St. Bernard Parish at a Critical Crossroads
Since the difficult years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, St. Bernard Parish has managed to accomplish a number of quite remarkable things…
Posts Tagged ‘urban planning’
Civitas ex machina
Marco F. Cocito-Monoc, Ph.D. joined the Greater New Orleans Foundation in the summer of 2007 to oversee regional initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, Marco was the executive director of Baltimore’s Southeast Community Development Corporation.
On a recent journey through several neighborhoods in St. Bernard Parish, one phrase kept repeating itself in my head: “What a shame.” While admiring the courage, determination and love of community that were evident in every person who was fixing their home with the intention of returning, I had to wonder if their efforts would yield the benefits that they deserve. The gaps between renovated homes were considerable in far too many neighborhoods. Redevelopment was happening mostly in isolated spots.
The above conditions notwithstanding, good models for redeveloping the parish do exist. Beyond the occasional costly and contextually inappropriate New Urbanist charette, there was an alternative plan in wide circulation soon after Katrina that emphasized redeveloping neighborhoods and businesses in sustainable clusters while creating new open space that would function as an amenity for the parish and its residents. This latter plan went unimplemented and now we see St. Bernard returning slowly, in fits and starts, with many former residents rebuilding in areas that are otherwise abandoned. What will happen to the values of their homes over time? How can an already financially burdened parish government provide essential services to such a scattered array of people living on its new “frontier” amidst bare slabs and decaying buildings?