Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

The Streets Are Talking: The Aesthetics Of Gentrification In Two Downriver New Orleans Neighborhoods, Tara E. Foster

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1970s, when neoliberal policies and changing consumer patterns began remaking cities, scholars have conducted research about gentrification. In New Orleans, these studies have helped explain the demographic and economic shifts in some neighborhoods. However, there has been limited focus on the built environment aspects of gentrification in New Orleans, specifically the interpretation of the external aesthetic shifts in streetscapes as part of the gentrification process. This thesis examines the relationship between these aesthetics, primarily graffiti and street art, and the gentrification process, as perceived by various stakeholders in two New Orleans neighborhoods: St. Roch and Bywater. Using empirical, …

Sistas On The Move: An Ethnographic Case Study Of Health And Friendship In Urban Space Among Black Women In New Orleans, Valerie A. Mcmillan

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Black women are disproportionately affected by adverse health conditions, such as obesity and heart disease. For example, more black women currently die from complications associated with diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure than any other ethnic group in the United States (Gourdine 2011). There are however, increasing numbers of everyday black women who defy these statistics and are positive role models for all women. One such group of women is the New Orleans chapter of Sistas On The Move (SOTM), an all-female running group that emphasizes the importance of black women’s health and builds community around physical activity. Through …

A Gateway For Everyone To Believe: Identity, Disaster, And Football In New Orleans, Brandon D. Haynes

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to analyze the dynamic processes of collective identity by examining the relationship between New Orleans and its professional football team, the Saints, after Hurricane Katrina. Much of the discourse written on American professional sports focuses on economic transactions between player and franchise or franchise and city. This study explores sports from a cultural perspective to understand the perceived social values provided to the host community. This case study spans the years from 2006 to 2013 and discusses several major events, including the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the reopening of the Superdome, the Saints winning a …

The Privatization Of Hazard Mitigation: A Case Study Of The Creation And Implementation Of A Federal Program, Alessandra Jerolleman

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the role of the private and public sectors in hazard mitigation, an important part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) performance requirements from the Stafford Act. Hazard mitigation is the effort to reduce societal impacts from natural disasters by reducing their risk to people, property and infrastructure; before hazards occur. The goal of the work is to contribute to the literature examining the national trend towards privatization and reliance on the free market economy for the provision of government social services, through such public management movements as the “New Public Management” (NPM) of the 1980s and …

Walking In The City, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Justice Mcpherson

UNOTI Publications

Motivated by traffic congestion, excessive energy use and poor health outcomes, planning and public health researchers have developed an extensive body of research that examines walking and other active transport as well as walking for recreation. In different discussions, walking has become a newly interesting subject and method to understand urban (and non urban) life, and a growing number of researchers have sought to understa nd mobility, the social experience and functions of walking and its cultural meanings. These areas of research rarely overlap. The latter has the potential for enriching the research about active travel and physical activity and, …

Worker Experiences Of Accessibility In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Kate Lowe, Mariana E. Marmol

UNOTI Publications

Existing research has identified transportation challenges that low-income workers face, including a spatial mismatch between suburban entry level-jobs and urban low-income workers. These studies rely on travel models and secondary data and thus may not capture the temporal or other constraints that low-income workers experience. To better understand mobility patterns and accessibility as experienced, this analysis considers commute choices and perceptions of accessibility. Findings are based on open-ended surveys with 50 low-income workers in New Orleans and its inner suburbs. According to a sizable share of respondents (40%), transportation problems do not preclude applying to jobs. Black and centrally located …

Transit-Oriented Development: An Examination Of America’S Transit Precincts In 2000 & 2010, John L. Renne, Reid Ewing

UNOTI Publications

This study creates a typology of all fixed transit precincts across the United States to categorize all stations as either a Transit Oriented Development (TOD), Transit Adjacent Development (TAD) or hybrid. This typology is based on an index that accounts for density, land use diversity and walkable design. This study also presents a separate non-typological multilevel, multivariate analysis of transit commuting and the built environment, which is unique in that it is the first national study of transit station precincts of its kind to control for both regional and neighborhood level variables. The findings lend support for the TOD concept …

How Have Community Land Trusts Used The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit? Case Studies From Athens, Ga And Park City, Ut, Michael S. Lostocco

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Public and private actors have suggested using the community land trust (CLT) model as a remedy for a number of housing related issues. This is based primarily upon the documented successes of CLT homeownership programs. Some caution that the growth of CLTs and the increased use of the CLT model beyond homeownership may stretch organizations beyond their capacity or force them to consider how to provide stewardship and community control. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) has been used by a handful of CLTs and there are reasons to believe that more CLTs may utilize it in the future. This …

