current PLUS news & events

AUGUST

High-Tech Maps to Help Gentilly Residents Fight Blight

UNO in the News 5.13.2009

On Saturday, May 16, Gentilly residents who attend a Beacon of Hope workshop will have the use of updated, state-of-the-art maps, thanks to the Beacon of Hope/University of New Orleans Community Recovery Project (BUCRP), a partnership between the Beacon of Hope Resource Center and the UNO Department of Planning and Urban Studies.

The maps produced using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology integrate survey data and images along with parcel information to provide residents, government agencies, neighborhood planners and prospective investors with the status of property recovery and return rates.

"BUCRP maps include site-specific data for Louisiana Land Trust (Road Home) properties and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) Lot Next Door program," explained Michelle M. Thompson, UNO assistant professor of planning and urban studies.

"The GIS mapping project, provided as a community service through the BUCRP partnership, has a commercial value in excess of $200,000," Thompson said.

The neighborhood maps will be updated quarterly as consecutive neighborhood 'Block Captain' surveys are completed, said UNO graduate student Brian Baldwin. "they provide residents with a clear picture of the community's progress."

"At the workshop on Saturday, Gentilly residents will learn to use the maps as a resource to track and work toward eliminating blighted properties," said Tina Marquardt of the Beacon of Hope Resource Center. "Community volunteers will also learn more about the NORA and Road Home properties, neighborhood beautification and volunteer coordination," she said.

The GIS maps are accessible thorugh the BUCRP Web site at http://planning.uno.edu/BUCRP/. For more information or to register for the Gentilly workshop, visit www.lakewoodbeacon.org/ or call the Beacon of Hope at (504) 309-5120 or St. Paul's Homecoming Center at (504) 644-4125.

AAP Students Return to New Orleans to Assist in Recovery Process

Students from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) returned to New Orleans, Louisiana to assist in the continuing recovery from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The 15 students contributed over 520 hours of volunteer assistance to three local recovery-related projects in the city. In addition the group toured areas of the city to see first-hand the extent of the disaster and its continuing impact on the city and its neighborhoods.

The bulk of the team spent the week conducting a property inventory and conditions assessment for the Beacon of Hope neighborhood group in Lakeview. With the assistance of Professor Michelle Thompson (Ph.D. ’01) of the University of New Orleans, Beacon of Hope is using GIS to track the recovery efforts involving more than 7,000 properties in Lakeview and surrounding areas. 

Two graduate students worked in the offices of the MQVN Community Development Corporation assisting with, among other tasks, real property deed research and preparing a grant proposal for a new community health clinic for the mixed Vietnamese- and African-American community in New Orleans East. 

A third team of five continued AAP support of the Ithaca-based Love Knows No Bound/Temple Tikkun V'Or project to rehabilitate the flood damaged home of Pastor Jerry Darby and his wife Norma in the St. Anthony neighborhood. The team put a new roof on the Darby home. Their work followed-up on the work of a CRP student team that in January finished demolition and clean up of debris at the home and completed foundation improvements. 

In addition to their work the students attended briefing sessions to discuss the issues and challenges faced by the city’s residents in the wake of the Katrina disaster with Wade Radke and Beth Butler of ACORN; Michelle Thompson and Tina Marquardt of the Beacon of Hope staff; and Mary Tran, executive director of MQVN CDC. 

They also toured reconstruction projects in New Orleans such as the Habitat for Humanity Musicians Village, the Desire HOPE VI public housing site, and the Brad Pitt/Make it Right and ACORN Housing, Inc. redevelopment sites in the Lower 9th Ward. 

Although the focus of the trip was New Orleans, the students also toured heavily damaged areas of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, with stops in Pearlington, Waveland, Bay St. Louis, and Biloxi, Mississippi. In Waveland and Bay St. Louis where the downtown business districts were heavily damaged, students spoke with business owners about the challenges they face in the wake of the storm. 

The AAP team was led by George Frantz, visiting scholar in the Department of City and Regional Planning, and was comprised of: Maya Barrera (M.P.S./Real Estate ’09), Tim Becker (U.R.S. ’12), Juan Castellanos (U.R.S. ’12), Germain Chan (B.F.A. ’12), Haley Cohen (B.Arch. ’10), Giselle Denbow (B.F.A. ’10), Erica Gutierrrez (M.R.P. ’10), Sebastian Hernandez (B.Arch. ’11), Amanda Huang (B.Arch. ’10), Joe Matthews (M.P.S./Real Estate ’09), Mia Ovcina (B.Arch. ’10), Robyn Stokes (M.P.S./Real Estate, M.B.A. ’10), Doug Swarts (M.R.P. ’09), Julianna Velez (B.Arch. ’12).

