|
06/02/2006 - Army Builders Accept Blame Over Flooding
"In a sweeping new study of the causes of the disaster in New Orleans last year, the Army Corps of Engineers concludes that the levees it built in the city were an incomplete patchwork of protection, containing flaws in design and construction and not built to handle a storm anywhere near the strength of Hurricane Katrina." Read on in the New York Times.
|
 |
|
06/02/2006 - Boustany Stays in Battle for Faster Pace in Recovery
"U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany Jr., R-Lafayette, is continuing his battle against what he has labeled “Rita amnesia.” Boustany coined the phrase months ago, pointing out that Hurricane Rita is in danger of becoming “the forgotten storm” among those who can best aid its victims." Read on in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.
|
|
|
06/01/2006 - A New Beginning
"Every mayor and city council member at every inauguration should take the oath of office as a serious commitment to the public good. But the oath to serve will carry special meaning today as Mayor Ray Nagin and the city's seven council members are sworn in." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/30/2006 - Don't Appoint More Panels
"Much has been made of the uneasy relationship between Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, just re-elected to a second term." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/30/2006 - Levee Progress Report: Much Done, More to Do
"With meteologists predicting another severe round of hurricanes this summer, the US Army Corps of Engineers is hastily working to finish repairs to the New Orleans' levee system by June 1 – the official start of hurricane season – calling the end product “stronger and better than before.”" Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
|
|
|
05/30/2006 - For Some Katrina Evacuees, Another Displacement Looms
"In the nine months since their New Orleans home was flooded with nine feet of water, Dianne Jeanpierre has worked hard to put her life and her daughters' lives back in order." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
05/29/2006 - Administration: Federal Hurricane Aid Inflates Spending Proposal
"The governor's chief administrator told lawmakers Sunday that the proposed $21.7 billion state government spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year is not as big as it seems." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/27/2006 - State and City to Talk Recovery
"With pressure building to mesh New Orleans' disparate post-Katrina neighborhood recovery efforts, city officials and Gov. Kathleen Blanco are expected to meet next week to discuss a range of issues." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/26/2006 - Give New Choices for Those Seeking Better Family Life
"Shall we repeat the planning errors of the past? Steve Oubre, president of the Louisiana chapter of the American Institute of Architects, believes there is a better path forward. He extolled New Urbanism in a lecture sponsored by The Independent, a newsweekly in Acadiana." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/25/2006 - State Will Have to Wait for Hurricane Recovery Funds
"Louisiana will have to wait until after hurricane season begins to get any more hurricane-recovery money from Congress." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/24/2006 - Corps: Storm Work is 92% Complete
"The race against the clock to restore the New Orleans area's battered hurricane protection system to pre-Katrina levels by the start of a new hurricane season next week is 92 percent complete, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials in charge of the $798 billion project said Tuesday." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/24/2006 - Senate Bill to Limit the Taking of Private Propert Passes House
"The House held showdown votes Tuesday on two competing bills to restrict the government's powers to take privates property and sided with the proposal making the strongest and most specific limits on takings for economic development projects." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/22/2006 - Report Cites Causes of Levee Failure
"Human error, cost-cutting pressures and turf battles were the underlying causes of the New Orleans-area levee failtures during Hurricane Katrina, an independent levee investigation team concludes in a draft final report to be issued today." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/21/2006 - Mayor Nagin's Second Term
"A few short months after being declared a political goner, Ray Nagin won a new term Satruday as mayor of New Orleans. The job ahead of him now is daunting. The city's economy, infrastructure and institutions of government are still creaking under the weight of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/20/2006 - Sounds Like a Plan
"Outside of a few fortunate neighborhoods, Greater New Orleans is caught in a vicious cycle: People cannot return to the city because they have no place to live; businesses cannot reopen because they lack workers and customers; and many former residents simply do not want to rebuild in neighborhoods devoid of services and basic community." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/19/2006 - New Law Backs Efforts to Save Old Homes
"In a move that pleased preservationists, the New Orleans City Council has adopted an ordinance requiring that the staff of the city's Historic District Landmarks Commission review applications to demolish heavily hurricane-damaged buildings in several neighborhoods that are on the Nation Register of Historic Places but are not local historic districts." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/18/2006 - Federal Bill Strips FEMA of Housing Duties
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency's role in providing emergency housing after a disaster would be supplanted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development under legislation introduced Wednesday by a top Republican and Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/18/2006 - Levee and Land-Rights Amendment Stalls in House
"A shortage of members present in the House Wednesday, coupled with a possible confusion over related issues, resulted in the surprise defeat of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed state government to seize private land for hurricane-protection projects and pay the owner only fair-market value." Read on in the Houma Courier.
|
|
|
05/17/2006 - To Revitalize City, Try Spreading Some Mulch
"In many ways, this city’s current fortunes are all about mulch. It’s everywhere. Bark mulch is spread in neat circles around the city’s trees; roughly 30,000 new trees are planted annually. Darker leaf mulch fills planters along State, Dearborn, Michigan and other major thoroughfares now blooming in spring colors." Read on in the New York Times.
|
|
|
05/11/2006 - Housing Grants Now Need Action in Congress
"The Louisiana Recovery Authority’s proposed grant program for the owners of storm-damaged homes won final approval Wednesday from the state Senate, paving the way for the federal government to begin considering the state’s plan to rebuild 123,000 houses ruined during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/11/2006 - Group Cites Threats to New Orleans
"The private National Trust for Historic Preservation put 20 New Orleans neighborhoods on its 2006 list of “most endangered historic places” in the country Wednesday, hoping to bolster public awareness and rally resources to save them." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/10/2006 - Housing Plan Passes Despite Reservations
"The House put its imprint Tuesday on the major part of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s multi-billion-dollar proposed housing program for hurricane victims." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/08/2006 - America's 'Near Poor' Are Increasingly at Economic Risk, Experts Say
"The Abotts date their tailspin to a collapse in demand for the aviation-related electronic parts that Stephen sold in better times, when he earned about $40,000 a year." Read on in the New York Times.
|
|
|
05/06/2006 - Washington Says Recovery 'Regaining Traction'
"New Orleans’ post-Katrina recovery was at a “virtual standstill” the first few months of the year but now appears to be “regaining traction,” according to a think tank based in Washington, D.C., that is monitoring the city’s reconstruction effort." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/05/2006 - Senate OKs Bill With Major Aid for La.
