As a local company with a 70-year history in New Orleans, Perez, APC knows the value of community involvement. It is with these prerogatives in mind that Perez has continued to work with the Holy Cross neighborhood on their proposed development for the Holy Cross.

In 2012, Perez, APC presented the community with a plan for development which included two 13 story buildings. They attended countless meetings with the community, the HDLC, the City Council, the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, and members of the Lower 9th Ward community. After listening to the community’s concerns, they dropped the proposed height from 13 stories, to 7 stories. In this plan, the building’s tallest point stood at 75 feet, allowing for protected parking underneath the buildings.

When the community gave feedback, Perez still heard concern over height and density from community members. Although the entire neighborhood did not share these concerns, Perez took their accommodations a step further this past week, changing their plans drastically.

Changes made to the plans include the removal of 161 units, and scaling down the proposed height of the two river front buildings from 75 feet, to 60 feet. This was done specifically for community members who expressed concern over density.

The plans are in full compliance with the draft comprehensive zoning ordinance, and have adhered to the City Planning Commission staff recommendation.

Perez hopes that this drastic change will bring the community closer to reaching full compromise with Perez, and open doors for community engagement in the future.

Many components have been thoughtfully included in Perez’s redevelopment plan in order to benefit and sustain the community. The design team incorporated the majestic oak grove into the plans for community gathering and engagement. The oak grove was not opened to the community when the school running, but the construction of this project will maintain the trees and their surrounding landscape.

Perez knows a fenced off development is not a strong addition to a rebuilding community.

In contrast to the once closed-off campus, the development will not be closed off or gated. It will be open to the community for whomever wishes to visit.

Children are important members of every community and are key players to our city’s future. Because of this, Perez has sought out investors with big plans to inspire our community ’s children to lead lives of purpose and initiative.

Perez has worked hard to attract members of the city willing to commit their finances and time to programs for the neighborhood children. After searching a great deal, Angela O’Byrne finally found the right people for the job. Master Chef Ronnie Seaton plans to bring a cooking school to the development, which children will attend after academic school and the community will attend on Saturday nights. Karate Champion and former 9th Ward resident Eric O’Neal plans to open a karate school in the development as well.

5 acres of green space are included in the plans. This will not only provide a landscape the entire community can enjoy but also provide a space for community engagement and recreational outdoor space. The development will also be mixed-income, which will create a diverse sub-community that will add to the over all character of the neighborhood.

“We have worked for over 18 months on this project, and believe we’ve never been closer to reaching a compromise than we are now,” said Steve Massicot.

As more research is being conducted on American housing patterns, the disadvantages of sprawl, and greater benefits of denser living are being recognized.

In a recent report published by Smart Growth America, compact living has been directly linked to personal health, financial mobility and stability, and many other noticeable benefits.

 “The researchers found that as Sprawl Index scores improved—that is, as areas became less sprawling—several quality of life factors improved along with them.

• People have greater economic opportunity in compact and connected metro areas.

• People spend less of their household income on the combined cost of housing and

transportation in these areas.

• People have a greater number of transportation options available to them.

• People in compact, connected metro areas tend to be safer, healthier and live longer

than their peers in more sprawling metro areas.”

The reason people in compacted areas have greater economic mobility, is because residents are sharing the cost of a greater space with more people, hence paying a smaller rate for their space. In addition, home ownership leads to financially exhausting mortgages, and even more money being spent on the maintenance and upkeep of larger property.

When everything a resident needs is in walking distance of their living space- grocery, gym, recreational facilities, retail- there is less of a need for car ownership.This makes cheaper transportation alternatives feasible. All of this means more money in the resident’s pocket, and financial mobility.

The article states people in compact areas lead safer, longer, and healthier lives than those who don’t. This is due to a number of reasons. In areas where cars are more prominent, people walk less. Less physical activity increases the chance of health problems like obesity, and other issues which stem from it such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, gallstones, cancer, diabetes, fatigue, high cholesterol, heart attack, etc.

