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Suburban swamp: the rise and fall of planned new‐town communities in New Orleans East

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 23; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02665430801906372

1466-4518

J. Mark Souther,

Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

Abstract This paper examines the emergence, development and abandonment of 'new town' communities in eastern New Orleans in the half century after 1957. Containing about two‐thirds of the land area in the New Orleans city limits, much of it wrested from swamps using emerging drainage technologies, eastern New Orleans promised municipal leaders, planners and citizens an alternative to crowded city and sprawling suburb. This paper also considers how planners and many local citizens viewed planned communities in the eastern stretches of the city as an antidote to population exodus from New Orleans. It explores the influences, design characteristics, social planning aspirations and environmental challenges that informed new‐town planning in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite the collapse of the federal Title VII programme in the mid‐1970s, New Orleans leaders and developers continued to seek ways to develop this land, ultimately fashioning a suburban landscape that attracted a socially diverse population seeking upward mobility. With the end of the city's oil boom in the mid‐1980s, New Orleans East began to suffer public perceptions that it was becoming blighted. Following Hurricane Katrina twenty years later, the tattered suburban landscape prompted not just despair but determination to rekindle the spirit of a planned, idealistic community. Notes 1. Throughout this essay, 'New Orleans East' is used interchangeably to refer to a particular development of that name and, in more recent years, to the entire eastern New Orleans area, as has become the custom in New Orleans. 2. C. Suhor, The unique, syncopated, non‐jet set rhythm of New Orleans. Gentlemen's Quarterly (April 1970) 84. 3. C. E. Colten, An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans From Nature. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005, p. 106. 4. Letter to the editor. New Orleans Item (7 November 1954). 5. J. L. Anderson, Leaving Desire: the Ninth Ward after the hurricane. New Yorker 81 (19 September 2005) 44. On the neglect of the lower Ninth Ward historically, see J. Landphair, Sewerage, sidewalks and schools: The New Orleans Ninth Ward and public school desegregation. Louisiana History 40, 1 (1999) 40–1, 44. 6. Promotional brochures [c. 1950s]: 25 acres. n. d.; 20 minutes from Canal Street–Faubourg de Montluzin, 'The entire east end of New Orleans' n. d. Vertical file 'Neighborhoods–New Orleans East,' Special Collections Division, Tulane University (hereafter TU). 7. R. Samuel, 'To a Point Called Chef Menteur': The Story of the Property Known Today as New Orleans East, Inc. New Orleans: New Orleans East, Inc., 1959, pp. 31, 37. Special Collections, Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans (hereafter UNO); L. Stuart, N.O. East plan gets under way. Times‐Picayune (10 October 1981); H. E. Cook, Executive Vice President, New Orleans East, Inc., to Victor H. Schiro, Mayor, City of New Orleans, 15 October 1962. Folder 'New Orleans East–1962', Box S62–17, Victor H. Schiro Records, City Archives, New Orleans Public Library (hereafter NOPL); C. E. Colten, op. cit. [3]. Lady Bird Johnson was one of the investors in New Orleans East by the mid‐1960s. See T. Shallat, In the wake of hurricane Betsy, in C. E. Colten (ed.) Transforming New Orleans and its Environs: Centuries of Change. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000, p. 134. 8. C. C. Deano, Appraisal Report for Pontchartrain Land Corporation, n. d. [1972]. UNO; A general plan, New Orleans East, New Orleans, Louisiana. St Louis: Harland Bartholomew and Associates, 1959, plates 3 and 4; R. Samuel, ibid., p. 46. 9. A. R. Hirsch, Race and renewal in the cold war South: New Orleans, 1947–1968, in R. Fishman (ed.) The American Planning Tradition: Culture and Policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000, pp. 225–6. On the broader phenomenon of segregationist suburban developments within the corporate limits of southern cities in the 1950s, or 'Negro expansion areas', see A. Wiese, Places of their Own: African American Suburbanization in the Twentieth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, pp. 165–6. 