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Fair Grounds Helps Neighborhood

March 5, 2017 by Charlie London

Fair Grounds Helps Neighborhood

The Fair Grounds Racecourse & Slots has allowed the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association to use its Black Gold room for quarterly general membership meetings for many years.

  Know too that the Fair Grounds donated red beans and rice along with an assortment of large freshly baked cookies to Faubourg St. John‘s Feed the First initiative. “Feed the First” provides  3  meals each day during the long Mardi Gras weekend to the N.O.P.D. officers of the 1st District.   The officers work extremely long hours during the Mardi Gras weekend and are very grateful for  the hot meals and treats that the “Feed the First” initiative provides.

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots  takes pride in their 140 years of experience in the horse racing community.   They continuously make efforts to give back to the animals and organizations that make the sport so enjoyable.  Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots has also played an integral role in serving the local community.   Their efforts have touched many charitable organizations and individuals.

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Bike Sharing

Bike Share Update – Transportation Committee 2.22.17

 

photos courtesy Google Street View

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade

 

Recently, Robert Thompson, a long time Faubourg St. John resident, highlighted the new Bike Share program promoted by the City of New Orleans. You can read more about Robert’s concerns and the proposed plan in the link below:

https://fsjna.org/2017/02/pedal-power-advocate-raises-concerns-commericial-bicycle-rentals-parks/

Robert’s concern, one shared by many neighbors, is the possible placement of long bicycle vending machines in or around neighborhood parks. I began to think about where I would put bicycle vending machines on Esplanade if I wanted to maximize use and profit potential. It certainly would not be in parks.

What about placing smaller units in areas that do not take up any existing vehicle parking or use neighborhood park land? Many of Faubourg St. John’s parks are maintained by Faubourg St. John neighbors.

Commercial bicycle vending machines in commercial areas would get more exposure and therefore use. Since the vendor operator has refused to meet with Robert and other concerned neighbors, it gives more credence to Robert’s concern that the goal may be to place large vending machines in neighborhood parks.

Scaling down the size of the machines to fit on the following City-owned properties could get more support from neighbors:

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
The triangle of land on the corner of Esplanade and Ponce de Leon is City-owned land.

This triangle of City-owned land would be perfect for a small bicycle vending machine. It’s next to the popular Cafe Degas and just steps from some of Faubourg St. John’s most frequented businesses. However, placing a bicycle vending machine here would take more thought and planning as the area has been landscaped by Cafe Degas and it is unlikely neighbors would want that disturbed. Click on the photo for a closer look at the City-owned land next to Cafe Degas.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
The triangle of land on Esplanade at Grand Route St. John is City-owned land.

This triangle of City-owned land at the corner of Esplanade and Grand Route Saint John is currently used as a bus stop. Bicycle vending machines located here would be an “impulse buy” and very convenient for those who may have been considering taking the bus but don’t want to wait for it to arrive. Click on the photo for a closer look at the bus stop shaded by a large oak tree.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
This lot at the intersection of LePage and Esplanade is City-owned land.

I suggested earlier that the vendor may want to consider smaller vending machines for areas along Esplanade. Here is a swath of City-owned land that could accommodate a larger bicycle vending machine. Click on the photo for a closer look at the area on Esplanade that could accommodate a larger bicycle vending machine.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
This triangle of City-owned land is across the street from a school and next to a coffee shop.

What better place for a bicycle vending machine than next to a coffee shop and across from a school? This area on Esplanade at Desoto is perfectly suited for this purpose.
Click on the photo for a closer look at the area by CC’s Coffee that could be used for a bicycle vending machine.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
Area at the corner of Broad and Esplanade.

This location is in the middle of an area surrounded by successful businesses frequented by many patrons. A bicycle vending machine located here would have the potential for much use. Click on the photo for a closer look at the area on Esplanade at Broad.

This has been an opinion piece by Charlie London

Update March 5, 2017:
Robert Thompson suggested that the area on Esplanade next to the Rent-a-Center on Broad would be a viable alternative to placing a bicycle vending machine in a park
Click on the photo for a closer look:

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade

UPDATE:
The placement of bike sharing machines will be discussed at the neighborhood association meeting this Tuesday, March 7th.

The meeting will be held in the Black Gold room at the Fair Grounds at 6:30 pm
The Fair Ground is located at 1751 Gentilly Blvd in New Orleans.
The Black Gold room is at the rear of the facility.

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The City of New Orleans, in conjunction with Social Bicycles Inc. (SoBi), announced it will extend the preview of the City’s bike share program through March 31. 
 
During the extended preview, residents and visitors can sign-up and use one of the 35 bicycles to ride between seven temporary stations setup in Iberville, Downtown and Central City. Two additional bicycle racks will be available to end a ride or find a bike. 
 
“Bike share is the City’s newest and most convenient form of public transportation,” said Councilmember Jared C. Brossett, City Council Transportation and Airport Committee Chairperson. “It’s a network of bicycles and automated kiosks that allows users to arrange public transportation on their schedule. I am pleased that the City is extending the bike share preview to allow more users the opportunity to experience and embrace this service.”
 
During the extended preview period, riders can pay $15 to enjoy a 60 minute trip every day through March 31. The hourly rate is $8 per hour, pro-rated by the minute. Sign up using either the website https://nola.socialbicycles.com/ or by downloading the Social Bicycles app for iPhones and Android phones. There will also be greeters at various stations to help people signup and get started biking.
 
To allow more residents to participate in the preview, two bike stations will be relocated on March 1. Find a bike at anyone of the listed preview stations:
  • Basin Street & Bienville Street (near Magnolia Yoga Studio)
  • 501 Loyola Ave. (Near Hyatt)
  • Lafayette Square at Magazine Street
  • Decatur Street & Bienville Street (Through Feb. 28)
  • Baronne Street & Common Street (Near the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel)
  • Decatur Street & Barracks Street (near U.S. Mint through Feb. 28)
  • Magazine Street & Erato Street (Beginning March 1)
  • Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard & Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Beginning March 1)
  • 1000 Tchoupitoulas St. (near Cochon Restaurant)
  • 219 Loyola Ave. (Library Main Branch – existing bike racks)
  • Polymnia Street & St. Charles Avenue (near Avenue Pub – existing bike racks)
 
The full program, launching this fall, will consist of 70 stations with 700 bicycles and a guaranteed minimum future expansion of 90 stations with 900 bicycles. 100 percent of the bike share program will be privately financed through sponsorships, advertisements, and rental fees.
 
The fees for bike rental are:
  • Monthly Pass: $15 for unlimited trips up to 1 hour of riding a day (hourly rate thereafter).You can take as many trips as desired that all together add up to 60 minutes. For example, a 15-minute ride to work in the morning, a 5-minute ride for lunch; a 30 minute ride home with a quick stop to pick up some food totals 50 minutes for the day
  • Low-Income Pass: $1.67 per month ($20 per year) for unlimited trips up to 1 hour of riding a day (hourly rate thereafter)
  • Pay-as-you-go: $8 per hour of riding (pro-rated)
 
New Orleans has been growing rapidly as a bicycling city. The city was recognized as a bicycle friendly community in the Fall of 2014 by the League of American Bicyclists.
Last month, New Orleans was selected by People for Bikes as one of ten cities to participate in their Big Jump Project to reimage bicycle infrastructure.
For more information, please visit
http://www.peopleforbikes.org/placesforbikes/landing/the-big-jump-project
 
For additional information on the preview and the full program, please visit http://www.nola.gov/bikeshare

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March 7, 2017 statement from Dwight Norton:

In advance of tonight’s neighborhood association meeting, I wanted to provide a written response to some of the information/inquiries that have been raised thus far by those included here and I hope you will share with all other neighbors as well. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss further and address any and all concerns. I have also attached the status update presentation I gave to the City Council transportation committee for reference and will add this and additional materials to the website: http://www.nola.gov/bike-share/

First of all as an introduction, I am the City’s point person and project manager for bike share implementation as one of my jobs in improving transportation more holistically and efficiently for a more resilient and equitable city. Through a very open and public selection process last summer (link), the City awarded a 5-year exclusive use agreement to the best proposal, led by Social Bicycles, Inc. (SoBi) for 700 bicycles and 70 stations in phase 1.

1. Station selection process has only just begun and will be a public process. Many concerns have been voiced about the determination of the station locations. This process has always and continues to be an open one, designed for public participation. The oft referenced feasibility study was conducted in 2014 and merely serves as a reference point for our current efforts. It in no way is deterministic on station locations and furthermore was never intended as such. The maps are labelled as “conceptual” and do in fact have an unfortunately obscure disclaimer “Note: Station locations are roughly assigned to illustrate optimal station spacing…” The process for station location identification, which will be further discussed tonight, is as follows:
· January – April: introductions at neighborhood association meetings (I have completed 14 to date)
· March: potential candidate sites being developed by SoBi/City based on best practices and stated City goals (see #4)
· March 27 – April 11: Public workshops with maps for station siting recommendations/feedback
o Bayou St John/Mid City workshop is tentatively scheduled for April 3 at 630p
· April/May: online voting for station locations
· June: draft map of 70 stations incorporating public input
· August: final map
· October: launch

2. No paving any public parks, particularly small neighborhood ones. There is no budget or intent to pave over any green space for bike share stations. Despite the suggestion, the only possible exception would be in the case where there is a significant destination, connection transit or other protected bike infrastructure, technical problems with on-street alternatives, and strong community support. As an example, the very large neutral ground of Jeff Davis and Canal has a separated bike path, streetcar, active commercial and street flooding at the curb. Parks that will be considered would require other sounding destinations and excess paved area. An example is the large paved area off to the side of the entrance of Armstrong Park, set well back from the sidewalk, and across the street from a streetcar stop. Mr. London’s article recommending paved space adjacent to commercial nodes along Esplanade is exactly in line with best practices and our placement thinking: connect to local destinations: where would you as residents want a station to make it useful. This will be validated/refined at our aforementioned workshops.

3. Station size will be right-sized to meet demand and are more efficient use of public space. While stations have been referenced as “vending machines”, transit stations is a more appropriate analogy – they take up some public space and are gateways for accessing the system, including transaction. Most stations will not have a dedicated kiosk – our agreement with SoBi only includes 10 which will be strategically placed in areas with lots of pedestrian activity. There will be either a small or large panel based on residential or commercial nature of the area with wayfinding information and, in the case of large panels only, limited advertising – analogous to a bus station. Regarding the number of racks at a station, again the 2014 Feasibility Study is a reference and in our opinion inappropriate for recommendations on Esplanade. As noted by Mr. London, stations in neighborhoods are typically much smaller than in downtown core and busier commercial areas. The goal will be to anticipate demand and provide sufficient racks so bikes do not end up parked on poles. This may need to be adjust over time as the neighborhood finds the service increasingly desirable. Nearly all sites will be existing paved surface on street or sidewalks where space allows. Private space may be used only where the location is highly desirable and the land is publically available 24/7 (e.g. plaza outside a downtown high rise).

4. Station convenience is essential to a successful, equitable bike share program. The convenience of bike share, and thus is usefulness, is based directly on stations being evenly distributed. You should not have to walk more than 3 or so blocks to get to station. If so, it become far less convenient and people will not use it. When these basics are respected, not only does it prevent limited usage and thus financial insolvency (e.g. Seattle), it also has demonstrated people start driving less. In fact 25-52% less (study link; also click here and here for more information on best practices). Here again we deviate sharply from the 2014 Feasibility Study. Being a few blocks from a station means the stations will 4 to 7 blocks apart. Also remember it is a stated goal that we use bike share as a means to provide convenient, more reliable and cheaper alternatives to access jobs and other opportunities for improving lives. Cutting down on people’s transportation costs and travel time is shown consistently to be one of the biggest enablers of upward mobility (more time to raise kids, go back to school etc.). This clear evidence is what drives our equity goals as applied to transportation. We want to ensure access to bike share service extends as far as possible without compromising usability/sustainability.

5. Designing the system for residents knowing tourists will use it. In major tourist cities the world over, bike share does not compromise benefits to residents. Like any good transit system, if it is designed for residents, tourists will use as well. If it is design for tourists only they will use it. The City will ensure the system is designed for residents through two means: 1) station location process and 2) the pricing plans. For station locations, the previous section discusses how residents will inform that process. On the later, a higher cost $8 per hour plan subsidizes the significantly lower cost $15 per month plan (3 months equals one parking ticket!). There is also a $1.67 per month (or $20 per year) low income plan. In addition, the low income program will allow any residents to participate with or without credit card so that we can ensure the 12.5% unbanked (and 25.5% underbanked) members of our community have every opportunity to participate. And from a purely economic perspective, at $8 per hour, longer bike trips for touring or recreation will still make more sense on a rented or personal bike. In addition, the monthly passes are limited to 60 minutes of pedal time, which is a lot if you just think about it as transportation, but not very much if you plan on sightseeing. Bike share a one-way transportation system meant to get you from station A to station B and the pricing reflects that.

6. For-profit vendor model has historic precedent and is a win-win for residents. There have been several references and concerns that the model the City has chosen represents a commercialization of the city. First and foremost bike share is a transit system. Yes, it will be provided by a private entity, but it’s important to remember the service is still public and works very differently than rental. It is also worth remembering our beloved streetcars were all originally built and operated by private companies and only municipalized once labor costs and automobile adoption made service unable to break even. By using a 100% privately financed model, the vendor assumes financial risk for its performance – this is a great thing. This means all of the incentive for great customer service, excellent maintenance and marketing to attract users all falls on the vendor. Given the city’s limited resources for a major capital investment and ongoing costs, this structure is a great example of true public-private partnership for public benefit.