If people are walking less, they are driving more. The greater the amount of cars operating in an area, the greater amount of released CO2 emissions, air pollution, and car accidents. Less cars traveling in an area results in less driving related fatalities in that area as well. Teenage driving, and drunk driving increase the chances of death or injury in an area, which is why vehicle related fatalities are less likely to occur in an area with fewer cars. According to the article, those in denser, compact communities are likely to live 3 years longer than those who do not. “For the average American with a life expectancy of 78 years, this translates into a three-year difference in life expectancy between people in a less compact versus a more compact county.”

Reduced car traffic can only happen when the amenities a neighborhood needs are within walking distance of the units residents live in. The proposed Holy Cross Development is a great example of this. With the planned mixed-use zoning change, commercial retail will be available in the same buildings residents live in, making walking more viable than driving.

Although single-family housing is traditional in some neighborhoods, many disadvantages are being discovered as the push to denser housing grows stronger. Lack of social capital, residential energy use, and slower emergency response times, are all connected with sprawl. When houses are farther away from amenities like police and fire, response times are inevitably slower than they are in cities. A greater amount of energy is wasted in single family homes because heating, cooling, electric and other similar systems are run for the entire house, although not all the rooms are being occupied.

In short, there are good reasons developers, urban planners, and real-estate developers are pushing for density. Lower cost, less need, and less expense; What more could you ask for?

Confusion about zoning has become a very big problem. People seem to think that zoning is the holy grail that will save their communities and neighborhoods from disaster, or improve property values, and that any developer seeking to change it is somehow naturally evil.  The reality is that most communities in the US today, are struggling to survive because of really bad zoning that was created 20, 30, 40, even 50 years ago.  Way back then, suburban sprawl was considered a good thing; gasoline was cheap, the car was king, and new communities were developed with very rigid zoning– separating uses and thereby making the communities difficult to navigate on foot. In fact, these sprawling cities were the antithesis of “walkable” and certainly not energy efficient. Limiting height and density, which further separates amenities makes communities less walkable, bikeable, navigable, energy efficient, etc.

Today, we know about climate change, rising seas, diminishing oil reserves, pollution, the need to drive less and walk more, for both health and environmental reasons.  All of this requires higher density buildings on higher ground, mixed uses on the same city block, and getting rid of height and density restrictions so we can create greener, more sustainable, more energy efficient communities. Since these communities are more energy efficient and use less natural resources, they have less impact and a smaller footprint. Because of mixed use zoning in these areas you can walk to buy a quart of milk as it allows the store that sells milk to be in the same building that you live in or at least in the same block. This ultimately reduces simple, yet wide spread problems like obesity.

Architects and planners spend years studying these topics but unfortunately most people are not exposed to this knowledge. Some people are clinging to the old fashioned romantic notion that the single family detached dwelling they grew up in is “best.”  The vast majority of our citizens are making assumptions based on false information, that is more than 50 years old.  They are showing up at public hearings with placards fighting any developer that dares to try to increase height and density.  The common wisdom today among urban planners, is that density is necessary (density going hand in hand with height) or you will end up with no open green space. The higher the density, the better.

Meantime, demographics have also changed radically in the last 50 years, in the US.  More and more people live alone, and don’t need or want the hassle of maintaining a single family residence.  More and more people are choosing to live in apartments or condominiums in multi-family complexes, that have amenities like gyms, swimming pools, spas, parks, retail- amenities that they couldn’t afford to reproduce in single family dwellings. Conversely, in a shared setting, the cost of the amenity is spread over many revenue-producing units.

The old zoning is no longer relevant, and the sooner we update it, the better.  The current demographic trends in the US have made it irrelevant.  The planet cannot wait any longer.  Our health cannot wait any longer.

BY: Angela O’Byrne

Perez’s proposed Holy Cross Development has generated a great deal of media engagement and speculation over the past few weeks, regarding the company, the project and myself. Most recently, The Lens published an opinion piece by Roberta Gratz, entitled “So what if Holy Cross towers defy the zoning code — it’s only the Lower Ninth.” Given the circumstances, I think it is important that I write in my own defense against these allegations, and address the outright falsities that have been spread about my company, its work and myself. We are all entitled to our own opinion; but spreading false information to support one’s opinion is unethical, and distracts from the real issues.