JULY

The University Lakefront District, a redevelopment strategy for the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans that was developed by a task force of community stakeholders, has been released. The Center for Urban and Public Affairs and The Regional Planning Commission prepared the document.

Help with the project was provided by a grant from the Greater New Orleans Foundation

Please visit The University Lakefront District website to download the document.

MARCH

The University Transportation Center and The Center for Urban and Public Affairs of  LSU-New Orleans, in association with the The National Corridors Initiative Present:

Setting A Vision for Sustainable Development:

The Louisiana Transportation Renaissance

on March 26, 2008

 

JANUARY

The Department of Planning and Urban Studies welcomes new faculty member Dr. Hiroyuki Iseki

Dr. Hiroyuki Iseki will join the PLUS faculty in January 2009. Hiro's research, using quantitative and qualitative methods, focuses on balancing efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in public policy and planning. His research interests are in transportation planning, transportation policy analysis, transportation economics and finance, travel behaviour analysis, transportation and land use/built environment connection, social and environmental justice, and the application of GIS to planning.

OCTOBER

"Yes or No - A Master Plan with the Force of Law" 
Tuesday, October 14th 
6-8PM 
University of New Orleans Kirschman Hall Room 129

City-Works, in partnership with the Center for Urban and Public Affairs at the University of New Orleans, announces a new symposium series to inform the community on issues of sustainable land-use and 
development in New Orleans. This series will tackle a wide range of topics promoting sustainable development and quality growth for New Orleans. Our goal is to provide high quality information to the public in an engaging atmosphere that will move beyond rhetoric and fanciful ideas to pragmatic solutions to the challenges facing our recovery. In coming months, symposium topics will include 
transportation, neighborhood corridor revitalization, and the relationship between crime and urban design. 

We will begin the series with a voter education forum entitled "Yes or No -- A Master Plan with the Force of Law" to be held on Tuesday, October 14 at 6-8 PM. Voters in New Orleans will go to the 
polls on November 4th to decide whether or not to approve an amendment to the Home Rule Charter that will give legal standing to the city's Master Plan. This amendment will dramatically change how 
the city makes land use and development decisions. If the amendment is approved, this Master Plan, unlike any of the previous post-Katrina planning processes, will be legally binding. Public officials as 
well as private citizens will be required to follow the Plan. All land use regulations, including the new 
Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, capital improvements, and the capital budget will have to be consistent with the Master Plan. Any zoning amendments adopted by the City Council will have to be consistent with the Master Plan. In the forum, attorney Bill Borah, Bureau of Governmental Research President Janet Howard, Loyola University Associate Professor of Law John Lovett, and former Chair of the City Planning Commission Marshall Truehill will address the real implications of having "force of law" behind the Master Plan, thus shedding light on potential consequences of the upcoming charter amendment vote. This educational forum will help all voters in New Orleans make a decision on this important issue. 

Assistant Professor Marla Nelson wins first place in National Urban Policy Initiatives Competition 

Marla Nelson, Assistant Professor  of Planning and Urban Studies, and her University of Pennsylvania colleague Laura-Wolf Powers received first place in the economic track of the National Urban Policy Initiatives Competition sponsored by Clark University (Worcester, MA), Community Development Training Institute (Newport, RI), Freddie Mac (Washington, DC), University of Massachusetts Amherst (Amherst, MA), and the National Community Development Association. The winning UNO/UPENN team also included community partner Caitlin Cain, economic development director of the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission. 

Their entry, “Job Chains and Career Ladders in Health Care: An Economic and Workforce Development Strategy for Greater New Orleans”, demonstrates that the impact of employment growth in health care—particularly hospitals--has the potential to outstrip the impact of producer services and tourism growth on unemployed or underemployed low-skilled, entry-level workers and summarizes the current knowledge on career ladder initiatives in health care services. Additionally, in collaboration with the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission (NORPC), it proposes a coordinated, regional workforce development strategy for the healthcare sector to expand the regional healthcare workforce and to develop and implement career ladder initiatives for low-skilled entry-level workers in the region’s healthcare industry.  Finally, it proposes an amendment to Title I Subtitle D of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, creating a new national program of grants to establish or expand multi-stakeholder industry or sector partnerships.  

