Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Employment Decentralization And Bus Rapid Transit In An Edge City Corridor: Veterans Boulevard In Greater New Orleans, Taylor A. Marcantel

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The continued decentralization of employment in U.S. regions has led to the emergence of large employment centers outside of traditional Central Business Districts. Edge Cities in particular, with their high office space densities, significantly influence surrounding land uses and regional commuting patterns. However, existing transit systems tend to be oriented to historic Central Business Districts and the level of service for transit in suburban areas remains considerably below that of central cities. Adequately serving suburban Edge Cities with transit is critical in maintaining and improving access to jobs by transit and mitigating automobile congestion.

This study explores the suitability of …

Risk, Vulnerability, And Hazards: The Industrial Canal And The Lower Ninth Ward, Jerry V. Graves Jr.

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify, analyze, and describe the social outcomes that may be affected by the environmental risks generated by infrastructure projects; to examine the ways in which vulnerability and exposure to hazards may increase risk in neighborhoods over time; and to examine the implications of addressing the exacerbation of exposure to natural hazards within the traditional environmental justice framework. The Industrial Canal and Lower Ninth Ward were selected as the subjects of this case study because the canal has existed on the perimeter of the neighborhood for nearly one century, isolating Lower Ninth Ward residents …

The Practical Side Of Culinary Arts Education: The Role Of Social Ability And Durable Knowledge In Culinary Arts Externships, William R. Thibodeaux

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

As externships evolved from their vocational education roots into the university setting, both the course purposes and the expectations of student changed toward deeper learning. While the students’ responsibility for gaining knowledge has increased, teaching methods designed by educators to prepare students for more critically evaluated outcomes has not evolved at the same pace. Educators still grapple over how educational design can combine the structured teacher-centered learning strategy used in university classrooms with the learner-centered approach students typically utilize in for-profit culinary workplaces.

This dissertation is about culinary externships in the urban environment. The study examined the roles, reasoning, and …

How Are American Cities Planning For Climate Change? An Evaluation Of Climate Action Planning In Chicago, Il And Portland, Or, Nicolette Jones

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Contending with a changing climate presents a necessary push for planning. Although climate change is considered a global environmental problem requiring a global commitment and trans-national action, more and more, policymakers are recognizing the vital need for action at the local level. In the US, especially in the absence of national climate legislation, many local governments have begun developing strategic plans, or climate action plans (CAPs), to address adapting to impacts of climate change and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This thesis involves case studies of Portland, OR and Chicago, IL, cities with recently adopted CAPs and with considerable recognition in …

Factors That Shape Environmental Perceptions: The Role Of Health And Place, Elizabeth Langlois

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Risk perception is the judgment people make about the characteristics and severity of a risk. Numerous theories and models exist which have identified the factors that influence risk perception. Among these factors, location, health status, and demographic characteristics are known to shape risk perception. To measure the influence of these factors on environmental perception, a series of surveys conducted in four Louisiana communities between 2004 and 2005 describe community perceptions about environmental issues and health status. The objective of the study was to characterize and compare environmental concerns relative to location, health status, and demographic characteristics. Results indicate that location …

The Feasibility Of Closing Vehicle Crossings Along St. Charles Avenue: A Study Of Transit Safety And Performance, Vivek B. Shah

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The St. Charles streetcar is an important transit line in the city of New Orleans, with about 65,000 people living within a ½ mile walking distance from it. However, the line experiences a very high streetcar/automobile crash rate due in large part to the large number of grade vehicle crossings over the tracks that lack signalization. Through traffic modeling, the closure of many of these vehicle crossings and the diversion of automotive traffic to the remaining, signalized crossings is analyzed to determine traffic impacts on street network. The result is a modest increase in traffic, about 7-8%, at the remaining …

Catastrophes And The Role Of Social Networks In Recovery: A Case Study Of St. Bernard Parish, La, Residents After Hurricane Katrina, Carrie E. Lasley

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the experiences of St. Bernard Parish, La., residents as they coped with the impact of the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. An estimated 50,000 St. Bernard Parish residents relocated to a new home one year after Katina in 2006, and many of those residents moved again. This study examines the effects of the decisions of St. Bernard residents to relocate or to return on their social connections. The utility, adaptability and durability of social networks of these residents will be explored to enrich our knowledge about the social effects …

Working Towards The Sustainability Of New Orleans’ African American Indigenous Cultural Traditions, Ethan K. Ellestad

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

New Orleans indigenous cultural traditions such as Mardi Gras Indians, Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs and second line parades were born out of the disenfranchisement of the African American community. Though the practices have existed for over a century and provide social benefits, they have faced hostility from the police department, indifference from elected officials and city planners, as well as economic exploitation, denying them the ability to thrive. With a restructuring of public policy and outside assistance, these cultural traditions will be able to help revitalize the economically depressed areas where they continue to be practiced.

