Charting the Course for Rebuilding a Great American City: An Assessment of the Planning Function in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Source: American Planning Association (APA)
"The American Planning Association (APA), in response to requests from the New Orleans City Planning Commission and APA’s Louisiana chapter, assembled a team of six qualified urban planners to assess the capacity of the city’s planning function in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. After gathering preliminary information about its assignment, APA’s New Orleans Planning Assessment Team visited the city from October 23 to 28, 2005; conducted a tour of the city’s devastation; interviewed a cross section of public officials and community leaders; and thus formulated a set of conclusions and recommendations that might assist local officials as they seek to make sound decisions about the city’s restoration and redevelopment. This report presents the APA Team’s general observations about the city’s planning function, including activities of the City Planning Commission and the Mayor’s Bring New Orleans Back (BNOB) Commission. On the basis of those observations, the report proceeds to make recommendations for addressing short—and long-term planning issues, and suggests appropriate next steps."

Hurricane Katrina: The Aftermath

Collection of articles on issues relating to rebuilding the areas of the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina. Also includes background information about the hurricane, photos, graphics, reading suggestions, and related links. A few archived articles are only available to subscribers. From NewScientist.com, the website for New Scientist magazine.

New GAO Report and Testimonies

Testimonies
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Contracting for Response and Recovery Efforts, by
David E. Cooper, director, acquisition sourcing and management, before the House Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina
Source: General Accountability Office
Highlights | Full Report

News Roundup

Congress Urged to Ax Bill Giving ‘Free Rides’ to Katrina Contractors
By Brendan Coyne
"Nov 10 - A coalition of labor, workplace safety and environmental groups is calling on Senators to reject a bill that, the organizations say, would allow private contractors to violate environmental and worker protections in national disasters and other emergencies."

Katrina’s Impact on AIDS Patients Uncertain
by Michelle Chen (bio)
"Hurricane Katrina tattered the New Orleans healthcare system and scattered patients on sensitive drug regimens."
"The post-Katrina fate of New Orleanians living with HIV or AIDS reaffirms that for the most vulnerable populations, the storm has salted old wounds".

Hurricane Health Crisis Largely Unaddressed by Gov’t Plans
Many low-income survivors don’t qualify for assistance
by Michelle Chen
"Nov 4 - Two months after vicious winds and surging waters crushed communities on the Gulf Coast, the health institutions impacted by the storm are at the center of a different calamity, fraught with waiting lists, empty prescription bottles and unpaid medical bills."

Bungled Records of Storm Deaths Renew Anguish
By SHAILA DEWAN
"As families finally begin to receive the bodies of their relatives from St. Gabriel, many have found them accompanied by documents that, instead of shedding light on their deaths, point to enormous sloppiness in recordkeeping and procedures at the morgue."

What To Take From the Flood
By Kristin Van Tassel, AlterNet
"Hurricane Katrina and other recent natural disasters remind us that our technology cannot always save us -- but our neighbors just might."

Rebuilding a New New Orleans
By Sarah Kraybill, Grist Magazine
"A collection of environmental, political, and academic leaders share their unique visions for reconstructing the Big Easy post-Katrina."

ActNow!: Support the Anti-Cronyism and Public Safety Act
By Peter Rothberg
Putting an end to the crony cesspool in our capitol.

A Tale of Disaster and Two Courts
Pamela A. MacLean |The National Law Journal
Two months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. the legal system remains a tale of two courts: Federal courts reopened last week while Louisiana state courts struggle with disarray.

Katrina Articles from the New America Foundation

"Declaring War on Natural Disasters"
By James Pinkerton

"What's the Proper Role of Government? Lesson from Katrina: smaller is not better"
By Steven Hill

"Nouveau New Orleans: Rebuilt city to offer path from poverty"
By Joel Kotkin

"HURRICANE KATRINA: The Aftermath: Can New Orleans Recover as S.F. has? City by the bay has two models of resurrection
By Joel Kotkin

"Good Government is Important"
By Steven Hill

"Budgets Speak Louder than Apologies"
By James Pinkerton

"Katrina and Urban Liberalism Left Behind"
By Joel Kotkin and David Friedman

FindLaw Special Coverage

Legal Issues Arising In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina
"A special series of columns from FindLaw's Writ addressing legal issues relating to Hurricane Katrina. For further information on hurricane relief, please visit FindLaw's Hurricane Katrina Recovery section. If you are an affected New Orleans resident, please visit FromtheLaketotheRiver.org."

