Red County, California

This plopped into my inbox overnight:

Thought you would like to know… the print version of the Final Report from the Gentilly Community Charrette will be available soon from the Gentilly Civic Improvement Association.

The report is unusual, in that it proposes not only plans for the rebuilding of Gentilly specifically, but a framework by which these and other ideas can be integrated into a city-wide plan of action. The Gentilly consultant team recognized early on that individual plans would be of little value if they could not be integrated promptly into a suitable city-wide and state-wide framework, under which funding could be coordinated. Therefore, the team researched the requirements of such a framework, extensively consulting LRA, federal and city officials. The final report outlines such a framework, and details its specific proposals as part of the framework.

While a number of commentators have bemoaned the lack of a coordinated planning framework, the Gentilly community has now placed one on the table — well ahead of the August or December timetables under discussion. I think this is “just do it” neighborhood activism at its best.

Speaking as an individual, and not a spokesperson for the team, I believe it’s high time for a “fast-track” approach to planning and design, and this plan lays out a way to do it. The money is already flowing from insurance companies and from speculators, and will begin flowing from the Federal government in August. Things are going to get built – possibly haphazardly, and wastefully. How can we ensure that the money will be spent where the neighborhoods need it, efficiently and in a coordinated way? How can we ensure that New Orleans neighborhoods be better than they were before the storm – not worse?

The Gentilly plan places neighborhood-based planning front and center in the process – not only to complete the framework city-wide, but to continue ongoing neighborhood participation, in the initial reconstruction and beyond. We propose “Neighborhood Planning Centers” – community planning resource centers, offering information and resources for home renovation as well as participation in ongoing planning at the neighborhood level. They’re places where people can come to get expertise, learn about financial options, share ideas, plan together.

Tired of waiting, the neighborhoods of New Orleans have started a very important new neighborhood-based process. As part of that, the Gentilly neighborhood has seized an opportunity, and proposed a way to make it city-wide – not only because it’s the best way to plan, but because it’s needed, and soon.

The Gentilly Community charrette was hosted by the GCIA, and attended in person by over 1,000 Gentilly residents, and more via the web. The consultant team was led by Andres Duany, at the invitation of Councilmember Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, and included over 20 separate architecture and design firms, 5 specialty planning firms, 2 engineering firms, 2 NGOs, and 6 university academics. The report includes an extensive “After-Action Review” of each of the daily meetings, listing detailed comments from charrette participants.

Best, m

–
Michael Mehaffy
President, Structura Naturalis Inc.
Research Associate, Centre for Environmental Structure – Europe
(Gentilly Community Charrette team member)

The final report from the Gentilly Community Charette is also available online.

I agree with Michael Mehaffy’s assessment that Gentilly’s efforts are an example of community can-do. Sitting on your rumpus-dumpus waiting for the Feds to bail you out (perhaps literally) is not the way to go. You’re responsible for yourself and your community; the rest of us can offer help. We can even give you a hand to get back on your feet. But the initial effort to stand — and the ongoing effort to walk forward — has to be yours and your neighbors.

I believe that now. I’ll still believe it after The Big One hits Southern California. I will expect help provided as best as it can be from outside the area, and a big part of that best will likely be poor to laughable. Them’s the shakes, folks. We all just gotta pitch in, bake a loaf of banana bread for the local first-responders, and try to be patient when the insurance adjuster comes back with a number that’s not nearly enough.

God bless Gentilly for pitching in.