The Role Of Community Land Trusts In Preserving And Creating Commercial Assets: A Dual Cae Study Of Rondo Clt In St. Paul, Minnesota And Crescent City Clt In New Orleans, Louisiana, Elizabeth Sorce

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

As the community land trust (CLT) movement in the United States approaches its 50^th anniversary, CLT members, practitioners and researchers are exploring and pushing the boundaries of the model. CLTs offer an alternative model of land use tenure that permanently removes properties from the speculative market for the ongoing common good of the community. Most frequently associated with the provision of affordable housing in strong real estate markets, several CLTs across the country are now expanding into the commercial realm. This thesis compares the incipient commercial development efforts underway in St. Paul, Minnesota and New Orleans, Louisiana in order …

Transforming Sustainability Thru Adaptive Co-Management: A Critique Of Louisiana’S Coastal Master Plan, Melanie G. Sand

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

To achieve true sustainability, planners must balance the interests of environmental protection, economic development, and social equity. In a critically changing, complex ecosystem such as Louisiana’s coast, challenges to achieve the perfect equilibrium are further compounded. Following the logic of emerging adaptive co-management literature, the planning framework for Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan could be transformed into a more collaborative, democratic process. Adaptive co-management is a regime which provides power to local citizens, often in possession of invaluable traditional ecological knowledge. In general, it focuses on constant learning and collaboration. Through power-sharing and participatory action, we embrace science, but step back …

Casa Samba: Identity, Authenticity, And Tourism In New Orleans, Lauren Lastrapes

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Casa Samba is a cultural organization and samba school that has been operating in New Orleans’ performance scene since 1986. The group has been run by an American couple, Curtis and Carol Pierre, since its inception. Their son, Bomani Pierre, has been raised in the Afro-Brazilian drumming and dance practices that Casa Samba teaches and performs. Life histories of the group’s founding family are the basis of this qualitative case study. Using the details of individual lives and the context that these details provide, this dissertation seeks answers to two key questions: How and why does an American couple …

The Closure Of New Orleans' Charity Hospital After Hurricane Katrina: A Case Of Disaster Capitalism, Kenneth Brad Ott

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Amidst the worst disaster to impact a major U.S. city in one hundred years, New Orleans’ main trauma and safety net medical center, the Reverend Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital, was permanently closed. Charity’s administrative operator, Louisiana State University (LSU), ordered an end to its attempted reopening by its workers and U.S. military personnel in the weeks following the August 29, 2005 storm. Drawing upon rigorous review of literature and an exhaustive analysis of primary and secondary data, this case study found that Charity Hospital was closed as a result of disaster capitalism. LSU, backed by Louisiana state officials, …

The Social Construction Of A Public/Private Neighborhood: Examining Neighbor Interaction And Neighborhood Meaning In A New Orleans Mixed-Income Development, Kelly D. Owens

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

To understand the complexities involved with neighboring in public/private mixed-income communities, I conducted an ethnographic study of a HOPE VI site in a gentrifying neighborhood in New Orleans. Data was collected through 48 interviews, observation, mental maps, and casual encounters with residents living in the predominantly African American redeveloped St. Thomas Housing Development – renamed River Garden. I analyzed residents’ neighboring processes and how they socially constructed space, leading to the identification of several phenomena that shaped neighbor interaction in River Garden. As with previous HOPE VI neighborhood studies, within-group interaction was prevalent while cross-class interaction remained limited. Mechanisms that …

Deep Play, Urban Space, Adolescent Place: A Multi-Sited Study Of The Effects Of Settings On Adolescent Risk/Reward Behavior, Benjamin A. Shirtcliff