"Louisiana gets almost everything it asked for in terms of money for levees, housing, fisheries, agriculture and loans for its struggling local governments in a $109 billion emergency spending bill approved Thursday by the Senate." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/04/2006 - False Claims
"In mid-April, the Federal Emergency Management Agency released its long-awaited guidelines for rebuilding homes and businesses in New Orleans." Read on in the New York Times.
|
|
|
05/03/2006 - House Splits on Expropriation Ideas
"After a showdown between two conflicting philosophies on whether government should take private property for economic-development purposes, a House committee chose both sides, sending the fight to the full House." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/03/2006 - Panels Clear Gov. Blanco's Housing Bills
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s proposed housing program for hurricane victims cleared two legislative committees Tuesday after one panel balked at banning aid for the homes of felons." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/03/2006 - Senate OKs $2.2 Billion More to Upgrade Levees
"After some unexpected resistance, the Senate voted Tuesday to provide the additional $2.2 billion requested by the Bush administration to upgrade levee protection in the New Orleans area." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/03/2006 - Category 3 Pledges Ring Hollow
"Statements by the Army Corps of Engineers that the New Orleans area was protected against the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane were “at best a rough estimate and at worst simply inaccurate,” according to a Senate committee’s final report on Hurricane Katrina releases Tuesday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
05/02/2006 - House Backs Bill on Taking Property
"The House narrowly passed legislation Monday that would allow government to continue to take private property for economic development reasons." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
05/01/2006 - Plans Didn't Account for Area's Subsidence
"As they completed sections of the New Orleans area’s hurricane protection system in the 1980s and ‘90s, Army Corps of Engineers officials assured residents that structures had been raised to standards mandated by Congress." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/30/2006 - Evading Blame Again
"The peculiar ability the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has to reach conclusions bearing no relationship to the facts before them should no longer surprise anyone in the New Orleans area." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/29/2006 - Still Battering the Katrina Homeless
"The federal government’s disastrous handling of the Katrina housing crisis is looking more and more like an attempt to force displaced families into the streets." Read on in the New York Times.
|
|
|
04/28/2006 - Locals' Plan: A More Walkable Big Easy
"April Allen has torn down her 1950s ranch-style home and plans to replace it with a raised Arts-and-Crafts-style home. She’s one of the few in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gentilly who knows what she will do with her structure. But what of the neighborhood she loved so much, water-logged for three weeks after hurricane Katrina?" Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
|
|
|
04/27/2006 - Recovery Authority OKs Rebuilding Plan
"The Louisiana Recovery Authority on Wednesday unanimously approved the final draft of its $7.5 plan to help homeowners rebuilding hurricane-ruined houses, as Gov. Kathleen Blanco and lawmakers announced that they have worked out their differences over the proposal." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/26/2006 - Katrrina Flooding Reasons Still Being Debated
"Eight months after Hurricane Katrina, a heated debate continues over whether levee breaches or overtopping caused most of the flooding." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/26/2006 - Bill to Keep Work Affordable Advances
"A ballot measure aimed at keeping levee projects and flood control affordable by trimming what private property owners collect cleared a House committee on Tuesday." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
04/26/2006 - La. Required to Chip in $270 Million on Levees
"
The Bush administration Tuesday formally asked Congress to approve the additional $2.2 billion experts say is needed to improve storm protection for much of southeast Louisiana, but with the caveat that state and local taxpayers come up with $270 million." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/26/2006 - House, Senate Versions of Bill Differ
"Legislation that competes with a Senate-passed bill banning government from taking private property for economic development purposes was unanimously approved by a House committee Tuesday." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
04/25/2006 - Expropriation Measure Doubles in Size
"The Legislature is likely to approve a constitutional amendment this session that will limit government’s ability to take private property, many lawmakers say, but the scope of the measure and its impact on homeowners, businesses and hurricane rebuilding is far from decided." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/24/2006 - Late FEMA Home Rules Still Unclear
"Homebuilders say the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s building elevation guidelines have created as many questions as answers." Read on in New Orleans City Business.
|
|
|
04/22/2006 - State Recovery Authority Defends Buyout Plan
"Responding to criticism of the state’s housing recovery plan, state officials on Friday defended their program as an all-inclusive remedy for homeowners to rebuild their hurricane-damaged houses or receive sufficient buyouts, and urged lawmakers to expedite its approval." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/20/2006 - Group Conveys Flooding Concerns
"Uncertainty about the science behind the new flood elevation levels and the short-term safety of the levee system troubled members of the Louisiana Recovery Authority on Wednesday." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
04/20/2006 - Forgotten in New Orleans
"No discussion of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina fails to focus on the stark class and racial difference that supposedly determined its residents’ fates." Read on in the New York Times.
|
|
|
04/19/2006 - Decent Housing is One Key to a Better City
"“I’ve always wanted to be poor and live in the most run-down neighborhood in town.” Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it? No one wants to be poor. Why state the obvious? Well, it helps us to put the goal into perspective." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/19/2006 - Evacuees Rap Features of Housing Proposal
"A lot of the middle class voiced angst at the governor’s housing plan for hurricane victims." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
04/19/2006 - Emotional Compromise Brokered Over Levee Elevations
"After a lengthy hearing in which lawmakers snapped at state officials and questioned one agency’s dedication to hurricane protection, a House committee voted Tuesday to require levee boards in the state’s coastal zone to submit elevations reports once every three years." Read on in the Houma Courier.
|
|
|
04/18/2006 - Lawmakers Fear Incentives Loss
"Housing experts and New Orleans-area lawmakers questioned Monday whether state recovery proposals are putting enough emphasis on rebuilding rental housing damaged by the recent hurricanes, particularly in the regions most devastated by the storms." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/17/2006 - Panel Endorses Taking Private Land for Levee, Hurricane Projects
"With surprisingly little debate, a Senate committee approved a constitutional amendment last week that would allow state government to seize private land for hurricane-protection and levee projects, paying the owners fair-market value and nothing more." Read on in the Houma Courier.
|
|
|
04/16/2006 - Blanco Catches Heat from Right and Left on Housing Plan
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s place just isn’t in the House. The beleaguered governor was been weak in the lower chamber for some time." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
04/16/2006 - Rebuilding a Safer Community
"When Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters swamped 200,000 homes, leaving hundreds of them filled with water for weeks on end, some people worried that every house in greater New Orleans might end up perched on 12-foot stilts." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/10/2006 - Expropriation Foes Take Stand
"Opponents are lining up against popular legislation that would forbid government from taking a person’s property to help an economic development project." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
04/10/2006 - For the Corps, a Moment of Truth
"It is not easy to say a good word about the Army Corps of Engineers these days, but I will." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/07/2006 - Corps, Critics Will Try to Reconcile
"Two of the independent investigators who have been most critical of the Army Corps of Engineers are scheduled to meet with agency officials Saturday to discuss concerns about the quality of repairs to the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet levees." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/06/2006 - Halting Progress Gauged in N.O.