The article includes a discussion of “authentic community opposition,” which I do not discredit. However, there is also authentic community support, which in the article, was belittled by claims that the project’s supporters are receiving payments for their attendance at committee hearings. This is completely false. There are hundreds of genuine supporters surrounding this project, as confirmed by circulating petitions in favor of this development. Many residents took the time out of their workday to express approval to the City Planning Commission, and the HDLC. No article can change that.

To post outdated renderings of the development, call the actions of my company and myself “thoughtless,” and claim the community is being ignored, is a clear indication that the author of this article did not complete an adequate amount of research.

Since the conception of this development in 2012 Perez, APC has attended 6 ARC hearings, 5 meetings with Lower Ninth Ward residents, 3 meetings with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association Board of Directors, 2 HDLC hearings, 2 Planning Advisory Committee meetings, 2 meetings with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and Lower 9 Vision Coalition, 1 meeting with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, 1 City Planning Commission hearing, 1 meeting with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association Chairman of Board, 1 meeting with the Lower Ninth Ward Strategic Shareholders Coalition,1 meeting with the Lower Ninth Ward Clergy, and countless other meetings between staff, members of the community and the city.

In short, I was too consumed redesigning the Holy Cross Development plans and attending actual meetings to “stage phony meetings” as the author claims.

The writer suggests that Perez plans to “shred the Master Plan that is supposed to guide the city’s post-Katrina recovery.” This is an absurd assumption, as I spent a great deal of my time helping to draft the City Master Plan, as did many other local architects, urban planners, engineers, and real-estate developers. The Master Plan, and the proposed comprehensive zoning ordinance both increased density in locations of every neighborhood throughout Orleans Parish.

In addition, my co-workers and I have worked and volunteered both tirelessly and passionately on many projects across the city post-Katrina. Like many other New Orleans businesses, the year following Katrina was one of great hardship for the firm. Of 25 projects, 23 were cancelled. We lost all of our staff except for one part-time bookkeeper. For over a year, our small team often worked 80 hours a week volunteering with recovery organizations, doing pro bono work for local non-profits, and providing free design services for dozens of homeowners.

The assumption that the company will be excluding Lower 9th residents from onsite jobs is false. An open forum has already been set up on revivelower9.com, where residents are prompted to identify themselves, their businesses, or skill set, and submit letters of interest. This feature has already created a database of contacts, which will allow Perez to easily hire locals for the construction and maintenance of the Development once that stage has been reached.

I have not ignored alternative plans developed by the Tulane City Center, the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association or Lower 9 Vision Coalition. Acres and acres of parks and green space would be a dream. However, from a business standpoint, maintaining a park of that size is not financially feasible, and would cost more than the land alone. It would be irresponsible to purchase land without designing a means to pay the cost back.

Though some prefer single family homes, recent studies have shown that there is a local demand for multi-unit rental housing options with the type of amenities this development will offer. I can personally attest to this, as my daughter and I were on the waiting lists of every major multi-unit apartment building in the city for over 6 months.

Furthermore, this project will not compete with, or destroy the other improvements happening in the area, such as restoration of single family homes, and smaller commercial projects. Rather, it will serve as a catalyst for further economic and community development.

Adding families, jobs, and activity to the area in a thoughtful, yet expedient manner will spur the redevelopment of existing blighted housing, along with other vacant lots in the area, and attract businesses and retail. As an architect, I am obligated to design for functionality and livability. With an estimated national population increase of 60 million over the next 20 years, the pressure for development like this is everywhere.

This article suggests that Perez staff and I care little for the wellbeing of the Lower 9th Ward. Perez is pouring commitment, labor, and funds into the Holy Cross neighborhood – how can this be perceived as anything but passionate? I am a life-long resident of New Orleans, and have resided in many neighborhoods of this city. I can say without inhibition that I believe in the recovery of the Lower 9th Ward so much that I am staking everything I have on it. Perez will not disappear as developers have in the past. Our assets are being allocated into the neighborhood because we are here to stay, and ensure that the Lower 9th Ward receives the attention it needs to recover.

Thank you,

Angela O’Byrne, President of Perez, APC

David Dixon, Chair of the AIA’s Regional and Urban Design Committee, has defended height and density at great length in his article, “What makes a Community Livable?”

