[Carfreeliving] Densifying New Orleans on the Natural Levee

[Jason Henderson]

**

    If you did not receive the first essay I drafted regarding the
    causes of this distaster and the possible responses, please contact
    me and I will be happy to forward. You may distribute to whomever
    you wish, but please note that this is a working draft. Thanks. -jh

*Densifying **New Orleans** on the Natural Levee*

Jason Henderson, Assistant Professor, Geography, SFSU
Jhenders at sfsu.edu 
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/katrinaNO05/post?postID=_Vr0iRXjtAhMgDZsDwW3L2UIF9GsQAuT0EtPRF_BKN00LrA8ckSMHC02pfOlFNoIbYX-rP4GevN8VQ> 
or jhenders at sbcglobal.net <mailto:jhenders at sbcglobal.net>

(415-255-8136)
[The author is a New Orleans native]

*Introduction *


These are further thoughts on approaches to rebuilding New Orleans. 
Substantial portions of New Orleans' African American population, both 
low income and middle class, have been displaced from areas such as New 
Orleans East, Gentilly, and extensive areas of the 7th, 8th, and Lower 
9th wards. Similarly the white middle and upper class in Mid City, 
Lakeview, and parts of Uptown in the "bowl" were displaced. 
Additionally, many residents of St Bernard Parish will need to relocate.

Not all those who have been displaced will choose to come back to New 
Orleans. But anyone who does choose to return should be welcomed and 
treated with dignity, regardless of race or income. This includes 
creating an ecologically sustainable and socially just housing and urban 
densification policy for the city. New Orleans must rebuild in a more 
compact, transit-oriented form on the natural levees and in the portion 
of the city south of the Metairie-Esplanade-Chef Ridges. The rebuild 
would include housing, retail, office, medical, educational, and all 
other daily urban needs. Housing must include low income and middle 
income rentals. New Orleans had a substantial tenant population, and 
these people must be allowed to return and participate in the 
reconstruction of the city.

Having said that, almost all housing and development should be removed 
from the backswamp. Not only is the backswamp below sea-level and 
susceptible to frequent flooding, but it is now a toxic cesspool. No one 
should live on top of a landfill or toxic waste site, and no one should 
live in this backswamp. The backswamp should be remediated into a 
cypress swamp-belt along Lake Pontchartrain, and thought of as a sponge 
to absorb future storm surges. Additionally, the removal of development 
from the backswamp, particularly the expansive pavement for 
automobility, would mean that the natural levee sections of the city 
would drain better after rainfall events.

All of this means that the natural levee and areas adjacent to it should 
densify. The challenge will be on how to infill, and this essay offers a 
strategy. Instead of infilling in backyards, parks, and on existing, 
intact historic properties, infill should focus on surface parking for 
automobiles. This includes parking lots for shopping centers, churches, 
public institutions, and schools. Thus, the reconstruction of New 
Orleans would not just include densification and infill of the natural 
levee, but also a major re-orientation of the city's transportation system.

With the removal of automobile parking, access to most daily activities 
in New Orleans will have to be by other means than automobiles. 
Pedestrian-oriented mixed use infill would make it practical and 
comfortable to achieve daily needs by walking for local errands, 
recreation, and for some, to work or school. Complimenting the enhanced 
pedestrian realm would be a dense, high frequency, 24-hour transit 
system. This system would include expanded streetcar service, bus rapid 
transit, local shuttle buses, and demand response transit. Additionally, 
a comprehensive bike network, including bike lanes on key streets, bike 
paths, and extensive, safe, practical bicycle parking, would be 
essential. Bicycle movements would have priority over private 
automobiles in most street space allocations. City-wide speed limits for 
automobiles would be reduced to no more than 20 miles per hour. 
System-wide traffic calming techniques would be deployed. Overall the 
compact city would replace car-space with space for housing and 
human-scale activity, and make it safer and more convenient for transit, 
biking, and walking. Limited parking would be reserved for car sharing 
pods, special needs persons, deliveries, and taxi stands. For those who 
insist on owning a car, garages would be constructed outside of the 
city, near the Armstrong Airport, accessible by frequent train service. 
For a fee, the cars can be stored there for when they are needed.