"Population gains and stepped-up building and demolition activity offer promising signs that the New Orleans area is beginning to recover from Hurricane Katrina, according to a Washington, D.C., think tank that has been monitoring the area’s recovery." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/06/2006 - State Outlines Housing Plan
"Hurricane victims should start receiving state aid in late summer to repair, rebuild or sell off their damaged or destroyed homes, the state’s top recovery officials said Wednesday." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
04/05/2006 - Property Rights Bill Headed to Senate
"Legislation that would stop the government from taking someone’s property and giving it to a private business moved forward Tuesday in the first action taken on an issue that attracted more bills than any other this session." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
04/05/2006 - Senate Panel Boosts Storm Relief
"Senate appropriations went on a spending spree Tuesday, approving $109 billion in emergency financing for hurricane relief and the global war on terror – a whopping $17 billion above what the House approved last month – and preserving money Louisiana is counting on for housing reconstruction." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/02/2006 - Hurricanes Failed to Spur National Dialogue on Poverty
"Don’t tell the Rev. Randall Mitchell that Hurricane Katrina somehow opened people’s eyes to the depth of poverty in this nation. Americans knew the extent of the problem long before the storm, he says." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
04/01/2006 - Vulnerability Blamed for Sticker Shock
"A sinking landscape, rising sea levels and an increase in the frequency of tropical storms are the reason for the sudden jump – from $3.5 billion to $9.5 billion – in the estimated price tag for protecting southeast Louisiana from flooding in a major hurricane, scientists and engineers said this week." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
04/01/2006 - Levee Costs Squees Bush
"President Bush’s earlier commitment to rebuilding south Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina has put him in a precarious political position as the cost of levee repairs soars." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
04/01/2006 - Soon It'll Be a Jungle Out There
"Fast forward to July. Folks driving through Gentilly will see rooftops, walls hidden from view by walls of grasses and weeds." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/31/2006 - La. Wants More Levee Money -- And Quick
"Stunned by new estimates that almost $6 billion more could be needed to raise and repair levees to protect the New Orleans area from a major hurricane, the Louisiana congressional delegation is demanding that the Bush administration quickly request the money from Congress." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/30/2006 - Levee Restoration Price Doubles
"The cost of restoring levee protection in the New Orleans area to pre-Katrina levels will be about $6 billion, twice as much as the Bush administration and Congress have appropriated to date, Donald Powell, the federal coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding, told members of the state’s congressional delegation Wednesday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/27/2006 - Frustrated Homeowners Look to New FEMA Flood Maps for Answers
"One of the biggest questions hanging over the nascent recovery of New Orleans and the surrounding area – what will new federal flood maps look like? – is expected to be mostly resolved soon with the release of FEMA advisories for each of the four parishes that still lack them: Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard and Plaquemines." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/26/2006 - Katrina: The Big One Or Just a Warning Shot?
"Hurricane Katrina was America’s deadliest natural disaster since the Florida hurricane of 1928, which killed 2,500 people in the Everglades. And the parallels were uncanny." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
03/25/2006 - Are We Safe?
"The safety of the New Orleans area hurricane protection system is “open to question” until the Army Corps of Engineers evaluates every levee and floodwall in light of recent findings on how the 17th Street Canal failed during Hurricane Katrina, the agency’s own external review panel said Friday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/24/2006 - Storm's Wreckage Remains
"Along La. 82 in Vermillion Parish, many houses still sit ruined- waterlogged and wind damaged six months ago by Hurricane Rita." Read on in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.
|
|
|
03/23/2006 - Studies Abound on Why the Levees Failed
"The 20-Arpent Canal levee runs straight as a green arrow through the wetlands of eastern St. Bernard Parish, its sides covered with a thick carpet of grass, its crown dry and firm enough to support the SUV that Hassan Mashriqui stepped from to begin his lecture." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/22/2006 - Witness Warns Against Law 'Blunderbuss'
"Louisiana should focus on refining its laws that allow government to take a person’s property for economic development rather than flatly forbidding the practice, the head of LSU’s law school said Tuesday." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
03/22/2006 - History Lessons
"From mid-2004 through August 2005, renowned author John Barry was a frequent guest on news outlets like National Public Radio." Read on in the Independent Weekly.
|
|
|
03/21/2006 - Nagin Accepts BNOB Blueprint
"After eliminating all recommendations that would have prohibited any of the city’s neighborhoods from participating in its rebuilding process, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday night presented a blueprint for restoring and improving the hurricane-devastated city." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/21/2006 - High Risk of Confusion
"If New Orleans allows residents of all flood-ravaged areas to rebuild at their own risk, city official need to help people figure out how dire that risk might be." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/20/2006 - Category 5 Protection Answer Differs by Region
"Protection from a Category 5 hurricane means different things to different people." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
03/18/2006 - Blanco Plan Passes First Test
"Legislators on Friday advanced the biggest part of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s hurricane recovery plan –totaling $6.2 billion –despite gripes about the lack of detail on how the money will be spent." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
03/18/2006 - Where Would You Rather Live?
"The LRA wants to know why FEMA is spending $75,000 on trailers when these cottages cost less than $60,000." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/17/2006 - Authority Creates Homeowner Aid
"State officials on Thursday approved a $7.5 billion housing plan for hurricane victims but spurned suggestions to offer a bonus to homeowners who rebuild or relocated in their home parish." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
03/17/2006 - Storm, Military Spending Clears House
"The House voted 348-71 Thursday to provide an additional $19.1 billion for Gulf Coast recovery efforts and $67.7 billion for continued military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite complaints that the costs were increasing the federal deficit." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/16/2006 - Hurricane Recovery Package Gets Boost
"Efforts to push through a $19.1 billion package of hurricane recovery assistance got a lift Wednesday when the House rejected an effort by some conservative Republicans to require that the disaster spending be offset by budget cuts." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/16/2006 - Trailers, Vital After Storm, Now Pose Risks
"In its rush to provide shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has created a pressing new Gulf Coast hazard: Nearly 90,000 lightweight trailers in an area prone to flooding, tornadoes and, of course, hurricanes." Read on in the New York Times.