Dixon writes “In recent years, however, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Boston Society of Architects (BSA), urban think tanks, housing organizations, and many other civic groups have called for a reexamination of attitudes toward density as an essential step in fighting sprawl and enhancing the quality of life and economic opportunity for large and small communities across America.”

Urban sprawl, a term used to describe the expansion of urban areas into surrounding areas like suburbs,  has a negative connotation because low density structures, that go hand in hand with sprawl, are harmful to the environment. Greater pollution per person, increased traffic and general environmental conflict are common side effects when cities begin to expand into surrounding areas.

High density communities combat these problems on all ends of the spectrum.Putting a greater amount of people into a space, encourages amenities to be built within walking distance of those spaces- coffee shops, small businesses, recreational programs, etc. As these developments grow, the need and demand for cars decreases.  There are many environmental benefits when fewer cars are owned in a city and even more noticeable benefits in the reduction of car traffic.

Relating to sprawl, developments are calling for densely populated  developments because of estimated population increases. “The ULI argues that it is critical to examine greater density because “there will be an increase in the U.S. population of more than 60 million over the next 20 years and . . . smaller (one- to two-per- son) households will become the majority during that time.” Our city cannot afford to build housing units that will not withstand the population growth of the future. We must prepare for what is next, and stay one step ahead of the curve.

“ULI Senior Resident Fellow John K. McIlwain notes that “at least one-half of the development needed to respond to population growth [by 2025] has yet to be built. . . . Now is the time to meet . . . changing housing needs . . . and the changing form of metropolitan areas.”

According to the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, millions of dollars could be saved in the Southeast, as it can in the Northeast. “States in the Northeast could save more than $40 billion by pursuing more compact, higher-density forms of development rather than continuing to build and repair new roads, schools, utilities, and other infrastructure of sprawl. More important, as states and cities face increasingly strained budgets, they cannot afford to spend this $40 billion.”

In addition, private developers are able to fill voids left in public funds. New Orleans is not unique in this problem- dwindling public funds are an issue in most cities. “Higher densities can help fill the gap by providing opportunities to use more expensive units to subsidize lower-cost units in the same development or neighborhood. Increased densities can provide the resources to pay for parks, schools, and other amenities essential to building livable neighborhoods.” The Holy Cross Development is a mixed-income development. The higher cost of some apartments will fill the void caused by offering lower cost housing to residents in that same development. This will integrate residents and create a diverse community.

The future demands a development of this scale. Will we rise to the occasion?

When the Holy Cross school was moved to its now historic site on Dauphine Street in 1879, it was built with a purpose- to house paying students. No one told them they couldn’t build.

In 1895, when the administration building was dedicated, no one complained about the height or said the building was too tall. Nor was anyone there to regulate the building’s height; there were no historic regulations, there were no height restrictions.

But now, 130 years later, when the historical administration building is in disrepair and no one is, or has been, attending the school for years, a few residents who live in the district suddenly have a problem with height. No one has  ever paid mind to the height of the bell tower or noticed that the buildings are standing at 67 feet already (27 feet taller than the current zone restriction of 40 feet). Suddenly now, 8 more feet is completely outlandish because someone declared that only buildings standing at 40 feet  can be historical. Most neighborhoods didn’t have height restrictions when they were being developed and built over 130 years ago. This new height cap now restricts the creation of new history, regardless of the fact that the people who set the 40 feet limit were not around for the actual construction of these tall, historical buildings.

Does this mean buildings are only historic if they were built under 40 feet? Does this mean that buildings exceeding 40 feet are not historical? No it doesn’t. What this means is that when the founding Brothers of the Holy Cross made their own history they were not assigned height limits. They were given no grief for their vision. They faced no adversity. They were allowed to build on land that was theirs- allowed to do what they saw fit for land they owned.

So why are we so afraid of density and height? The two words have become infamous as visionary developers push to design taller, more sustainable buildings. This is not to say Perez, APC didn’t try to match the historical structure of the existing buildings when they first began designing- they did. They were told that rather than try to mimic the already existing structure, they should design anew. So they did- but now they are being met with disdain regardless of their compliance with the City Master Plan, the draft CZO , the ARC, the City Planning Staff and many members of the community.