*Approaches to densification of the natural levee*

Not all spaces along the natural levee would be suitable for 
reconstruction. There remains expanses of existing housing stock that 
should not be razed, replaced, or altered (except repaired). However, 
there are numerous opportunity sites along the natural levee that should 
be targeted for densification following new urbanist/ smart growth 
strategies. These are mostly spaces of automobiles, or architecturally 
insignificant structures such as automobile-oriented strip shopping 
centers. What follows is rough sketch of spaces along the natural levee, 
from Uptown to the Bywater, that should be considered for densification 
of New Orleans.

*_Uptown & Garden District _*

/Tchoupitoulas Corridor /

All along the Tchoupitoulas corridor there are docks, rail yards, and 
warehouses that are vital to the port. These functions should be 
preserved. Yet there are portions of the docks that are not vital to the 
port and the port has been systematically downsizing activity along the 
Uptown portion of the New Orleans waterfront over the last several 
decades. This is due partly to technological changes in shipping and 
consolidation at key docks, such as the Nashville Avenue Wharf. Before 
Katrina, automobile-oriented strip shopping centers were replacing port 
functions. The Tchoupitoulas corridor provides a significant opportunity 
for densification and redevelopment – in areas not vital to the port. 
Automobile-oriented strip shopping centers such as the Save-A-Center on 
Napoleon (across from Tipitina's) and the Riverside Market at Jefferson 
Ave should be demolished or substantially renovated. High-density mixed 
use developments should replace the surface parking. Taller buildings 
(maybe 5-10 stories?) could be constructed directly in those sections of 
the port no longer in use. Care should be made to not create a wall of 
high rises along the corridor, and pedestrian-scale street-level 
activity should be required in designs.

A new bus rapid transit (BRT) line would be constructed in the corridor. 
This would include signal priority, bus platforms, a prepaid ticket 
structure and other techniques designed to make transit comfortable, 
convenient, and faster than current bus service. BRT would run between 
Audubon Park to Canal Street [Alternatively, a light rail line could be 
established using some of the tracks of the Belt Line railway, but the 
Belt Line railway would also continue to serve the port]. Full 5-foot 
bike lanes would be constructed along the entire length of corridor. One 
travel lane in each direction would be preserved for cars, with maximum 
speed limits of 20 mph. A new riverside park would be constructed in the 
corridor on a portion of the docks not deemed vital for the port. As 
much as possible, public right of way would be returned along the entire 
riverfront with a bike path, pedestrian promenade, and landscaping. 
Emphasis would be on re-establishing links to the river, but also 
re-establishing links to the port activity.

/Lower Garden District /

In the last 10 years, the St Thomas housing projects were removed and 
replaced with a Wal-Mart and suburban-style apartments. The trajectory 
of this redevelopment should be changed. The Wal-mart should be razed 
and replaced with a high-density, mixed use development that is served 
by frequent transit and is pedestrian-oriented. This treatment should 
extend into the Thalia/ Robin St wharves area. This area, where the 
convention center has marshalling yards and where there are extensive 
vacant lots, should be targeted for intensive densification. Land should 
also be set aside for a new public park and recreation area.

/Magazine corridor/

The neighborhood-scale shopping character of the Magazine corridor 
should be preserved and emphasis should be on locally-owned small 
businesses. There are limited opportunity sites for redevelopment on 
Magazine St, including the A & P parking lot at Pleasant St in the 
Garden District, several churches along Magazine, and some parking in 
the vicinity of Valance St Uptown. (There is also a strip center on 
Prytania St)

Magazine Street should have frequent and fast bus service using transit 
priority technology. This includes priority at signals, and removal of 
on-street parking in some places to enable buses to skip traffic queues. 
Bus service on Magazine would extend to Leake Avenue and Carrolton. The 
provision of bicycle lanes on Magazine would be difficult because of 
street widths. Instead of bike lanes, bicycle "sharrows" would be used, 
and automobile speed limits kept at 20 miles per hour. Significant 
traffic calming would be deployed to make both cycling and walking safer 
and enjoyable.

Audubon Zoo – parking lot should be converted into public swimming pool 
and public recreation area. Zoo should focus on wetland rehabilitation.

