The following recommendations are a compilation of the suggestions that came out of the workshop. Once all items were reported to the entire group, participants were then given the challenge of prioritizing them. Within the text below, recommendations, as well as the number of votes that a particular item received (ranging from one to twenty-two), are highlighted in bold. Some recommendations that were reported did not receive any votes in the prioritization process. However, they did go through the consensus process within their small groups and should be considered as important components of the rebuilding process.
Buildings and Structures
The group definitively articulated a mandate to identify and implement projects now 11. New Orleans’ building system sustained an incredible amount of damage from Katrina and the floodwaters that followed. Both the group discussions and the prioritization process revealed a resounding demand for creative rebuilding initiatives to help address an immediate and long-term need for housing and other structures.
In the immediate future, regulatory issues need to be addressed. To begin this process, it is imperative that the City Planning Commission be restaffed. A revised comprehensive building code with guidelines that include reasons and explanations for modifications needs to be developed 1. An updated code should require secondary and tertiary flood and storm surge protection to ensure protection of buildings from future flood damage. It is also important to establish a certification process to verify the environmental health status of rebuilt structures 3. In particular, any property that is going to be rented needs to be certified as environmentally safe before leases are signed.
All groups emphasized the importance of insuring that the economic and educational opportunities generated from the rebuilding effort will be equitably distributed. One strategy to ensure that New Orleanians will benefit from the work is the development of apprentice/master builder programs to train residents in building arts and trades. These programs could employ indigenous craftsman to rebuild and train future skilled labor 3. Traditional Creole building systems could incorporate environmentally responsible techniques and recycled materials from buildings that cannot be saved.
Housing is one of the major issues facing residents who want to return home. Group recommendations to address this crisis ranged in scale from individual homes to entire neighborhood blocks. One strategy that should begin immediately is the renovation of neglected and dilapidated housing. As there were thousands of blighted homes and vacant lots, these properties should be rebuilt to provide temporary housing for displaced residents 22. This development effort would cascade into a domino effect and provide employment opportunities for returning citizens and encourage reinvestment in areas that were struggling with blight pre-Katrina. Renovating and reopening the public housing in the city would also help with temporary and permanent housing needs 3. In addition, empty and underutilized public buildings should be converted to temporary housing 2.
Actively encouraging rebuilding efforts that are both environmentally and culturally sensitive to New Orleans’ deltaic location was an important mandate. One suggestion was to retrofit a typical existing home to conform to the new FEMA base flood elevation standard 2. As a prototype, it could serve as a model that could be adapted to numerous conditions throughout neighborhoods and across the city. Concurrently, there was interest in developing a hurricane/flood resistant house that could be positioned within a neighborhood 1.
For neighborhoods that have been severely damaged by the flood or have quite a bit of vacant land, a prototype neighborhood block that meets the FEMA base flood elevation requirements could be built to encourage new ways of approaching design in low-lying areas 3. This would require the creation of flexible and inclusive zoning laws that encourage appropriate mixed-use developments while discouraging inappropriate uses (such as heavy industry in residential neighborhoods) in given areas 4. This zoning should absolutely allow for higher density developments than currently are acceptable in the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance 11.
Access to information (related to insurance, contractors, environmental issues, and credit counseling to name just a few) is vital to the rebuilding effort 3. Design Centers in each neighborhood could act as a conduit system for the flow of this information. These places could also be a vehicle for re-visioning the neighborhoods and act as an interface with City Planning Commission 8. They could also provide assistance and information to residents on termites, mold, design, materials, grants and loans for green building and preservation. Concrete visions for neighborhoods need to be developed to encourage residents to return 1. It is critical to gather existing planning resources and tools (physical data) as a starting point for community outreach and for developing future planning 3. This includes the neighborhood plans that existed prior to Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.
Infrastructure Hurricane Katrina devastated much more than buildings. The wind destroyed the majority of the electrical and telecommunications infrastructure, and toxic floodwaters corrupted gas and municipal water pipes. The reason for the devastating flood—levee failure— is also the overriding infrastructure issue.
To continue living in the coastal delta, a comprehensive levee system that will reliably protect the city against storm surges is essential. Many groups reported on the need to “keep the spotlight on the levees” as a way of ensuring the appropriate agencies are held accountable to the city 12. It was suggested that native species be utilized when planting riparian vegetation on levees 1.