8 more feet- that is all they are asking. The administration building could have been built at 75 feet to begin with and no one would have said anything about it. Why are we so stuck on these 8 feet. 8 feet is a parent with a child sitting on their shoulders. 8 feet is a room ceiling which most kids can jump and touch the top of. 8 feet is so minuscule in the face of progress. It’s confusing as to why people are so against it. The community has so much to gain from those 8 feet. Read the blog post “Benefits of taller, denser buildings,” to see all the benefits of this development.

In the late 1970s, Mr. Perez decided to put his offices in the Warehouse District of New Orleans. Anyone who was around at that time knows, the Warehouse District was nothing like it is today. It was an area filled with crime, scant economic activity and vacant properties.  Mr. Perez saw something no one else saw. After the company renovated an old, 3 story warehouse on Fulton St., the area slowly picked up, and after gaining economic stimulation and a decent population count, it eventually became the scene it is today- a thriving, prosperous community. Mr. Perez knew what it took to ignite a flame, and although everyone thought he was crazy at the time, his instinct was spot on- be the first to put your own dime in the pot, and others will too. Just ten years down the road, the Warehouse district was and is a destination for people around the city and the world.

Perez, APC is a multi-discipline firm with years and years of experience. The company was the developer and owner of Chateau LeMoyne, Crowne Plaza and almost a dozen other hotels in downtown New Orleans. In fact, Perez, APC is responsible for half of the high-rise buildings downtown. Needless to say, this company is anything but inexperienced. Angela O’Byrne has been developing real-estate for decades. In the early years of her career, she created a company named O’Byrne-Myers Development, which focused on the renovation of old structures including 50 double shotguns which she converted into a mixed-use, mixed-income property. Angela has personally worked on over a dozen projects in Manhattan after she obtained her masters degree in Real-estate Development from Colombia University. O’Byrne is currently working on 6 projects- 4 out of those are for non-profits in New Orleans. She worked pro-bono on the McDonogh Three Memorial, and continues to oversee construction of the new Sanchez Community Center in the Lower 9^th Ward- all while leading Perez, APC.

The same innovation Perez, APC lead in the Warehouse District all those years ago will make it’s way into the Holy Cross neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward. Through this, the creation of a stable sub-economy, jobs and prosperity will be a reality for the community, and this development will be another step Perez has taken towards improving New Orleans.

Development in the Lower 9th is not something we should be doing, it is something we must be doing. We need to bring the Lower 9th Ward back not only for the good of the city, but for the wellbeing of the regional economy. Cities around the US make up 85% of the American’s economy. We cannot afford to have the 9th Ward lay dormant if we ever expect to see this city rise again. David Dixon, Chair of the AIA’s Regional and Urban Design Committee mentions this in his speech on sustainable development at Tulane University. “People have begun to calculate what the cost is of ignoring people in poverty and it works out to about half a trillion dollars, about 5 billion dollars a year, thats about 4% of our GNP,” he said. “If you think of impact on crime, on people out of the workforce and a whole series of things, you begin to see where it comes from.”

Just like in the Warehouse District, the Holy Cross Development will allow for a larger population, greater inflow and outflow of money and a bigger tax base (the majority of which will be paid by the developer). A growing tax base will demand amenities from the government on a federal and local basis. The Lower 9th Ward is not the first community this company has turned around, and it will not be the last. Perez, APC was the first to go into the Warehouse District when it was a crime-ridden, undesirable neighborhood and now, Perez, APC is the first private for-profit investor to come to the lower 9th Ward since the devastation of hurricane Katrina.

They’ve done it once, they can do it again. If Perez, APC could turn the Warehouse District around in only 10 years, imagine what they could do for the Lower 9th. The possibilities are endless, all we need to do is let them help us. Every race won begins with that initial step- lets take that step, together.

Many fail to realize the numerous benefits of constructing higher, more dense buildings.

In 2011, Harvard Economics Professor Edward Glaeser gave a speech on his book, Triumph of the City: how our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier and happier, and explained why developments are being built up, not out. “One of the reasons we want to rethink height is because of the environment as well, because in fact, those skyscrapers can be pretty green, high density living can be pretty green.”

