Paper

Connecting the “Big Easy”: Lessons from the people surrounding the Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Abstract

The 3.1-mile (4.99-kilometer) linear Lafitte Greenway, one of the first revitalization projects since Hurricane Katrina (2005), is designed to become a vibrant bicycle and pedestrian transportation corridor linking users to the world-famous French Quarter and central business district. As an emerging city, New Orleans generally developed sections of swamp land starting near the French Quarter and growing outward in most directions. The resulting transect of neighborhoods with access to the Lafitte Greenway begins with areas associated with early development, such as Fauborg Tremé and Bayou St. John, to 20th Century development found within the Navarre and Mid City Neighborhoods. In all, the Greenway directly impacts nine distinct neighborhoods with several documented sub-districts, including the Tremé neighborhood which has the distinction of being the first freed black neighborhood in America, a hot spot in the southern civil rights movement, and the starting point of a great jazz tradition.

A multi-disciplinary team of landscape architects, civil engineers, ecologists, economists, crime prevention experts, park management consultants, and public engagement specialists incorporated public input, synthesized measurable objectives, and worked across a range of scales to plan and design one of the most important planned public spaces since the hurricane. The project began in spring 2009 and is scheduled to begin the first phase of construction in the fall of 2013.

Keywords: greenways, new orleans, lafitte, hurricane katrina, revitiliization, design, planning

How to Cite:

Koske, P., (2013) “Connecting the “Big Easy”: Lessons from the people surrounding the Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans, Louisiana”, Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning 4(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.7275/fabos.717