city government

Affordable housing advocates set to march and rally Saturday

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The #PutHousingFirst march and rally is an effort by the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance and Home by Hand to spread awareness about the city’s need for affordable housing. Advocates and neighbors will march through Central City with The Hot 8 Brass Band starting at 10:30 a.m., and a rally will immediately follow. The march begins at Tapps II (2800 S. Rocheblave St.) and goes to Guste Park at Simon Bolivar Ave. and MLK Blvd, where the rally will be. GNOHA hosted the first #PutHousingFirst march last year.

city government

Mayor touts affordable housing amendment, pushes homeownership at District B meeting

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By Jesse Baum, Uptown Messenger

Mayor Latoya Cantrell told a meeting on affordable housing Wednesday that she wants to push New Orleans to 65 percent homeownership, well above the current percentage of around 46 percent. Cantrell made an Uptown stop on her affordable housing tour at the Ashe Powerhouse Theater. The affordable housing tour has been a way for the Cantrell administration to go into different communities around the city and explain different affordability programs that are already in place. Residents in the area surrounding the Ashe Powerhouse Theater are predominantly renters, and Cantrell said she wants more homeownership to allow residents to build equity and pass that value to their children. This is especially important in New Orleans, Cantrell said, where burgeoning rent prices have pushed long-time residents out of their neighborhoods, and black renters are disproportionately likely to be cost-burdened — paying over 30 percent of their household income to housing costs.

community meetings

Renewable energy campaign kicks off with event tonight in Broadmoor

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Audubon Louisiana, in partnership with the Energy Future New Orleans Coalition, is kicking off its campaign for a Resilient Renewable Portfolio Standard New Orleans with a community meeting tonight. The event for City Council Districts A and B will be held at the Broadmoor Arts and Wellness Center, 3900 Gen. Taylor St., 2nd floor, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The group plans to ask the New Orleans City Council to support a strong Renewable Portfolio Standard. “By committing to 100% renewable energy by 2040, New Orleans can become a leader in the clean energy economy while addressing the greatest challenges faced by residents,” the coalition states. Organizer Angie Torres will be guiding the meeting, and Monique Harden of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice is a guest speaker. Community members are also invited to speak.

city government

Community meeting planned for tennis club in Dixon neighborhood behind Costco

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A community meeting is planned for the proposed tennis club at Palmetto and Monroe streets in the Dixon neighborhood. The tennis center is the dream of Kevin Chaouat, a former Xavier University tennis player and now coach at Xavier. Chaouat has said he wants to create a tennis center that is a place for play, from beginner to professional, and for instruction at all levels. The business plans include accessibility to the facility for community members, particularly children. The meeting will be held Monday, Sept.

business

Carrollton neighborhood set to welcome Canseco’s Market

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By Emily Carmichael, Uptown Messenger

Canseco’s Market is coming to Carrollton Avenue and Oak Street and, if last night’s neighborhood meeting is any indication, the area’s residents are excited. Necessitated by the zoning districts it will operate in, the grocery store held the Neighborhood Participation Project meeting to seek two separate conditional use approvals: the ability to sell alcohol and tobacco, and the ability to operate between 5,000 and 10,000 square feet of sales space. The potential Canseco’s at 1133 S. Carrollton Ave. would have approximately 6,000 square feet of retail space. About 24 feet of shelf space will be dedicated solely to beer, and 28 feet will be dedicated solely to wine, more than any other category in the store.

city government

RTA, planners gather input for overhaul of public transit in New Orleans

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By Jesse Baum, Uptown Messenger

The Regional Transit Authority and the Regional Planning Committee hosted a community meeting Tuesday for District B at Dryades Public Market to gather feedback for a planned redesign of the public transit network that would include New Orleans and the surrounding communities. Called New Links, the project also involves Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes’ transit agencies in an effort to make the transit network more efficient and user-friendly. The current input phase of the redesign looks at where people in New Orleans travel most frequently and how they would like to see transit improved, including more options for transfers, better weekend/late night service, as well as better connections to communities like Chalmette and Metairie. In the years after Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures, the RTA has seen ridership fall and has struggled to restore service to prestorm levels.

city government

Coffee on your Corner series to tackle affordable housing

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The city is holding a Coffee on Your Corner session for District B on Thursday at the Fresh Market on St. Charles Avenue. The topic will be affordable housing in New Orleans. Coffee on Your Corner is a community meeting that brings city officials and representatives into neighborhoods to discuss specific issues of the day. “In an effort to accommodate residents who are less inclined to attend public meetings in the evenings outside of their communities, we’ve created Coffee on Your Corner to bring city government to you,” the city’s Office of Community Engagement states.

business

Peaches on Magazine plans to bring historic Woolworth’s counter back to life

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By Emily Carmichael, Uptown Messenger

Peaches Records, a long-time stalwart of local music, is looking to try its hand at the culinary scene with the revival of the historic F.W. Woolworth lunch counter in its Magazine Street store. On Monday, June 3, the record store that helped give Cash Money its start will host a Neighborhood Participation Program meeting at Rosa F. Keller Library in Broadmoor. The meeting is part of a process to gain the city’s approval to serve alcoholic beverages, but Peaches owner Shirani Rea also hopes to use it as an opportunity to introduce the project to the community. The counter at the Peaches remains in its original location at 4318 Magazine St., a former F.W. Woolworth store. The counter was built in 1940, Rea said, but its historical significance dates to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

city government

Coffee on Your Corner to discuss transportation

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Transportation is the topic of the Coffee on Your Corner event for District A to be held Thursday, May 16, at the IHop on 3511 S. Carrollton Ave. from 10 to 11 a.m.

The city’s Coffee on Your Corner events bring city officials and representatives into neighborhoods for coffee and an exchange of information. District A residents can hear about city programs, initiatives and operations directly from city officials and representatives. The event is an effort accommodate residents who are less inclined to attend public meetings in the evenings outside of their communities. Click here to register for the event.

city government

Open house about biking safety brings cyclists’ and drivers’ concern

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On Monday, cyclists, advocacy groups and city government officials gathered at Booker T. Washington in Central City to discuss issues around cycling in New Orleans. The meetings are part of an effort by New Orleans officials to make the city more bike-friendly and a safer place for cyclists. Bike safety has come more into the spotlight since Frank Fisher, a 34-year-old oil-services worker and lifelong New Orleanian, was killed in February after being struck by a garbage truck while riding on Carrollton Avenue. No citations were written or arrests made in that case. Then, on March 2, the deaths of Sharree Walls, 27, and David Hynes, 31, and the injuries of other cyclists on Esplanade Avenue galvanized the cycling community.