LISC/NEF and Enterprise/ESIC Launch Community Recovery Fund to Redevelop Devastated Gulf Region

Effort Includes Grants, Loans and Tax Credit Investments
"New York, NY - In the wake of Katrina's massive devastation, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Enterprise [Foundation] are joining forces to help finance the redevelopment of impacted Gulf Region communities and provide affordable housing to returning hurricane victims."

American Bar Association: Hurricane Katrina Disaster Recovery Resources

"The American Bar Association has compiled an extensive online resource to provide judges and attorneys with the opportunity to offer assistance to those affected by the hurricane."
See Also:
Justice Center Gulf Coast Region Court Information

News Roundup

How Katrina Keeps on Hurting
By Neil Peirce, Stateline.org
"The flood waters have receded and residents are rebuilding their lives, but the Bush Administration's failure to take charge of the reconstruction will leave deep scars across the nation."

AN 1878 MAP REVEALS THAT MAYBE OUR ANCESTORS WERE RIGHT TO BUILD ON HIGHER GROUND. ALMOST EVERY PLACE THAT WAS UNINHABITED IN 1878 FLOODED IN 2005 AFTER KATRINA.
By Gordon Russell | Times Picayune

HUD Begins New Orleans Public Housing Revitalization
By Barbra Murray
"WASHINGTON, DC-HUD will initiate its public housing revitalization effort for properties damaged by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans with the rehabilitation of the CJ Peete apartment complex in the city's Uptown area. Over the long-term, HUD expects to spend more than $1.8 billion on various forms of housing assistance--including redevelopment, mold removal and planning efforts--for Katrina victims in the Gulf Region."

Thousands Face Eviction in New Orleans
Judge Delays Evictions
San Francisco Bay View
"The scheme to flush the remaining poor out of New Orleans and grab their land is quickly moving into a new phase with a lockout of public housing tenants. "

FRAMING THE POOR: Katrina, Conservative Myth-Making and the Media
By Tim Wise
"During the flooding of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many a voice praised the media for its supposedly aggressive coverage. The fact that Anderson Cooper cried on camera, or that Geraldo evinced outrage (imagine that), or that even Fox's Shepard Smith waxed indignant at the suffering in the streets, was taken as evidence of some newfound courage on the part of the press."

Rebuilding New Orleans: Twenty Big Ideas and a Postscript
By Gary Esolen and Valeri LeBlanc
"Rebuilding any city is a complicated business. As soon as the flood waters began to subside in New Orleans, suggestions for what to do with a devastated city started coming from everywhere. Two local citizens suggest twenty points of entry."

Katrina Survivors are Losing the Battle to Return Home
By Medea Benjamin, AlterNet.
Two months later, many poor and African American evacuees are returning to find a host of policies stacked against them.

News Advisory:
Urban Planners, Katrina Survivors to Build Shared Vision at ACORN Community Forum on Rebuilding New Orleans;
Contact: Allison Conyers, 202-547-2500, or Kevin Whelan, 985-960-1108, both of ACORN, -- ACORN Rebuilding Alliance convenes in Baton Rouge Nov. 7 to Nov. 8
Displaced New Orleans residents and leading urban planners, architects, and affordable housing specialists will meet in Baton Rouge Nov. 7 to Nov. 8 for the ACORN Community Forum on Rebuilding New Orleans, a two-day conference to develop rebuilding plans for New Orleans that speak to the needs and dreams of the city's low and moderate income residents.