10. J. R. Bobo, The New Orleans Economy: Pro Bono Publico? New Orleans: Division of Business and Economic Research, College of Business Administration, University of New Orleans, 1975, pp. 4–5. 11. J. R. Bobo and A. J. Mumphrey Jr., The structure of employment in metropolitan New Orleans. Louisiana Business Survey (April 1970) 3; Around the belt: A notebook of New Orleans happenings. New Orleans (January 1968) 5; D. Kleck and Associates, New Orleans, Strategic City of the South: A Pictorial–Statistical Presentation to the National Football League. New Orleans: Pro Football Club, Inc., 1965, TU. 12. New Orleans East. New Orleans: New Orleans East, Inc., n. d. [1966?], UNO. 13. Harold E. Cook to Daniel L. Kelly, Councilman, Third Municipal District, 20 January 1964. Folder 'New Orleans East', Box 10, Joseph V. DiRosa Records, NOPL. 14. J. Hardy, Complete 4,800‐acre community on drawing board for eastern N.O. Times‐Picayune (19 March 1981); L. Stuart, op. cit. [7]; C. D. Knepper, Greenbelt, Maryland: A Living Legacy of the New Deal. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001; K. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. 15. L. Downie Jr, Vision or hoax?: The 'new town' mirage. Nation 214 (17 May 1972) 617; A. Forsyth, Reforming Suburbia: The Planned Communities of Irvine, Columbia, and The Woodlands. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005, pp. 23–7. 16. N. D. Bloom, Suburban Alchemy: 1960s New Towns and the Transformation of the American Dream. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2001; N. D. Bloom, The federal Icarus: The public rejection of 1970s national suburban planning. Journal of Urban History 28 (November 2001) 58–9. 17. Application for Pontchartrain New Town in Town, Vol. I. Dallas: Pontchartrain Land Corporation, 1972, pp. 24–5, NOPL; J. LaPlace, Pontchartrain new town plan to confront board. Times‐Picayune (27 March 1974); NCDC OK's application to HUD for $50 million. Times‐Picayune (30 March 1974). A second Title VII project, Lower Algiers New Town in Town, envisioned a community of 52 000 residents on undeveloped land inside the city limits along the Mississippi River. 18. Marty Roberts, Executive Vice President, Pontchartrain Land Corporation, to Edward M. Lamont and Spencer Lengyel, Office of New Communities Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 21 July 1972, in Application for Pontchartrain …, ibid. 19. N. D. Bloom, The federal Icarus, op. cit. [16], 68; Pontchartrain New Town in Town–New Orleans, Louisiana: Social supplemental report. San Francisco: Marshall Kaplan, Gans, and Kahn, 1974, pp. 2, 57, 59, NOPL. The report proposed building 35 775 housing units between 1977 and 1994, during which time the proportion of low‐ to moderate‐income housing units would increase from 14% to 30%. 20. A. Forsyth, Ian McHarg's Woodlands: A second look. Planning 69,8 (August/September 2003) 10–13. See also R. Ingersoll, Utopia limited: Houston's ring around the beltway. Cite: The Architecture and Design Review of Houston 31 (Winter–Spring 1994); G. T. Morgan Jr and J. O. King, The Woodlands: New community development, 1964–1983. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1987. 21. Pontchartrain New Town‐in‐Town, New Orleans, Louisiana: A project for the Pontchartrain Land Corporation, n. d. [1972?]. NOPL; J. D. Murphy, Pontchartrain new town HUD papers 'in Limbo'. Times‐Picayune (6 October 1973). Title VII projects were subject to Federal Housing Authority (FHA) flood insurance stipulations. Under the FHA's '100‐year' insurance plan, all developments in areas designated as 100‐year floodplains had to incorporate complete hurricane protection before any building could commence. Title VII did not provide funds for the construction of protective levees. 22. Top 'new Town' problem over. Times‐Picayune (17 February 1974); P. Atkinson, HUD wants to cut N.O. project land. Times‐Picayune (19 September 1974). 23. New town projects halted nationwide. Times‐Picayune (12 January 1975); N. D. Bloom, The federal Icarus, op. cit. [16] 66–7. 24. K. A. Tarleton, Orlandia contracts to be let in '76. Times‐Picayune (27 June 1975); Ad: Orlandia public auction, 3 March 1977. Times‐Picayune (18 January 1977). 25. Promotional brochure: An invitation to drive on the new road of the New Orleans Lake Shore Land Co., n. d. [c. 1913]. Vertical file 'Neighborhoods–New Orleans East', TU; B. Petersen, The American dream is now playing in Lake Forest. New Orleans (November 1974) 61–2. 