By Michael T. Martin, The Lens contributing opinion writer |
With the opening of the Healing Center and the possibility of extending streetcar service all the way to Poland Avenue, it’s time to accord the St. Claude Avenue corridor the attention due to an “up-and-coming” neighborhood that is emerging as a New Orleans success story.
The avenue, a state highway, serves as the main commercial corridor for the Marigny, St. Roch, St. Claude and Bywater neighborhoods, an area that since Hurricane Katrina has attracted dynamic but heterogeneous development.
Art galleries, cafés and music venues share sidewalk space with fried chicken restaurants, beauty supply stores, and corner groceries with cash registers behind bulletproof glass.
And these are not the only dichotomous relationships on the avenue. The population mix is also a combination of newcomers and more established, if less privileged, old-timers.
Downtown neighborhoods have become havens for many young, highly educated transplants interested in urban living with a distinct cultural edge. In fact, living on “the edge” and experiencing “the struggle” is part of the draw. Lack of a full-service grocery store in the area, for example, has made urban gardening the height of hip.
At the same time, these downtown neighborhoods have long been home to lower and middle-income African-Americans who, over the past half-century, have stayed true to the neighborhood during its period of decline and more recent resurrection.
Bearing current and future needs in mind, I believe it’s time to formulate a master plan for the St. Claude Avenue corridor, one assuring that development is responsive to the community’s diverse character, but above all, is equitable.
Fear of gentrification is palpable among long-time tenants. The immediate danger is that they will be priced out of their homes by rising rents and increasing property values. Longer term, the area is confronted by a paradox: that its charm – the very thing that makes it “hip” – will be destroyed by the developers it attracts, one unsanctioned second-line and graffiti-ed building at a time. These fears should not be brushed aside; they are real and evidence-based. (See: Williamsburg, Brooklyn; San Francisco’s Mission District; Downtown Los Angeles; Wicker Park, Chicago).
But while urgently important, fear must not impose a moratorium on development. Not only is the corridor lacking in many basic amenities, a decent-sized grocery store being only one of them, but there is also an overabundance of vacant and blighted buildings along St. Claude Avenue that could be rehabilitated to house much-needed providers of goods and services.
Boosters of the area must be as inclusive as possible, build alliances with each other, and take community wishes into account, while at the same time upholding relevant city planning values. The Equitable Development Toolkit, a collection of documents put together by the urban think-tank PolicyLink, can be of tremendous help in developing a master plan for the corridor.
The Healing Center, the Rice Mill apartment complex, the possible streetcar to Poland Avenue and Reinventing the Crescent Park along the riverfront are harbingers of accelerating development on or near the St. Claude Avenue corridor. It is imperative that the corridor be recognized not simply for what it is now, but what for what it might be in the near future.
Visions for the corridor are as varied as the disparate neighborhoods it cuts through. A good master plan will reflect that variety while striving to achieve the broad consensus that preserves it. That requires community buy-in, the sense of trust that comes when both risks and opportunities are meted out equitably.
Michael T. Martin is a Bywater resident and a member of the St. Claude Main Street board. He works at the New Orleans Startup Fund, a non-profit that provides venture capital for early-stage businesses, and is pursuing a graduate degree at UNO in community-based urban planning.
There will never be true trust or buy-in among many of the stakeholders (many of whom are newer transplants who think they are the only ones entitled to enjoy the unique cultural treasures of this area). Time marches on, however, and it is important that we plan accordingly. While we must respect our elders and remember our past, we can’t do that at the expense of building a more sustainable, livelier and more economically sound future. Let’s not cling too sentimentally to what can’t stay the same forever; instead, let’s concentrate on preserving it’s essence while we complement it’s resilience.
This is a great article with very valid points. I attended this event. I am a “young, highly educated transplant interested in urban living with a distinct cultural edge.” At the same time I am not looking to add to the gentrification that may (or has already begun to) occur in that part of town. The country, and the world needs cities like New Orleans. I am glad to call it my new home 🙂
why isn’t mardi gras zone considered a full service grocery store? because it doesn’t send its money to Austin? they are the only 24 hour store in town.
And if you want some damn test of “nativity,” that business passes it. who else changed their entire business for the needs of the community post Katrina? that place was an is a godsend that didn’t have to rely on a bloodsucking housing developer for financing.
if you want “balance,” quit ignoring what exists there now, and advocate for rent control!
if you want to promote development, why not Gentilly, a place that needs it much more?
Scott,
I go to Mardi Gras Zone and it does provide me with things I need, however, there is no way you can argue that it is a full-service grocery store. Compare Rouses fruit and produce sections to Mardi Gras Zone; and compare their prices. A full-service grocery store operates on economies of scale and thus can offer lower prices. Mardi Gras Zone is great and it’s been great for the community but it is not the end-all-be-all answer.
Also, what exists on St. Claude right now is a ton of corner stores selling just about the same things plus a smattering of places that actually offer a diversity of goods and services (beauty supply stores, tire shops, restaurants). If we just focus on what is there now, we are focusing on an incomplete set of amenities that a neighborhood deserves.
As for rent control, advocating for such is a naive solution in the present socio-political landscape. Rent control is being phased out in just about every city that it is still left in. If you want to stop improvements of the housing stock (not even building new) just initiate rent control; landlords will definitely respond. There are other more feasible ways to help people stay in their home; landbanking, property tax abatement…look at the equitable development toolkit, which I provided a link for in the article.
And promoting development in Gentilly? Sure, that’s fine. But this article isn’t about promoting development, it’s about responding to development with foresight and proactivity. St. Claude development is already happening (or happened), which you state by telling me to focus on what already exists, and with that in mind, now more than ever it is appropriate to focus on the area; if we don’t do that, the public interest will get quashed by wanton development based on a potential future market (read: bankers who can afford condos) rather than what already exists.
In re: to above comment: I should correct myself, the article isn’t solely about development. It definitely does mention promoting development, but so long as it’s responsive and responsible.