Urban Renewal, Tearing Down Projects, a case of the St. Bernard Housing Development in New Orleans
By Cara Harpole
The plan to demolish the Saint Bernard Housing Development had been on the chopping blocks for years-if not in actuality, surely in theory. The entire debate about public housing demolition, relocation of residents and redevelopment has always created a firestorm of debate and controversy over the years in New Orleans. One side believed that there was a plan in motion to dismantle all government public housing facilities by any means necessary to push out the poor. Many thought the plan was primarily localized, and racially motivated with big money and politics at its core. The dismantling of projects actually followed a national trend to replace huge large scale public housing communities and high rise apartments with less dense, mixed income communities. This plan was not a local conspiracy.
City government followed the national trend and supported the move to dismantle projects in New Orleans. Some residents saw the St. Bernard Housing Development as an eye sore, crime–infested–government–run–catastrophe. The solution was a no–brainer (to those who did not support large scale low income government housing) - tear it down and move the tenants "somewhere else." That "somewhere else" would prove controversial. How can thousands of low income residents be relocated when there was already a shortage of low income housing, especially in post Hurricane Katrina? The where, when and hows' needed to be answered.
The plan to demolish the St. Bernard project went forward with the approval of the city council and mayor. The timing could not have been worst. Many of the residents who lived in public housing communities took refuge in the Super Dome on the order of the Mayor Ray Nagin prior to Hurricane Katrina's land fall. When families left temporary shelters, naturally, their first inclination was to return to their homes to salvage what remained of their personal belongings. Unfortunately, the residents of the St. Bernard residents were prohibited from returning home.
The entire St. Bernard project was fenced off. In New Orleans, news quite frequently travels through "the grape vine" first, and standard channels last. The news on the street was that not only the the St. Bernard project would be demolished, but historic public housing communities such as "The Iberville" (the original location of "Storyville") and "The Lafitte," all hell broke out. Native New Orleanians took to the airwaves on popular local radio talk shows such as WBOK AM 1230 (African American) and WWL AM 870. Heated debates on the issue remained the talk of the day.
Local community activist were outraged, and began organizing protest with a vengeance. The protest was covered by the national media. Soon national organizations and activist sound the alarm and came to the city in numbers. Both resident activist, filmmakers and reporters camped out on the streets. Tents and posters gave the area life. Passionate speeches about issues of poverty and racism were made. Political speeches about the war, President Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina and comparisons to the Palestinians were also heavy on the list. The irony of it all was the lack of broad scale activism and passion amongst Liberal leaning organizations prior to Hurricane Katrina on issues such as: the out-of-control crime in the St. Bernard project, teen-aged birth rates, unemployment, high school drop out rates, and the quality of life.
Cities across the nation have faced similar questions and challenges about public housing. In an effort to curve violence, Chicago debated the controversial move to demolish the infamous, crime ridden, Cabrini-Green public housing project. They instituted an initiative called "Plan For Transformation." The outcome was based on the hypotheses which suggested out–of–control crime rate would be reduced by taking the following actions:
1) Removing residents from highly dense public housing communities
2) Relocating them to various communities around the city
3) Building mixed income homes in the previous location of the Cabrini-Green project
4) Greatly reducing the number of total units
It was hoped that these changes would greatly improve the both the quality of life of the previous residents and community surrounding the Cabrini-Green neighborhood. Reducing crime and creating a more sustainable community sound good in theory, but could never guarantee a definitive, positive outcome. Concrete scientific data was needed to measure the results of the plan.
The Urban Institute studied the rate of crime from the relocation of public housing dwellers to destination neighborhoods. The number of relocated households could not reach certain thresholds. Moving high concentrations of residents who had previously lived in public housing projects had negative effects in some neighborhoods; however, the study concluded "that a substantial majority of neighborhoods in both cities were able to absorb public housing relocation voucher households without any adverse effects on neighborhood conditions." The plan worked, and other major cities followed.
The old St. Bernard Housing project almost seems like a passing memory. It is currently called "Columbia Parc." The first phase of the project includes 466 units. The new homes are beautiful, and surprisingly in step with vernacular architecture. Only 157 will be subsidized according to income. The others will fit in two different criteria based on the market rate and personal income. Assuming the previous units were all subsidized, 806 families are missing from the equation, but not forgotten.
The famous poet and humanist Walt Whitman poignantly said "the great city is that which has the greatest man or woman: if it be a few ragged huts, it is still the greatest city in the whole world." The best cities are those that do not forsake the poor.
