Unified New Orleans Plan
New Orleans Downtown Development District, New Orleans, LA
Knitting together a community around hurricane recovery
The Unified New Orleans Plan was an intense, five-month effort to create a citywide recovery plan for New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to qualify for federal recovery funding. Central elements included planning for enhanced flood protection, stabilization of neighborhoods, affordable housing, improved public services, and promoting economic development. The planning process was organized by 12 city districts, with several planning teams working simultaneously with community stakeholders. Goody Clancy led planning for downtown New Orleans and two nearby neighborhoods.
Setting the stage for New Orleans to rebuild post-Katrina, the plan calls for:
- Planning for a new 5,000-person, mixed-use, mixed-income, mixed-density neighborhood through redevelopment of public housing and parking lots which would double downtown-pre-Katrina population
- Initiatives to support downtown’s emerging creative economy
- A new, mixed-income community in the Desire and Florida to replace public housing and adjacent devastated areas
- A lively, new neighborhood square and commercial center in the Gentilly neighborhood
IMPLEMENTATION
- The three districts for which Goody Clancy did planning were the first to form district planning committees to promote and advocate for implementation of the plans.
- Aspects of the UNOP plans were further incorporated into the citywide Master Plan completed by Goody Clancy in 2010.
- The plan for mixed-use, mixed-income downtown development incorporating public housing redevelopment is incorporated into the broader Iberville/Treme Choice Neighborhoods implementation project.
