Owen Courrèges
Street renovations certainly are continuing apace along Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, a.k.a. “OCH.” The pavement has been stripped of asphalt and the newer, wider neutral ground is almost completed. Mayor Landrieu and other city leaders are already patting themselves on the back.
The only problem? Oretha Castle Haley was fine the way it was, unlike other infrastructure in the city. Most other streets remain smoldering dumpster fires.
$1.85 million is being spent on the project, which targets a boulevard that even before provided a reasonably smooth ride compared with the vast majority of streets in the city. OCH will ultimately be able to handle less traffic than before, as a traffic lane will be obliterated in each direction.
The widened neutral ground likewise appears to serve no legitimate purpose; tanned brick has been added in lieu of green space, together with square spaces for trees to be planted. It will neither serve as a rest area nor a jogging path.
Against this backdrop, one naturally questions exactly why this project, seemingly the least worthy imaginable, is being pushed now.
As I’ve noted in previous columns, it is patently obvious that OCH has been specifically targeted as a part of a government-centric gentrification scheme. Virtually none of the new businesses along the corridor are actually intended to cater to the residents of Central City, Uptown’s most impoverished neighborhood.
OCH seems like a comically inappropriate location to play host to high-end restaurants, retail, and tourist venues. Nevertheless, the city long ago declared, like apparatchiks engaging in Soviet-style central planning, that OCH would do exactly that – sanity be damned.
Of course, local officials seem oblivious of this fact, and behave as though these needless amenities are somehow for the benefit of existing residents.
Mayoral hopeful and District B City Councilwoman Latoya Cantrell commented that “[t]his is an exciting new part of the continued redevelopment of Oretha Castle Haley Blvd,” and expressed pride in “all the work being done to revitalize this important corridor of Central City.”
Of course, it might have been better for the people who actually, you know, live in Central City if the commercial boulevard consisted of a combination of discount stores, inexpensive small businesses, and cheap take-out eateries. Alas, before high-end businesses for rich folks moved in, there were no imminent plans to upgrade the street.
This also explains why the neutral ground renovations are don’t include green space. You only need to look over at the neutral ground on Martin Luther King Boulevard to see that, in Central City, a continuous, landscaped space in the middle of the street will coalesce into a meeting space for local residents. If benches aren’t provided, old folding chairs and milk crates will do the job.
Of course, well-heeled tourists and locals alike might not be keen on the notion of OCH looking like MLK. Thankfully, and presumably not coincidentally, uninviting tan bricks are less likely to attract camaraderie than manicured grass.
At every step of the way, the city has conspired to turn OCH into something that will exclude actual residents of Central City in favor of a wealthier crowd. Worst of all, it’s not simply that the city doesn’t want business that cater to locals; they don’t want them to be seen at all. That’s simply not the atmosphere they have in mind.
Ultimately, a street named after a civil rights hero is being whitewashed. This is no talk from the tinfoil hat crowd; it is an undeniable reality.
Instead of patting themselves on the back for their charity and foresight, city officials – straight up to the mayor – ought to be ashamed. We’re in the process of rehabilitating a street that doesn’t need it, and it’s not even theoretically for the benefit of nearby residents.
Meanwhile, our streets are caving in. Potholes are the norm. Our drainage system is a travesty. The city has plans to begin major work throughout the city, but somehow OCH came first. And meanwhile, we still have virtually no dedicated budget for road maintenance.
If the OCH project signals the city’s priorities, we should all be concerned. Worse than that – we should all be disturbed.
Owen Courrèges, a New Orleans attorney and resident of the Garden District, offers his opinions for UptownMessenger.com on Mondays. He has previously written for the Reason Public Policy Foundation.
Gentrification is a muddy word and I don’t buy the broad brush used in your article.
Nothing was happening on OCH for a long time. Central City is needing attention – money attracts money. Albeit some of the businesses on OCH cater to higher income folks, MLK Blvd might be more of a boon to some of the lower income residents.
This isn’t the type of money that benefits the people who actually live in Central City, though, and there’s no evidence that the city is encouraging businesses that would actually cater to local residents — either on OCH or MLK. I see nothing to suggest a bleedover effect, either. Fine dining on OCH just isn’t going to lead to cheap eats on MLK.
It’s often hard to tell whether govt is so incompetent or so evil intentioned.