Thank you and look forward to discussing tonight and beyond,
Dwight

Dwight Norton
Urban Mobility Coordinator
City of New Orleans | Office of Resilience & Sustainability
1300 Perdido Street | New Orleans, LA 701116
Office: 504.658.7677

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Bike Sharing

Bike Share Update – Transportation Committee 2.22.17

 

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade Could Get Love in Triangles if Machines Scaled Down

March 3, 2017 by Charlie London

On Saturday, March 25, the Mayor’s Neighborhood Engagement Office hosted their quarterly Neighborhood Leaders Roundtable. Over sixty (60) leaders representing neighborhoods across Orleans Parish gathered over breakfast at Café Reconcile’s Emeril Lagasse Foundation Hospitality Center for informative presentations and discussions around short term rentals licensing and new public safety investments.

Dwight Norton, the City’s Urban Mobility Coordinator, gave the first presentation updating attendees on the community workshops for the upcoming Bike Share program. Jennifer Cecil with the One Stop Shop for Permits and Licenses and Jared Munster from the City’s Safety and Permits Department presented information on logistics surrounding licensing and enforcement of short term rental facilities throughout the city.

Questions answered by the City

How is the city dealing with noise complaints with tenants in short term rentals?
We will deal with these complaints just as any other complaint we receive. If the neighbor is able to
provide documentation (i.e. cell phone video with sound), that would be very helpful.

Please explain how triplexes are impacted/are affected?
Buildings with three or more dwelling units cannot be “accessory” short term rentals based on how the
use is defined in the CZO. The buildings would be eligible for Temporary or Commercial STR licenses in
each legal dwelling unit, based on what is allowable in the property’s underlying zoning district.

Parking is already a problem. How do we make sure residents have their parking spots?
The public right-of-way is available for parking of any vehicle, there are no provisions of the City Code to
ensure that residents have available parking. Neighborhoods can apply to the Department of Public
Works to implement a Residential Parking program in their area, if one does not already exist. This
program does not restrict who may park on the street, but does limit the amount of time a vehicle may
be present if it does not bear a City-issued Residential Parking decal or visitor pass.

***

April 3, 2017 article by Ms. Byun courtesy MidCityMessenger.com

By Claire Byun
cbyun@nolamessenger.com

A slew of bicycle share stations are proposed along Esplanade Avenue and the Lafitte Greenway, and Mid-City residents got their chance at criticizing or recommending them Monday night.

The 700 custom-designed bicycles will be placed at an estimated 70 stations designated at locations in neighborhoods around the city, with a built-in lock keeping them secure until a rider with an account card “hires” the bike, Dwight Norton of the mayor’s office of resilience, said. Norton and his team hosted the Mid-City/Bayou St. John bicycle share public workshop Monday evening to a crowd of about 40 people.

There will be about 15 stations around Mid-City, Norton said. All stations will be sized “according to context,” Norton said, meaning a less-populated area will only have spots for a few bikes. Pedestrian-heavy areas, such as the Central Business District and Canal Street, could have room for up to 20 bikes.

There will also be 10 walk-up kiosks throughout the city, though those will only be placed as densely-populated areas, Norton said.

Stations also must be in a public space that remains open 24/7 and has some sunlight during the day, since the bikes’ systems are solar powered, Norton said.

“If we’re trying to look at different transportation alternatives, they have to be functional in a way that actually gets people around,” Norton said.

A bulk of Mid-City’s locations were proposed along Esplanade Avenue and the Lafitte Greenway, especially near Conti Street. There were seven proposed stations along the Greenway, some at the intersection of side roads and Banks Avenue, and multiple along Canal Street. Tulane Avenue and South Jefferson Davis Parkway was another option addressed during the workshop.

Stations were proposed for multiple spots along Esplanade, including Wisner Boulevard, N. Rendon Street, Crete Street and Ponce De Leon. Norton said that area will most like have four to five stations, compared to just three or four in other parts of the neighborhood.

Nellie Catzen, program coordinator for Friends of Lafitte Greenway, said she was impressed with the number of people who showed up to the workshop. She said any number of stations along the Greenway would be beneficial, since about 750 people ride the greenspace every day.

“I think that the Greenway is a major faraway, so we know the need is there, but it’s a matter of figuring out which [stations] make sense,” Catzen said.

Participants were spread among nine tables adorned with large maps of Mid-City, dotted with proposed station locations. Major landmarks, such as schools, grocery stores and libraries were also marked to identify station locations better and also gauge the amount of use those proposed stations would incur.

A facilitator walked each table through each Mid-City station, which took a little more than an hour for most tables. Residents could support the station, remain neutral or “express concerns.”

An overview of the station location map used during the public workshop.
Steve Kaplan, who owns property in Mid-City, said he disliked the fact that people who live outside of the neighborhood could nominate station spots. He would have preferred each neighborhood, no matter how small, conduct their own workshop.

“Our goal is to meet the needs of the residents, to focus on quality of life, and who knows better than the people who live here?” Kaplan said.

Robert Thompson, who kickstarted a bike share study group among the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association, said the workshop still left some things “in the dark.” He’s hoping to get more transparency on how the city will decide final locations for the stations.

Kaplan argued the program isn’t meant for residential use, as advertised. He’s worried the bike share is meant to help short-term renters move through the city with more ease, thus increasing tourism. Alan Ma, planning and launch director for Social Bicycles, said the program’s main beneficiaries are residents.

“We’re really trying to make sure this does work with the people who live here,” Ma said.

Thompson also questioned how equitable the program is, since the elderly, obese or disabled would not be able to participate. Regardless, he said the workshop had some highlights.

“People were able to give location suggestions, and maybe the city will listen,” Kaplan said. “Maybe they won’t.”

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March 31, 2017

Today marks the end of bike share service in Seattle, as the city scraps its Pronto Cycle Share program. The system started in 2014—and expanded to 500 bikes and 54 stations—but never met the same level of success as bike share programs in other major US cities, like New York, Chicago, and DC.
Visit the link below for the rest of the story:
http://www.bicycling.com/culture/seattles-bike-share-system-shuts-down?utm_campaign=Bicycling&utm_source=bicycling.com&utm_medium=newsletter&smartcode=YN_0020330188_0001606527&sha1hashlower=5b6304acbda9268bf07c0ada3a4d8aebd9f2d36d&md5hash=8f2f1a4bbe586f887e9e83209245305a
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The City of New Orleans, in partnership with Social Bicycles, Inc. (SoBi), is preparing to launch bike share, a new and affordable transportation system for residents. Before the Fall 2017 launch, the City and SoBi will collect community feedback on where best to place the initial 70 bike stations in the phase one service area (there will be an expanded service area in phase two). We’re kicking off this site selection process with six community workshops. Each workshop will focus on specific neighborhoods within the initial service area. Come to the workshop near where you live or work–we want to hear from you. Learn more and share feedback at nola.gov/bike-share

Attend the April 3rd meeting to make
sure your thoughts are heard
Mid City, Bayou St. John
Monday, Apr. 3, 6:30 p.m. at First Grace United Methodist Church, Fellowship Hall

 

Steve Kaplan recently attended the Marigny/Bywater workshop for bicycle sharing in New Orleans. He reported the following:

At the Marigny/Bywater Workshop, the map covered the top of a white 6′ table.  The map itself was a Google aerial type map with some commercial establishments named and the proposed sites, which were numbered. The facilitator had a clip board with a list of the numbered sites. The group looked at the sites and voted for/against/no vote for each numbered site.  Notes were made and a colored sticker placed at the site to mark we had reviewed it. We were able to make suggestions for other sites which were marked with a gold star.  I recommended that future maps have commercial zoning property outlined , as it may help identify site locations.

My understanding is that our neighborhood, as outlined in the Bike Share RFP,  is being asked ro review the sites and nominate 4-6 sites.  This number of sites would ideally meet the needs of the neighborhood, concerning public safety and quality of life as well as the neighborhood saturation requested by Sobi of every 4-7 blocks.  The nomination will then be placed on a new map for a final review process, which I understand  would again involve neighborhood review… details of which we will need to verify.

Sites discussed by the group, so far include, but are not limited to:

Desoto & Broad by Kitchen Witch

Dreyfous by Lelong by City Park

Lafite Bikeway Circle by the Bayou

Public Racks by Bus Stop on river bound side of Esplanade & Grand Route

Public Racks on Mystery St by Esplanade

Still undetermined is a site between Esplanade  and Orleans. And a site by the Fairgrounds.

Here is a copy of the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement between Social Bicycles Inc. and City of New Orleans.
This was obtained by a (FOIA) Freedom of Information Act request.

Section 4.4 outlines Relocating Hubs/Stations and who bears costs. This goes to CCC & MGM requirements to have access to the whole street which would require temporary moving of Hubs/Stations. We DO NOT yet know the requirements of the CCC & MGM. Section 4.4 outlines Revenue Sharing: 2% of System Revenues that exceed $2500 per Bicycle provided for use in the program, pursuant to Section 3.1 during such year. Funds to be used for a number of City physical bicycle infrastructure & Temporary or Permanent Relocations.

Here is an overview of the bicycle sharing program which includes SOBI’s timeline. It was passed out at the Marigny/Bywater Workshop.

Section 4.4 outlines Relocating Hubs/Stations and who bears costs. This goes to CCC & MGM requirements to have access to the whole street which would require temporary moving of Hubs/Stations. We DO NOT yet know the requirements of the CCC & MGM. Section 4.4 outlines Revenue Sharing: 2% of System Revenues that exceed $2500 per Bicycle provided for use in the program, pursuant to Section 3.1 during such year. Funds to be used for a number of City physical bicycle infrastructure & Temporary or Permanent Relocations.

Advertising & Branding as well as additional signage expectations are currently unknown.

***

Beaux Jones requested answers to several questions from Dwight Norton who is the Urban Mobility Coordinator for the City of New Orleans.   The questions and answers are listed below:

 

    1.  Who will be responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the stations?

SoBi is responsible for all maintenance of bikes and station which will be passed on to their operations subcontractor.

Per the requirements of the City’s RFP and subsequent CEA, SoBi is required to commit to 35% disadvantaged business enterprise goal, even though the City is not putting any money into the agreement. SoBi will meet this goal by subcontracting to a newly created operations company owned by a woman who runs Charlotte bike share (Dianna Ward). She has an excellent track record and committed to the City’s goals of outreach and inclusion.

That company, New Orleans Bikeshare Operations will be locally run and staffed and responsible for all day-to-day operations including maintenance of bicycles and stations.

  1. Will SOBI/City have a telephone number that is staffed by live employees to handle concerns and problems particular to stations or will all issues be routed through 311?

New Orleans Bikeshare Operations will be locally run and staffed with local call in number that is answered locally from 8a-8p and after hours using a call support center (which assists in bike share customer support in many cities) 24/7

  1. Are there advertising parameters? (dimensions, height, etc.)

Yes, those parameters are being developed and will be reviewed by the City’s existing entities: one for design of anything in the public right-of-way, the Design Advisory Committee, and the other for historic compatibility, the Vieux Carre Commission’s Architectural Review Committee. Both are public meetings and we will notify through the website when bike share will be on the agenda (which are also posted ahead of time)

  1. After the initial siting, should a change to a station need to be made (particularly relating to size or location), would FSJNA be notified and given an opportunity to comment?

The city is creating a new permitting process for bike share stations and one will have to be filed for any amendments to an existing station. We have not yet established a formal notification process but would be open to feedback for a mechanism to allow for public comment for any proposed station amendments.

  1. After the first phase, can other sites be added to the neighborhood? If so, is that decision made by SOBI or the city? What will be the public’s involvement with such issues?

Yes, although any additional sites would be an expansion of the service area (as opposed to infill within the initial service area). Any expansion would follow a similar public participation and review process for the location of those additional stations.

  1. Is there any data available from the pilot study as to which station sites were successful, which were not, and why?

The standard metrics of “success” for the full program are not applicable for the preview, particularly on a station basis since the service area was limited. The preview was designed to allow people to try bike share and see how bikes/stations would fare in one of our most intense events. To that end it was a success (no vandalism or damage to any equipment) and we had good number given the limited service area and density of stations. To see preliminary results see the website:
http://www.nola.gov/bike-share/preview-event/

  1. After the SOBI contract expires (presumably in 5 years), could changes be made to the advertising and siting decisions made for this current contract? If so, would those changes be brought to the public?

The CEA is a 5 year agreement. Yes, any changes in a renegotiated contract would be public as would any regulations governing advertising and changes in station locations.

  1. Do you anticipate that stations will be placed in the street right-of-way in the place of automobile parking? If so, how will the stations be oriented? (parallel to road? Bikes facing sidewalk or road?)

In some cases, yes, stations may convert a portion of street right-of-way from automobile parking to bike share parking. This will be a function of demand for parking. In general a bike share station is a far more efficient use of public space as it can fit 5-6 racks in the same space as 1 automobile. Typically racks are oriented perpendicular or at a 45 degree angle (for depth space saving) and bikes pull in toward curb.

  1. When do you anticipate the ordinance to change the city code will be drafted and noticed? If possible, we would like to see the earliest available copy.

June or July is the current estimate. The city follows standard notification process which means any new ordinance submitted to council must be introduced first and is then typically discussed in the next appropriate council committee where public comment and discussion occurs with a recommendation to the next full council meeting (a month following introduction) for vote.

  1. If a business owner desired to have a station placed on private property adjacent to public right of way, is that an available option?

On a case by case basis, stations on private property will be considered. There are several operational restrictions include location must be publicly accessible 24/7 and easily visible. The most likely example is a large paved extension of the sidewalk that is technically on private property (common downtown)

  1. There seems to have been a suggestion in the past that rather than a physical station, there may be scenarios where existing bike rack facilities are designated as approved drop-off points where riders would not be penalized for leaving bikes there. This is likely not preferred, but if there were a location that warranted this approach, is it still a possibility?

Absolutely. Utilizing existing public bike racks is also a way to increase convenience and extend the service area. Racks need to work with SoBi bikes and locks (many racks do not work with fenders for example). The biggest issue is ensuring there is sufficient space to accommodate both bike share and private bike use. One or two racks is not likely but a bike corral. A good example is the two bike corrals at Avenue Pub which are a part of the preview system as a virtual (versus exclusive use) station.

