Neighborland was born out of a street art project by Candy Chang, where nametag-like stickers reading “I wish this were a __________” invited the passerby to imagine possibilities for empty storefronts. The project generated onsite civic input for improving abandoned properties in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. Today, Neighborland has grown into a website [...]
With an estimated 35,000 abandoned properties, blight is a prevalent problem in New Orleans, exacerbated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A new website, launched by the City of New Orleans and the nonprofit group Code For America, aims to provide citizens with information regarding blighted properties in their area. Blighted properties are a visual eyesore [...]
In his book Fordlandia, author Greg Grandin chronicles Henry Ford’s great attempt to create a vast rubber plantation and idyllic company town in the complex ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest. The story Grandin tells is not just one of Ford’s industrial and sociological experiment, but of the difficulties of exporting American ideals and lifestyles to [...]
If New Orleans is considered to be a city of resilience, the story of the Peach Orchard skate park is a shining example, demonstrating that great things are possible through grassroots citizen action. As skateboarding became widespread among youth and young adults across the nation, New Orleans lagged behind in providing infrastructure and recreational space [...]
Between the historic French Quarter and Bayou St. John, a former shipping canal and railway sits idle, presenting a tremendous opportunity for redevelopment into recreational space. Plans to convert this right-of-way into an open space greenway are finally close to reality as city officials, urban planners and neighborhood activists prepare to move forward with the [...]
Oak trees and street scenes painted on the support pillars of the I-10 overpass on Claiborne Avenue remind New Orleanians that the street was once a tree-lined commercial corridor. Today, the neighborhoods surrounding Claiborne Avenue are a portrait of disinvestment and decay, a decline coinciding with the erection of the I-10 elevated expressway that looms [...]
New Orleans is called the Crescent City for the shape the city takes around the bend of the Lower Mississippi River. Yet, for a city with such an abundance of water, there is often a disconnect between the city and its famous river. Deteriorated and vacant wharves line areas of otherwise valuable riverfront property. Aside [...]
A problem often seen in up and coming neighborhoods is that the very artists who help spark great communities are priced out when the area takes off. In a city that is known to the world for its art and music, New Orleans is making great efforts to keep artists in the community even as [...]
In the wake of a disaster, cities and residents are challenged with rebuilding infrastructure, homes, and lives on a pressing timetable. Homes that recoup from one destructive event may be fated to withstand disaster again. The winning design in the 2012 Oceansafe Design Competition points to a sustainable solution for post-disaster housing. Designed by Tulane University architecture [...]