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The extant literature on the play behavior of youth normalizes adolescent behavior in public space as transgressional, resistant, and in need of social control. The dissertation counters this trend by looking to see if physical qualities, peer effects, and neighborhood context of settings play a deeper role in youth behavior. The study documented urban context, peer effects, physical features, and play behavior across 21 urban settings in New Orleans. Unobtrusive observations employed a highly innovative technique based on YouTube videos and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Coded observations of risk-taking and prosocial behavior demonstrated some stability in behavior amongst adolescents—“youth” …

Growing Support: Localism, Nonprofits, And Food Access In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Brent Tranchina

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Problems with food insecurity, such as a lack of access to healthy and affordable food in low-income neighborhoods, has been an ongoing challenge in New Orleans. The damages inflicted by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent citywide flooding on the local food system reduced the numerical count of operational full-service supermarkets and grocery stores throughout the city. The result has been a widespread presence of food deserts and grocery gaps, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. This thesis explores the emergence of food localism practices by food advocacy professionals as a capacity-building tool for New Orleans residents to increase community food security and develop …

Lost In Space No Longer: The Visionary Union Of 'The Wire', Brett Dupré

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In its serial space, David Simon’s The Wire season two relates the seemingly “disconnected” union men, foreign sex worker women, and African-American drug traders and crosses constructed boundaries of race, gender, sexuality, and geography to evoke the possibility of a transnational working class. The Wire’s serialized narrative trespasses the limitations of money and numbers games and of individual characters to build, scene by scene, what Roderick Ferguson calls in Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique “the location for new and emergent identifications and social relations” (108).

A Darker Shade Of Blue: From Public Servant To Professional Deviant; Law Enforcement's Special Operations Culture, Louis Scott Silverii

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The culture of law enforcement is an all or nothing proposition with no gray area where membership into this society is concerned. You are either “on the job” or you are not. Even references among officers to “the job” indicate there is only one job. Likened to a secret handshake, that initial phrase if answered correctly opens the door to instant fraternal acceptance, get out of violation passes, and the many other assumed privileges of brotherhood. Manning (1980) describes the powerful mystification of policing as the “sacred canopy”. He further asserts that “the police role conveys a sense of …

Ecosystem Management And Its Application At The Local Level: Apnep, Cama And Local Land Use Planning In North Carolina, Traci L. Birch

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A fundamental purpose of state-mandated growth management has been to infuse regional environmental concerns into local land use planning. Similarly, collaborative ecosystem planning efforts have attempted to encourage local communities to participate in regional planning efforts, and to adopt regional environmental goals and objectives into local land use plans. This paper presents results from a study of state-mandated local planning and collaborative regional planning, addressing in particular local ability to adopt and implement ecosystem planning initiatives for development management.

I found that a state mandate not only achieves plans from communities that would not otherwise plan, but also the plans …

The Operation Was Successful But The Patient Died: The Politics Of Crisis And Homelessness In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Evan Casper-Futterman

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

On July 4^th, 2007, a small group of housing activists set up a tent city encampment in a plaza adjacent to New Orleans City Hall. The action resulted in the creation of Homeless Pride, a small group of politicized Plaza residents. Six months later, hundreds of homeless people were moved from the park, and it was fenced off. Using archival videos, interviews, and news media, this thesis analyzes the opportunities and constraints that activists, service providers, and local officials faced in light of two intersecting and overlapping contexts. The first context is the immediate crisis of the levee …

Milneburg, New Orleans: An Anthropological History Of A Troubled Neighborhood, Betty A. Smallwood

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

For nearly 200 years, there has been a neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana named Milneburg, which has been constantly reimagined by its inhabitants and others. From its inception as a port of entry in 1832 until the 2011, it has been called a world-class resort, the poor-man's Riviera, a seedy red-light district, a cradle of jazz, a village, a swath of suburbia and a neighborhood. It has been destroyed eight times due to storms, fires, and civic or governmental neglect. Each time its residents have rebuilt it. In its last iteration as a post-Katrina neighborhood, the residents reestablished the Milneburg …