  1. Will there be any contractual relationship between the various neighborhood organizations and either the city or SOBI regarding the bike share program?

No.

  1. On April 3, will the workshop already have proposed site locations? If so, could we see those in advance? Who will be the facilitators for the workshop?

Yes, there will be multiple potential sites, far more than will be in the finalized locations to allow for discussion of alternatives (this corner versus a block away). Maps will be presented at the workshop. We will also be soliciting ideas for additional potential sites not included on the map. The ones prepared are options the City and SoBi have considered viable, but not exclusive. Facilitators will generally be City staff supplemented by SoBi and their outreach consultant as needed.

  1. There has been some confusion about the online voting for station siting. Will the Social Cyclist app be used? If so, will there be a control on the number of times a person can vote or any criteria to make proposed sites eligible to be considered? Are the votes in any way tied to or weighted by where the individual lives in reference to the recommended station?

No, the City is setting up its own crowdsourcing online voting site. We are working through the testing now and based on the available technology will try to restrict double voting and gather location information. The City understands the limitations of online voting and will take that into consideration in using that feedback.

  1. For changes to the city code, will the CZO procedure for public involvement be followed?

Any changes to the city code follow the applicable legal requirements. Where there are changes to the CZO, then the CZO procedures will be followed.

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March 7, 2017 statement from Dwight Norton:

In advance of tonight’s neighborhood association meeting, I wanted to provide a written response to some of the information/inquiries that have been raised thus far by those included here and I hope you will share with all other neighbors as well. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss further and address any and all concerns. I have also attached the status update presentation I gave to the City Council transportation committee for reference and will add this and additional materials to the website: http://www.nola.gov/bike-share/

First of all as an introduction, I am the City’s point person and project manager for bike share implementation as one of my jobs in improving transportation more holistically and efficiently for a more resilient and equitable city. Through a very open and public selection process last summer (link), the City awarded a 5-year exclusive use agreement to the best proposal, led by Social Bicycles, Inc. (SoBi) for 700 bicycles and 70 stations in phase 1.

1. Station selection process has only just begun and will be a public process. Many concerns have been voiced about the determination of the station locations. This process has always and continues to be an open one, designed for public participation. The oft referenced feasibility study was conducted in 2014 and merely serves as a reference point for our current efforts. It in no way is deterministic on station locations and furthermore was never intended as such. The maps are labelled as “conceptual” and do in fact have an unfortunately obscure disclaimer “Note: Station locations are roughly assigned to illustrate optimal station spacing…” The process for station location identification, which will be further discussed tonight, is as follows:
· January – April: introductions at neighborhood association meetings (I have completed 14 to date)
· March: potential candidate sites being developed by SoBi/City based on best practices and stated City goals (see #4)
· March 27 – April 11: Public workshops with maps for station siting recommendations/feedback
o Bayou St John/Mid City workshop is tentatively scheduled for April 3 at 630p
· April/May: online voting for station locations
· June: draft map of 70 stations incorporating public input
· August: final map
· October: launch

2. No paving any public parks, particularly small neighborhood ones. There is no budget or intent to pave over any green space for bike share stations. Despite the suggestion, the only possible exception would be in the case where there is a significant destination, connection transit or other protected bike infrastructure, technical problems with on-street alternatives, and strong community support. As an example, the very large neutral ground of Jeff Davis and Canal has a separated bike path, streetcar, active commercial and street flooding at the curb. Parks that will be considered would require other sounding destinations and excess paved area. An example is the large paved area off to the side of the entrance of Armstrong Park, set well back from the sidewalk, and across the street from a streetcar stop. Mr. London’s article recommending paved space adjacent to commercial nodes along Esplanade is exactly in line with best practices and our placement thinking: connect to local destinations: where would you as residents want a station to make it useful. This will be validated/refined at our aforementioned workshops.

3. Station size will be right-sized to meet demand and are more efficient use of public space. While stations have been referenced as “vending machines”, transit stations is a more appropriate analogy – they take up some public space and are gateways for accessing the system, including transaction. Most stations will not have a dedicated kiosk – our agreement with SoBi only includes 10 which will be strategically placed in areas with lots of pedestrian activity. There will be either a small or large panel based on residential or commercial nature of the area with wayfinding information and, in the case of large panels only, limited advertising – analogous to a bus station. Regarding the number of racks at a station, again the 2014 Feasibility Study is a reference and in our opinion inappropriate for recommendations on Esplanade. As noted by Mr. London, stations in neighborhoods are typically much smaller than in downtown core and busier commercial areas. The goal will be to anticipate demand and provide sufficient racks so bikes do not end up parked on poles. This may need to be adjust over time as the neighborhood finds the service increasingly desirable. Nearly all sites will be existing paved surface on street or sidewalks where space allows. Private space may be used only where the location is highly desirable and the land is publically available 24/7 (e.g. plaza outside a downtown high rise).

4. Station convenience is essential to a successful, equitable bike share program. The convenience of bike share, and thus is usefulness, is based directly on stations being evenly distributed. You should not have to walk more than 3 or so blocks to get to station. If so, it become far less convenient and people will not use it. When these basics are respected, not only does it prevent limited usage and thus financial insolvency (e.g. Seattle), it also has demonstrated people start driving less. In fact 25-52% less (study link; also click here and here for more information on best practices). Here again we deviate sharply from the 2014 Feasibility Study. Being a few blocks from a station means the stations will 4 to 7 blocks apart. Also remember it is a stated goal that we use bike share as a means to provide convenient, more reliable and cheaper alternatives to access jobs and other opportunities for improving lives. Cutting down on people’s transportation costs and travel time is shown consistently to be one of the biggest enablers of upward mobility (more time to raise kids, go back to school etc.). This clear evidence is what drives our equity goals as applied to transportation. We want to ensure access to bike share service extends as far as possible without compromising usability/sustainability.

5. Designing the system for residents knowing tourists will use it. In major tourist cities the world over, bike share does not compromise benefits to residents. Like any good transit system, if it is designed for residents, tourists will use as well. If it is design for tourists only they will use it. The City will ensure the system is designed for residents through two means: 1) station location process and 2) the pricing plans. For station locations, the previous section discusses how residents will inform that process. On the later, a higher cost $8 per hour plan subsidizes the significantly lower cost $15 per month plan (3 months equals one parking ticket!). There is also a $1.67 per month (or $20 per year) low income plan. In addition, the low income program will allow any residents to participate with or without credit card so that we can ensure the 12.5% unbanked (and 25.5% underbanked) members of our community have every opportunity to participate. And from a purely economic perspective, at $8 per hour, longer bike trips for touring or recreation will still make more sense on a rented or personal bike. In addition, the monthly passes are limited to 60 minutes of pedal time, which is a lot if you just think about it as transportation, but not very much if you plan on sightseeing. Bike share a one-way transportation system meant to get you from station A to station B and the pricing reflects that.

6. For-profit vendor model has historic precedent and is a win-win for residents. There have been several references and concerns that the model the City has chosen represents a commercialization of the city. First and foremost bike share is a transit system. Yes, it will be provided by a private entity, but it’s important to remember the service is still public and works very differently than rental. It is also worth remembering our beloved streetcars were all originally built and operated by private companies and only municipalized once labor costs and automobile adoption made service unable to break even. By using a 100% privately financed model, the vendor assumes financial risk for its performance – this is a great thing. This means all of the incentive for great customer service, excellent maintenance and marketing to attract users all falls on the vendor. Given the city’s limited resources for a major capital investment and ongoing costs, this structure is a great example of true public-private partnership for public benefit.

Thank you and look forward to discussing tonight and beyond,
Dwight

Dwight Norton
Urban Mobility Coordinator
City of New Orleans | Office of Resilience & Sustainability
1300 Perdido Street | New Orleans, LA 701116
Office: 504.658.7677

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Bike Sharing

Bike Share Update – Transportation Committee 2.22.17

 

 

 

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photos courtesy Google Street View

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade

Bike Share Update – Transportation Committee 2.22.17

 

Recently, Robert Thompson, a long time Faubourg St. John resident, highlighted the new Bike Share program promoted by the City of New Orleans. You can read more about Robert’s concerns and the proposed plan in the link below:

https://fsjna.org/2017/02/pedal-power-advocate-raises-concerns-commericial-bicycle-rentals-parks/
Robert’s concern, one shared by many neighbors, is the possible placement of long bicycle vending machines in or around neighborhood parks. I began to think about where I would put bicycle vending machines on Esplanade if I wanted to maximize use and profit potential. It certainly would not be in parks.

What about placing smaller units in areas that do not take up any existing vehicle parking or use neighborhood park land? Many of Faubourg St. John’s parks are maintained by Faubourg St. John neighbors.

Commercial bicycle vending machines in commercial areas would get more exposure and therefore use. Since the vendor operator has refused to meet with Robert and other concerned neighbors, it gives more credence to Robert’s concern that the goal may be to place large vending machines in neighborhood parks.

Scaling down the size of the machines to fit on the following City-owned properties could get more support from neighbors:

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
The triangle of land on the corner of Esplanade and Ponce de Leon is City-owned land.

This triangle of City-owned land would be perfect for a small bicycle vending machine. It’s next to the popular Cafe Degas and just steps from some of Faubourg St. John’s most frequented businesses. However, placing a bicycle vending machine here would take more thought and planning as the area has been landscaped by Cafe Degas and it is unlikely neighbors would want that disturbed. Click on the photo for a closer look at the City-owned land next to Cafe Degas.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
The triangle of land on Esplanade at Grand Route St. John is City-owned land.

This triangle of City-owned land at the corner of Esplanade and Grand Route Saint John is currently used as a bus stop. Bicycle vending machines located here would be an “impulse buy” and very convenient for those who may have been considering taking the bus but don’t want to wait for it to arrive. Click on the photo for a closer look at the bus stop shaded by a large oak tree.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
This lot at the intersection of LePage and Esplanade is City-owned land.

I suggested earlier that the vendor may want to consider smaller vending machines for areas along Esplanade. Here is a swath of City-owned land that could accommodate a larger bicycle vending machine. Click on the photo for a closer look at the area on Esplanade that could accommodate a larger bicycle vending machine.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
This triangle of City-owned land is across the street from a school and next to a coffee shop.

What better place for a bicycle vending machine than next to a coffee shop and across from a school? This area on Esplanade at Desoto is perfectly suited for this purpose.
Click on the photo for a closer look at the area by CC’s Coffee that could be used for a bicycle vending machine.

 

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
Area at the corner of Broad and Esplanade.

This location is in the middle of an area surrounded by successful businesses frequented by many patrons. A bicycle vending machine located here would have the potential for much use. Click on the photo for a closer look at the area on Esplanade at Broad.

This has been an opinion piece by Charlie London

Update March 5, 2017:
Robert Thompson suggested that the area on Esplanade next to the Rent-a-Center on Broad would be a viable alternative to placing a bicycle vending machine in a park
Click on the photo for a closer look:

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade

UPDATE:
The placement of bike sharing machines will be discussed at the neighborhood association meeting this Tuesday, March 7th.

The meeting will be held in the Black Gold room at the Fair Grounds at 6:30 pm
The Fair Ground is located at 1751 Gentilly Blvd in New Orleans.
The Black Gold room is at the rear of the facility.

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Bike Sharing

The City of New Orleans, in conjunction with Social Bicycles Inc. (SoBi), announced it will extend the preview of the City’s bike share program through March 31. 
 
During the extended preview, residents and visitors can sign-up and use one of the 35 bicycles to ride between seven temporary stations setup in Iberville, Downtown and Central City. Two additional bicycle racks will be available to end a ride or find a bike. 
 
“Bike share is the City’s newest and most convenient form of public transportation,” said Councilmember Jared C. Brossett, City Council Transportation and Airport Committee Chairperson. “It’s a network of bicycles and automated kiosks that allows users to arrange public transportation on their schedule. I am pleased that the City is extending the bike share preview to allow more users the opportunity to experience and embrace this service.”
 
During the extended preview period, riders can pay $15 to enjoy a 60 minute trip every day through March 31. The hourly rate is $8 per hour, pro-rated by the minute. Sign up using either the website https://nola.socialbicycles.com/ or by downloading the Social Bicycles app for iPhones and Android phones. There will also be greeters at various stations to help people signup and get started biking.
 
To allow more residents to participate in the preview, two bike stations will be relocated on March 1. Find a bike at anyone of the listed preview stations:
  • Basin Street & Bienville Street (near Magnolia Yoga Studio)
  • 501 Loyola Ave. (Near Hyatt)
  • Lafayette Square at Magazine Street
  • Decatur Street & Bienville Street (Through Feb. 28)
  • Baronne Street & Common Street (Near the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel)
  • Decatur Street & Barracks Street (near U.S. Mint through Feb. 28)
  • Magazine Street & Erato Street (Beginning March 1)
  • Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard & Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Beginning March 1)
  • 1000 Tchoupitoulas St. (near Cochon Restaurant)
  • 219 Loyola Ave. (Library Main Branch – existing bike racks)
  • Polymnia Street & St. Charles Avenue (near Avenue Pub – existing bike racks)
 
The full program, launching this fall, will consist of 70 stations with 700 bicycles and a guaranteed minimum future expansion of 90 stations with 900 bicycles. 100 percent of the bike share program will be privately financed through sponsorships, advertisements, and rental fees.
 
