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Thursday, December 20, 2007
A Perfect Housing Storm
by Larry Lagarde
Since late this morning, it's been stormy today here in New Orleans - and I'm not just talking about the 60 mph wind gusts and thunderstorms that have been lashing the city. At 11 am, police used tasers, pepper spray and more to disperse a crowd attempting to enter City Hall. Six people were arrested. Why??? A housing crisis with no clear solutions...
... and it'll get worse before getting better.
Last week, I touched on the 12,000 homeless here in New Orleans and the fact that a large encampment of 250 homeless people was systematically being disbanded from the doorsteps of City Hall without plans to house them. With huge areas of the city still in ruins from Katrina, the forced removal of hundreds of homeless coupled with plans by the federal government to flatten housing complexes has stirred a hornet's nest of opposition.
Before Katrina, housing project residents that were sick of poor living conditions were promised better housing with lower population densities. The new housing would be upscale, mixed income developments in which impoverished residents would live beside wealthier folks paying market rates. Work at 3 notoriously bad developments (St. Thomas, Desire & Fisher) before the storm supported the government's argument and caused many public housing residents to support the current demolition. So why the fuss? FEMA's bungling for example.
Although some aspects of FEMA's mishandling of Katrina have become legendary, there are others that haven't received as much press. For example, FEMA has been sending confusing messages about disaster assistance almost since the beginning. On one hand, FEMA told evacuees that they'd offer housing vouchers or travel trailers for up to 2 years; however, within 6 months of Katrina, FEMA was sending notices that assistance would end in a matter of days. Then, of course, there's the famous FEMA trailer formaldehyde issue. For 2 years, FEMA's known that formaldehyde levels inside many of their trailers were unsafe; yet, FEMA attempted to hide the problem rather than fix it. Only now after most of the formaldehyde has been released are FEMA trailers beginning to be tested.
Uncertainty due to delays in the release of federal recovery funds, revelations that the US Army Corps of Engineers misled the city for years concerning the safety of the levees that subsequently failed, in availability of medical care, inability of authorities to stem rampant violent crime and more have caused residents non-stop stress since Katrina. Add demolition of vast tracts of public housing as well as the sweeping away of hundreds of homeless and you have a perfect housing storm.
I don't believe that President Bush, the US Congress, the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans are conspiring to make poor black people disappear into the ether; however, I don't live in a still gutted house, a tent in front of City Hall or a cardboard box under a bridge. Unfortunately, 12,000 other New Orleanians still do. For them, hope for better conditions is becoming harder to maintain.
Two years ago, Hurricane Katrina suddenly made my family homeless. That disaster caused my life to take a different direction and I'm a better person for it. Others have not been so fortunate.
Here's an untidy scenario. You're the mayor of a community with 12,000 homeless. It's winter. A cold front is coming. Your city is broke and no one on the federal or state level appears ready or interested in helping to resolve the crisis. Better yet, the state is preparing to boot 150 of those homeless folks out of their orderly but illegal squatter's encampment in a park in front of City Hall. What would you do?
This is a real situation playing out in New Orleans right now.
The Big Easy is awash with homeless. No one knows the exact number but conservative estimates peg the homeless at @ 12,000. Most are pre-Katrina residents whose homes were flooded for weeks by Hurricane Katrina. Until recently, some were living in FEMA trailer parks that have been closed on short notice. Some are mentally ill. Some are living on the street because their wages, Social Security or disability check is too small to cover New Orleans' storm hiked rents. Some are over 80 yrs old.
The State of Louisiana is adamant. The homeless encampment at Duncan Plaza must go. The space is needed to secure demolition equipment and the state will wait no longer. Never mind that this homeless encampment has housed 100-150 people for months. Never mind that most of the homeless shelters or beds for the mentally ill are gone due to Katrina.
It appears that UNITY of Greater New Orleans, an award-winning collaborative of 60 local housing agencies, will pull off a Christmas miracle with housing for all the Duncan Plaza residents. What about the others though - the 100-150 living under New Orleans' elevated expressways, the rest of the 12,000 living in cars, gutted buildings, parks or a cardboard box behind a building?
Shelter is a basic human need. When governmental officials would prefer to coldly ignore people obviously in need and simultaneously bulldoze public housing projects that could immediately house them, something is very, very wrong.
Long Distance Katrina Cyclist Terry Hunter In Metairie
by Larry Lagarde
He's been on the road for months but long distance cyclist Terry Hunter finally made it to New Orleans.