Cycling In The Crescent City: An Exploration Of The Spatial Variation In Bicycle Commuting In New Orleans, Emilie S. Bahr

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the spatial variation in bicycle commuting across New Orleans. It identifies where in the city bicycle commuting is most and least prevalent. It also explores factors that are promoting and discouraging utilitarian bicycling. A review of existing literature on variables found to influence transportation bicycling is conducted, and a survey is disseminated to residents across the city to determine some of the motivations for and obstacles to transportation bicycling locally. Additionally, case studies are compiled pertaining to two neighborhoods falling on opposite ends of the bike-commute spectrum. These include analysis of socio-economic and demographic data; an evaluation …

The Diffusion Of Geospatial Technologies Among Louisiana Assessors, Craig A. Johnson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The diffusion of geospatial technologies, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Computer Aided Mass Appraisal Systems (CAMA), among Louisiana Assessors has been slowed by limited resources, a lack of communication and slow innovation decision processes. This research considers analysis of the speed of adoption, identifies the key players in decision making and the issues that influence the process based upon the theory of the diffusion of innovation developed by Dr. Everett M. Rogers (1995). The research data collected from online surveys, field visits and interviews of Louisiana Assessors between 2007 and 2013 was compared to identify factors that spurred or …

Uses And Perceptions Of The Neighborhood Open Space, Romain Cheynet

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the uses and perceptions of the population of the East Carrollton Area in New Orleans so as to evaluate the possible outcomes of urban design intervention and policy changes. Using GIS, field notes, structured interviews and a population survey, this research evaluates how much the built environment influences the uses of the neighborhood open space. Subsequently, it evaluates how the neighborhood open space is perceived as a place as opposed to a transportation infrastructure.

Overall, the built environment affects the experience of the residents when they perform leisure activities in the neighborhood open space. Major deterrents to …

Risk, Oil Spills, And Governance: Can Organizational Theory Help Us Understand The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill?, Evelyn Cade

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico awakened communities to the increased risk of large-scale damage along their coastlines presented by new technology in deep water drilling. Normal accident theory and high reliability theory offer a framework through which to view the 2010 spill that features predictive criteria linked to a qualitative assessment of risk presented by technology and organizations. The 2010 spill took place in a sociotechnical system that can be described as complex and tightly coupled, and therefore prone to normal accidents. However, the entities in charge of managing this technology lacked the …

Creative Capitalization: A Strategic Investment Plan For The Crescent City Community Land Trust, Department Of Planning And Urban Studies, University Of New Orleans

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

This report outlines an investment strategy to guide the Crescent City Community Land Trust (CCCLT) in the use of its capital investment fund, the Crescent City Futures Fund. The Fund will provide seed money for development projects in order to incentivize public and private entities to invest funds in projects that target low-to-moderate income (LMI) residents. Since the Fund’s monies are limited, it is imperative that the CCCLT identify those development projects that allow it to most effectively accomplish its objectives. To that end, this investment strategy includes three components that are intended to help the CCCLT evaluate and decide …

Defining Safety For Universities: The Slippery Conceptual Slope, Pam Jenkins

DRU Workshop 2013 Presentations – Disaster Resistant University Workshop: Linking Mitigation and Resilience

In this presentation, we address the issue of the fragility of campus safety. The uniqueness of a college campus creates a context for safety that requires an intentional and specific understanding. Campus life for many is no longer (or perhaps never was) ‘an ivory tower’— a place separated and protected from the rest of the community. However, many still have the attitude that a campus is not like the real world in the United States. And in fact, colleges and universities are often much safer and more open than communities around them. Yet, ask any student affairs director or safety …

Mitigation Planning 101, Nicolette English

DRU Workshop 2013 Presentations – Disaster Resistant University Workshop: Linking Mitigation and Resilience

No abstract provided.

Supporting Permanently Affordable Housing In The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program: An Analysis Of State Qualified Allocation Plans, Marla Nelson, Elizabeth Sorce

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the country’s largest source of federal subsidy for affordable housing. Since its inception, the program has financed more than 2.2 million housing units, accounting for about one-sixth of all rental housing in the country.1 Limited affordability periods, and the ability for property owners to “opt out” of the program after 15 years, have raised concerns about the loss of affordable units to market rate conversion, particularly in strong housing markets. Organizations that provide permanently affordable housing, often referred to as “shared equity” models, can ensure the affordability and stewardship of LIHTC …