26. Advertisement: New Orleans Public Service. New Orleans (February 1970); Advertisements: Lake Forest Estates. New Orleans (March and November 1973). 27. B. Petersen, op. cit. [25] 62–4. 28. M. Zhou and C. L. Bankston III, Social capital and the adaptation of the second generation: The case of Vietnamese youth in New Orleans. International Migration Review 28 (Winter 1994) 827; J. B. Gaffney, Market a tradition. Times‐Picayune (15 February 1995). To be sure, New Orleans East officials worried that the damage caused by subsidence and the social transformation of Village de l'Est might diminish the desirability of the larger planned community. See T. A. Arnheim Jr, Tecon Realty Corp., to Philip Ciaccio, New Orleans city councilman, 11 December 1980. Folder 'Village de l'Est', Box 4, City Council District 'E' Papers, NOPL. 29. W. Brown, Vietnamese refugees caught in black–white friction in New Orleans: A different war. Washington Post (18 July 1978). On discriminatory manpower management in the World War II South, see C. D. Chamberlain, Victory at Home: Manpower and Race in the American South During World War II. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2003, pp. 26–8. 30. B. Hamilton, 'Home' has new meaning: Vietnamese vow to rebuild N.O. enclave. Times‐Picayune (22 October 2005); R. Bragg, Vietnamese refugees in New Orleans find a little peace. New York Times (2 October 2000); C. Slater, Thousands take part in Tet celebration: Year of the snake gets off to good start. Times‐Picayune (4 February 2001); V. Faciane, School marks Tet holiday: Vietnamese new year becomes a local fixture. Times‐Picayune (21 January 2001). 31. Tourism no cure for N.O.–Morial. Times‐Picayune (18 January 1978); Trade, development council to be appointed by Morial. Times‐Picayune (18 May 1978). 32. Plan for eastern N.O. calls for 50,000 jobs. Times‐Picayune (28 January 1982). 33. US Bureau of the Census, County Business Patterns, 1981. Louisiana, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1982; US Bureau of the Census, County Business Patterns, 1988. Louisiana, US Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1989. 34. US Bureau of the Census, Census of Population, 1980, 1990; Times‐Picayune (26 June 1990); I. Rosenzweig, City's blacks are looking east for a better life. Times‐Picayune (14 August 1983). 35. I. Rosenzweig, ibid.; Editorial: The promise of eastern N.O. Times‐Picayune (25 August 1983); New Orleans blacks gain ground in 1980s population shift. Times‐Picayune (10 April 1991); M. Lauria, A new model of neighborhood change: Reconsidering the role of white flight. Housing Policy Debate 9,2 (1998) 418–19. Between 1970 and 1990, eastern New Orleans's African American population soared from 15.1% to 63.5%. 36. New Orleans East: Comprehensive land use and transportation plan, initial development area. EDAW, Inc., 1982, pp. 7, 9, 20–1, 37, 42, UNO; A. Katz, Giant plan for east N.O. Times‐Picayune (15 March 1981); Stuart, N.O. East plan gets under way; Creditors close in as debts threaten N.O. East project. Times‐Picayune (1 July 1984). 37. C. E. Colten, op. cit. [3], pp. 179–80, 184; Developers want to drain 9,800 acres of N.O. wetland. Times‐Picayune (22 August 1981). 38. A. Katz, op. cit. [36]; L. Williams, Family‐friendly eastern N.O. area. Times‐Picayune (12 August 2006). 39. J. Meitrodt, Plan shrinks city footprint. Times‐Picayune (14 December 2005); L. Hill, Footprint or bootprint?: Thoughts on the political uses of population estimates in New Orleans. San Francisco Bay View (18 January 2006), available at www.sfbayview.com (accessed 1 February 2006). 40. R. King, Rocketing to recovery. Times‐Picayune (8 October 2006); J. Guillet, Eastern N.O. airport idea takes flight. Times‐Picayune (6 February 2006). 41. L. Williams, op. cit. [38]. Curiously, visions for New Orleans East continue to evoke, loosely, the concepts of New Urbanism in a city that still offers an old landscape of dense, walkable neighbourhoods clustered around commercial nodes. Tellingly, both before and after Katrina, developers planned new communities like River Garden in the Lower Garden District. See N. Ouroussoff, Katrina's legacy: Theme park or cookie cutter? New York Times (18 October 2005); D. McCash, New Orleans: New urbanism? Seattle Times (16 November 2005). 42. B. Hamilton, N.O. East activists rallying residents; Evacuees planning to return, rebuild. Times‐Picayune (19 October 2005); B. Hamilton, op. cit. [30]. 43. T. Steinberg, Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, 2nd edn, p. 199. On black suburbanization, see A. Wiese, op. cit. [9].