|
|
|
03/15/2006 - $3.5 Billion Budget Plan Helps Landlords
"Saying her aim is to “bring our working families home,” Gov. Kathleen Blanco unveiled a nearly $3.5 billion plan Tuesday to help landlords renovate or rebuild rental properties damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
03/15/2006 - Study: Half Back in City by 2008
"A full three years after Hurricane Katrina scattered New Orleanians across the country, residents will have retuned to areas that had little or no flooding, but less than half will have made it back to neighborhoods that took on 2 feet of water or more, a think tank hired by Mayor Ray Nagin’s rebuilding commission estimates." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/13/2006 - Home, Street Home
"Six months after Hurricane Katrina, the homeless population in New Orleans is rapidly expanding." Read on in New Orleans CityBusiness.
|
|
|
03/11/2006 - Our Future: Take It To the land Bank
"Recently, we’ve heard a lot about housing trusts, land trusts and land banks. Gov. Kathleen Blanco says we need one now." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/08/2006 - Panel Defies Bush, Loosens La.'s Grip on Storm Grants
"Leaders of the House Appropriations Committee have stripped President Bush’s request to earmark $4.2 billion for housing recovering in Louisiana, throwing the state’s rebuilding plan into question and unleashing a scramble among hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast states for a cut of the money." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/06/2006 - Levee Fixes Falling Short, Experts Warn
"The Army Corps of Engineers seems likely to fulfill a promise by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans’ toppled flood walls to their original, pre-Katrina height by June 1, but two teams of independent experts monitoring the $1.6 billion reconstruction project say large sections of the rebuilt levee system will be substantially weaker than before the hurricane hit." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
03/05/2006 - What Now for Public Housing?
"Because of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has been forced to reconsider everything: the size of its so-called footprint, the structure of its government and its education system, the level of public service that the city can afford to provide." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/05/2006 - Katrina Rewrites Relationship Between City, Suburbs
"Look past shared traditions such as Carnival and gumbo, and a deep-seated ambivalence has always loitered between New Orleans and its suburbs." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/04/2006 - Homeowners Won't Get Grants Anytime Soon
"Owners of flood-damaged homes deciding whether to rebuild will likely have to wait until at least the summer before they see any of the federal dollars the state wants to distribute in grants of up to $150,000 per house." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
03/03/2006 - Ecosystems, Soil Present Challenges for Levees
"There is no shortage of challenges to building hurricane protection in coastal Louisiana." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
03/01/2006 - Mardi Gras
"Beads, floats, krewes, zydeco: It’s a party with its own rules and rituals, some comprehensible only to insiders. But this year’s celebration of Mardi Gras in New Orleans is also giving a lot of New Orleanians pause." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
02/28/2006 - Proviso on Housing Aid Worries Blanco
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco expressed concern Monday that language attached to the $4.2 billion President Bush recently proposed for additional housing recovery financing in southeastern Louisiana could radically alter the landscape in New Orleans." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/26/2006 - Half a Year Later, New Orleans Still Far From Whole
"They are throwing Mardi Gras beads again – so many strands, they are landing in tree branches and getting snagged on the trellised balconies of the French Quarter." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
02/25/2006 - Bush Seeks $1.46 Billion in New Storm Protection
"The construction of sector gates to keep storm surges out of the Industrial Canal, and permanent backflow protection to stop inland flooding through pump station in Orleans and Jefferson parishes, are among $1.46 billion in hurricane protection improvements the Bush administration is asking Congress to authorize and finance." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/25/2006 - 3 Bills Filed to Bar Property Seizure
"Three House members have filed bills in advance of the March 27 general legislative session that would prohibit state and local governments from expropriating property for private development." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/24/2006 - Attorney Says FEMA Shorchanged Evacuees
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency has “shortchanged” hurricane evacuees, who should be allowed to remain in hotels until FEMA adjusts its rental assistance program to reflect post-Katrina fair market rents in the regions of the country where displaced residents are staying, an attorney for evacuees told a federal judge Thursday." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
02/23/2006 - $4.2 Billion Has Strings, Officials Say
"The Bush administration’s additional $4.2 billion in proposed housing aid for Louisiana would greatly limit rebuilding homes and force a lot of hurricane victims to abandon their neighborhoods, officials said Wednesday." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
02/22/2006 - State's Housing Issue Could Top Levees Reform
"After a couple of hurricane seasons have passed, when – assuming we survive them – we look back on the special legislative session just ended, of most significance might not be the levee reform bill that passed but the housing trust bill that didn’t." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
02/21/2006 - Housing Plan Hinges on Grants
"Homeowners would be able to receive up to $150,000 of their hurricane-ravaged home’s pre-storm value under a $7.5 billion housing plan outlined Monday by the Blanco administration." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
02/21/2006 - Choice Between Land and Lives? No Choice
"If Hurricane Katrina came and went without you changing your mind about something, if all those deaths, the long list of the missing and many obstacles to rebuilding haven’t forced you to re-examine a belief or philosophy you once held dear, your brain could probably stand a little more work." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/19/2006 - Compromise: When Everyone Loses Something
"If politics is the art of compromise, Louisiana’s new levee plan is its piece de resistance." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/17/2006 - House OKs Levee Board Bills
"After resolutely resisting critics’ attempts to alter the governor’s levee board overhaul plan, the House gave a nearly unanimous blessing Thursday to the milestone legislation dissolving local commissions in the New Orleans area in favor of regional authorities in charge of hurricane protection." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/17/2006 - House Republicans Block Housing Bill After Powell Urged Unity
"On the heels of a White House-based plea for a unified rebuilding plan to spend hurricane recovery funds, Louisiana House Republicans managed to stall Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s housing bill." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
02/16/2006 - Chickens and Eggs in New Orleans
"More than five months after Hurricane Katrina –and almost five month of political verbiage and posturing and name-calling and blame-mongering – New Orleans is still a wreck." Read on in American Prospect Online.