Tall buildings are not just environmentally friendly for the green space they allow. Systems like water, heat, cooling, waste disposal, trash etc., are all more cost efficient when they are being managed in a smaller area. If water has less distance to travel and fewer twists and turns in pipe-structure, less energy is used to push water through those pipes. Water distribution systems structured vertically are efficient because less energy is wasted on pushing the water across, when gravity can easily pull it down.

Heating and cooling systems would benefit just the same. Pushing cold or hot air through fewer square feet is more cost efficient than heating or cooling an entire house when only a few rooms of that house are being occupied at a time. Recycling programs are more feasible in apartment buildings than in spread out neighborhoods because micro-recycling centers can be built into apartment buildings, allowing all residents to easily recycle. When trash can be consolidated and picked up in fewer stops, less money, gas and energy is being used on waste management. Less driving means less carbon emissions released into the air, and cleaner air along with more plant life means less smog and better air quality.

The construction of buildings like this isfunctional, efficient and more environmentally beneficial than most people realize. The cost effectiveness of systems built into living spaces dictate the costs of renting or owning that space greatly. Fuller, taller buildings allow for cost effective systems; the more efficient the systems, the greater amount of money residents save.

In addition to these buildings being more sustainable and affordable, a sense of protection goes into the design as well. As David Dixon pointed out in a speech made at Tulane University on sustainability, taller buildings near bodies of water can be beneficial, as it was for other cities like New York. “Rather than build walls around lower Manhattan, the theory is ‘we should build into this,’ we should build new high density incredibly valuable neighborhoods that haven’t existed out over the water and these will be our sea walls, so that every dollar we spend protecting Manhattan is a dollar spent making manhattan more livable, more prosperous and more successful as a city.”

This same principal could be implemented into the Lower 9th Ward. If we begin to construct buildings around the water, they could aid in the event of rising water levels in the neighborhoods. Developers like Perez can build structures large enough to combat rising waters to protect the city, rather than smaller, more expensive buildings that could be destroyed should the water levels rise again. All while generating business in these structures so that every dollar spent benefits the good of the city in more ways than one.

Resurrecting a city will never be an easy task—devastation on such a broad spectrum cannot be quickly reversed.

Change is slow, people have opinions and no one likes to feel uncomfortable; but progression and development come with a cost. Not everyone can be happy. We’ve had volunteers come and rebuild and organizations help in various forms. Celebrities have come and gone, and developers have tried and left. Perez, APC is not just any developer, they are a developer with headquarters in New Orleans. Perez, APC is not going anywhere.

Yes, the apartment buildings are a little taller than the houses and the plans are not identical to the historical theme the neighborhood used to have, but that’s just it—the Holy Cross neighborhood “used to” have historical structures in it, now in it’s place is blight and vandalism.

We understand that the neighborhood holds historical value in New Orleans—that’s why we are trying to enhance it. Why are some stuck on the old history of the area? The history got washed away, and now it is time to make our own history. If one thing is for certain, it’s that we can’t rely solely on the government to rebuild the Lower 9^th—if it hasn’t happened after 9 years it’s not going to happen at all. We need to utilize our assets and let the people who truly want to help rebuild this city with us.

On the idea of history, the Holy Cross administration building is not going to stand on its own forever. It was damaged in the storm and has been there since. Perez, APC is not planning to knock the building down—they want to fully restore and preserve it so that there are historical structures for generations to see. At the rate we’re going now there isn’t going to be anything for our children’s children to see except the remnants of a community.

Aren’t we tired of the documentaries and news stations broadcasting the same headlines over and over again?

“Lower 9th Ward in ruins after Katrina.”
“Lower 9th Ward waiting on redevelopment.”
“Lower 9th Ward still in devastation 5 years later.”
“Lower 9th Ward, yet to be rebuilt 8 years later.”

We’d like to see a new headline. “Construction begins in Lower 9th,” or maybe “Lower 9th: A community on the rise.

We want the news to be progressive; broadcasts like, “In 2014, the Lower 9th Ward stopped waiting and seized opportunity with a private developer to spark change in the Holy Cross neighborhood.” That would be a nice story to read about, wouldn’t it?