I had been wondering if something happened to Terry since speaking with him briefly on Saturday. He was about to cross the Bonnet Carre Spillway just west of New Orleans and I was expecting him to call me when he reached the Mississippi River Trail (MRT). The call never came. (Photo: Larry, Rita & Terry on Airline Drive in Metairie, Louisiana.)
On the way to pick up my 7 year old stepson from school, I called Terry and he answered. It just so happened that he was moments away so I made a quick detour to greet and congratulate him on all the miles he has ridden.
We met in front of a sports bar on Airline Drive across from Zephyr Field. In the bike trailer, Terry's dog (Rita) was sleeping soundly with her paw hanging out. Strapped atop the trailer was a water jug, radio and a spare tire & tube. A fishing pole with a bright orange float protruded up from the rear.
Terry shared that his original bike and trailer were stolen earlier in the bike tour while he was in Monterey, California. He's had a great deal of support from everyday folks along the way, including someone that custom made the heavy duty front fork just for him.
Terry told me that his back was still sore from sleeping last night on the levee. He arrived in Metairie via the MRT which is a smooth, non-motorized, asphalt trail atop the Mississippi River flood control levee. Unfortunately, there are no lodging places along this section of the MRT and Terry did not know how to retrieve my number from his brand new cellphone.
Terry only plans to stay in New Orleans a few days to share his story with local media and meet with staffers at the office of Mayor Nagin. Then, Terry will continue his ride east through other areas devastated by Katrina and beyond, finally ending the Homeless Ride For Southern Grace tour when he hits the east coast in South Carolina.
Jeff Ciabotti, Vice President of Trail Development for the Rails To Trails Conservancy (RTC), flew down from D.C. last weekend to pledge the full support of his national non-profit organization behind the Lafitte Trail. In a meeting Tuesday with representatives from the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission, the Governor's office, FOLC and other stake holders, Jeff made clear that the Lafitte Trail is of national importance and should be built without delay. (Photo: Bart Everson and Jeff Ciabotti on a dilapidated bridge over the last surviving remnant of the Carondolet Canal.)
I spent several hours bicycling around the corridor with Jeff, Billy Fields (also of the RTC) and Bart Everson (a fellow FOLC board member and the man behind "b.rox, Life in the Flood Zone"). We rode from Mid City to the French Quarter and back, stopping frequently to take in neighborhood features such as historical landmarks, locations of schools and the new motion picture production studio being built by the Louisiana Institute of Film Technology (LIFT).
Jeff was amazed by the level of devastation and the strange emptiness of once vibrant neighborhoods; yet, he acknowledged the corridor as an incredible opportunity to spur revitalization, unify neighborhoods and heal a great American city. He also noted that the Lafitte Corridor is one of the most significant urban greenways he's seen and that a portion of the trail could be in use almost immediately. (Photo: Bart Everson, Jeff Ciabotti & Billy Fields at the proposed Basin Street/Armstong Park trailhead for the Lafitte Corridor.)
I bicycled through the New Orleans neighborhood of Gentilly today with Dr. Ed Blakely, the recovery czar selected last month by Mayor Nagin. A regular cyclist and internationally recognized urban planner, Dr. Blakely was recently called "the master of post-disaster" by the Los Angeles Times for his recovery work in California following the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 and the Oakland Hills wildfire of 1991.
During our ride, Dr. Blakely saw areas where residents had returned and blocks where signs of activity were minimal if any. We visited the site of the levee breach at the London Canal. While there, a cyclist that had lived in the neighborhood before the flood pointed out the build date on the flood control structure that had failed; it had been built by the US Army Corps of Engineers just months before Katrina.
Both during and after our bike tour, Dr. Blakely voiced his support for pedestrian friendly, transit-accessible urban villages and expressed interest in identifying "trigger projects" to stir the pace of neighborhood recovery.
Of interest to Dr. Blakely are key areas in New Orleans where all the buildings could be rehabbed simultaneously via a pool of approved contractors. Dr. Blakely believes that quickly and completely rehabbing areas will inspire rebuilding by property owners in adjacent areas while simultaneously creating streets that are active, safe, functional & livable. If LRA (Louisiana Recovery Authority) money won't cover these endeavors, his goal is to secure a funding instrument similar to a reverse mortgage so a home owner's renovation costs could be paid after their death if necessary.