I’m fairly certain that this was intentional. It’s classic limousine liberalism; you can improve economic conditions and the tax base by forcing out the poor and encouraging the wealthy to move in. Basically, nobody’s lives are actually improved, but the politicos can claim victory because the city appears better off, albeit with a different population.
Mayfield knew he needed help to attract people with money to his library funded venue. Why isn’t he in jail?
Clearly the long-time residents of the area had no say in this project.
That’s absolutely untrue. There have been 9 years of public meetings and lots of participation. This particular 3-block area with the concrete is not what was originally conceived or desired, but it was vetted at public meetings.
OCH reminds me of Sodo SoPa in the “City Part of Town” episode of South Park.
I’m way ahead of you on that. https://uptownmessenger.com/2015/10/owen-courreges-3/
No surprises here. Follow the money and you’ll find out why OCH became OuCH.
Why not do a “beautification” project on St. Charles Ave.? It’s the crown jewel of uptown, the most heavily traveled and most visible thoroughfare this side of Canal. Yet it crumbles and decays. The city should be spending our money in a manner that serves the greatest number of people in the most heavily used areas. But then again what do I know, I’m not a politician.
I’ve owned on Freret for 11 years, and lived close for much longer. Watched it, lived it, and thankful for the Naginmics and WBOKebees hatred that prevented- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhYJS80MgYA + and a sorry to myself for posting that- as I’m a Trump/Fox /Jindall/Vitter/Kennedy haten, plan parenthood loven “liberal”- but the truth hurts sometimes and Latoya been nothing but problems for us on Freret.
AB
I guess the next move will be to add a streetcar.
“If the OCH project signals the city’s priorities, we
should all be concerned”
Well, I’d say “disgusted,” but tomayto/tomahto. The city’s priorities seem to be Mitch Landrieu’s priorities, which contradict each other here: there’s no point in trumpeting a network of bicycle lanes if you narrow a formerly safe street like OCH and make it unsafe for cyclists.
There goes the least hair-raising part of my ride downtown, and I’m going to miss it.
At least Landrieu’s consistent in pushing for gentrification at the expense of lower-income locals, which has the sole virtue of supporting Emerson’s view of consistency. :/
So, intresting tidbit. The community requested the hardscape on the neutral ground for when they have events. Originally it was Urban Water Plan compliant, but this concession was actually at the community’s request.
Actually, the community wanted a flat surface, not a raised neutral ground, to create a plaza effect. It was the Dept of Public works that did this design, because they said a flat surface would cause drivers to do random u-turns in the middle of the street.
What community? You mean the merchant’s association? If so, that doesn’t represent residents.
Something has really gotten under your skin Mr. Courreges, because at least annually you write an opinion piece about Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. without actually talking to anyone who has a business or organization on the boulevard who could inform you here on the ground in the neighborhood. Our organization has invited you to talk with us in the past. We have been around since 1995 and are the Main Street organization for the boulevard. You have no idea what the community has worked on, participated in, or prefers in the neighborhood. This is not a new project as you assume. The community, including the volunteers and organizations that put on Central City Festival, and literally hundreds of residents, have been participating in the planning of a streetscape project they wanted SINCE 2007! If you do want to really be informed about the various post-Katrina planning processes that residents participated in, and the work that has been done over the years (NOT funded or directed by the city), we invite you again to come by. We are a non-profit and receive no City funding and never have. There are literally piles of information about 9 years of streetscape meetings, and years worth of work marketing vacant properties and the street to the private sector. Community Development by nature is a long process. The City has not provided anything to entities on the boulevard that is not also available on other corridors or neighborhoods–gap financing, facade grants, etc. State and Federal Historic Tax Credits are not specific to the boulevard, nor are New Markets Tax Credits, or Public Works funding. And you are dead wrong about the condition of the neutral ground–in the last 6 months, chunks of concrete began to break off and roll into the traffic lane. That neutral ground was at least 50 years old. And only three blocks of the neutral ground are paved; the rest will have grass and trees. Opinions are great, but they are always better when they are backed up by real information instead of assumption. We invite you again to come on over, because frankly you do seem to be stuck on this notion of a City “conspiracy.”
Pandering by the mayor and his cohorts? Shut your mouth!
“discount stores, inexpensive small businesses, and cheap take-out eateries.” You forget check-cashing and payday lending outlets from the list of stereotypes. Anyway, if those outlets are so beneficial to the neighborhood, what would you suggest the city or neighorhood do to attract them, without engaging in “Soviet style central planning?”
BTW, what the neighborhoods need are grocery stores.