/Carrollton// /

There are numerous infill opportunity sites in the Carrollton area of 
Uptown New Orleans. The Riverbend center on Carrolton @ St Charles 
should be replaced with a 3-4 story building to enhance the neighborhood 
shopping district while enabling housing. Smaller parcels such as the 
Burger King and gas stations should be replaced with infill. [New 
Orleans will need far fewer gas stations, providing many opportunity 
sites for infill on smaller parcels]. The supermarket and car-oriented 
businesses on Claiborne @ Carrolton should be dramatically reconfigured 
to a pedestrian oriented neighborhood center with dense infill housing 
and a revitalized Palmer Park. Claiborne Ave would be narrowed to create 
a denser neighborhood commercial center. The median greenspace would 
used for a bike and pedestrian path.

/Tulane & Loyola Universities /

Education will be a vital part of the New Orleans economy in the future. 
However, all Tulane and Loyola Parking lots should be utilized for 
infill. Student housing, faculty housing, and staff housing should get 
priority to keep employees & students close to work.

/St Charles// Corridor/

The historic streetcar would remain intact on St Charles Avenue, with 
large bike lanes added to entire length of St Charles. A transit 
priority treatment along the corridor would speed up travel times 
between Carrolton and Canal St. Additional streetcars would be added 
(similar to Czech streetcars considered in 2000). Much of the 
densification in Uptown sections of St Charles would focus on church 
parking lots. Other smaller opportunities include the drug stores on 
Napoleon and Louisiana Aves, which would be reconstructed to provide 
mixed-use infill. In Uptown, much of the built environment of St Charles 
would remain as is. Further towards downtown, St Charles from Jackson 
Avenue to Lee Circle would receive full densification/ infill treatment 
on all non-historic structures (there are a lot in this stretch). This 
includes the empty parcels north of St Charles Avenue heading into 
Central City.

*_CBD – Warehouse District _*

The CBD would undergo massive transformation. Much of the financial, 
service, and oil & gas related office work will likely leave New 
Orleans. With information technology and the mobility of Capital, New 
Orleans should not expect to rival Atlanta or Houston in terms of office 
jobs. Expect Baton Rouge to become the states' financial and office 
worker hub. New Orleans already had a glut of office space in the CBD. 
It is time to remove the high-rise office buildings and re-orient the 
economy. To be sure, the CBD would remain the regional government, 
banking and branch office center, but at a considerably smaller scale.

/Superdome Area /

The Superdome and adjacent Hyatt Regency complex should be demolished 
and replaced with high density transit oriented development. This 
redevelopment would include a new neighborhood park and would be located 
adjacent to a new passenger rail station (built as extension to existing 
Union Station). [Let the Saints leave. Do not subsidize professional 
sports.] The existing basketball arena should be preserved if useable, 
and used as civic auditorium and public gathering place.

A new passenger rail and transit center would be constructed adjacent to 
the existing Union Station on Loyola Avenue. The rail station would have 
regular, frequent, fast, and 24-hour service to Armstrong Airport and 
Baton Rouge. It would be served by high speed rail linking New Orleans 
to Houston, Atlanta, and Jackson. Commuter rail would link New Orleans 
to Baton Rouge, the River Parishes, Hammond, and the North Shore. [These 
areas would experience population increases as many people in the sprawl 
around New Orleans would re-locate and sprawl converted back into 
cypress swamps or marsh - see future essay]. The station would be the 
primary entry point for all tourists coming into the city, including 
tourists who fly using Armstrong Airport. Air rights over tracks would 
be used to create a new major retail center for the greater New Orleans 
area. The station would be modeled after stations such as Zurich Main 
Station. Most of the city's bus and streetcar routes would be 
re-oriented to focus on the new station to make intermodal connections 
seamless. Loyola Avenue, Poydras, Canal, Howard, and other streets would 
be transit priority streets. A large bicycle parking facility would also 
be constructed at the station, and housing located in the vicinity.

The viaduct leading to the Crescent City Connection, and the bridge 
itself, would be retrofit to handle light rail vehicles linking the new 
station to Algiers and the natural levee communities of the West Bank 
(Gretna. Marrero, Westwego).

