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Rebuilding New Orleans

New Orleans CityBusiness Editorial Urges Support of UNOP
Commentary in Gambit Weekly Advocates Continued Public Engagement

February 6, 2007
Excerpts

In a February 5th editorial entitled 'Planners Urged to Approve UNOP,' the New Orleans CityBusiness pointed to the 'mandate exceeding 90 percent from residents who took part in planning' as a reason for the newspaper's whole-hearted endorsement. Commenting on the vote, the editorial went on to say, 'That’s an amazing number of yea votes in this consensus-starved city.' Its conclusion stated, "The Unified New Orleans Plan can bring us together again figuratively and literally. We urge its speedy adoption."

In describing the Plan, CityBusiness also says:

The Unified New Orleans Plan is now in the hands of city planning officials. The planners may be tempted to tinker with the plan by approving some parts but not all of it.

They should avoid that temptation and evaluate the plan as a whole. This interdependent plan could lose its effectiveness if planners act as if it’s a menu from which they can choose items a la carte.

Most importantly, the mandate favoring the plan evaporates if only parts of it are enacted and leaves us in the same fix we’ve remained in after all previous seven planning attempts failed. That would be a tragic mistake.

The Rockefeller Foundation supported the formulation of the UNOP and continues its involvement with the planning process to rebuild New Orleans.

Copyright © 2006, New Orleans Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.

The Gambit commentary says:

...the collective efforts of the various planning endeavors have created an impressive array of recovery priorities and community improvement ideas. For all the rancor, confusion and fears expressed along the way, citizen-led recovery planning efforts have been the true success story in New Orleans' recovery to date. In our first post-Katrina editorial ("By Our Own Bootstraps," Nov. 1, 2005) we stated that "the vision that decision-makers ought to be discussing is one that includes the best elements of 'old' New Orleans -- our neighborhoods, our architecture, our best and most productive industries, and most of all our people. All of them." The UNOP process reflects that vision and commitment to inclusion.

Through courage, advocacy and consistent participation, New Orleanians have created blueprints aimed at ensuring a complete and equitable recovery. Those efforts bore fruit last week as UNOP presented its final recommendations to the City Planning Commission.

© 2007, Gambit Communications, Inc.

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