Katrina, Biloxi, and the New Urbanism
You probably thought the real Katrina-related story of the week was the New Orleans mayorial election. But did you notice that urban planning firm hired to help guide the rebuilding of Biloxi walked away from the project, citing FEMA's incompetence and the casino industry's tight grip on government?
The story choices that are being made in the media (mainstream media, right wing media, blogs, whatever) continue to amaze me. For the most part, the Nagin reelection stories from all outlets had a subtext of "these people get what they deserve" and "can you believe they re-elected this guy?" My two cents is that Nagin was instrumental in changing Hurricane evacuation procedure in the aftermath of Ivan. Only 600,000, including my family, evacuated in the days before Hurricane Ivan, partly due to poor orgaqnization and the inability to easily contraflow Interstate10. However, it is estimated that over 1.1 million people were able to evacuate New Orleans in the days before Katrina, less than one year later. I always kind of thought that was how government was supposed to work.
Another story that didn't get enough play, in my opinion, was that of the "ride-out crew" that stayed behind at the Michoud Assembly Facility to man the pumps during and after the storm. These fine people absolutely kept the facility from flooding (it is tucked in between the river, two canals, and Lake Ponchartrain). For reference, Michoud is in New Orleans East, much closer to where the eye made landfall than the French Quarter, CBD, the Lower 9th Ward, and Lakeview. Members of this crew were awarded with NASA's Exceptional Bravery Medal.
I really haven't said much here or anywhere else about Katrina and how much I think the reportage about it was a total sham. However, I thought I better get a couple of thoughts in before hurricane season starts anew.
Today's Thoughts on City Planning
Several of you have suggested I post more items related to my former profession, City Planning. So here is what I hope is the first of many. If you like or dislike, let me know.
You may or may not know that most cities and counties are divided into zoning districts that determine what can and cannot be built (such as a house or airport or whip and chain emporium). Zoning, I believe, has really failed us in many ways. One of the best examples is this mcmansion from Austin, TX (what good is the new fence?). The zoning says you can only build a house there, it does not say that it has to look good or fit in with its surroundings. This example is one of the primary ways that zoning fails. It fails to take into account what context for the building is.
Several locales, including Memphis and Shelby County are looking into this and developing "form based codes" in an attempt to resolve this issue and many others. While this example certainly looks bad, the flip side is that any regulations designed to reign in this type of development will reduce the value of the property. It simply will not be worth as much if you can't build as large. Further, is mcmansionization a natural process that should be allowed to continue as older neighborhoods redevelop? After all, the new buildings are worth more and will add to the tax base. These types of issues make it so fun when you are an appointed or elected official.
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