Office functions would re-orient from Poydras Street to Loyola Avenue, 
proximate to the new train station, City & State government offices and 
medical centers. The University of New Orleans, currently located on the 
Lakefront, would be moved to downtown in the Poydras corridor. The new 
campus would build in the blocks that are currently occupied by 
high-rise office towers such as One Shell Square and Place St Charles. 
An urban campus would focus on sustainable urbanism, social sciences, 
engineering, humanities, arts and music. Substantial new housing would 
be constructed in the Poydras-Canal street area of the CBD. Concomitant 
with the relocation of UNO, removal of most high-rise office buildings 
in the CBD would include replacing them with 4-5 story buildings with 
mixes of office, housing, retail. Mixed-income housing would be a 
priority. The Lower Warehouse District has scattered surface parking. 
All surface parking should be converted to mixed-income housing for 
residents working in the downtown area. A new park would also be 
constructed on a designated surface parking lot.

With the future restructuring of airlines and peaking of oil, expect the 
large-convention industry to experience decline. The Morial Convention 
Center would downsize and focus on smaller-sized conventions and 
professional meetings. The city would downsize its reliance on 
large-scale conventions and instead specialize on smaller gatherings.

Harrah's casino should be renovated into a Museum of the Mississippi 
Valley. The museum would focus on river & wetland ecology, urbanism on 
the River and human-environment relationships, Native American, Cajun 
culture, Creole, African American, and ethnic European cultural 
influences on the city, and have a special scale model of New Orleans in 
the 20th century as part of a historical exhibit. The International 
Trade Mart would be demolish and replaced with a park integrating the 
Museum of the Mississippi Valley with the River.

_ _

_French Quarter – Treme – Bywater _

/French Quarter/

The entire French Quarter would be turned into a pedestrian/bicycle - 
only zone. Limited access for deliveries, shuttle buses, and taxis would 
be allowed. Decatur St would be designated a transit priority street and 
have wide bicycle lanes its full length. Surface parking on the river 
side of Decatur St would be replaced with low-rise mixed use 
developments, including housing for tourist-related employees. The 
aquarium should be moved to the Audubon zoo if it is damaged beyond 
repair, and a new ecologically sustainable exhibit created at the zoo.

The new Desire streetcar should be constructed on Rampart. St, with the 
route heading east along St Claude into Bywater, and west towards the 
new passenger rail station. This streetcar would be the foci of 
redevelopment. Infill housing should be constructed at the Esplanade 
intersection with Rampart and at other smaller surface parking lots in 
the area. A new National Jazz Historic District would be established.

/Treme/

The Iberville and Lafitte housing projects would be preserved for 
historical significance and converted into mixed income housing. The 
Winn Dixie center and former train depot would be converted to high 
density mixed use development, and Armstrong Park would remove its gates 
and become a true neighborhood park and recreation center.

Behind Treme, the elevated expressway along Claiborne Avenue would be 
removed. With substantially less parking in the city, and thus less 
reliance on automobility, a 6-lane expressway gutting the city is not 
needed. Treme will be stitched back together and a new boulevard along 
Claiborne established. Revitalized businesses along the corridor would 
mix with new housing. A streetcar or bus rapid transit line would run on 
Claiborne from North Bywater, through Treme, to the passenger rail 
station, and then into Uptown along South Claiborne Avenue, creating a 
new transit-oriented development axis in the city.

/Marigny-Bywater /

Like other parts of the natural levee, much of Marigny and Bywater 
survived the storm intact. However, there are some limited opportunity 
sites for densification and infill. Along the Peters-Decatur section of 
Marigny, for example, there are multiple vacant lots and surface parking 
areas. The port has also experienced downsizing and de-industrialization 
in this area. If the port does re-locate activity from here, the removal 
of wharves and warehouses should be replaced with high-density mixed use 
developments. The riverfront streetcar should also be extended. A new 
park in what is known as "dog park" on Spain @ Peters should be 
established to ensure that with densification comes public benefit. If 
the wharves are removed, the public right of way along the entire length 
of the River in Bywater should be reestablished with a bike path, 
landscaping, and pedestrian promenade. The intersection of St Claude and 
Elysian Fields should be narrowed, made pedestrian and bicycle friendly, 
and converted into a medium density mixed use development. The streetcar 
down St Claude to the Industrial Canal would be the focus of 
redevelopment and densification on non-historic parcels. Lastly, the 
Naval Station on Poland Avenue would be replaced by a high density mixed 
use development.

