CITYWIDE STRATEGIC RECOVERY AND REBUILDING PLAN Table of Contents Table of Contents.......................................................................................................1 Acknowledgements....................................................................................................7 Preface........................................................................................................................8 Section 1 - Introduction..............................................................................................9 1.1 What is a Recovery Plan? .................................................................................................... 9 1.1.1 Why is a Recovery Plan Necessary?............................................................................. 9 1.1.2 How does a Recovery Plan differ from a Master Land Use Plan or a Comprehensive Plan?...................................................................................................................................... 10 1.1.3 What is the Recovery Timeframe? ............................................................................. 10 1.1.4 What is the Citywide Plan’s General Approach to Recovery and Rebuilding? ......... 10 1.1.4.1 The Rate of Return............................................................................................... 10 1.1.4.2 Flood Protection................................................................................................... 11 1.1.5 How does the Citywide Recovery and Rebuilding Plan fit into the overall effort to rebuild the City?.................................................................................................................... 12 1.1.6 Who will be responsible for implementing the Citywide Plan? ................................. 12 1.2 Who Created the Recovery Plan and How?....................................................................... 13 1.2.1 The UNOP Process ..................................................................................................... 14 1.2.1.1 UNOP Citywide and District Planning Efforts.................................................... 14 1.2.1.2 Community Participation..................................................................................... 14 Figure 1-2 UNOP Process Timeline ........................................................................ 15 1.2.2 How were the District Plans Integrated into the Citywide Plan?................................ 16 Figure 1.3 Integration of other planning efforts into the Citywide Plan.................. 17 1.3 What are the Underlying Assumptions behind the Recovery Plan?................................... 17 1.4 What are the Limitations of the Plan?................................................................................ 18 1.5 How is the Report Organized?........................................................................................... 20 Section 2 - Recovery Assessment............................................................................21 2.1 New Orleans Before the Storm.......................................................................................... 21 Figure 2-1 Population Decline in New Orleans, 1960 to 2005................................. 22 Table 2-1 New Orleans versus Nationwide Statistics............................................... 22 2.1.1 Planning Districts........................................................................................................ 23 Figure 2.2: Boundaries of 13 Planning Districts in New Orleans ............................ 24 Table 2.2 Planning Districts and associated neighborhoods in New Orleans........... 25 2.2 Hurricane Katrina’s Impacts.............................................................................................. 25 2.3 Population Loss and Recovery – Current and Future ........................................................ 28 2.3.1 Short-Term Population Forecast................................................................................. 29 Table 2-3 Short-Term Population Forecasts............................................................ 29 2.3.2 Long-term Population Forecast................................................................................... 29 Table 2-4 Long-Term Population Forecasts ............................................................ 30 2.4 Recovery Assessment by Sector ........................................................................................ 31 2.4.1 Current and Future Risk of Flooding.......................................................................... 32 2.4.1.1 Mississippi River Flooding.................................................................................. 32 1 2.4.1.2 Storm Surge Flooding from Tropical Storms ...................................................... 32 2.4.1.3 Flooding from Spring Rains ................................................................................ 33 2.4.1.4 The Current Hurricane Protection System........................................................... 33 Figure 2.4: Five (5) Drainage Basins for the City of New Orlean............................ 35 2.4.1.5 Risk of Flooding by Planning District ................................................................. 37 2.4.1.51 Drainage Basin 1 (Planning Districts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) ............................... 37 2.4.1.52 Drainage Basin 2 (Planning Districts: 9, 10) ................................................. 38 2.4.1.53 Drainage Basin 3 (Planning District: 8)......................................................... 38 2.4.1.54 Drainage Basin 4 (Planning District: 12)....................................................... 39 2.4.1.55 Drainage Basin 5 (Planning District: 13)....................................................... 40 2.4.2 Infrastructure and Utilities .......................................................................................... 40 2.4.3 Transportation and Transit.......................................................................................... 41 2.4.4 Housing....................................................................................................................... 42 2.4.5 Economic Development.............................................................................................. 42 2.4.6 Healthcare ................................................................................................................... 43 2.4.7 Education .................................................................................................................... 44 2.4.8 Historic Preservation and Urban Design..................................................................... 44 2.4.9 Environmental Issues.................................................................................................. 45 2.4.10 Community Services................................................................................................. 46 Public Safety: Criminal Justice, Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services......... 46 Recreation and Library Services................................................................................... 47 Municipal and Cultural Resources................................................................................ 47 2.5 Summary and Implications for Planning ........................................................................... 47 Section 3 - Citywide Recovery Framework.............................................................50 3.1 Recovery Needs and Priority Issues .................................................................................. 50 3.1.1 Rates of Repopulation................................................................................................. 50 3.1.2 Risk of Future Flooding.............................................................................................. 50 3.1.3 Recovery Funding....................................................................................................... 51 3.2 Recovery Scenarios............................................................................................................ 51 3.2.1 Scenario 1 – Re-pair.................................................................................................... 52 3.2.2 Scenario 2 – Re-habilitate ........................................................................................... 52 3.2.3 Scenario 3 – Re-vision ................................................................................................ 53 3.2.4 Community Feedback on Scenarios............................................................................ 53 3.3 Strategic Recovery Framework.......................................................................................... 56 3.3.1 New Orleans’ Recovery Vision .................................................................................. 56 3.3.2 Recovery Goals........................................................................................................... 57 3.3.3 Strategic Recovery Framework................................................................................... 59 Figure 3.1 Repopulation Rates across New Orleans (Using utility usage as a proxy for residential recovery)............................................................................................ 62 Figure 3.2 Natural Elevations across New Orleans .................................................. 63 Figure 3.3 USACE’s Modeled Flood Depths – Assuming No Levee or Floodwall Breaches and Pumping