“New Orleans’ hardest hit area makes unexpected leaps towards progress.”
“Crime rates spiral in Lower 9th Ward as community rebuilds.”
“Community pulls together in Lower 9th as economic stimulation rises.”

There is a second option, of course.  We could let Perez, APC pass us by and get the same headlines we’ve always gotten- “9th Ward still in ruins 14 years later.” Soon, people could lose interest all together and forget about the neighborhood entirely.

It’s disheartening to see the years and years of disinvestment in the Lower 9th. Our country can’t be this regressive. The rest of the city gets to go on like the storm never happened while the 9th Ward is left to sit in a mess they didn’t make. What did the people down there do to deserve such disregard? They didn’t do anything. And now, neither has hardly anyone else. 9. Years. Later.

Some people say the Lower 9th shouldn’t get rebuilt at all and never will. We believe the Lower 9th should be able to exist the way it did pre-Katrina. As far as the community ever getting rebuilt, that is still up for debate. It’s hard to say whether or not the area will ever get rebuilt if people continue to reject the progress so many have worked hard to implement. Little has been done on a national scale to rebuild the Holy Cross neighborhood, and if we keep pushing help away, it will stop coming.

We want vitality and life in the 9th again, to see people fill the streets and gather with one another. Community is priceless. No one can say that it’s not possible because it’s already happened—there once was a community in 9th Ward. We want that community back and better than before, but we cannot get there by building single family structures. We need manpower.

Here is what it all comes down to. If everyone says this plan will not work and the 9th Ward will always stay in ruins, then the 9th Ward will always stay in ruins. If we pull together and fight for change and development, eventually, we will get it. Whether you say you can or  say you can’t, either way, you’re right.

A commonly-voiced concern from residents of the Lower 9th is that the redevelopment may cause traffic.

Considering the community, Perez, APC launched a study to figure out what exactly they could do to ensure a smooth flow in and out of the neighborhood. The “Conclusions and Recommendations” section of the study has been clipped and can be found below.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A comparison of the traffic analysis output reports based on the Highway Capacity Manual methodology for the existing Year 2013 scenario, Year 2020 Background scenario and Year 2020 Post Development scenario demonstrates that the study intersections are expected to operate within acceptable LOS thresholds through the analysis period. The existing roadway network in the vicinity of the proposed site is expected to adequately accommodate the development and natural growth of the area. No significant increase in delay was noted at the study intersections. It should also be noted, that the residential component (as per the ITE Trip Generation Manual) used for trip generation estimation purposes for this mixed-use development was apartments. It is anticipated that a few years subsequent to the 2020 build out year; the low-rise apartments may be converted into condominiums. The site traffic generated by the condominium land-use is lower than that generated by low-rise apartment land-use.

In order to improve the safety of pedestrian traffic crossing the study roadway segments in the vicinity of the proposed site, it is recommended that crosswalks be installed at seven intersections located in the immediate vicinity of the proposed site (Burgundy Street at Reynes Street, Dauphine Street at Reynes Street, Royal Street at Reynes Street, Chartres Street at Reynes Street, Burgundy Street at Deslonde Street, Dauphine Street at Deslonde Street and Royal Street at Deslonde Street).

Essentially, the study found that the current roadways are able to withstand the estimated traffic the development will produce, because no increase in delay was noticed during the study. The study did note that the structures being considered now are apartments and that in years after their construction, those low rise apartments may be converted into condominiums, in which case the traffic flow would actually lessen, not increase.

The study recommends that crosswalks should be installed at intersections located immediately surrounding the site. These streets are listed above, and are intended for the following intersections:

Burgundy Street at Reynes Street, Dauphine Street at Reynes Street, Royal Street at Reynes Street, Chartres Street at Reynes Street, Burgundy Street at Deslonde Street, Dauphine Street at Deslonde Street and Royal Street at Deslonde Street.

Traffic may understandably be a concern for some. However, thinking back to the population count of 14,000 the lower 9th Ward once had, it is safe to say that a development like this will not create anything but a healthy ecosystem for the people of the neighborhood.