|
|
|
02/15/2006 - Damage Control
"More than 90 percent of owner-occupied homes damaged by flooding from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are located in southeast Louisiana, estimates compiled by FEMA show, in figures that could bolster local officials’ efforts to lay claim to most of the federal aid sent to the state for a proposed buyout and renovation program." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/15/2006 - Key Housing Component on Hold
"The Blanco administration held off Tuesday on presenting the primary piece of its housing package for hurricane victims to the Senate despite spending two days briefing lawmakers on the details over breakfast." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
02/15/2006 - Senate OKs 2 Levee Boards
"In a major turnaround, a unanimous Senate passed the governor’s bills to overhaul the New Orleans area levee boards Tuesday after supporters of the proposal yielded to West Bank lawmakers who want separate authorities on either side of the Mississippi River." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/14/2006 - Levee Plan Sponsor Up for Compromise
"With Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s levee board overhaul initiative stalled in the Senate and the House overwhelmingly passing its own version of reform on Monday, the lead sponsor of the governor’s plan said he is willing to accept legislation that would dispel the main dispute in the heated debate in the Capitol by creating east and west bank levee boards." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/14/2006 - Rita Makes Room for Progress in Lake Charles
"One Louisiana community hard-hit by Hurricane Rita is ready to embrace change, Lake Charles officials said Saturday after a presentation on a new downtown master plan by Andres Duany." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
02/13/2006 - Blanco Pulls Altered Levee Bill
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco yanked her levee board consolidation bills off the Senate floor Sunday night after the chamber amended her plan in a way that would shrink the geographic scope of her proposed regional authority." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/10/2006 - Senate Panel Questions Bills
"A Senate committee on Thursday advanced two of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s housing solutions for hurricane victims: counseling centers and a special fund to spend billion in federal relief dollars." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
02/09/2006 - Blanco: Put State in Charge of Buyouts
"A state housing trust would be in charge of doling out money for buyouts or reconstruction of flood-damaged homes under a plan by Gov. Kathleen Blanco, setting up a possible conflict with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin’s recovery commission." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/09/2006 - Recovery Plans to Show State What Could Be
"If one thing was lacking in pre-Katrina Louisiana, it was cooperating across parish lines –in fact, across all sorts of political jurisdictions and social distinctions." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
02/08/2006 - Livingston Wants Out of Levee Plan
"The political heat over levee board legislation started rising Tuesday with Livingston Parish leaders saying they still want out of the key measure of the special session." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
02/07/2006 - Homeless Again in New Orleans
"Without having a lot of money, it’s impossible to find a place to live in New Orleans. People who came here after Hurricane Katrina, seeking rebuilding jobs, figured they could rent apartments or cheap rooms." Read on in Salon.
|
|
|
02/07/2006 - State Must Heed New Flood Maps
"Following the lead of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s hurricane recovery commission, the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared Monday that all rebuilding projects in Louisiana that depend on the agency’s grant programs must meet new flood elevation requirements." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/06/2006 - States Can Adapt and Retain Culture
"The last thing anyone wants is for New Orleans to become an Epcot version of the Crescent City. But can you regenerate a genuine New Orleans without the demographic, political and social components of what is sometimes romantically, other times disparagingly called the Big Easy?" Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
02/05/2006 - Katrina Fuels Calls for Levee Board Mergers
"It was a typical morning for Lt. Vincent Yetta, a 25-year veteran of the East Jefferson Levee District Police Department." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/03/2006 - La. Leaders, White House Clash
"The debate over how to rebuild homes and communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina erupted into public warfare between Louisiana and the White House on Thursday as the Bush administration sharply denounced the state’s preferred solution and the author of the Louisiana plan accused the administration of misleading the public in an effort to kill the proposal." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/02/2006 - Redevelopment Agency Backed
"The watchdog Bureau of Governmental Research on Wednesday endorsed – with major reservations – the notion of creating a powerful new authority to oversee redevelopment in New Orleans, an idea floated first by the nonprofit Urban Land Institute in November and then recommended last month by Mayor Ray Nagin’s Bring New Orleans Back Commission." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
02/01/2006 - Improve Housing in Baton Rouge
"Before hurricanes Katrina and Rita visited destruction on Louisiana, there was a real need for a more-effective approach to housing problems—and not just in metropolitan New Orleans." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
01/31/2006 - REPORT: Breaking the Codes
"A new report from Good Jobs First documents the ways that states are revising their building codes to encourage more rehabilitation of existing structures, especially in urban areas. The movement toward “rehab codes” is an important step in making infill development a viable alternative to sprawl." Read on in Good Jobs First.
|
|
|
01/31/2006 - Blanco Backs Singles N.O. Levee Board
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the chief legislative backer of putting greater New Orleans flood protection under a single board unveiled a plan Monday to do just that." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
01/31/2006 - La. Agency for Homeowners Urged
"During the special session that starts next week, legislators may consider creating a state organization to help owners of flood-damaged houses get the necessary financing to rebuild or relocate, Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s chief recovery adviser said Monday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/31/2006 - Built by Racism, Areas Became Home
"I asked the gentleman what had attracted him to the wood-frame house in the Lower 9th Ward. I was surprised when he told me that he hadn’t been attracted to it at all. He had wanted to live closer to Lake Pontchartrain, he told me, but in the 1960s, “They weren’t selling to colored people out there.”" Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/29/2006 - Gov. Kathleen Blanco Outlines Challenges
"Can Louisiana survive the devastating effects of two major hurricanes in less than one month? Absolutely. I created the Louisiana Recovery Authority to engage all affected areas in a comprehensive planning process to ensure that my vision for recovery is rapidly implemented." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
01/28/2006 - New Orleans Has Plan, Nagin Says
"A day after President Bush rebuked local and state officials for not producing a hurricane recovery plan, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said his administration is just weeks away from delivering a voluminous document that will detail the city’s strategy for rebuilding neighborhoods, restoring public services and resurrecting the region’s wrecked economy." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/27/2006 - Seminar Urges Environmental Building in New Orleans
"Displays of waterless urinals and floorboards made from wine cork material on Thursday gave ideas to some architects, engineers and others involved in rebuilding hurricane-damaged areas." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
