Last week The Lens did a series of reports on the state of housing here in New Orleans. Thinking about the questions raised by the research highlighted in our reports, I decided to take a deeper look at the day-to-day, paycheck-to-paycheck reality of the population know in housing lingo as “the workforce” Specifically, I wanted […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
What is a Promise Without Justice?
Promise is not a word typically associated with Central City New Orleans. In 2007, the neighborhood boasted a homicide rate of 316 per 100,000 residents, making it the most murderous part of the country’s most murderous city. That same year, 55 people from the neighborhood entered prison and another roughly 211 between the age of […]
Posted inSquandered Heritage Vintage
The Lens
For the last year “Ariella Cohen”:http://americancity.org/daily/author/159 and I have been working on the creation of a new investigative news site. The name, the design, the funding, the staff, the office, the endless meetings, the brick walls and the open doors, it all came together. We eventually were able to bring on “Brentin Mock”:http://www.linkedin.com/pub/brentin-mock/5/791/471 to work […]
Posted inEnvironment
EPA Chief Lisa Jackson Addresses Brownfields
In what has been billed as a first official visit to New Orleans, Environmental Protection Agency chief administrator Lisa Jackson today addressed the National Brownfields Conference 2009 at the Morial Convention Center. Jackson called herself a “daughter of the city” (she grew up and attended school through college in New Orleans) but gave an otherwise general […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
BGR President: "Inaccurate" to Say too Much Affordable Housing
In an interview with The Lens this afternoon, Janet Howard, president of the Bureau of Governmental Research stated that it would be “inaccurate” for someone to use their report The House That Uncle Sam Built: The Continued Expansion of Subsidized Housing in New Orleans to say there was too much subsidized housing. Even with testimony […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
The Public Cost of Eviction
The tenant skipped out before the end of the month. New Orleans landlord Donald Vallee wasn’t too surprised. He’d seen it before — and in post-Katrina, recession-era New Orleans, he’d seen it quite frequently. This time around, the tenant left behind a $643 per-month three-bedroom, 1,400-square-foot townhouse in eastern New Orleans. “It was a reasonable […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Lens Transcript: GNO Data Center Deputy Director Allison Plyer
When it comes to collecting all the data needed for a complete picture of city housing stocks and plans, there are many impediments and gaps in information gathered. What would it take to compile a full comprehensive housing assessment? Allison Plyer: We have a really good detailed picture of what exists and what’s to come […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Lens Transcript: Lousiana Housing Chief Milton Bailey
Much of the plight of affordable housing in New Orleans and around the state lies in the hands of the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, which helps provide financing to build housing for low-income households. The Lens caught up with LHFA President Milton Bailey today to collect his thoughts on the challenges of creating affordable housing […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
The Bottom Line on Affordable Housing
Today the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center released the report “Housing Production Needs: Three Scenarios for New Orleans” where they explore the issue of just how much housing is needed now, and how much more may be needed in the future. What they found is that it’s extremely difficult to quantify the total supply […]
Posted inSquandered Heritage Vintage
Bridge Lounge
What: Blogging 101 Class: An Introduction to Blogging for the Utter Novice When: Thursday, Nov. 12; 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Where: The Bridge Lounge, 1201 Magazine St Why: To Learn About Blogging and for Free Beer. Who: Rising Tide This class will be taught by two local bloggers and will focus on blogging platforms, […]