Land Use Planning After A Natural Disaster, Walter E. Lundin

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Recovery from a natural disaster is difficult, expensive, and can take ten years or more. Many contend that recovery planning can be ordered, knowable, and predictable and that the destruction of buildings and displacement of the population provide an opportunity to build back better. This thesis examines the complexity of recovery through the lens of land use planning. Land use planning serves as the central focus because land provides an individual or family their livelihood and its use underlies the economy. The thesis considers two planning models -- rational comprehensive and incremental. The thesis concludes that incremental planning is more …

Contested Suburbs: Space And Its Representation In Moral Panics, Stacey L. Simmons

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Over the last thirty years there has been modest investigation into the phenomenon of moral panic. Several high profile moral panics have been investigated by social scientists but with relatively little new theoretical developments. This research hypothesizes that there are two different forms of moral panic that have not been discerned by other researchers. I call these: metapanics and localized panics. In addition, in the last two decades a handful of well-respected theorists have drawn attention to the fact that social research is dominated by an historical perspective. Edward Soja. and Henri Lefebvre have been at the fore, but even …

Remembering North Claiborne: Community And Place In Downtown New Orleans, Daniel Robert Samuels

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The construction of Interstate 10 on North Claiborne Avenue in the mid-1960s is seen by many in the historic downtown New Orleans neighborhoods of Treme and the Seventh Ward as a pivotal event in the life of their community. For many years, North Claiborne, with its broad, oak-lined median, had served as an anchor for the social, economic, and cultural life of this predominantly Creole and African American community.

The construction of Interstate 10 radically altered the physical character of North Claiborne. Many of the homes and businesses that lined the street were demolished to accommodate a series of access …

The Social Impacts Of Condominium Conversion In The Vieux Carré Neighborhood, New Orleans, La, Randi Kaufman

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In order to better understand the effects of condominium conversions, this study explores the nature and extent of the conversion trend, and its social impacts on the Vieux Carré neighborhood. The increasing number of conversions in the Vieux Carré, also known as the French Quarter, has been the focus of recent controversy and has been perceived by many residents as a threat to the viability of the historic district as a neighborhood. Long-term Vieux Carré residents and neighborhood organizations have expressed fears that the converted rental units are being used as short-term rentals to tourists or second homes, which may …

Saving The Historic Homes Of New Orleans: An Overview Of Plans And Policies Affecting Housing And Historic Preservation, S. Elizabethe Bogart

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a clear and cohesive plan to assist the City of New Orleans in rehabilitating historic homes and neighborhoods. One of the main attractions for visitors to New Orleans is the charm of its architecture. A larger portion of the architecture is in disrepair. Most of the neighborhoods that are suffering from blight are homes in low-income communities. These families have little help in maintaining these historic structures because of the increased costs.

The administration of Mayor Marc Morial has decided that revitalizing the City's neighborhoods is of primary concern. This administration has …

The Bottom-Up Approach To Collaboration For Social Change: A Case Study Of The St. Thomas/Irish Channel Consortium, Crystal Handy Jones

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive case study examines the St. Thomas/Irish Channel Consortium's bottom-up approach to collaboration and its impact on community-building for social and economic change within the St. Thomas/Irish Channel neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana. The study determines the feasibility of the St. Thomas/Irish Channel Consortium being a new model of collaboration from the community level up.

Facing The Future In St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana: Planning And Development, Gregory L. Chase

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

St. Bernard Parish (Louisiana) has undergone a transition from rural, agrarian characteristics to that of a suburban, industrial based community. Its fragile environment has been substantially altered by man's use.

Planning and development strategies need to be devised to address the stress placed on the environment by these alterations, particularly dealing with coastal erosion, land loss and increased threat of tidal surge and flooding if development in the area is to continue.

St. Bernard also faces a changing economy with the declines of its industrial based economy and employment base which requires that new forms of economic development are established …

Manpower Planning: Goals, Methods, And A Suggested Stragegy For Ceta Prime Sponsors, Dale Hurst Tumelson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to provide information concerning government planning to reduce unemployment with the U. S. The research presented here is directed toward the individual with some interest in manpower planning at the most localized level of government. As a part of the above objective, this work seeks to familiarize the individual with the history of government efforst in the area of employment, the CETA program, and a perspective of future local planning in the area of manpower services.

Chapter I of this thesis is an introduction which outlines the purposes, scope, and limitations of this study. …