The fees for bike rental are:
  • Monthly Pass: $15 for unlimited trips up to 1 hour of riding a day (hourly rate thereafter).You can take as many trips as desired that all together add up to 60 minutes. For example, a 15-minute ride to work in the morning, a 5-minute ride for lunch; a 30 minute ride home with a quick stop to pick up some food totals 50 minutes for the day
  • Low-Income Pass: $1.67 per month ($20 per year) for unlimited trips up to 1 hour of riding a day (hourly rate thereafter)
  • Pay-as-you-go: $8 per hour of riding (pro-rated)
 
New Orleans has been growing rapidly as a bicycling city. The city was recognized as a bicycle friendly community in the Fall of 2014 by the League of American Bicyclists.
Last month, New Orleans was selected by People for Bikes as one of ten cities to participate in their Big Jump Project to reimage bicycle infrastructure.
For more information, please visit
http://www.peopleforbikes.org/placesforbikes/landing/the-big-jump-project
 
For additional information on the preview and the full program, please visit http://www.nola.gov/bikeshare

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Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, bicycle sharing, bicycles, bike share, bike sharing, Charlie London, city of new orleans, faubourg st john, New Orleans, sobi, the place you want to be, where big dreams grow, who does the faubourg st. john website

Ruby Slipper Kicks in Great Food to Feed the First

February 28, 2017 by Charlie London

Ruby Slipper Kicks in Great Food to Feed the First

 

The officers in the First District of the New Orleans Police Department received a special treat courtesy of the Ruby Slipper. The officers had the opportunity to feast on shrimp and grits with biscuits from the Ruby Slipper. Many thanks to The Ruby Slipper for contributing year after year to the Feed the First initiative.

The Ruby Slipper Café is a family-owned & operated business and open to serve diners 363 days a year at five New Orleans locations (Marigny, Mid-City, Canal St., CBD on Magazine St. and Uptown on Magazine St.), as well as locations in Baton Rouge, Pensacola, FL and Orange Beach, AL. The Ruby Slipper Café was inspired by a powerful sense of homecoming when returning to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and has expanded across the Southern Gulf Region since opening in 2008. The Ruby Slipper Café brings New Orleans flair to southern breakfast standards, brunch classics, fresh lunch dishes and eye-opening cocktails.

The Ruby Slipper Cafe’s mission is to enrich the lives of our guests, employees and owners through superior quality food and beverages, excellent customer service, sales growth and cost controls. We believe that our success depends upon creating and retaining a staff capable of delivering an exceptional dining experience to every customer, every time.

The Ruby Slipper Cafe was founded in May 2008, after Hurricane Katrina devastated our Mid-City neighborhood. In the recovery from that life-changing storm, Erich and Jennifer found an opportunity to turn a blighted corner store into a vibrant gathering place where neighbors could enjoy excellent Breakfast, Lunch & Brunch fare in a casual and inviting atmosphere. The Ruby Slipper Cafe Mid-City (139 S. Cortez St) was an instant success, and by Fall 2009, The Ruby Slipper Cafe was awarded a coveted spot in Brett Anderson’s list of the Top 100 Restaurants, featured in the Times-Picayune Fall 2009 Dining Guide. One of only four breakfast spots featured, we were thankful for this great recognition.

In April 2010, The Ruby Slipper Cafe was reviewed by renowned New Orleans food critic Tom Fitzmorris and awarded Three Stars (“Worth Crossing Town For”), stating that “The menu is as creative as any this side of Brennan’s, and uses excellent fresh ingredients carrying pedigrees you’d find in a gourmet bistro (applewood-smoked bacon, stone-ground grits, and fresh local shrimp, to name three). Particularly good is the restaurant’s use of local flavors not often seen at breakfast. Like pork or duck debris, or bananas Foster.”

In December 2010, Ruby Slipper Cafe Downtown (200 Magazine Street in the CBD) opened and has become a popular destination for tourists, business people and local residents alike. In November 2012, Ruby Slipper Cafe proudly added its Marigny location at 2001 Burgundy Street. This location also is home to the business headquarters. In January 2014, Ruby Slipper Cafe added a second downtown location at 1005 Canal Street in the French Quarter. In July 2015, Ruby Slipper Cafe opened its first location outside of New Orleans, located at 509 Palafox Street in Downtown Pensacola, Florida. In June 2016, Ruby Slipper Café opened its newest location in Orange Beach, Alabama, located at 24151 Perdido Beach Boulevard.

Check out their menu at http://www.therubyslippercafe.net/menus/

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: cafe, great food in new orleans, nawlins, New Orleans, new orleans food, restaurant, ruby slipper, shrimp and grits

900 Bags of Potato Chips Tossed to the Feed the First Initiative by Zapp’s

February 23, 2017 by Charlie London

Zapp’s Potato Chips donated 12 cases for Faubourg St. John’s 2018 Feed the First Initiative. Many thanks to Zapp’s for once again helping to feed the officers of the 1st District during Mardi Gras!

Zapp’s takin’ it easy in City Park

Zapp’s admiring the John Scott sculpture in City Park

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900 Bags of Potato Chips Tossed to the Feed the First Initiative by Zapp’s


click on any photo for a larger view
Faubourg St. John gets Zapped

For the 9th year, the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association (FSJNA) will feed officers at the First District Police Station during Mardi Gras weekend from Saturday through Fat Tuesday. During that time, the officers all work 16 hour shifts to cover the parade routes and patrol our district.

We provide a hot breakfast and lunch along with snacks and soft drinks as a show of support to let them know it’s not just them against the world out there over that weekend (and all the time). This year, we will also provide pizza for the night shift so that they can feel the love too.

Zapp's headquarters in Gramercy, LA

Today, Zapp’s Potato Chips donated 900 bags of their wildly popular chips to the Feed the First initiative. It’s donations like this and the many donations from generous neighbors that make this program possible. Many thanks to Zapp’s Potato Chips for their generous donation and kind hospitality at their plant in Gramercy, Louisiana.

Generous Zapp's

article below from WGNO.com

“We like to call ourselves the ‘Little Old Potato Chip Company’ in Gramercy and we joke with people that we’re smaller than some people think we are, larger than other people think we are,” says Richard Gaudry, Vice President of Sales.

“A lot of the equipment we have is state-of-the-art, in some cases we were the first or second people in this country to have a certain piece of equipment,” says Gaudry.

Whats makes this salty, sometimes spicy snack we all love so unique is the variety of flavors. Voodoo has been the most popular chip since it was released. The name itself shows off the fun, quirky personality of Zapp’s Potato Chips.

“We want something that reflects the area here, the spiciness the depth of flavors,” says Gaudry.

“When you’re happy you eat snacks, when you’re sad you eat snacks, when you’re bored you eat snacks, when you’re excited you eat snacks… it’s a good program!”

For more information visit: http://www.zapps.com

Article below by Glen Abbott at NOLA.com

Here in the Big Easy, it’s all about the spice. From po-boys to potato chips, the proper seasoning is essential. So little wonder that our favorite chip comes in a variety of tastebud-tantalizing flavors, with imaginative names like Spicy Cajun Crawtator, Voodoo, and Cajun Dill Gator-Tators – along with the old standbys like Regular, Jalapeno, Salt and Vinegar, and Mesquite Bar-B-Que, among others.

“New Orleans is probably our largest market,” Rod Olson, president of Zapp’s Potato Chips, tells me. “We sell more chips in the French Quarter than Frito-Lay does. Po-boys and Zapp’s go together; muffalettas at Central Grocery and Zapp’s go together.”

Zapp’s processes about 120,000 pounds of spuds and fries them in nearly 8,000 pounds of a peanut oil blend each day. The potatoes are sliced thicker than most chips and go right into the fryer.

“The key to that is you load all these wet potato slices [into the fryer] in less than a minute,” according to Olson. “That drops the temperature of the oil, and it’s that temperature drop that creates the curl, the crunch, and the flavor is basically from the peanut oil blend.”

The result?

“It’s the best-tasting chip made,” Olson claims. “And that’s the mouthfeel and the taste that derives from the peanut oil. And then the seasonings on them, none of them are cheap. They’re selected because they taste good, and as much as possible we try to have interesting flavor combinations.”

Ron Zappe founded Zapp’s Chips in 1985 after his oil-field equipment business tanked, along with the price of crude oil in the early ‘80s. He converted an empty car dealership in St. James Parish into a chippery, installing two small fryers and a packaging machine in the former showroom. Ron passed away in 2010, and Rod Olson – who started with the company its first year as the New Orleans distributor – became president.

At the beginning, Zapp’s produced only regular and jalapeno-flavored chips, but before long, Ron Zappe developed a recipe with spices reminiscent of a crawfish boil. He called the new flavor Spicy Cajun Crawtator, and today it’s one of the company’s best-selling varieties.

Over the years, the company has added flavors, some more popular than others.

“We did a Key Lime flavor … that was one of our most limited editions,” says Olson. “And twice we’ve done pizza flavors that just haven’t taken.”

But the company still gets requests for past favorites like Honey Mustard, Bacon and Cheddar, and even Sizzling Steak. And the newest limited edition – Baby Back Rib (!) – will be hitting store shelves this week.

And Zapp’s is currently phasing in packaging with styling cues emphasizing its Crescent City connection. The updated design features a French Quarter-style signpost, with the package’s distinctive bright, vertical stripes embedded with a subtle fleur-de-lis design. The new tagline reads, “New Orleans Kettle Style.”

Take my advice, and get thee to a chippery. Zapp’s doesn’t offer public factory tours, but you can buy the chips throughout Louisiana, and in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle, as well as online and through mail order.

Or head to a parade this Carnival season — Zapp’s chips joined the list of edible throws in 1991, when the Krewe of Mid-City first tossed them in 1-ounce bags stamps with the krewe’s name. Other krewes have joined suit, and Zapp’s makes purple-and-gold bags for the season.

Rod Olson’s advice?

“Buy more chips!” he says cheerfully. “We’ll make more; it’s Mardi Gras!”

Many thanks to Zapp’s Potato Chips for their generous donation of 900 bags of chips to the Feed the First initiative

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: 1st District, bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, faubourg st john, feed the first, mardi gras, New Orleans, nopd, zapp's, zapp's potato chips

Pedal Power Advocate Raises Concerns about Commericial Bicycle Rentals in Neighborhood Parks

February 22, 2017 by Charlie London

Pedal Power Advocate Raises Concerns about Commericial Bicycle Rentals by Parks

by Robert Thompson

Bicycles are great, we need to encourage their use and I applaud movement toward expanded use.

However, the Bike Share program may not be the on-target program best suited to do this.
Social Bicycles INC is a business that will be placing 70 bicycle docking stations around New Orleans.

Tourists will go up Esplanade to our beautiful City Park. Bring them on, BUT, do not destroy our Esplanade ridge parks and residential quality in the process. Two large bike docking stations (29 docks) and three medium sized (19 docks) show on a map in the city’s study for our stretch of Esplanade alone.

Where can you put five 70 foot long structures?
Fortier Park? The small space at N Gayoso? DeSoto or Capdevielle Parks at Crete? And two more locations?

These stations designs call for a large advertising panel for the big hub and a small advertising panel for the smaller hub. Full study at http://norpc.org/assets/pdf-documents/studies-and-plans/New%20Orleans%20Bike%20Share%20Feas%20Study_FINAL%20DEC%202014.pdf

The study recommends at one point putting these on park lands. That would be our few precious “pocket parks” on Esplanade. I doubt they’d put them in front of a residence in the parking lane, but maybe.

I feel this requires us to be alerted to the development. There may be spaces that can be recommended where there is no loss of green space, fire department access, even parking. But, if experiences in NYC are repeated here, residents will have the option to react only after this company installs its stations.

Below is a depiction of a 25 dock facility which is doubled-up in order to reduce length. My guess is ours can’t be doubled due to the narrowness of the Esplanade corridor so, they could be as long as 70 feet.

My record of support for cycling includes supporting the bike lanes and creating one of the first “guerilla” bike racks introduced to this neighborhood despite well considered opposition from friends and neighbors. These bike rental stations are really not serving the general public. They are business ventures and are poor trade offs for the loss of green space if they appear in or around our parks.

This has been an opinion piece by Robert Thompson

Robert Thompson attended the Transportation Meeting at City Council on February 22, 2017 and was granted a one minute opportunity to express his concerns over placement of the bike sharing facilities. The gentleman from the City promoting bike sharing said there would be opportunities in the future for public input. Robert said, “Full implementation of 70 stations is slated for end of the year. The discussion about bike vending stations cutting into the established business of the 10 or 12 ventures currently renting bikes to tourists may be off base to our neighborhood concerns about placement, vandalism and graffiti.”

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Bike Share Update – Transportation Committee 2.22.17

 

photos courtesy Google Street View

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade

Recently, Robert Thompson, a long time Faubourg St. John resident, highlighted the new Bike Share program promoted by the City of New Orleans. You can read more about Robert’s concerns and the proposed plan in the link below:

https://fsjna.org/2017/02/pedal-power-advocate-raises-concerns-commericial-bicycle-rentals-parks/

Robert’s concern, one shared by many neighbors, is the possible placement of long bicycle vending machines in or around neighborhood parks. I began to think about where I would put bicycle vending machines on Esplanade if I wanted to maximize use and profit potential. It certainly would not be in parks.

What about placing smaller units in areas that do not take up any existing vehicle parking or use neighborhood park land? Many of Faubourg St. John’s parks are maintained by Faubourg St. John neighbors.

Commercial bicycle vending machines in commercial areas would get more exposure and therefore use. Since the vendor operator has refused to meet with Robert and other concerned neighbors, it gives more credence to Robert’s concern that the goal may be to place large vending machines in neighborhood parks.

Scaling down the size of the machines to fit on the following City-owned properties could get more support from neighbors:

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
The triangle of land on the corner of Esplanade and Ponce de Leon is City-owned land.

This triangle of City-owned land would be perfect for a small bicycle vending machine. It’s next to the popular Cafe Degas and just steps from some of Faubourg St. John’s most frequented businesses. However, placing a bicycle vending machine here would take more thought and planning as the area has been landscaped by Cafe Degas and it is unlikely neighbors would want that disturbed. Click on the photo for a closer look at the City-owned land next to Cafe Degas.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
The triangle of land on Esplanade at Grand Route St. John is City-owned land.

This triangle of City-owned land at the corner of Esplanade and Grand Route Saint John is currently used as a bus stop. Bicycle vending machines located here would be an “impulse buy” and very convenient for those who may have been considering taking the bus but don’t want to wait for it to arrive. Click on the photo for a closer look at the bus stop shaded by a large oak tree.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
This lot at the intersection of LePage and Esplanade is City-owned land.