*Conclusion: Why do this?*

The thrust of the densification and infill strategy for the natural 
levee in New Orleans would be removing the spaces of automobiles. 
Automobiles consume vast amounts of space in the aggregate. Each car 
parking space is on average 250-350 square feet. 3 parking spaces make 
up an adequate 2-bedroom apartment. Vast spaces on the natural levee of 
New Orleans could be used in a more efficient, ecologically sustainable, 
and socially just way.

Practically and symbolically, removing the spaces of automobility would 
also acknowledge the profound role that excessive automobility had in 
creating the conditions of this disaster. The oil and gas extraction in 
Louisiana's wetlands and Gulf Coast left New Orleans and Louisiana more 
vulnerable to surges, and accelerated coastal erosion. The paving over 
of vast cypress swamps and marshes to accommodate low density, 
automobile-oriented sprawl, meant that New Orleans effectively 
over-extended its levee protection system and paved over its natural 
sponge - the backswamps. Massive levees along the Mississippi held back 
vital sediments from replenishing marshes and swamps. These levees exist 
primarily to protect the petroleum industry and shipping, and to enable 
greater real estate development in the lower Mississippi Basin. The 
levees are not bad, but breaching them strategically is much needed, and 
this would come at the expense of some developed land. For example, a 
managed breach in the River Ridge area could help replenish wetlands 
along the Lakefront. Similarly breaches in St Bernard Parish will be 
needed to replenish marshes along Lake Borgne. Breaches on the West Bank 
to replenish wetlands to the South of the city would also be necessary. 
Cleaning the River of the toxic filth is also a priority, and 
inextricably bound to the petroleum-automobility complex.

Moreover, global warming and sea-level rise threaten the city. Warming 
produces more intense hurricanes while also accelerating coastal 
erosion. 25% of the greenhouses gases produced globally come from the 
US. A significant portion of this is from automobile emissions. If the 
US is to seriously address global warming, it must reduce dependence on 
automobility, and this requires reconfiguring urban space in the manners 
outlined above.

Lastly, this reconstruction effort should be financed, as I have 
outlined elsewhere, by a 50-cent tax on each gallon of gasoline. This 
tax would be accompanied by a price cap imposed on the petroleum 
industry to minimize the impact of inflated gas prices in the short 
term. In the long term, the gas tax would finance efforts to reconfigure 
American cities away from automobility, enabling people to have a true 
choice in urban mobility, and creating a more sustainable and socially 
just future for all. The first task is to reconstruct New Orleans on its 
natural levee.

*_Urban Removal _*

*_ _*

This "urban removal" would include the following sections of New Orleans:

/East Bank /

Kenner: All areas roughly north of Veterans Boulevard and Armstrong 
Int'l Airport.

Metairie: All areas roughly north of Airline Highway with the exception 
of parts of Old Metairie (The Metairie Ridge)

New Orleans: All areas north of a ridge along Metairie Road - City Park 
Avenue-Fair Grounds and Gentilly Boulevard. Significant sections due 
south of this ridge, including parts of Mid City, the Uptown bowl in the 
vicinity of Napoleon, Fountainbleau and Broad, and the Desire area 
around Florida Avenue would be converted to Cypress preserve, public 
park, and urban farms. All of New Orleans East would be removed except 
along the Chef Ridge.

A 25-foot storm surge levee would be constructed along the perimeter of 
this new urban boundary, from Kenner to the Industrial Canal. The Chef 
Ridge would be left unprotected.

Along the existing Lakefront, a lower levee would replace the existing 
15-20 foot levees. This lower levee would assist in wetlands management.

/West Bank///

As in New Orleans and the rest of the East Bank, densification would 
occur on the natural levees. Large areas of the West Bank are built in 
backswamp vulnerable to storm surges from the South and subject to 
frequent flooding from rainfall. The areas that should be removed 
include all areas south of the West Bank Expressway in West Jefferson. 
Substantial sections of Algiers, roughly south of General Meyer, would 
also be removed.

-- 
Jason Henderson 
San Francisco CA 
(415)-255-8136
jhenders at sbcglobal.net 

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