Power failure associated with storms is an ongoing frustration. The paralysis that ensues and the substantial cost of repairing the city’s electrical infrastructure should be motivating factors for instituting a different approach to configuring the power utility grid. The French Quarter provides a good example of the multiple benefits associated with modification of electrical lines to below grade 1. To promote healthier communities, public transportation should be reconsidered 9. The development of bicycle paths and rapid transit were two specific ideas.
A visionary idea was to develop a very large scale, high profile public project to signify that New Orleans is progressing and is committed to engaging its citizens and an international community in art, design, and culture 12. Some examples mentioned include a public building such as the Guggenheim-Bilbao Museum of Modern Art or the development of a Mississippi river bridge by designer Santiago Calatrava.
Social Networks New Orleans was home to over 462,000 people at the time of the storm. Three months later there were only 70,000 residents permanently living in Orleans Parish. Participants want to maintain the rich cultural landscape of the city—the social and pleasure clubs, Mardi Gras Indians, churches, temples, and mosques, music venues and musicians, restaurants and family based food traditions, artists, and day to day life that still draws people back home—but are also concerned that social inequities before the storm are not reinforced.
Clear, simple and accurate information was identified as one of the foundations for reinhabiting New Orleans. Evacuees and residents who have returned to the city, particularly senior citizens, do not have enough information about what is going on with the city as a whole, or how to deal with their individual homes. They need information about larger plans for their neighborhoods and schools. They need help negotiating FEMA and insurance companies, SBA forms, and unemployment and health care filings. They need information about housing options, rebuilding efforts, job opportunities, and environmental contamination.
Immediate ways for distributing information include having cell phones donated that could be programmed and updated with important information 6. Public Service Announcements should be developed and broadcasted in all fifty states and public television, cable and NPR programs could be established to dispel misinformation and explain the next steps in the rebuilding process 5. It is important to understand that many evacuees do not use the Internet and are eager for information to guide their decision making process.
Just as importantly, the city needs to know how many people are coming back, where they plan on living, and what help they may need to return home. An evacuee questionnaire, perhaps through FEMA, was recommended to be developed to determine how people’s settlement decisions will affect planning decisions 8.
Another approach for helping reestablish networks is the development of neighborhood community centers 18. These centers will help disseminate information, provide support for returning residents, and develop neighborhood plans. Each center should reflect the community needs and culture of the neighborhood. Land for the centers should be located immediately and building must begin as soon as possible. One possibility for the centers is to use existing storefront buildings 2. To preserve the character of the individual neighborhoods, participants want to develop maps that represent not just boundaries but important institutions and gathering places within them 5. The neighborhood centers and maps will be part of an infrastructure to make community an integral part of long-term solutions 1. Another strategy to amplify resident input is the establishment of neighborhood councils 5.
Racial and economic justice was an important theme throughout discussions of social networks. Workshop participants agreed that any efforts to rebuild must be grounded in humanistic values and racial equity 12. Dismantling structural racism and developing sensitivity to the local cultures and traditions of New Orleans is crucial in the redevelopment process. As residents come back to the city, their civil rights must be protected. Workshop participants were concerned about police brutality and harrassment (including the treatment of Mardi Gras Indians on Super Sunday and St. Joseph’s Night), the right to congregate in public spaces, and wanted better treatment of undocumented immigrants who are now working in the city 2.
At the foundation of both racial and economic justice is a reinvestment in New Orleans public education system. Most families cannot return to the city without the schools re-opening. However, workshop participants emphasized the importance of restructuring the schools so that they do not replicate the entrenched racial segregation that existed before the storm 1. Workshop participants want a school system where all parents will feel comfortable sending their children. They believed that smaller classroom sizes and schools would help facilitate this process 13.
These schools should be designed as safe havens that are sustainable and healthy 2. The schools should engage the culture and resources of their communities, such as social and pleasure clubs, music, and the visual arts 2.
For students to be engaged in their education, they must believe there are real opportunities waiting for them in the workplace. Before the storm, New Orleans was reliant on a tourist economy with low paying jobs. Within the service industry, career tracks need to be developed that provide opportunities for advancement. Further, other industries need to be explored that will provide meaningful employment and living wages 3.
Affordable housing is an essential component of rebuilding New Orleans social networks. After the storm, 267,000 houses in New Orleans metropolitan area had standing water in them. The city needs to develop programs that provide housing and work incentives to back up claims that it wants its residents to come home 2. As rents are now highly inflated, it is important to provide housing options that are both safe and affordable 2. Two possible ways to achieve this goal is to legislate stronger tenant rights and create a housing court to mediate disputes and evictions 1. Another possibility is providing housing vouchers for people who have been displaced or evicted 4.