I suggested earlier that the vendor may want to consider smaller vending machines for areas along Esplanade. Here is a swath of City-owned land that could accommodate a larger bicycle vending machine. Click on the photo for a closer look at the area on Esplanade that could accommodate a larger bicycle vending machine.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
This triangle of City-owned land is across the street from a school and next to a coffee shop.

What better place for a bicycle vending machine than next to a coffee shop and across from a school? This area on Esplanade at Desoto is perfectly suited for this purpose.
Click on the photo for a closer look at the area by CC’s Coffee that could be used for a bicycle vending machine.

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade
Area at the corner of Broad and Esplanade.

This location is in the middle of an area surrounded by successful businesses frequented by many patrons. A bicycle vending machine located here would have the potential for much use. Click on the photo for a closer look at the area on Esplanade at Broad.

This has been an opinion piece by Charlie London

Update March 5, 2017:
Robert Thompson suggested that the area on Esplanade next to the Rent-a-Center on Broad would be a viable alternative to placing a bicycle vending machine in a park
Click on the photo for a closer look:

Bicycle Vending on Esplanade

UPDATE:
The placement of bike sharing machines will be discussed at the neighborhood association meeting this Tuesday, March 7th.

The meeting will be held in the Black Gold room at the Fair Grounds at 6:30 pm
The Fair Ground is located at 1751 Gentilly Blvd in New Orleans.
The Black Gold room is at the rear of the facility.

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The City of New Orleans, in conjunction with Social Bicycles Inc. (SoBi), announced it will extend the preview of the City’s bike share program through March 31. 
 
During the extended preview, residents and visitors can sign-up and use one of the 35 bicycles to ride between seven temporary stations setup in Iberville, Downtown and Central City. Two additional bicycle racks will be available to end a ride or find a bike. 
 
“Bike share is the City’s newest and most convenient form of public transportation,” said Councilmember Jared C. Brossett, City Council Transportation and Airport Committee Chairperson. “It’s a network of bicycles and automated kiosks that allows users to arrange public transportation on their schedule. I am pleased that the City is extending the bike share preview to allow more users the opportunity to experience and embrace this service.”
 
During the extended preview period, riders can pay $15 to enjoy a 60 minute trip every day through March 31. The hourly rate is $8 per hour, pro-rated by the minute. Sign up using either the website https://nola.socialbicycles.com/ or by downloading the Social Bicycles app for iPhones and Android phones. There will also be greeters at various stations to help people signup and get started biking.
 
To allow more residents to participate in the preview, two bike stations will be relocated on March 1. Find a bike at anyone of the listed preview stations:
  • Basin Street & Bienville Street (near Magnolia Yoga Studio)
  • 501 Loyola Ave. (Near Hyatt)
  • Lafayette Square at Magazine Street
  • Decatur Street & Bienville Street (Through Feb. 28)
  • Baronne Street & Common Street (Near the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel)
  • Decatur Street & Barracks Street (near U.S. Mint through Feb. 28)
  • Magazine Street & Erato Street (Beginning March 1)
  • Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard & Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Beginning March 1)
  • 1000 Tchoupitoulas St. (near Cochon Restaurant)
  • 219 Loyola Ave. (Library Main Branch – existing bike racks)
  • Polymnia Street & St. Charles Avenue (near Avenue Pub – existing bike racks)
 
The full program, launching this fall, will consist of 70 stations with 700 bicycles and a guaranteed minimum future expansion of 90 stations with 900 bicycles. 100 percent of the bike share program will be privately financed through sponsorships, advertisements, and rental fees.
 
The fees for bike rental are:
  • Monthly Pass: $15 for unlimited trips up to 1 hour of riding a day (hourly rate thereafter).You can take as many trips as desired that all together add up to 60 minutes. For example, a 15-minute ride to work in the morning, a 5-minute ride for lunch; a 30 minute ride home with a quick stop to pick up some food totals 50 minutes for the day
  • Low-Income Pass: $1.67 per month ($20 per year) for unlimited trips up to 1 hour of riding a day (hourly rate thereafter)
  • Pay-as-you-go: $8 per hour of riding (pro-rated)
 
New Orleans has been growing rapidly as a bicycling city. The city was recognized as a bicycle friendly community in the Fall of 2014 by the League of American Bicyclists.
Last month, New Orleans was selected by People for Bikes as one of ten cities to participate in their Big Jump Project to reimage bicycle infrastructure.
For more information, please visit
http://www.peopleforbikes.org/placesforbikes/landing/the-big-jump-project
 
For additional information on the preview and the full program, please visit http://www.nola.gov/bikeshare

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March 7, 2017 statement from Dwight Norton:

In advance of tonight’s neighborhood association meeting, I wanted to provide a written response to some of the information/inquiries that have been raised thus far by those included here and I hope you will share with all other neighbors as well. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss further and address any and all concerns. I have also attached the status update presentation I gave to the City Council transportation committee for reference and will add this and additional materials to the website: http://www.nola.gov/bike-share/

First of all as an introduction, I am the City’s point person and project manager for bike share implementation as one of my jobs in improving transportation more holistically and efficiently for a more resilient and equitable city. Through a very open and public selection process last summer (link), the City awarded a 5-year exclusive use agreement to the best proposal, led by Social Bicycles, Inc. (SoBi) for 700 bicycles and 70 stations in phase 1.

1. Station selection process has only just begun and will be a public process. Many concerns have been voiced about the determination of the station locations. This process has always and continues to be an open one, designed for public participation. The oft referenced feasibility study was conducted in 2014 and merely serves as a reference point for our current efforts. It in no way is deterministic on station locations and furthermore was never intended as such. The maps are labelled as “conceptual” and do in fact have an unfortunately obscure disclaimer “Note: Station locations are roughly assigned to illustrate optimal station spacing…” The process for station location identification, which will be further discussed tonight, is as follows:
· January – April: introductions at neighborhood association meetings (I have completed 14 to date)
· March: potential candidate sites being developed by SoBi/City based on best practices and stated City goals (see #4)
· March 27 – April 11: Public workshops with maps for station siting recommendations/feedback
o Bayou St John/Mid City workshop is tentatively scheduled for April 3 at 630p
· April/May: online voting for station locations
· June: draft map of 70 stations incorporating public input
· August: final map
· October: launch

2. No paving any public parks, particularly small neighborhood ones. There is no budget or intent to pave over any green space for bike share stations. Despite the suggestion, the only possible exception would be in the case where there is a significant destination, connection transit or other protected bike infrastructure, technical problems with on-street alternatives, and strong community support. As an example, the very large neutral ground of Jeff Davis and Canal has a separated bike path, streetcar, active commercial and street flooding at the curb. Parks that will be considered would require other sounding destinations and excess paved area. An example is the large paved area off to the side of the entrance of Armstrong Park, set well back from the sidewalk, and across the street from a streetcar stop. Mr. London’s article recommending paved space adjacent to commercial nodes along Esplanade is exactly in line with best practices and our placement thinking: connect to local destinations: where would you as residents want a station to make it useful. This will be validated/refined at our aforementioned workshops.

3. Station size will be right-sized to meet demand and are more efficient use of public space. While stations have been referenced as “vending machines”, transit stations is a more appropriate analogy – they take up some public space and are gateways for accessing the system, including transaction. Most stations will not have a dedicated kiosk – our agreement with SoBi only includes 10 which will be strategically placed in areas with lots of pedestrian activity. There will be either a small or large panel based on residential or commercial nature of the area with wayfinding information and, in the case of large panels only, limited advertising – analogous to a bus station. Regarding the number of racks at a station, again the 2014 Feasibility Study is a reference and in our opinion inappropriate for recommendations on Esplanade. As noted by Mr. London, stations in neighborhoods are typically much smaller than in downtown core and busier commercial areas. The goal will be to anticipate demand and provide sufficient racks so bikes do not end up parked on poles. This may need to be adjust over time as the neighborhood finds the service increasingly desirable. Nearly all sites will be existing paved surface on street or sidewalks where space allows. Private space may be used only where the location is highly desirable and the land is publically available 24/7 (e.g. plaza outside a downtown high rise).

4. Station convenience is essential to a successful, equitable bike share program. The convenience of bike share, and thus is usefulness, is based directly on stations being evenly distributed. You should not have to walk more than 3 or so blocks to get to station. If so, it become far less convenient and people will not use it. When these basics are respected, not only does it prevent limited usage and thus financial insolvency (e.g. Seattle), it also has demonstrated people start driving less. In fact 25-52% less (study link; also click here and here for more information on best practices). Here again we deviate sharply from the 2014 Feasibility Study. Being a few blocks from a station means the stations will 4 to 7 blocks apart. Also remember it is a stated goal that we use bike share as a means to provide convenient, more reliable and cheaper alternatives to access jobs and other opportunities for improving lives. Cutting down on people’s transportation costs and travel time is shown consistently to be one of the biggest enablers of upward mobility (more time to raise kids, go back to school etc.). This clear evidence is what drives our equity goals as applied to transportation. We want to ensure access to bike share service extends as far as possible without compromising usability/sustainability.

5. Designing the system for residents knowing tourists will use it. In major tourist cities the world over, bike share does not compromise benefits to residents. Like any good transit system, if it is designed for residents, tourists will use as well. If it is design for tourists only they will use it. The City will ensure the system is designed for residents through two means: 1) station location process and 2) the pricing plans. For station locations, the previous section discusses how residents will inform that process. On the later, a higher cost $8 per hour plan subsidizes the significantly lower cost $15 per month plan (3 months equals one parking ticket!). There is also a $1.67 per month (or $20 per year) low income plan. In addition, the low income program will allow any residents to participate with or without credit card so that we can ensure the 12.5% unbanked (and 25.5% underbanked) members of our community have every opportunity to participate. And from a purely economic perspective, at $8 per hour, longer bike trips for touring or recreation will still make more sense on a rented or personal bike. In addition, the monthly passes are limited to 60 minutes of pedal time, which is a lot if you just think about it as transportation, but not very much if you plan on sightseeing. Bike share a one-way transportation system meant to get you from station A to station B and the pricing reflects that.

6. For-profit vendor model has historic precedent and is a win-win for residents. There have been several references and concerns that the model the City has chosen represents a commercialization of the city. First and foremost bike share is a transit system. Yes, it will be provided by a private entity, but it’s important to remember the service is still public and works very differently than rental. It is also worth remembering our beloved streetcars were all originally built and operated by private companies and only municipalized once labor costs and automobile adoption made service unable to break even. By using a 100% privately financed model, the vendor assumes financial risk for its performance – this is a great thing. This means all of the incentive for great customer service, excellent maintenance and marketing to attract users all falls on the vendor. Given the city’s limited resources for a major capital investment and ongoing costs, this structure is a great example of true public-private partnership for public benefit.

Thank you and look forward to discussing tonight and beyond,
Dwight

Dwight Norton
Urban Mobility Coordinator
City of New Orleans | Office of Resilience & Sustainability
1300 Perdido Street | New Orleans, LA 701116
Office: 504.658.7677

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Bike Share Update – Transportation Committee 2.22.17

 

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, bike rakes, bike rental, bike share, bike sharing, bike sharing in new orleans, esplanade, neighbors concerned about bike rentals, New Orleans, social bicycles. faubourg st. john

City Takes Action on Flooding Problem on Bayou Road

February 22, 2017 by Charlie London

CITY TAKES ACTION ON FLOODING PROBLEM


photos courtesy Robert Thompson

flooding at Kruttschnitt Park

During the recent cleanup at Kruttschnitt Park organized by Robert Thompson, several volunteers noted that the storm drain was full of debris. Robert Thompson followed up with the City. Flooding at North Dorgenois and Bayou Road during rain events has been mitigated…for now.

Robert said, “This is a great step for our neighborhood effort to improve the area with focused action.”

Many thanks to Robert and all the neighborhood volunteers who are making a difference!

Check out Robert’s City Beautiful Clubs Facebook page for more:
www.facebook.com/CityBeautifulClubs

Before Robert Thompson and the City took action, this area flooded during any rain event.
Before concerned neighbors and the City took action, this clogged drain caused street flooding in the area.

In 1906, the City designated the triangular portion of ground bounded by N. Dorgenois, Bell Street, and Bayou Road as a place of rest and recreation, then named it Kruttschnitt Place. Ernest B. Kruttschnitt (1852-1906) was a popular local attorney and educator. President of the Board of Education from 1890-1903, he was the nephew of Judah P. Benjamin. President of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention, a post to which he was unanimously elected, Kruttschnitt was also an administrator of the Tulane Education Fund and had headed the Pickwick Club. When he was laid to rest, on his 54th birthday, schools closed in his honor.

Anyone who has been through a major storm or regular rainfall in New Orleans knows that clogged catch basins contribute significantly to street flooding.

The pumps can’t pump what they can’t get. If your catch basin is clogged, please clean it today. If you need help, get with your neighbors and clean all the catch basins on your street. If you still need help, write to info@fsjna.org and we’ll help you get it done.

A catch basin, which is also known as a storm drain inlet or curb inlet, is an opening to the storm drain system that typically includes a grate or curb inlet at street level where storm water enters the catch basin and a sump captures sediment, debris and associated pollutants. Catch basins are able to prevent trash and other floatable materials from entering the drainage system by capturing such debris by way of a hooded outlet. The outlet pipes for catch basins on combined sewers (sanitary waste and storm water in a single pipe) are also outfitted with a flapper (trap) device to prevent the backflow of any unpleasant odors from pipes. Catch basins act as pretreatment for other treatment practices by allowing larger sediments to settle in the basin sump areas.

It is important to maintain catch basins to prevent storm sewer blockages and minimize the amount of pollutants entering storm sewers which may eventually discharge into local streams and waterways such as Lake Ponchartrain. Clogged catch basins can also result in the ponding of water along streets and parking lots causing a nuisance to motorists, pedestrians and businesses.

How you can help: When you are clearing your sidewalk or driveway, dispose of waste in trash receptacles instead of sweeping it into the gutters or catch basins.