01/26/2006 - Governor Unveils Plan for Levee Districts
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s push for consolidating Louisiana levee districts envisions the state taking over the districts’ investment properties – like the airport and marinas operated by the New Orleans levee board." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
01/25/2006 - Recovery Plan 'Dead'
"The White House officially rejected a plan that would have created a federal corporation to purchase and redevelop Louisiana homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
01/24/2006 - Take It From the River
"In most parts of greater New Orleans, residents have given relatively little thought to the performance of the Mississippi River levees during Hurricane Katrina. By standing firm during the storm in most of the metro area – just as residents expected them to – those levees did little to call attention to themselves." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/24/2006 - Moratorium Would Never Work Here
"It was never about the moratorium. Not really. The idea to temporarily stop issuing building permits for flooded-out areas was more of a procedural suggestion to support Mayor Ray Nagin’s rebuilding commission’s central recommendation." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/23/2006 - In a Fast-Growing County, Sprawl Teaches Hard Lessons
"A decade ago Virginia’s Loudoun County, tucked 25 miles from Washington, D.C., at the West Virginia border, was best known for its pastoral horse country and gracious farms." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
|
|
|
01/22/2006 - Planners Anticipate a Better City
"Like many cities, New Orleans has evolved at varying speeds, growing steadily into one of the most powerful and wealthy cities in America by the turn of the 20th century, eventually swelling to a metropolis of 630,000, and then beginning a slow decline in population and influence." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/21/2006 - Council Streamlines Inspection Process
"The New Orleans City Council and Mayor Ray Nagin are suspending several city inspection requirements as part of a series of actions designed to eliminate bureaucratic red tape that has been holding up the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina, especially for people waiting to get electricity turned on in trailers." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/20/2006 - Lawmaker Wants to Limit Prices Paid for Levee Land
"As the state anticipates the constructions of more and larger levees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a state senator is planning to submit legislation to limit the government’s cost of expropriating private property for storm protection." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/20/2006 - Real Planning and Flood Maps
"The controversy that has greeted discussions about rebuilding New Orleans is nothing compared with what will happen when the real planning starts." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
01/19/2006 - Blanco Panel to Tackel Merger of Levee Boards
"
Gov. Kathleen Blanco launched her new commission to oversee coastal restoration and flood control Wednesday by asking the panel to investigate management practices at New Orleans area levee boards and to back legislation to consolidate some boards in the region." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/18/2006 - Panel Urges City to Invest in Arts
"A rebuilt New Orleans won’t be just a place that celebrates its rich cultural heritage but one that nurtures, invests and markets it, according to an ambitious, multifaceted plan presented Tuesday by the cultural committee of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/17/2006 - As the Recovery Steps Up, Is the New Orleans Area Moving Backwards or Foward?
"Urban historian Arnold Hirsch has studied New Orleans’ cultural evolution, the intricate layers of its past. But he can’t fathom what the city’s future holds." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/16/2006 - Could Levee Consolidation Cause Louisiana to Repeat History?
"Despite the fact that Hurricane Katrina left an imprint on nearly every aspect of life in south Louisiana, the public has enthusiastically espoused – through petitions and demonstrations – a singular cure-all solution to the unparalleled devastation: consolidating the state’s levee districts." Read on in the Houma Courier.
|
|
|
01/14/2006 - Levee Merger Gain Support
"The state’s hurricane recovery commission Friday endorsed the governor’s recommendation for legislation during a February special session to consolidate levee boards in the New Orleans area." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/13/2006 - Mapping Protection
"Planners who are combining hurricane and flood protection strategies with coastal restoration efforts need to understand the lay of the land in order to make good decisions." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/13/2006 - "Sprawlville" Not Working in Cities
"For a long time we’ve sprawled and developed subdivisions willy-nilly over farmland and pastures." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
01/12/2006 - Rebuilding Proposal Gets Mixed Reaction
"Tempers flared as expected Wednesday with the unveiling of a bold plan to temporarily halt the issuance of building permits in flood-ravaged parts of New Orleans – a four-month timeout proposed by Mayor Ray Nagin’s rebuilding commission to allow for a planning process that would chart the future of those neighborhoods." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/11/2006 - Making the Move from Relief to Recovery
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s dealings with the federal government over the past four months have ranged from stressful to miserable, from FEMA to Congress. And that part isn’t over." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/10/2006 - Level With People
"New Orleans’ elected officials and other prominent leaders are going to elaborate lengthens to avoid leveling with residents." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/09/2006 - Commission to Offer Suggestions on Rebuilding New Orleans
"The 17-member Bring New Orleans Back Commission will begin unveiling its mater plan for rebuilding New Orleans on Wednesday, when one of the touchiest issues – whether to prohibit rebuilding in certain low-lying areas—will be considered." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
01/09/2006 - Benefits of New Building Codes Outweigh Costs
"Stronger building codes that took effect Dec. 29 in Houma are a welcome step forward toward a safer, more-secure future for Terrebonne residents. We applaud our state legislators and Gov. Kathleen Blanco for pushing the law through during a special session last month." Read on in the Houma Courier.
|
|
|
01/07/2006 - One for All, and All for Flood Protection
"In an extraordinary display of unity, three former New Orleans mayors and the presidents of every parish ringing the city pledged Friday to bury their differences in the common pursuit of regional flood protection." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/06/2006 - Blanco Puts Foot Down About Trailers
"Seeking to break what she called an unacceptable logjam, Gov. Kathleen Blanco proposed a kind of summit Thursday with city leaders at which they could resolve lingering issues that have held up the delivery and installation of travel trailers in New Orleans." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/05/2006 - A Big Government Fix-It Plan for New Orleans
"Into the void of the post-Katrina policy landscape, littered with half-ruined proposals, crumbling prescriptions and washed-out initiatives, an obscure and very conservative congressman has stepped in with the ultimate big government solution." Read on in the New York Times.
|
|
|
01/04/2006 - Land-Use Group Taps Liaison for N.O.
"Former Pittsburg Mayor Tom Murphy, an outspoken critic of New Orleans government who has said the city’s tax structure “stinks,” will serve as the Urban Land Institute’s liaison to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast while the area struggles to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, the group announced Tuesday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/04/2006 - This Much for a Tarp?