The Lafitte Corridor biking and walking path would certainly make a wonderful trigger project. Not only is the corridor itself historical, it runs through or beside historically significant neighborhoods like the French Quarter, Storyville (birthplace of Jazz), Treme, Tulane/Galvez and Mid City. The path is a critical connector to other biking/walking facilities such as the Jefferson Davis bikeway, the Marconi bike route, the Wisner Trail (now under construction) and even the multi-state long Mississippi River Trail. The greenway corridor would help fight diabetes, obesity, depression and provide New Orleans with another, family-friendly tourist attraction too. (Photo: After the bike tour, Dr. Blakely explained his plans at Dillard University's chapel.)
With Dr. Blakely also leading a study on how cities can adapt to global climate change, the environmental benefits of cycling as an emission free mode of transportation are hard to ignore. Since the Lafitte Corridor is already in the city's Unifed Plan for recovery, let's hope the corridor is selected as a trigger project.
Homeless Katrina Cyclist From West Coast Rides Into New Orleans
Terry Hunter just emailed me that he's approaching the western outskirts of the New Orleans metro area and should make the city today. He's in LaPlace, Louisiana and riding down the Airline Highway on his tricycle. If possible, I'll meet up with him later this afternoon.
If you're unfamiliar with Terry's story, see my previous posts about him dating from the 31st and 16th of January. He's a homeless guy that has ridden all the way from Oregon to focus attention on Katrina victims and homelessness. It's a touching story.
Bike Tour Of New Orleans' Katrina Ravaged Areas Saturday
Recovery czar, Ed Blakely, will take a bike tour of Gentilly on Saturday to chart a course for the revitalization of the neighborhood. He will be joined by New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, who will focus on points of interest along the route.
Blakely said in January that after reviewing preliminary neighborhood plans, he intended to bicycle through the city's neighborhoods, talking to residents and getting a detailed view of life in Gentilly, eastern New Orleans, Lakeview and the 9th Ward. This will be the first of those bike tours.
The tour begins at 11 a.m. at a shopping center on Elysian Fields Ave at Gentilly Blvd. Cyclists will head west, turning right at Norman Mayer Ave., then merge into St. Anthony Avenue. They will then head north and make a right at Mirabeau Ave., then continue to Elysian Fields and turn right again onto Gentilly Blvd. The tour will end at Dillard University’s Chapel.
Residents who are not interested in biking may attend a briefing at the Dillard chapel at noon, where Blakely will discuss his impressions and gather input from residents.
All Gentilly residents with bicycles are invited to join in. For more information call Hedge-Morrell’s office at 504-658-1040.
Long distance bicyclist Terry Hunter emailed me today that he's biking East out of Baton Rouge and headed for metro New Orleans. Known to friends as Rainbow Scooter, Terry has ridden his old adult tricycle from Oregon for the Homeless Ride For Southern Grace, a tour he took upon himself to raise awareness for Katrina victims and those made homeless by the storm. Here's an excerpt from Terry:
"today i went to to the capital to talk to Mrs Cheryl Shuffield ... (an) aid to governer (Blanco) and director of constitunent services. I am trying to do the news paper and then as i leave WBRZ-TV Chanel 2 will be covering my exit story , will be going down one 90 east."
In addition to Baton Rouge's WBRZ, Baton Rouge's 2 other television stations (NBC affiliate WVLA & WAFB) interviewed Rainbow Scooter yesterday; a variety of additional newspapers and television stations have done the same along the way.
Cyclist riding across the USA for Katrina/Rita victims now in Louisiana
Bicycling across the North American continent is an extraordinary task by any measurement; however, there are several cyclists doing so at this moment. On Sunday, I offered an update on Rune Monstad's progress. In a few days, I'll be writing again about a trio cycling from Alaska to the Southern tip of South America called Riding The Spine. Today, I'd like to introduce a cyclist that's ridden 2400 miles to raise awareness for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, particularly those made homeless by the storms; his name is Terry Hunter.
Known to his friends as Rainbow Scooter, in many respects, Terry is off the radar. Homeless for over 20 years, Terry has no permanent address, car or telephone number. During his "Homeless Ride for Southern Grace" bike tour, Terry has camped beside the highway next to his well worn Fisher tricycle and provisions laden bike trailer for 400 or so nights.
For the moment, Terry's in Lafayette, LA. He'll soon be heading to Baton Rouge and then (hopefully) to New Orleans (with bridges still out of service East of the city, bicycling East out of New Orleans is a dicey prospect).
While Terry may not look approachable, he's affable and kind hearted. Few people would take on a cross country ride for homelessness or Katrina victims; however, both are worthy causes and I wish Terry well. Ride on, Rainbow Scooter.