If leaves or other debris are blocking a catch basin near your house or business, remove and dispose of the debris properly.

Article from:
http://www.bwsc.org/PROJECTS/Maintenance/catchbasin.asp

THE CITY IS ASKING THAT YOU CALL 311 FOR
CATCH BASINS THAT NEED MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT TO CLEAR

 

If you have questions, or if your catch basin requires mechanical cleaning or maintenance, call 311 to report the problem.

 

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1) Clean litter and debris from the catch basins near your house. Also, clean the surrounding curb area, because any litter, leaves, or grass on the street or sidewalk can end up in the catch basin. Do not lift the drain cover or attempt to disassemble the catch basin; just clean what you can see. All you need is a pair of work gloves, a shovel or small rake, and a trash bag. Remember: If your neighbor is elderly or disabled, please help clean their catch basin too.

2) Dispose of trash and lawn clippings in trash cans. Do not sweep or blow yard waste into the gutters and catch basins. Remember: Trash in our streets ends up as trash in our lake!

3) Construction sites or sites with hazardous materials must take special precautions to properly dispose of their paint and chemicals. They should not sweep, blow or hose waste into the catch basins. Report any improper actions to the City of New Orleans by calling 311.

Residents are advised to stay at home during the severe weather unless an emergency makes it absolutely necessary for them to get on the road. The NOPD will ticket motorists who drive faster than 5 mph on streets with standing water.

The following is a list of streets prone to significant flooding during severe weather.

Calliope @ Claiborne towards Tchoupitoulas St
Calliope & Tchoupitoulas St On-ramps
I-10 and Tulane Exit towards Claiborne
Airline & Tulane Ave intersection
4400 Block of Washington
Washington Ave. near Xavier
All surrounding streets to St. Charles flooded, Gravier/Tulane/S Dupre, S Claiborne/Washington.
Claiborne/Orleans Ave.
S Carrollton/Palmetto
Magazine/St Mary
Broad/Louisiana Ave./S.Claiborne
Josephine/Prytania
Earhart/Jeff Davis-Carrollton
500 blk of Lake Marina
Canal Blvd/I-10/Navarre
Erato/S Genois/City Park/Carrollton
Washington Ave. near Xavier, Washington
Gravier/Tulane/S Dupre
S Claiborne/Washington
Simon Bolivar & Calliope coming from Loyola Ave under the overpass
Poland Ave from St Claude to N. Claiborne
S. Claiborne at Joseph
Holiday to the Crescent City Connection
Shirley and DeGaulle
DeGaulle under the Westbank Expressway
General Meyer from Pace to Shirley
Richland and General Meyer
MacArthur and Holiday
Tullis
Garden Oaks
Chelsea
Vespasian and Wall

The City’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness monitors severe weather and keeps residents updated through e-mail alerts and the Twitter handle @nolaready.

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: bayou road, catch basin, City Beautiful Clubs, clean drain, drain, flood, floods, kruttschnitt, Kruttschnitt park, neighbors making a difference, New Orleans, North Dorgenois, park improvement, people working together, pocket park, robert thompson, storm drains, street flooding, use your brain clean your drain

It’s Easy to Forget that Broad is part of U.S. Hwy 90

February 7, 2017 by Charlie London

Sent in by Robert Thompson

The Old Spanish Trail (never really a Spanish Trail) passes right in front of Faubourg St. John.
We sometimes forget N. Broad is US 90. http://drivetheost.com/

 

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/resurrecting-the-original-road-trip-on-americas-ghost-highway

Resurrecting the Original Road Trip on America’s Ghost Highway

By Sarah Laskow

AUGUST 07, 2015
A piece of the Old Spanish Trail, Milton, Fla. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

In the past 15 years, while hunting for missing pieces of the Old Spanish Trail, Charlotte Kahl would sometimes find herself following pick-up trucks. She could be in a town she’d never been in before, at 7 or 8 o’clock in the morning, and everything would be quiet. But when she found the shop with the pick-up trucks, she would find the farmers. They’d be done with feeding their animals, in town for their morning coffee.

“And those old farmers, if they can’t tell you where the highway was, they’ll tell you who to go see,” she says.

Kahl is the chairperson of OST100, an organization dedicated to one of the country’s original interstate routes, first conceived 100 years ago and now faded into a ghost road, buried beneath six-lane highways, suburban sprawl, or sometimes dirt, brush and feet of desert sand. The Old Spanish Trail, when it was completed in 1929, was 2,743 miles of brick, asphalt, concrete, and wooden plank, and it crossed the southernmost states from East to West, starting in St. Augustine, Florida, and ending in San Diego, California.

It’s still possible, if difficult, to make that trip on the old road. But Kahl and her organization aim to restore the Old Spanish Trail to its former vigor, as one of the country’s great interstate routes, the kind of road people fantasize about traveling from end to end.

And if her plan works, in 2029, a celebratory caravan of cars will start in St. Augustine and travel all the way to San Diego, on the the very same trip the road’s founders made 100 years before, when the trail was finally completed.

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Florida (Image: drivetheost/Flickr)

This road was built just as the dream of the American road trip took shape. For the first time, really, Americans could get in a car and drive west, west, and further west, until they hit the Pacific and had to wonder if they’d found what they were hoping for. In 1929, 70 percent of the road was paved, “and the rest is good going,” an advertising circular promised. Three years before, when just 50 percent was “paved or under contract,” Colonel Ed Fletcher drove the entire distance in 75 hours and 33 minutes, averaging 37 miles per hour, in the family Cadillac. The whole trip took a little over a week, and included a 14-mile boat ride across Mobile Bay, ferry trips in New Orleans and Beaumont, Texas, and a stop to take moving pictures in Yuma, Arizona.

From the beginning, the Old Spanish Trail was very deliberately laden with mystique. Harral Ayres, the road’s chief booster and director of the Old Spanish Trail Association, sold the road, not entirely accurately, as the “route first traveled in American by Spanish Conquistadors more than four hundred years ago.” It needed a little romance, though, because building it required tackling very practical and expensive problems. The tributaries rushing from the continent’s heart into the Gulf needed to be spanned with bridges; a road that ran along the Gulf also needed protection from the sea and waves. Further west, in the desert, roads were still being built of wooden planks, in sections which, when covered in sand, could be lifted at one end and cleaned off. In the end, the road cost about $80,000,000 to build—more than a billion in today’s dollars.

Although much of the original road has been subsumed by I-10 and other large highways, it’s still possible to drive long stretches of the road, at least as it existed in the 1930s, through Florida, Louisiana and Texas. And where the original route has been lost, Kahl is trying to convince others to find the road, map it, preserve it, and pretty it up. She is planning a centennial motorcade that will travel along the road all the way across the country.

Mossy Head, Fla. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

Preparations for that celebration begins this year, a century after planning for the road began. This winter, OST100 will convene a conference in Mobile, Alabama, where the first meeting of businessmen interested in building the road met, in 1915. At the time, there was no formal, federal system of interstate highways; instead, businessmen and activists from the Good Roads Movement were banding together to advocate and fundraise for roads where none had been. This new and growing network of roads was already rooting down into the south from points north. By the time the Old Spanish Trail’s founders first met, the Atlantic Highway connected Maine to Miami. The Dixie Highway, and the Jackson Highway were coming on down to other Southern cities. But there were no roads connecting the southern border states to each other.

Ellaville, Fla. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

At that first meeting, the Old Spanish Trail was conceived as a road that could connect east to west, Florida to California. Harry Locke, a mapmaker and “pathfinder,” showed up with a route that would connect Houston and Los Angeles. But the exact route would take shape over years, as the Great World War delayed planning and different cities and regions vied to be on the road. There was a trickle of federal money for road-building, after the first highway funding bill passed in 1916, but the most part, roads went where businesses or communities would pay to build them. The early Old Spanish Trail Association was a dues-paying organization, and not paying had consequences.

“In Texas,” says Kahl, “there was a city that didn’t pay their dues. Another city wanted the road, and they were willing to pay for it.” The road jogged south—to the city that would pay.

Locke, who became the field engineer for the project, had a huge amount of power over the where the road would go, too. “He was strong-arming people to get advertisements,” says John Murphey, an architectural historian and old roads enthusiast, who’s driven the trail more than once. “When they were thinking of termini, in Florida, he was basically telling Miami: You put an advertisement in this map, or you’re not going to be the terminus.” (Apparently Miami did not budge, since the terminus is St. Augustine.)

By 1923, at least, the San Diego terminus had been chosen and the zero-mile stone set. And finally, after almost a decade and a half of construction, the road was declared complete in 1929, and the stone in St. Augustine dedicated. By then, the federal government had started work on system of numbered federal highways (the Old Spanish Trail would be part of what’s now called Old U.S. 80 and 90) and, less than a decade later, would start thinking about larger, better interstate roads—the country’s first superhighways, which would make early auto trails like the OST obsolete.


The Old Spanish Trail Association’s map of the road (Image: Courtesy of OST100)

Driving the Old Spanish Trail, if you want to stick to the original route as much as possible, is a bit of a challenge. Before Murphey and his wife set out on their first trip on the road, they had to go through a massive data gathering project, paging through old maps and publications, trying to plot that over current highway maps. “We probably missed some really vintage or private land alignments,” he says. “But we hit most of it. We did a lot of trespassing.”

Their effort paid off.  “When you hit a place that hasn’t been changed and there’s not modern development, it’s a little bit transcendent,” he says. “There’s a section east of Tallahassee that’s still red earth road. You can just imagine bobbing along in the 1920s.”

A stretch of original OST in the Florida panhandle (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

Of course, in many places, things have changed. In cities, the route of the old highway goes through run-down areas; outside, suburban sprawl lines roads that once would have been almost empty. These roads were built before the infrastructure to support travelers, and early roadtrippers would not have had the luxury of roadside motels and diners.

On some stretches, the OST has just been forgotten. Kahl first started researching the trail back in 2000, after a San Antonio road crew clearing room for equipment found a strange, stone bench hiding in the brush in a corner of her neighborhood.

“In south Texas, when we say brush, it’s pretty prickly,” she says. “You just don’t go in there. That’s the way it was saved for decades. We don’t even know how long it was overgrown.”

Besides the bench, there was a metal decoration with the letters OST woven into it, and when she went online to start puzzling out what it could mean, all she found was references to oysters and smoked turkey from Great Britain, University of Tennessee computer courses, and geographical references in German.

The bench in San Antonio (Image: Courtesy of OST100)

Even once she had found out the OST was a road, that didn’t help her find the actual route. She and a few others decided they would focus on documenting the 50 miles that run through San Antonio’s Bexar County. That’s how she found herself following pick-up trucks through small Texas towns and interviewing farmers.

Sometimes there’d be other clues, too. In Texas, the OST beautification committee planted palm trees along the road’s route, and as a result a straight row of palms heading straight off the curve of a road still echo the OST’s route. Low water crossings didn’t get bridges; old Model Ts had to cross them at an angle to make their way through. Any crossing built at a 90 degree angle to a small trickle of water is a hint to get out of the car and search in a farmer’s field for the trace of a road coming through the creek. At a ferry crossing, Kahl tramped through bushes and muck to find the dock and wharf. Sometimes the road would be abandoned, and she would have to take a metal pole and poke down to find where the asphalt was, under the overgrowth of the bushes and grass in the field, she says.

A county line marker along the old road (Photo: Courtesy of OST100)

This is the type of work that Kahl’s now trying to convince other people to take on. Her goal, by 2029, is to have the entire route historically designated. She’s also trying to convince the 67 counties along the route to build hiking and biking trails all along the way. “We call it cleaning up for the party,” she say. “We’re hoping by ‘29, tourists will be driving, walking, barnstorming and biking the trail.”

By then, she’ll be 87. But she’s still planning on traveling across the country to celebrate the centennial. “People will have to help me on and off the bus when we take that grand motorcade tour,” she says.

It seems like a massive project, but she figures that if the road’s founders built it in 15 years, her group can clean it up in that same time. And if they don’t, most likely the Old Spanish Trail will soon fade in obscurity forever. Once, the federal government might have funded this sort of historical preservation, but budgets are tighter now. As Murphey puts it, “It’s up to the communities to investigate their auto heritage and bring it to the fore.” And the Old Spanish Trail, he says, is really Charlotte’s baby. Now she just needs more people to sign on to help.

Wellborn, Fla. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

Whitehouse, Fla. (Photo: drivethost/Flickr)

Des Allemands, La. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

Huey Long Bridge, Jefferson Parish, La. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

Lake Charles, La. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

OST bench, San Antonio (Photo: Courtesy of OST100)

Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge, which no longer exists (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

Mesa, Ariz. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

Yuma, Ariz. (Photo: drivetheost/Flickr)

 

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY

Keeping Neighborhood Parks Beautiful

January 25, 2017 by Charlie London

City Beautiful Club Friends:

Veteran volunteers and a new friend tackled the first step in recovering a lost pocket park at Bayou Road and N Dorgenois. A giant mulch pile courtesy of Park and Parkways personnel appeared and challenged the small but determined City Beautifer crew to spread it. Earlier, Phillip Mollere brought two truckloads of mulch and started the project.

Sally Gaden and Annie LaRock (with super-pup Fang) led the effort, cleaning gutters, picking up litter and spreading the mulch.

Passerby, and new member, Josh Lewis pitched in, lent a hand and taught us something about “microbial diversity”! (He teaches Ecology at Tulane!)

Much appreciated praise and approval came from onlookers Josh Barbee (Ursulines Triangle CBC Guy), Ben the welder, and Robert Tannen whose art piece occupies the other end of the park.

I think all agree the place is looking more like a park than a parking lot!

Thanks to all involved in getting this park back on track.

Robert Thompson
City Beautiful Clubs
www.facebook.com/CityBeautifulClubs

***

baltimoreThe city of Baltimore’s high crime rate inspired a gritty TV drama. But a new study (Tinyurl.com/TreeCrimeReport) by the University of Vermont’s Transportation Research Center, in Burlington, found that a 10 percent increase in trees in a given area led to a 12 percent decrease in crime. “It’s really pretty striking how strong this relationship is,” says Austin Troy, lead author of the study, published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning.