Workshop participants want the city to support artists and arts-related events. More than ever, New Orleans needs to nurture the elements that made it such a unique place in the first place. Grants should be developed for musicians and artists so that they can remain in the city and contribute to the rebuilding process 4. There should also be inter-disciplinary arts events sponsored in neighborhoods 1. To commemorate Katrina, permanent sculpture/memorials should be created in each community, as well as at the Superdome and the Convention Center 4.
Natural Systems
New Orleans is located on the vast delta of the Mississippi River. The coastal wetland ecosystem has been eroding for much of the last century and is almost in a state of total system collapse. Hurricane Katrina exposed the city’s fragile relationship with surrounding natural systems and reinforced the need to address local and global environmental issues as part of reinhabiting New Orleans and the region.
Comprehensive coastal restoration 8 was identified by all groups as essential to the city’s long-term survival. Closing the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, responsible for channeling storm surge into St. Bernard Parish and the Lower Ninth Ward as most scientific models predicted, was an important component of the restoration process 22. One proposed strategy to fill in the MRGO was the use of Christmas trees from all over the country 3. This effort could keep a spotlight on New Orleans and the coastal area while providing necessary material to infill the shipping canal.
For many workshop participants, the destruction caused by the storm highlighted the lack of appropriate mix of water and natural vegetation within the city limits. In response, the idea of creating wetland systems as part of the city’s network of green spaces 3 was proposed. Specific sites for such green space development that were mentioned were the Lafitte Corridor between Bayou St. John and N. Claiborne Avenue, and the Florida Avenue area of the Lower Ninth Ward. It was also noted that constructed wetlands in the city could be utilized as storm water treatment facilities 3. N. Claiborne Avenue under the I-10 overpass was also identified as a location to develop green space in an effort to reclaim the public space that was lost with the recreation of the I-10 overpass 1. Hurricane Katrina was seen as an opportunity to rebuild New Orleans as a city committed to the use of renewable energy 2.
The local implications of global sea-level rise were outlined in the Natural Systems presentation on Tuesday. The city could use the disaster as a catalyst to take a leadership role addressing this crucial global issue with definite local consequences.
Public Health
The floodwaters that rushed through broken floodwalls and breached levees contained a mix of toxic materials that are still being detected in the sediment left behind. Floodwaters also mobilized existing contamination problems present in some neighborhoods in New Orleans. The extent of the distribution of these pollutants is still unclear. The issues associated with the persistent dampness— primarily mold—are another concern to public health.
With the obvious health concerns prevalent in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the lack of an accessible medical facility was a major concern. Only two hospitals served the area while the Conference was being held. The call to reopen Charity Hospital as well as some convalescence homes was reiterated throughout the day 11.
Representatives from community organizations voiced concerns throughout the entire workshop about the presence of polluted sediment in the most devastated neighborhoods. These sediments were known to contain dangerous levels of many toxic substances. The immediate removal of sediment from flooded areas was deemed critically important 6. There also needs to be a comprehensive test for contamination in all flooded areas 1. To ensure public safety, this test must also be repeated after any remediation programs are completed.
If neighborhoods have been contaminated, a program of enforced compensation should be implemented. This program must include areas that were contaminated before Hurricane Katrina (such as Gert Town and Agriculture Street Landfill area) as well as due to the storm. Compensation should also be available for residents of the Lower 9th Ward whose homes were damaged by the barge that came through the Industrial Canal levee breach. Large-scale rebuilding programs in New Orleans present an opportunity to enhance community health. Public health research and strategies should be utilized in all planning and building processes 1.
Political Will For New Orleans to be rebuilt in a way to ensure its cultural and ecological sustainability, the city will need help on many different levels. Workshop participants believe that maintaining political pressure at state, national, and international levels is imperative. A petition outlining the ways New Orleans is important at all of these different scales should be developed. It should be used for lobbying Congress and must be widely distributed 13. Such a petition would also be a mechanism for displaced New Orleans residents to get involved in direct action in the communities where they are temporarily located.
Other forms of pressure include a march on Washington and direct actions. As funding for rebuilding New Orleans is secured, a local oversight committee representative of pre-Katrina demographics should be developed to ensure that monies raised for the city stay here 2.