Mid-City Neighborhood Organization

WE NEED YOUR INPUT!!!

The official District 4 Planning Meeting is Wednesday, April 22, from 6-9pm at Jesuit High School.

On Friday, March 20, planning firm Goody Clancy posted the Draft Master Plan. The proposed land use map for District 4, which includes Mid-City, is here.

The Draft Master Plan is a goldmine of information on the city and its historic and current physical environment. However, MCNO needs your input to determine whether the proposed land uses are appropriate for our neighborhood. They do not match up completely with the land uses proposed by the citizen-guided Lambert Plan.

Specifically, Goody Clancy proposes “low-density multi-family” for all the residential areas of Mid-City other than a small area on the City Park side of Bienville and Carrollton. “Urban Mixed-Use” is proposed for the Tulane Corridor and the Lindy Boggs site. For Canal, “Neighborhood Mixed-Use” is proposed.

After speaking with planners from Goody Clancy at length on Friday, March 27th, and examining the Land Use document posted with the Draft Plan, we have determined the following:

1. “Low-density multi-family” allows up to 36 residential units per acre;

2. Neighborhood mixed-use allows a mix of uses (e.g. residential and commercial), with a FAR (floor to area ratio) of 2.0. FAR is a measurement of the number of floors allowed compared to the amount of space the building takes up on the lot. For example, a two-story property that takes up half of a lot would have a FAR of 1.0. A FAR of 2.0 allows a two-story building that occupies the entire lot, or a four-story building that occupies half of the lot.

3. Urban mixed-use allows a mix of residential and commercial, with a FAR of up to 8.0. That allows a building of up to 8 stories if it consumes the entire lot, or 16 stories if it consumes half the lot.

If we do not provide sufficient input to Goody Clancy, the final land use and zoning will not reflect our desires!!!

Please attend the Neighborhood Meeting on April 6 and provide your input, then plan to attend the District 4 meeting on April 22!!!!!

Jennifer Farwell
Vice President
MCNO

This morning, someone posted to the MCNO Yahoo! Group about a “shooting” in the 3500 block of Palmyra. From the comments, it appeared to be a question of something that sounded like shots being fired, not necessarily a shooting. This opened up a dialogue about the relative merits of continuing to live in the city. I welcome anyone else’s thoughts. Here are mine, and they come down firmly on the side of staying.

Living in New Orleans today comes down to an issue of risk tolerance. Those with little risk tolerance may have a hard time justifying their continued residence here. However, there has never been a better time in New Orleans’ history to exercise risk tolerance, because we are slowly, incrementally, but assuredly making strides in the way this city is run and the recovery managed.

I believe the next administration will only accelerate the progress, provided that we are very, very careful to support a citizen-friendly candidate who respects transparency and accountability and has zero tolerance for corruption and graft.

Someone may prefer Cedar Rapids to New Orleans. If that is the case, I would say that person’s risk aversion far surpasses their sense of joie de vivre. And that is their right and their decision.

With that in mind, we need every able-bodied person on board for this train ride, so if you can raise your risk tolerance a bit, I would hope you stay. Consider that Outdoor Magazine named New Orleans #3 in its list of best places to begin a rewarding new adventure (by moving here to live and help rebuild.)

New Orleans has long been a city of adventurers with high risk tolerance. In the mid 1800s, the city lost a third of its population on several occasions to yellow fever, something we no longer have to worry about. Yet, the city endured and thrived, because the people who lived here felt the rewards of staying outweighed the risk.

To me, that makes today’s risks seem negligible in comparison. As a local architect told me in an interview, “We will not go quietly into the night.” Neither will our city.

I wanted to extend an invitation to MCNO members and their friends and families to join HandsOn New Orleans for an upcoming day of service on Saturday, March 21, 2009. Our focus will be projects in Mid-City and Central City. We’ll be posting project locations and start times on our website. Be sure to check there for information about project sites and more information about HandsOn New Orleans Day. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a great day!

Heidi Mallis
Volunteer Coordinator
HandsOn New Orleans

To sign up for HONO’s weekly volunteer e-newsletter, please visit our website, www.handsonneworleans.org

Kyle Franklin from the Zulu Social Aid Pleasure Club came to the MCNO meeting last night to advertise the 1st ever Zulu Anniversary 5K Run/Walk. It will be held on May 9th 6:00 PM. It will begin and end at the Zulu Headquarters. The run will be co-hosted by the New Orleans Track Club and it looks like proceeds will go to NORD. Every registrant will receive a t-shirt and there is also a poster for sale. You won’t get a 2nd chance to be part of HISTORY! So join Zulu for this fun day!

You can get the registration form online. (You must be logged in to the Mid-City Discussion Group on Yahoo.)