Researchers examined the correlation in and around Baltimore using aggregated crime data and combining it with high-resolution satellite images to conduct the analysis. The working hypothesis is that because people enjoy spending time in pleasant outdoor spaces, there are more observers present to hinder criminal activity. Also, a well-maintained landscape seems to send a message that someone may be watching.

To avoid culture bias, the study considered many socioeconomic factors, including housing, age, income and race of residents, as well as variables such as rural versus city setting and population density. The findings should prove helpful to urban planners.

NativeFringeTreeLousiana-500x333Fringetrees are excellent anywhere that a very small tree is needed, such as near a patio, in small yards, or under power lines. Like many white-flowered plants, they look especially nice planted in front of a dark backdrop. They can be used as individual specimens, in groups, in mixed shrub borders or in natural gardens. They are well suited to urban plantings due to pollution tolerance and adaptability to varied soils. Fringetrees are not salt tolerant.

Although fringetrees are adaptable and will grow in most soil types, they prefer moist, deep, well-drained, acidic soils. They grow well in full sun to partial shade. Leaf appearance is best in some shade, but flowering is heaviest in full sun. The ideal compromise would be sun through most of the day, but shade during hot afternoon hours. Fringetrees have low maintenance needs once established.

Due to a naturally strong branch structure fringetrees rarely need pruning. Pruning while young may be desirable if a single stem tree form is preferred. Fringetrees do not transplant well so take care to choose an appropriate permanent location and use proper planting methods. Plant it high, it won’t die!

Plant it Low, It Won’t Grow | Plant it High, It Won’t Die


The most important consideration in planting trees and shrubs is the planting depth. Don’t plant too deep!
Plant all trees and shrubs about one inch above the surface of the existing soil. No dirt should be placed on top of the existing roots and nursery soil so as to not smother the root system. Mulch well, leaving a two inch gap around the caliper(s) of the plant.

For the most efficient use of water, construct an earthen berm two to three inches high around the drip zone area of the plant after planting. Water in well after planting!

TREES TO PLANT IN NEW ORLEANS


choose-tree

Click here for the original article.

Filed Under: HISTORY Tagged With: bayou st john, beautification, best neighborhood in New Orleans, faubourg st john, opportunity, parks, parkways, robert thompson, volunteer

CRIME WAVE HITS AREA

January 25, 2017 by Charlie London

Monday, January 23, 2017 was a sad day for the neighborhood. Three major crimes were reported on the same day in this normally quiet area.

NOLA.com reported that authorities found “what appeared to be a stocking tied tightly” around the neck of a woman whose body was pulled from Bayou St. John on Monday, January 23, 2017. The woman, possibly in her 40s, was discovered in the water near the 4000 block of Davey Street, police said. The investigation was initially called an “unclassified death” by police, but has since been listed as a homicide. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to homicide detective Barrett Morton at 504-658-5300, or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.


click on the photo for a larger view
Monday night, a neighbor on Crete Street found their truck missing as they attempted to use it to get to work the next morning.
Description of vehicle involved from the owner – Color: Black, Make: GMC, Model: Sierra, Year: 2003, Type: Truck, Other details: Crete Street near Desoto /Esplanade.


The owner also said the plate is a Saints Super Bowl license plate with the following numbers 27863. Faubourg St. John neighbor Doug Dunn owns the truck. Doug can be reached at 504-400-1148. The officer covering the case is Officer Eymard. Officer Eymard can be reached by phone at 504-658-5292 or by email at cleymard@cityofno.com.


CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW

As a precautionary measure, take a couple of photos of your vehicle along with a photo of the license plate then keep it somewhere safe just in case.


click on the photo for a larger view
Also in the 1500 block of Crete Street on Monday, January 23, 2017, Tommy Lewis reported that a neighbor found the wheels missing from their vehicle.

If you feel uneasy about getting from your car to your home, why not have the Fair Grounds Patrol meet you there?

Have a gut feeling something isn’t right? Don’t second guess yourself,
call the Fair Grounds Patrol.

Call (504) 251-0276 or (504) 251-0111 and the Fair Grounds Patrol will meet you at your home to make sure you get in safely.

Enhanced NOPD Patrol

Mobile phone numbers of Enhanced Patrol officers:

(504) 251-0276
(504) 251-0111

As part of the ordinance allowing the New Orleans Fair Grounds to expand their operations to allow for slot machines the Fair Grounds is required to fund enhanced NOPD patrols in areas surrounding their facility. The patrol consists of two patrol cars operating 24 hours per day 7 days a week. The officers in the cars will have mobile phones and can be contacted directly by residents in the patrol area. The patrol area is defined as the area bounded by Desaix Boulevard to Moss Street to Ursulines Avenue to North Broad Avenue to St. Bernard Avenue to Desaix Boulevard.

Captain Scott, who leads the Fair Grounds Patrol says,
“The Fair Grounds patrol really helps to keep this area safer than non patrolled areas.”
Auto thefts top the list. Capt. Scott reminds everyone to please lock their vehicle’s doors.

The Fair Ground enhanced patrol began August 19th 2007.

Mobile phone numbers of Enhanced Patrol officers:

(504) 251-0276
(504) 251-0111

Please keep in mind that this patrol is in addition to regular police patrols. We should still call 911 in case of emergencies. After calling 911 it might make sense to call one of the numbers above.


Map of the Enchanced Patrol Area:

FairGroundsPatrolMap

Simple Crime Fighting Tips

Please use these tips to eliminate the opportunity for a crime in your home or on your street.

• Light Places Discourage Crime/Dark Places Encourage Crime: Leave a light on at your front and back door all night. Set timers on lights when you are away. Remove dead limbs and bushes from in front of windows. Report all street lights out as soon as you notice them. Call 311, and remember to get a service request number. When you call, give the pole number and the address of the house closest to the pole.

• Make sure you have your house number close to the front and back doors of your house.
Dark numbers on light trim are easiest to read. During an emergency, this could save precious moments.

• Install a peep hole in your exterior doors if you do not have glass around the door. NEVER open the door to a stranger. Call 911 if you are suspicious of a caller.

• Add deadbolt locks to all of your doors, particularly those with glass near the doorknob. Remove the key from the lock. If you want to keep a key close to the door for emergencies, make sure it is not reachable from the glass panels in the door.

• Make sure to notify your neighbors when you are going to be away. Set timers on both indoor and outdoor lights. Arrange for papers, mail and flyers to be taken in, and ask neighbors to place some trash in your super can and wheel it to the alley on trash day. Arrange for the lawn to be mowed while you are away. These simple steps can greatly reduce your chances of becoming the next burglary victim.

• If you have alarm systems in your car and home, use them. If you have an alarm system in your home, and you have a skylight, make sure to have the skylight wired to the alarm system. This is a new way of entering homes without being detected.

• Leave your emergency numbers with a neighbor, and leave a copy by the kitchen phone, if you have one.

• Do not leave lawn mowers, bicycles or baby strollers in the yard unattended. • NEVER leave your purse in a shopping cart at the market, in your desk at work unattended, or on the back of your chair in public. Not only will your money and credit cards be used, but you could loose your personal identity. Personal identity theft is the fastest growing crime in our area.

• Shred all documents that contain any personal information about you or your family members (bank statements, credit card receipts, etc.) to avoid being a victim of Identity Theft.

• Never take valuables to the Gym with you. Even lockers that are locked can be the scene of a theft.

• Check your surroundings before getting out of your car on your way into the house, and out of the house on your way into your car.

• Remove all valuables from sight in your car, especially GPS, iPods, CDs, cameras, laptops, purses and money. If you must leave something in your car, store it in the trunk. When valet parking, leave only your car key.

• NEVER leave your car running without you in it. Besides inviting a car theft, it is also illegal.

• If you witness a crime, write down the details as soon as possible, and keep the paper in a safe place. It could mean the difference between a conviction and an acquittal. Call 911 and read from your sheet.

• Get to know your neighbors. If you know who belongs on your block, it is easier to spot someone who does not belong. Report suspicious behavior to the police. If you suspect it is a crime, call 911. Use the words “Possible Crime in Progress.” Get involved in your community. Apathy is the partner of crime.

Filed Under: CRIME Tagged With: crete street, crime, truck stolen, wheels stolen

TAKE A TOUR OF FAUBOURG ST. JOHN

January 18, 2017 by Charlie London


Capture New Orleans from a different perspective. Kayak on Bayou St. John as we guide you along our historic waterway running through the city. We’ll keep with the pace of the city—nice and easy, taking in the southern scenery, hospitality and weather.

The bayou itself was a key component in establishing our city. The Native Americans showed early explorers (Iberville and his brother, Bienville) the bayou as a way to access, at the time, a potential future city from the Gulf of Mexico without having to fight the Mississippi River’s strong currents. While kayaking, you will see some of the older city structures, like the Spanish Custom House and the Pitot House, both built in the late 1700’s. You might hear and catch a glimpse of the happenings at Fair Grounds Race Course, one of the oldest horse tracks in the United States, as well as the site of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. You will be paddling along side beautiful City Park, which houses centuries-old live oak trees. You’ll see New Orleans Museum of Art as you pass the grand entrance of the park. St. Louis Cemetery #3 will be visible from your kayak. The elaborate above-ground tombs are pretty spectacular.

There is plenty of wildlife to observe. It isn’t uncommon to spot a blue herring perched on an old piling or a pelican diving into the water after a fish. At sunrise or dusk you might notice one or 15 of the notorious nocturnal nutria venturing out for a swim and a snack.

Bayou St. John flows through many thriving neighborhoods. You’ll have the opportunity to observe (and maybe interact with) the other wildlife. Folks do all sorts of things on the banks of the bayou—exercise, play, picnic, tag, etc. You’ll certainly get a feel for New Orleans through the local community.

A variety of foliage surrounds Bayou St. John—cypress trees, oak trees, magnolia trees, crepe myrtles, etc. The locals living along the bayou build colorful festive gardens that can be seen while touring.

This experience will bring balance to many things: You’ll find nature in an urban setting, visit history in the present, have a few active hours among several decadent ones, and feel local while vacationing.

Kayaking tours on historic Bayou St. John

Rent a kayak and paddle yourself into paradise!

 

Take a walking tour of the area!

 

Rachel Dangermond submitted the information below:

City Park and Bayou St. John
The intersection of Esplanade Ave. at Bayou St. John and
City Park Ave. is one of the points of higher elevation in the
city. Bayou Metairie flowed into Bayou St. John here. Bienville
is supposed to have found the Indian village of Tchou-Tchouma
in 1718 where the Esplanade Ave. bridge is now located. In the
18th and 19th centuries Bayou St. John provided an important
second water route to the city. The mouth of the bayou at
Lake Pontchartrain was protected by a fort built by the Spanish.

Ocean going vessels were able to travel as far as the present
end of the bayou. From this point goods were carried to and
from the city by portage during the 18th century along Bayou
Road. In 1805, a canal was dug, following an earlier canal by
Spanish governor Carondelet, which brought the ships to a
turning basin just behind what is now the Municipal Auditorium
at Basin St.

 

City Park is a beautiful and well maintained
urban park, the largest in the city and fifth largest municipal
park in the United States and, at this writing, is reported to
be one of the safest. In 1854, the first section of the park
was acquired by the city. This tract of land, fronting on
Bayou St. John and present City Park Ave., was part of the
Allard Plantation. The first improvements to the park were
made in the 1890’s. The park is laced with lagoons (the
lagoons along City Park Ave. are part of old Bayou Metairie,
seven miles of them which contain bass and bream), and
trees typical of the region such as magnolias and live oaks
(the dueling oaks are named for the duels that were supposed
to have taken place from 1804 to 1830).

The amusement park area has a fine old carousel dating from
1904. The Casino, dating from about 1914
is the center for information, rentals, and refreshments
(domed band shell and Beaux Art style pavilion were built in
the 30’s). The park has three 18-hole golf courses. Major restorations
and all of the paving of roadways, construction of bridges, drainage
and other improvements in a large area of the park were done under
WPA in the late 30’s.

Replica of the Pitot House c. 1940
800 Moss Street
A modern version of thePitot House (see 1440 Moss Street below) . One
of the original Pitot House mantels still survives in the newer residence.

Louis Blanc Housec. 1798
924 Moss Street
Formerly the plantation and home Louis Antonio Blanc. The
second story gallery has slender colonnettes and the
French window, jalousies and steep roof are characteristic of
Louisiana colonial plantation houses; similar to Parlange
and Homeplace Plantations elsewhere in the state.

Spanish Custom Housec. 1784
1300 Moss Street
A small-scale typical Louisiana Plantation hose. Various
reasons have been given for the name of the so-called
“Custom House” although there is no real tradition that it
ever functioned in this manner. Probably built for Don
Santiago Lloreins when the land formed part of his
plantation.

Evariste Blanc House
(Holy Rosary Rectory)
c. 1834
1342 Moss Street
Some Greek Revival alterations have been made in this
Bayou St. John plantation house, although evidence of an
earlier style including slender colonnettes and round arched
doors, is plainly visible.

Cabrini High School1964 – 1965
1400 Moss Street

Morel-Wisner House
c. 1850’s
1347 Moss Street
Mid-19th century, possibly constructed as a residence
for the attorney Christoval Morel in the late 1840’s after
he purchased a large tract of land on the Bayou St. John
in 1847. The house served as New Orleans’ first Fencing
Club in the 1880’s and one time as a rowing club. From
1935 until her death the house served as the home of Dr.
Elizabeth Wisner, an original member of the faculty and later
the dean of the School of Social Work at Tulane University.

Christoval Morel’s father, Pierre L. Morel dueled under the
oaks in City Park while his wife (Victorine de Armas) was
pregnant with Christoval. The Duelling Oaks in City Park
have seen some of the most colorful scenes in New Orleans’ history.
For years sword clanged against sword and bullets streaked between
the ancient trees.