Nelson and Wolf-Powers presented their paper at the National Urban Policy Initiative Conference in September 2008 and received a $20,000 prize. 

MAY

Center for Urban and Public Affairs to sponsor community transportation workshop at UNO Library June 5-6

The Center for Urban and Public Affairs along with the NORPC (New Orleans Regional Planning Commission) will host a two-day workshop at the Earl K. Long Library located on UNO's Lakefront campus.  The workshop will serve to inform anyone interested in advocating for walking and biking as modes of transportation.  Special attention will be paid to garnering community support and implementing change.  No prior knowledge is required and anyone from concerned citizen to industry professional is encouraged to register.  This workshop is free and pre-registration is required.  Click here for more information.     

APRIL

PLUS students assistant Village d’Lest with recovery, featured in New Orleans' CityBusiness

An article published in the April 7th edition of CityBusiness outlines how PLUS students are assisting Village d’Lest with recovery planning.  Cited as a target zone by the Office of Recovery and Development Administration, Village d’Lest, also known as Viet Village because of its large concentration of Vietnamese Americans has partnered with PLUS to determine how planning can serve the community sustainably.  The article can be found here. 

April 13th and 14th - "Sustainability and the Recovery of New Orleans: Bicycling as Transportation" forum and bike tour

Join us for a bike tour through the Marigny and a forum discussing how bicycling can serve the transportation needs of the community and how New Orleans’ transportation system is recovering through the implementation of bicycle infrastructure and policy.  The forum will feature two prominent experts on sustainable transportation: John Pucher, Ph.D. of Rutgers University and Jennifer Ruley from Steps to a Healthier New Orleans.  Both events are free and open to the public.  A detailed flier can be found here. 

When and Where?  Sunday April 13th, 11am at Washington Square (Frenchmen and Royal) – Marigny Bike Tour; please bring a bike as none will be provided.
Monday April 14th, 6:30-8 pm, University of New Orleans Lakefront Campus, Kirschman Hall, Room 122 – forum featuring John Pucher, Ph.D. and Jennifer Ruley.

FEBRUARY

"Sustainability and the Recovery of New Orleans: Green Building" presentations now available

On February 25th, UNO hosted a public forum titled, “Sustainability and the Recovery of New Orleans: Green Building.”  Organized by PLUS Asst. Professor, Dr. John Renne, the forum featured several renowned speakers that presented sustainable building and transportation solutions for New Orleans.  Speakers’ presentations (pdf) and the forum flier with speakers’ bios can be found below.  Flier/Ed Blakely/ Peter Newman/Charles Allen

Picture: Dr. Ed Blakely, Recovery Director for the City of New Orleans and Visiting UNO professor gets the audiences' attention during the Q & A session of the forum From the Left: Charles Allen, Ed Blakely, Peter Newman, and John Renne

PLUS Professor Dr. John Renne to host and moderate sustainability forum at UNO

Dr. John Renne, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Associate Director of the UNO Transportation Center will be hosting and moderating a forum titled, “Sustainability in New Orleans: Green Building”.  The forum will feature several renowned experts in the field including New Orleans Recovery Director Ed Blakely, Ph.D.  Last year’s forum filled up quickly so be sure to get there a few minutes early to get a seat.  A detailed flier for the event can be found here.
When?  Monday, February 25, 6-8p
Where? UNO Lakefront Campus, Kirschman Hall, Room 122

JANUARY

Planning and Urban Studies Students (PLUSS) seek APA conference attendees

This year’s National APA Conference will be taking place in Las Vegas from Sunday, April 27th – Thursday, May, 1.  PLUS students interested in attending may be eligible to receive a portion of their trip subsidized by the Louisiana Chapter of the APA.  Additionally, the APA offers a $100 discount off the price of registration for student volunteers.  More info on the student volunteer program can be found here.

Interested students should contact Fred Neal Jr or Melody Aligani.  Once contacted, organizers will keep students apprised of any meetings or additional instructions.  It is advised that attendees should seeking housing and travel accommodations as soon as possible.

PLUS presents series of redevelopment lectures

In Collaboration with the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence at the University of Pennsylvania and the Rockefeller Foundation Redevelopment Fellowship, PLUS presents a series of public lectures focusing on redevelopment.  The lecture series is open to the public.  A schedule of lectures can be found here. 

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