Maybe all is not lost in New Orleans

From the pro-urb list--

1. See the Louisiana Recovery and Rebuilding Conference website for information, reports, etc. From The Bayou Buzz:

BATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana Recovery Authority announced today itwould be working with a team of nationally-recognized firms to help communities impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita develop their long-term recovery plans. Calthorpe Associates of Berkeley, California; Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh and Duany Plater-Zyberk Associates of Miami will begin work immediately to develop a comprehensive regional vision for South Louisiana.

The consortium was selected from a field of 14 applicants by the LRA Support Organization, which raises private funds to support LRA initiatives, including the hiring of long-term planners. The Support Organization based its selection on strict criteria adopted by the LRA at its Nov. 11 meeting.

"Ideas will bubble up from communities. The planners´ job is to incorporate them into a regional vision," Board member Rod West said. Collectively, the three firms have been involved in high-profiler edevelopment projects, including helping communities respond to disasters. The firms have developed regional plans throughout the country, including Salt Lake City, Southern California, Chicago, the Twin Cities, Austin and Denver.

The LRA also endorsed a criteria during the Thursday meeting which were developed at a recent national conference held in New Orleans at the behest of Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and the LRA. The principles are available on the LRA web site.

A key challenge in the rebuilding process will be to ensure that all community members and displaced residents are involved in the process. For this, the LRA staff is working with nonprofit PolicyLink, which isproviding pro bono consulting to the authority in the areas of economic and social equity; affordable housing policy; community outreach; and communication strategy. PolicyLink CEO Angela Glover Blackwell told LRA board members that rebuilding in the Gulf Coast region is an opportunity "to demonstrate how equitable development can result in opportunities for everyone in the region to participate and prosper."

2. I have already heard some trepidation from folks in Louisiana about being both left behind and left out. Some statistics to help us all remember that, in addition to having the most-urban, most-beloved, and most-destroyed place in the decimated Gulf Coast region, Louisiana simply has recovery challenges an order of magnitude or more difficult than Mississippi.

From the Louisiana Recovery Agency's Executive Director's presentation:

Hurricanes Katrina & Rita vs Hurricane Andrew
Estimated recovery cost per capita - $8,255 vs $139
Insured losses - $44.7 billion vs $20.9 billion
Homes destroyed - 275,000 (205,000 in Louisiana) vs 28,000

Louisiana vs Misssissippi damage

People affected - 3.3 million vs 1.9 million
Insured losses NOT FROM FLOODING - $25 billion (+ $3-9 billion in offshore energy production) vs $9.8 billion
Property damage from flooding & surge - $39 billion ($23 billion in NewOrleans alone) vs $4.4 billion
Businesses catastrophically affected - 19,000 vs 1,900

3. Also see "Don't write us off, residents warn: Urban Land Institute report takes a beating" from the New Orleans Times-Picayne, and this website http://www.katrinanomore.com/.