"Congress has committed roughly $62 billion to the cleanup and recovery of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf region. Yet, while the post-Katrina cleanup effort has proceeded more quickly than many had feared, the future of our flood-protection system is still unclear." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/01/2006 - Corps Fighting Clock to Fix Levees
"Work on the region’s shattered storm protection system has been under way for weeks. But the question remains: Can the Army Corps of Engineers restore the levees to at least pre-Katrina strength in the five months before the next hurricane season kicks in?" Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
01/01/2006 - Building a Future Without a Blueprint
"For most of the 20th century, the year for long-range urban planning was 2020. We called it the “perfect vision” year. Now we are asked to look forward another decade." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
12/23/2005 - $29 Billion Approved for Gulf Coast Storm Relief
"Congress approved a $29 billion package of Gulf Coast hurricane relief before adjourning for the year yesterday, channeling $11.5 billion to economic development grants and $10 billion to rebuild failed levees, U.S. military installations, bridges and roads." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
12/22/2005 - Orleans Board to Vote on Merger
"The burgeoning movement to consolidate New Orleans-area levee districts picked up support Wednesday from an unexpected quarter: the embattled Orleans Levee Board." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/20/2005 - Congress Adjourns Without Buyout Bill Vote
"A bill to create a federal corporation to buy and repair homes damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita failed to win approval from Congress before it adjourned for 2005." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/19/2005 - Levee Design Flaw Still Elusive
"While the excavation last week of sheet piling near the 17th Street Canal breach confirmed Army Corps of Engineers records about the depth of the floodwall foundation, forensic teams say the findings will have little impact on their investigation into the levee failures that flooded much of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/16/2005 - Baker Buyout Bill Heads to Congress Now
"Thousands of Louisiana residents who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina could recover at least 60 percent of their equity investment by selling to a government-created corporation, if legislation approved Thursday by a House committee gets final approval from Congress." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/15/2005 - New Orleans's Top Priority
"Ask anyone in New Orleans or from New Orleans. Read the New Orleans and Baton Rouge newspapers. Listen to Louisiana politicians. All of them say the same thing." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
12/14/2005 - Plan Shrinks City Footprint
"Key members of Mayor Ray Nagin’s rebuilding commission have endorsed a controversial proposal to shrink the city’s footprint, but they want to modify the idea in ways they said would make it more palatable to homeowners who want to rebuild in the lowest-lying parts of New Orleans." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/13/2005 - Levee Board May Be a Year Off
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco says she wants a constitutional amendment to abolish some levee districts and to create a regional levee governing system in the New Orleans area, but even if the initiative proves successful it probably would not take effect for about a year." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/10/2005 - Corps' Own Study Backs Critics of Levee Engineering
"An internal review by the Army Corps of Engineers supports most of the criticisms leveled against the New Orleans area levee system by an independent team of engineers, including questions about soil strength, levee maintenance and whether the system was built as designed." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/08/2005 - Congress Weighs Size of Recovery Purse
"How much post-Katrina help Louisiana gets, including money to rebuild and strengthen failed levees, could be determined during high-stakes negotiations in Congress during the next week." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/05/2005 - Recovery Takes Muscle
"From Lakeview to Plaquemines Parish to eastern New Orleans to the Lower 9th Ward, thousands upon thousands of homeowners are in a bind." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
12/04/2005 - On Their Own in Battered New Orleans
"Laurie Vignaud faces a double dilemma: If she rebuilds her wrecked ranch house at 1249 Granada Drive in the great suburban expanse south of Lake Pontchartrain, will her neighbors do the same? And even if they do, will that guarantee their Gentilly neighborhood does not end up an isolated pocket in a diminished, post-Katrina New Orleans?" Read on in the Los Angeles Times.
|
|
|
12/02/2005 - Rebuild the Levees, Then the City
"New Orleans can’t rebuild or repopulate without a dependable levee system. Properly constructed or not, a Category 3 grade device did not protect the city or the more than 1,000 lives lost in the inundation created by Hurricane Katrina." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
11/30/2005 - Residents Urged to Pester their Lawmakers
"Outraged by the lack of a strong federal commitment to first-class flood protection for south Louisiana, environmental groups, a New Orleans City Council member and a church coalition activist gathered Tuesday at the London Avenue Canal breach to beg Louisianans to flood their federal representatives with mail, telephone calls and e-mails." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/28/2005 - Hurricane-Resistant Home Offers Important Lessons
"LaHouse – a model for building what LSU officials say are “stronger, safer and smarter” houses – is receiving a lot of attention in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita." Read on in the Houma Courier.
|
|
|
11/23/2005 - Beefed-Up La. Building Code Passes
"A bill establishing a statewide building code for homes and businesses that must rebuild in hurricane-ravaged south Louisiana was sent to Gov. Kathleen Blanco on Tuesday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/21/2005 - Tougher Building Codes Good for Louisiana
"The Louisiana Legislature is debating adoption of the International Residential Code. This is a code that is accepted and used throughout the United States." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
11/19/2005 - Rebuilding Should Begin on High Ground, Group Says
"In the most comprehensive recovery plan proposed to date, a panel of more than 50 specialists in urban and post-disaster planning said New Orleans should concentrate its rebuilding efforts on the sections of the city that occupy the high ground, while securing lower-lying areas for potential long-term rebirth." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/17/2005 - Senate OKs Plan for Building Code
"The Senate adopted legislation late Wednesday that would mandate a uniform statewide building code for residents looking to rebuild from two devastating hurricanes, but said local governments could not exceed the standards, putting it at odds with a measure passed later in the evening by the House Commerce Committee." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/14/2005 - New Urbanism Dominates Rebuilding Chatter
"New Urbanism will be the salvation of post-Katrina New Orleans. Or perhaps it will lead to the Big Easy’s utter demise. Either way, when planning pundits discuss the future of the battered Crescent City, New Urbanism is the concept the flutters above every conversation like a blue tarp on a damaged roof." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/13/2005 - Act Now, Speak with One Voice, Planners Advise
"Sending a message to elected officials from New Orleans to Washington, the participants in the Louisiana Recovery and Rebuilding conference said they want immediate action on three things: unified leadership, regional cooperation and Category 5 levee protection." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/11/2005 - Recovery Conference Kicks Off in N.O.
"The message emanating from the first day of the Louisiana Recovery and Rebuilding Conference: It’s time to pick up the pace, speak with one voice and get things done." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/09/2005 - Debate on Statewide Building Code Revs Up
"A bill to create a statewide uniform building code for homeowners and businesses trying to rebuild after the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita drew some tough scrutiny Tuesday in the House Commerce Committee." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/06/2005 - Experts: Renewal Starts with the Roofs
"While New Orleans faces many challenges in its efforts to rebuild, central to the city’s fate will be how it deals with the creation of affordable housing for low- to middle- income residents, many of whom make up the labor force that drives critical industries, said national housing experts who gathered this past week at the Urban Land Institute’s conference in Los Angeles." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/04/2005 - Who's in Charge of Rebuilding New Orleans?