Brookings Institution Reports

New Orleans after the Storm: Lessons from the Past, a Plan for the Future
Source: Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution
"Drawing on an analysis of New Orleans' recent development history, New Orleans after the Storm: Lessons from the Past, A Plan for the Future shows how the region's past development trends exacerbated the catastrophe, and suggests how the region might rise again on a better footing by undoing the mistakes of the past."
Executive Summary (PDF; 265 KB) ||| Full Paper (PDF: 3.6 MB)

Katrina's Window: Confronting Concentrated Poverty Across America
Source: Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program
"Hurricane Katrina's assault on New Orleans' most vulnerable residents and neighborhoods has reinvigorated a dialogue on race and class in America. This paper argues that the conversation should focus special attention on alleviating concentrated urban poverty — the segregation of poor families into extremely distressed neighborhoods."
Full Paper (PDF; 326 KB)

Internally Displaced Persons
The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as a Category of Concern
Source: Refugee Survey Quarterly (via Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement)
"At a time when the IDP issue is a major subject of international discussion, conceptual clarity is essential. Erin Mooney, the Deputy Director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement...analyzes the different meanings connoted by the term internally displaced person (IDP). She also counters the argument that IDPs should not be a group of particular focus by putting forth a case for IDPs as a category of concern based on indicators of need and vulnerability."
Full Document (PDF; 160 KB)

News Roundup

Katrina: The Movement
AlterNet, CA
... The Mississippi ACLU, Advancement Project, which helps lead the national legal team of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund, and many others are scouring the law ...

New Orleans’ Displaced Struggle for Housing, Jobs, Neighborhoods
The NewStandard, NY
... to deal with people made homeless by the hurricane," said Carla Javits, president of the anti-homelessness organization Corporation for Supportive Housing. ...

State wants to proceed with Feb. elections in N.O.
By ELLEN TANDY
From a report by News 2's Cassandra Garnas cgarnas@wbrz.com
"Many important events have been cancelled or postponed in south Louisiana recently because of the hurricanes that hit the state in the last two months. Voters in Orleans Parish may have one more thing to add to that list -- the election scheduled for Feb. 4 could be rescheduled as well.
In their efforts to promote participation in the election process, the League of Women Voters is asking for help from other leagues across the nation."

Katrina: Rumors, Lies, and Racist Fantasies
By Slavoj Zizek, In These Times. Posted October 31, 2005.
A look at the frenzy of fantasies and rumors that the media reported as facts while New Orleans flooded.

Crime and Corruption in New Orleans
By Jordan Flaherty, AlterNet
Police misconduct in the 'Big Easy' has reached a frightening fever pitch. In the last year, seven young black men have been killed by police, and none of the officers have been punished.

Evacuees intensify Medicaid burdens
By By Tom Baxter
It's not easy to get a Medicaid card in Louisiana. But when Michelle Freeman, a 28-year-old single mother from the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, learned she was pregnant last February, she qualified for the state-federal program that helps cover the health care costs of the poor and uninsured.

Repopulating New Orleans at Any Cost
By Michelle Chen, New Standard News
Residents and workers are rebuilding the city in the shadow of toxic contamination, even as officials at all levels give mixed messages about the wisdom of returning to the area.

Class, color may guide repopulation of New Orleans
By By Blaine Harden
NEW ORLEANS - Long-standing differences in income, opportunity are shaping the repopulation of New Orleans.

A Better New Orleans is Possible
By Van Jones, AlterNet
Will the reconstruction effort for the city be politics as usual, or can we rebuild it as a model city and beacon for possibility?

Blanco forms panel to steer rebuilding
By By Laura Maggi
A 23-member commission headed by Xavier University President Norman Francis and former CNN and Time magazine executive Walter Isaacson will help guide state government in the process of rebuilding after two devastating hurricanes, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Monday.

Hurricanes swell jobless ranks
By By Ronette King
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita left more than 281,000 Louisiana residents -- 14 percent of the workers in the state -- without jobs and created a stampede of unemployment filings that threatens to bankrupt the state's unemployment trust fund.

Evacuated Populations — Lessons from Foreign Refugee Crises - New England Journal of Medicine (subscription)
New England Journal of Medicine (subscription), MA - 4 hours ago
... OFDA), part of the US Agency for International Development, has created ... that large gathering places such as the Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center ...

Proposed Katrina School Vouchers Attacked - The NewStandard
The NewStandard, NY - 10 hours ago
... In a press statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union, the group said, "Supporters of the bills are inappropriately taking advantage of the ...

Briefing Highlights Katrina's Toll on Asian American Communities in the Gulf
By civilrights.org staff
Language difficulties, limited information flow, and immigration consequences are among the challenges faced by the tens of thousands of Asian Americans affected by Hurricane Katrina, according to the advocates, lawmakers, and relief workers who participated in a September 29 briefing on Capitol Hill.