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Southern
Growth Policies Board
City-Works partnership to explore issues of Smart Growth and southern
growth
City-Works has partnered with the Southern Growth Policy Board to explore
the important and timely issues of developing a green economy, energy
efficiency, and maximizing energy businesses in the Greater New Orleans
region. We would like you to participate in an online survey to
express your views of the green economy and our energy future so it can be
included in a southern regional report.
The Southern Growth Policy Board (SGPB) looks at issues affecting the
sustainability of the South, tackling one issue each year. The focus
for 2009 is sustainable energy, with their annual conference showcasing the
information they have acquired from grassroots organizations all over the
South. This year's conference is entitled "Conference on the Future of
the South" and is scheduled for June 7-9, 2009 in Biloxi, Mississippi.
While the SGPB typically asks partner organizations to host forums in their
target regions to gather this information, City-Works feels that we have
talked and met frequently on these issues (and issues associated with
planning) over the past three years. Instead, we will rely on the
discussions and information gleaned from the myriad of meetings already
held and present relevant material from the SGPB to spur ideas. To
this end, we have created an online survey with access to SGPB materials.
The materials from our regional partner create a framework from which to
start, and think, about the energy issues we face in New Orleans. To access
these materials and other information regarding Southern Growth Policy
Board, go to www.city-works.org and click on the SGPB link. Your
input is critical to this effort and we encourage and thank you for taking
the time to complete this survey. We will publish the results of our
local survey in March. The full results of the compiled survey performed in
conjunction with other partners of the Southern Growth Policies Board will
be available in June at their annual conference. To access more information
about this survey, click HERE
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Greetings
Everyone!
Focused work brings results.
We at City-Works continue to focus our energies on our projects with
American Institute of Architects and New Orleans' Urban Main Streets. We
are also continuing our educational outreach on issues of sustainability
and ongoing rebuilding efforts in New Orleans.
This month, take a look at a few of the exciting, focused projects
underway in our community. All are working to make a transformative
difference in New Orleans. Also, please take 8 minutes to complete the
Southern Growth Policies Board survey on sustainable energy issues in our
area. Your opinions are important and will be published in a report later
this spring.
Read more below:
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Main Streets
getting together
New Orleans' Main Streets band together to advocate for walkable
communities
In January, City-Works convened the New Orleans Urban Main Streets for a
meeting with Mary Means. Mary is a team member of the Master Planning
firm Goody Clancy and one of the principal founders of the Main Street
approach in the 1970s.
The topics discussed ranged from the current status of the individual
Main Streets in New Orleans to their potential, collective role in the
upcoming Master Plan. In a far-reaching discussion, Mary described the
original ideas and goals of the Main Street pilot projects in Pennsylvania.
She outlined their desire to get all members of the community committed
to common goals and a common purpose. She also emphasized that focused
work on a specific problem has the power to make transformative change.
Throughout the meeting, Main Street managers detailed the potential for
our walkable urban commercial corridors and discussed what they need to
be successful. Next steps for the New Orleans Urban Main Streets were
also discussed, including joint advocacy to city officials for the Main
Street approach and the inclusion of this model in the Master Planning
framework.
All across the city, our New Orleans Main Streets are working on
revitalizing not only our local economies, but our communities. The
national Main Street model is a project of the National Trust for
Historic Preservation. New Orleans currently has 6 Urban Main Streets in
the city: Oak St., OC Haley Blvd., North Rampart St., St. Claude Ave.,
Broad St., and Old Algiers. For more on the national Main Street model of
economic development and community revitalization, click HERE.
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Community
Gardens
AIA SDAT with City-Works
Some community gardens are developed for food production, others as
meditative green space. Either way, they share a set of common goals:
-providing a catalyst for neighborhood and
community development
-stimulating social interaction
-encouraging community and individual
self-reliance
-beautifying neighborhoods
-producing nutritious foods
-reducing family and food budgets, and
-creating jobs
In New Orleans, groups like Parkway Partners, Food and Farm Network, and
Groundworks New Orleans are committed to the community garden approach to
create healthier neighborhoods. The American Institute of Architects team
studying Gentilly agreed and focused on community gardens as important instruments
for addressing diverse needs, while unifying efforts toward a common
purpose.
As we have highlighted in the past two newsletters, the American
Institute of Architects study of Gentilly found a fractured community
frustrated by a lack of progress in rebuilding the neighborhood, despite
multiple planning processes. To help address this underlying issue, the
AIA SDAT team recommended the creation of a community owned Limited
Liability Corporation (LLC) that would eventually invest in property all
over Gentilly. Their suggestion for a first project? Community-owned
gardens, which would allow the LLC to build knowledge and the skills
needed to tackle more complex and ambitious projects down the road. The
advantages of these gardens at this moment in time are that they are
focused, achievable, beneficial to many, and capable of bringing the
entire Gentilly community together.
For more on the AIA report and their recommendations, click HERE.
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Recovery
Snapshots
Broad Street Market
 The
Broad Street Bazaar is a monthly flea market at the corner of North Broad
and Bienville. The market has brought new life to the
former Robert's site (closed prior to Katrina) and the recovering
Broad Street corridor. As with many of the regularly-held post-Katrina
markets around town, local residents enjoy the opportunity to shop and
socialize close to home. The Bazaar also attracts shoppers from
afar who come to enjoy the unique live music, food, and shopping
experience. Vendors at the Bazaar offer a variety of gently-used
and new wares, including everything from antiques to zoot suits.
Originally founded as a joint venture with The Phoenix of
New Orleans (PNOLA) in September 2008, the Bazaar is now a
program of Broad Community
Connections (BCC), the Broad Street Main Street organization.
The next market will be held Saturday, February 28th (after Mardi
Gras) from 10 AM to 3 PM.
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Website
of the Month
Walk
Score (www.walkscore.com) is a fun tool to measure how walkable our
communities are. This website was featured on nola.com recently. Just
plug in your address and see how it stacks up to some of the most
walkable communities in the country. The center of New Orleans measures
up quite nicely when compared to anywhere else in the country - a
"Walker's Paradise". New Orleans has a lifestyle that other
places are still trying to emulate. To see your walk score, click HERE>>>
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City-Works
is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the long-term sustainable
rebuilding of New Orleans' community, economy, and built environment. For
more information about our organization please visit us on the web:
City-Works
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