"New Orleans can be rebuilt, or so they say. Just ask the mayor’s commission. Or the governor’s commission. Or, wait a bit, and see if the congressman’s commission flies. The city council’s commission was even unveiled with something important missing: commission members. But it was trumpeted as a commission nonetheless." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
11/03/2005 - Bill Aims to Beef Up La. Building Code
"All new houses in Louisiana should be built to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, the sponsor of a bill to enact a mandatory statewide building code said Wednesday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
11/02/2005 - When Priorities Become Impossibilities
"“We’d say our No. 1 priority is housing; our No. 2 priority is housing, and after that, at No. 3, we’d put housing,” Vice Adm. Thad Allen, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Gulf Coast director, said recently. On the same day, state Sen. Walter Boasso, R- Arabi said, “the top priorities are levees, levees, levees.”" Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
11/01/2005 - Join the Voice for Sustainable Building
The damage and destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have created unprecedented challenges for the citizens of Louisiana and the nation. There are critical decisions that will be made over the next few months that will determine the state’s future in profound ways. Many organizations are already working to influence the rebuilding to create a better future. Leaders of CLOUP have been working with other community and environmental organizations to develop a set of considerations/principles that we believe must inform that process so that Louisiana can build a sustainable future. You can view the principles by clicking here.
|
|
|
10/31/2005 - Plans Would Turn Over Control of Hard-Hit Areas
"Faced with tens of thousands of heavily damaged homes in the New Orleans area, and a cloud of uncertainty about whether their owners want or will be able to repair them, lawmakers and other leaders are floating radical ideas that would give the government broader control over private property." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
10/30/2005 - High and Dry
"From his front porch on Lesseps Street in the 9th Ward, Mike Jones can easily point out the benefits of owning a raised house." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
10/26/2005 - A Shrinking New Orleans
"Mayor C. Ray Nagin, who has vowed to resurrect his crippled city, conceded Tuesday that New Orleans will shrink to nearly half its pre-hurricane population and will have to make do with one-third of its previous budget." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
10/23/2005 - An Agenda for Rebuilding
"For a few days after Hurricane Katrina struck, the entire nation understood the singular plight of greater New Orleans." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
10/19/2005 - Nagin Folding Hand on Casino Zone
"Mayor Ray Nagin’s controversial proposal to make a downtown casino zone a key component of New Orleans’ post-Katrina economic recovery strategy appears to have died as quickly as it was born." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
10/17/2005 - Gulf States Brace for Real State Storm
"Real estate reality keeps Bill Stallworth awake at night. The Biloxi, Miss., city councilman wants to retain his Gulf Coast hometown’s working-class population, but fears redevelopment in the wake of hurricane Katrina will leave many seeking shelter from another storm: higher home prices." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
|
|
|
10/13/2005 - N.O. Considers Bypassing Historic Preservation Law
"An unsigned proclamation by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin that would temporarily suspend the powers of city agencies that normally must sign off before buildings in the city’s older neighborhoods can be torn down has preservationists fearing a spate of hasty demolitions of historic structures." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
10/09/2005 - The Power of the Few, the Anger of the Many
"This year’s story about property rights is a tale of two cities." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
10/03/2005 - 9th Ward: History, Yes, but a Future?
"No one here wants to say it aloud, but one day soon the bulldozers will come, shoving away big hunks of a neighborhood known for its poverty and its artists, its bad luck and its bounce-back resilience." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
09/30/2005 - Don't Botch This Change at Rebuilding, Architects Warn
"The American Institute of Architects is warning New Orleanians against relying on a series of temporary fixes to rebuild the city. Those emergency measures would become permanent, and without proper planning and cooperation, the city’s unique culture and architecture very well many not be preserved." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
09/28/2005 - Rebuilding New Orleans Quickly vs. Wisely
"While many of us displaced by Katrina have not even been home to see the damage, crucial decisions about our future are being made and acted upon every day. We should think hard about some important questions before it is too late." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
09/19/2005 - Rebuild with Character
"The new New Orleans deserves neighborhoods that look like the ones Hurricane Katrina flooded. Without the federal government, the city could not rebuild. But that help should include a promise to rebuild this architecturally unique place in a way that’s authentic. Once the rebuilding is done, New Orleans must look like New Orleans." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
09/16/2005 - Critics Fear Trailer 'Ghettos'
"On the sprawling, dusty grounds of Lone Star Army Ammunition Plants and Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Tex., the recreational vehicles and mobile homes are arriving at a rate of 100 a day before being shipping out to the fringes of Hurricane Katrina’s disaster zone." Read on in the Washington Post.
|
|
|
09/07/2005 - Louisiana Seeks Housing Grant
"Louisiana housing officials are pursuing a $1.4 billion grant to provide long-term housing to an estimated 480,000 evacuees across the state." Read on in The Advocate.
|
|
|
08/31/2005 - 'Sharrows' Aim to Help Cars and Bikes Share Roads
"In the late 1990s, bicycle lanes were painted on streets in northwest Portland, a high-density neighborhood less than a mile from downtown. But congestion at traffic lights made reducing space for automobiles impractical in some areas. As a result, the project left a nine-block gap in the bike network." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
|
|
|
08/25/2005 - Finding a Way Out
"The depth of poverty in Louisiana is well documented. One report after another has quantified the deprivation in our state." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
08/24/2005 - New Coalition Takes Aim at Poverty
"A newly formed coalition in Orleans Parish held its first meeting Tuesday morning to address solutions to the state’s staggering poverty predicament." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
08/23/2005 - In Cities of Mountain West, a New Model for Growth
"At a time when many US cities are worried about a real estate bubble, John Eaton look at Boise, and is reluctant even to use the word 'boom.'" Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
|
|
|
08/22/2005 - Getting Grounded in the Post-Hometown World
|
|
|
08/12/2005 - La. Population Grows at a Crawl
"Louisiana’s population grew a sluggish 1.03 percent from July 2000 to July 2004, according to estimates released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
|
|
|
08/07/2005 - Sim Civics
"Fifteen years ago, the future of urban planning arrived in the form of a wonkish but strangely addictive new computer game. In SimCity, a player assumed the twin roles of mayor and city planner, creating elaborate cityscapes, managing zoning, transportation and growth, while fighting off poverty, crime, traffic, and pollution." Read on in the Boston Globe.
|
|
|
07/24/2005 - Property Rights Bill Deserves Consideration
"Americans from all parts of the political spectrum were taken aback by June’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that opens the door for government to take land not simply for public use but for commercial use that may have economic benefit to a community." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
|
|
|
03/07/2005 - Smart Growth in the South
At the 6th Annual Conference of the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities in Albuquerque, Southerner Hodding Carter III discusses how to make Smart Growth a desirable and successfull concept in the American South. Read his speech here.
|
|
