may lead to the creation of redevelopment policies that limit the ability of all New Orleanians to rebuild. It also appears that there are inaccuracies in the estimated costs of repairs to the city's infrastructure system. One number suggested by other planners puts the cost of infrastructure repair at over $8.0 Billion, well beyond any previous estimate. If accurate, this high dollar amount would force tough decisions to be made regarding where limited financial resources should be directed. However, it appears as though this number includes over $5 Billion for a "system replacement cost" for the New Orleans S&WB, not a storm-related repair cost. Worse, this "replacement cost" is spread out over 25 years. Actual storm-related damages, according to our estimates, are less than $1 Billion. This significantly reduces the amount of money needed for repairs and, simultaneously, makes more areas of the city feasible for resettlement. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND SUBMISSION TO THE LRA As a reminder, The New Orleans Neighborhoods Rebuilding plans were unanimously accepted by the New Orleans City Council on October 27th, 2006 (Motion M-06-460). The motion directed that the Plans be packaged with selected project initiatives selected by the mayor and the Sewerage and Water Board, and sent immediately to the LRA for funding. On November 6th 2006, the City of New Orleans presented the Plans to the LRA at the Alario Center in Westwego where they were accepted. With this difficult phase accomplished citizens must contact their local, state, and federal representatives to let them know that their plans are finished and are ready to be funded. The NOLANRP Project Managers, Shelia Danzey and Paul Lambert, along with the entire team of Architects and Planners that developed the Rebuilding Plans would like to extend thanks to the citizens of New Orleans for their tireless effort and dedication. It is a tremendous testament to your resolve to rebuild the city into as great a place as it ever was. PLEASE CONTINUE TO VISIT THIS SITE FOR REGULAR UPDATES BEST WISHES |
Copyright 2006