An article in the Times-Democrat, March 13, 1892, said,
“Blood has been shed under the old cathedral aisles of
nature. Between 1834 and 1844 scarcely a day passed
without duels being fought at the Oaks. Why, it would not be strange
if the very violets blossomed red of this soaked grass!
The lover for his mistress, the gentleman for his honor, the courtier for
his King; what loyalty has not cried out in pistol
shot and scratch of steel! Sometimes two or three hundred
people hurried from the city to witness these human baitings.
On the occasion of one duel the spectators could stand no
more, drew their swords, and there was a general melee.”

In early Creole days more duels were fought in New Orleans
than any other American city. Creole honor was a thing of intricate delicacy,
to be offended by a word or glance. The Duelling Oaks were a favorite setting
for these affaires d’honneur, with pistol, saber,
or colichemarde, a long sword with a broad forte and very
slender foible, a favorite duelling weapon since the
seventeenth century.

Creoles were expert swordsmen and often delighted in any
and every opportunity to exhibit their art. Duels were fought
over real and trivial insults, were sometimes deliberately
provoked by young men anxious to display their skill. A quarrel between rival lovers,
a fancied slight, a political argument, a difference of opinion regarding an opera,
any one of these things was ample excuse for a duel under the oaks. In his
History of Louisiana, Alcee Fortier states that on one Sunday
in 1839 ten duels were fought here.

In 1855 the police began to enforce the laws against duelling,
but it continued surreptitiously for many years, despite
frequent arrests and prosecutions. Finally, however, the law
began to have some effect and there seems to have arisen a simultaneous
loss of interest in the affairs. At last the time
came when a man challenged to defend his honor with the
sword or pistol, suffered no stigma by refusing an invitation
to the Oaks. By 1890 duelling was only history.

The house is a frame one and a half story Greek Revival style structure raised
off the ground on six-foot-high piles. The large half story created by the gabled
roof is broken by two fine dormers on the Bayou St. John façade. The roof which
extends outward to form a gallery across the bayou façade
is supported by six square wooden columns resting on the
brick piers below.

The entrance façade is five bays wide with the front door
placed at the center. The façade is covered with ship-lap
siding while ordinary weatherboards cover the solid brick
exterior walls. The rear, which once contained a gallery and
two cabinets, has been converted to a kitchen/den/breakfast area.

The house is very similar to raised houses in the Bayou-
Lafourche area. However, by the 1840’s the traditional
Creole plan with no hall had been replaced with the
increasingly popular center hall plan favored by Americans.
As such, this house is an important example of two
different building styles. Morel house is a New Orleans
landmark. New Orleans Designated Landmarks

Pitot House
c. 1796 – 1799
1440 Moss Street (Formerly 1370 Moss Street)
In 1964 as a result of a trade with Cabrini High School
the Pitot House, threatened with demolition, was moved
about 200 feet and is now located in a corner of the
Desmare Playground. It is another fine Moss Street example
of the Louisiana plantation house on a fairly small scale.
While the upper part of the present structure is totally
original, some of the older brick columns were either re-used
or rebuilt after the move. Restored under the auspices of the
Louisiana Landmarks Society. Open Thursday 11 am – 4 pm.

Musgrove-Wilkinson Housec. 1850’s
1454 Moss Street
A large, extremely simple Greek Revival residence, with wide central
hall and plain interior mouldings.

New Orleans Museum of Art1911
City Park
1971 Additions: Stern Auditorium, Wisner Educational Wing
and City Wing – August Perez & Associates, Architects and
Arthur Feitel, Consulting Architect.

The Degas House
Historic Home,
Courtyard & Inn
 2306 Esplanade Avenue 
New Orleans,
Louisiana 70119 
(504) 821-5009 
www.degashouse.com

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY, Living Well, Magical Mystery Tour Tagged With: bayou st john, boating on the bayou, faubourg st john, kayak, New Orleans, new orleans best neighborhood, tour

PLEASE LEAVE US WITH GREAT MEMORIES OF YOUR VISIT

January 18, 2017 by Charlie London

Welcome!
We hope you leave us with great memories of your visit.

cropped-cropped-bayoustjohn-940-header.jpg
Regardless of whether you live in Faubourg St. John or are a visitor,  everyone is glad you are here. Faubourg St. John has one of the best reputations in New Orleans as a community that cares.

vincamajorFaubourg St. John loves visitors. In Faubourg St. John, you get a unique, extraordinary experience. Faubourg St. John gives visitors an authentic, high-quality New Orlean experience that you will remember for a long time.

Jazz Fest, Bayou Boogaloo, and the Voodoo Experience are premier festivals that draw people from around the world because of the great fun the festivals provide. Bayou St. John is a beautiful inland waterway where you can rent a kayak to explore yourself or get a kayak tour and learn lots of great things about New Orleans.

Fortier Park, located in the 3200 block of Esplanade, offers natural beauty and modern art in a restful space. The park was redeveloped and is maintained by Faubourg St. John residents.

Fortier Park is just across from Faubourg St. Johns central business district where you can visit with local people running local businesses. Top rated restaurants, a day spa, a coffee shop and two great local grocery stores are all waiting for you to experience.

Take a short bike ride down Esplanade to Broad and Bayou Road and you’ll find even more unique shops and great local folks waiting to serve you.

City Park is a short walk from Faubourg St. John where you’ll find the New Orleans Museum of Art, Morning Call (coffee and beignets!), Storyland (rides and fun for the kids), and City Putt (minature golf for all ages). City Park is one of the largest urban parks in America.

On your way to City Park, on Esplanade Avenue, stop by St. Louis Cemetary #3 where you can see the beautiful above-ground tombs.

bayoustjohn-magnoliabridge-1937PITOT HOUSEFaubourg St. John is also home to the Pitot House at 1440 Moss Street. It’s where the first mayor of incorporated New Orleans lived. It’s nestled along Bayou St. John and across from the Magnolia Bridge.

Faubourg St. John is just a mile from the world famous French Quarter with bus and streetcar service to interesting places all around New Orleans.

Information below courtesy Rachel Dangermond:

City Park and Bayou St. John
The intersection of Esplanade Ave. at Bayou St. John and City Park Ave. is one of the points of higher elevation in the city. Bayou Metairie flowed into Bayou St. John here. Bienville is supposed to have found the Indian village of Tchou-Tchouma in 1718 where the Esplanade Ave. bridge is now located. In the 18th and 19th centuries Bayou St. John provided an important second water route to the city. The mouth of the bayou at Lake Pontchartrain was protected by a fort built by the Spanish.

Ocean going vessels were able to travel as far as the present end of the bayou. From this point goods were carried to and from the city by portage during the 18th century along Bayou Road. In 1805, a canal was dug, following an earlier canal by Spanish governor Carondelet, which brought the ships to a turning basin just behind what is now the Municipal Auditorium at Basin St.

Statue of Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
(May 28, 1818 – February 20, 1893) was a Louisiana-born American author, civil servant, politician, inventor, and the first prominent general for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Beauregard was trained as a civil engineer at the United States Military Academy and served with distinction as an engineer in the Mexican-American War.

His arguably greatest achievement was saving the city of Petersburg, Virginia, and thus also the Confederate capital of Richmond, from assaults by overwhelmingly superior Union Army forces in June 1864. However, his influence over Confederate strategy was marred by his poor professional relationships with President Jefferson Davis and other senior generals and officials. In April 1865, Beauregard and his commander, General Joseph E. Johnston, convinced Davis and the remaining cabinet members that the war needed to end. Johnston surrendered most of the remaining armies of the Confederacy to Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, including Beauregard and his men.

Following his military career, Beauregard served as a railroad executive and became one of the few wealthy Confederate veterans because of his role in promoting the Louisiana Lottery. Today he is commonly referred to as P.G.T. Beauregard, but during the war he rarely used his first name and signed correspondence as G.T. Beauregard. Nicknames were The Little Creole, The Little Napoleon, Bory, Felix

Place of birth: St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana ontreras” sugar-cane plantation in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, about 20 miles (32 km) outside New Orleans, to a white Creole family, the third child of Jacques Toutant-Beauregard and Helene Judith de Reggio Toutant-Beauregard. He had three brothers and three sisters. Beauregard attended New Orleans schools and then went to a “French school” in New York City. It was during his four years in New York, beginning at age 12 that he first learned to speak English. He trained at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. One of his instructors was Robert Anderson, who would later become the commander of Fort Sumter and surrender to Beauregard at the start of the Civil War.

In 1841, Beauregard married Marie Laure Villeré, the daughter of Jules Villeré, a sugar planter in Plaquemines Parish and a member of one of the most prominent Creole families in southern Louisiana.

Marie was a paternal granddaughter of Jacques Villeré, the second governor of Louisiana. The couple had three children: René, Henri, and Laure. Marie died in March 1850, while giving birth to Laure.

Ten years later, the widower Beauregard married Caroline Deslonde, the daughter of André Deslonde, a sugar planter from St. James Parish. Caroline was a sister-in-law of John
Slidell, a U.S. senator from Louisiana and later a Confederate diplomat. She died in Union-occupied New Orleans in March 1864. They had no children together.

On first meeting, most people were struck by [Beauregard’s] “foreign” appearance. His skin was smooth and olive-complexioned. His eyes, half-lidded, were dark, with a trace of Gallic melancholy about them.

His hair was black (though by 1860 he maintained this hue with dye). He was strikingly handsome and enjoyed the attentions of women, but probably not excessively or illicitly.
He sported a dark mustache and goatee, and he rather resembled Napoleon III, then ruler of France—although he often saw himself in the mold of the more celebrated Napoleon Bonaparte.

Place of death: New Orleans, Louisiana and was buried in the Tomb of the Army of Tennessee, Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans

City Park is a beautiful and well maintained urban park, the largest in the city and fifth largest municipal park in the United States and, at this writing, is reported to be one of the safest. In 1854, the first section of the park was acquired by the city. This tract of land, fronting on Bayou St. John and present City Park Ave., was part of the Allard Plantation. The first improvements to the park were made in the 1890’s. The park is laced with lagoons (the lagoons along City Park Ave. are part of old Bayou Metairie, seven miles of them which contain bass and bream), and trees typical of the region such as magnolias and live oaks
(the dueling oaks are named for the duels that were supposed to have taken place from 1804 to 1830).

The amusement park area has a fine old carousel dating from 1904. The Casino, dating from about 1914 is the center for information, rentals, and refreshments (coffee and beignets!) (domed band shell and Beaux Art style pavilion were built in the 30’s). The park has three 18-hole golf courses. Major restorations and all of the paving of roadways, construction of bridges, drainage and other improvements in a large area of the park were done under WPA in the late 30’s.

copy of the Pitot Housec. 1940
800 Moss Street
A modern Pitot House (see 1440 Moss Street) facsimile. One of the original Pitot House mantels still survives in the newer residence.

Louis Blanc Housec. 1798
924 Moss Street
Formerly the plantation and home Louis Antonio Blanc. The second story gallery has slender colonnettes and the French window, jalousies and steep roof are characteristic of
Louisiana colonial plantation houses; similar to Parlange and Homeplace Plantations elsewhere in the state.

Spanish Custom Housec. 1784
1300 Moss Street
A small-scale typical Louisiana Plantation hose. Various reasons have been given for the name of the so-called “Custom House” although there is no real tradition that it ever functioned in this manner. Probably built for Don Santiago Lloreins when the land formed part of his plantation.

Evariste Blanc House
(Holy Rosary Rectory)
c. 1834
1342 Moss Street
Some Greek Revival alterations have been made in this Bayou St. John plantation house, although evidence of an earlier style including slender colonnettes and round arched doors, is plainly visible.

Cabrini High School1964 – 1965
1400 Moss Street

Morel-Wisner House
c. 1850’s
1347 Moss Street
Mid-19th century, possibly constructed as a residence for the attorney Christoval Morel in the late 1840’s after he purchased a large tract of land on the Bayou St. John in 1847. The house served as New Orleans’ first Fencing Club in the 1880’s and one time as a rowing club. From
1935 until her death the house served as the home of Dr. Elizabeth Wisner, an original member of the faculty and later the dean of the School of Social Work at Tulane University.

Christoval Morel’s father, Pierre L. Morel dueled under the oaks in City Park while his wife (Victorine de Armas) was pregnant with Christoval. The Duelling Oaks in City Park have seen some of the most colorful scenes in New Orleans’ history. For years sword clanged against sword and bullets streaked between the ancient trees.

An article in the Times-Democrat, March 13, 1892, said, “Blood has been shed under the old cathedral aisles of nature. Between 1834 and 1844 scarcely a day passed without duels being fought at the Oaks. Why, it would not be strange if the very violets blossomed red of this soaked grass! The lover for his mistress, the gentleman for his honor, the courtier for his King; what loyalty has not cried out in pistol shot and scratch of steel! Sometimes two or three hundred people hurried from the city to witness these human baitings. On the occasion of one duel the spectators could stand no more, drew their swords, and there was a general melee.”

In early Creole days more duels were fought in New Orleans than any other American city. Creole honor was a thing of intricate delicacy, to be offended by a word or glance. The Duelling Oaks were a favorite setting for these affaires d’honneur, with pistol, saber, or colichemarde, a long sword with a broad forte and very slender foible, a favorite duelling weapon since the seventeenth century.

Creoles were expert swordsmen and often delighted in any and every opportunity to exhibit their art. Duels were fought over real and trivial insults, were sometimes deliberately
provoked by young men anxious to display their skill. A quarrel between rival lovers, a fancied slight, a political argument, a difference of opinion regarding an opera, any one of these things was ample excuse for a duel under the oaks. In his History of Louisiana, Alcee Fortier states that on one Sunday in 1839 ten duels were fought here.

In 1855 the police began to enforce the laws against duelling, but it continued surreptitiously for many years, despite frequent arrests and prosecutions. Finally, however, the law began to have some effect and there seems to have arisen a simultaneous loss of interest in the affairs. At last the time came when a man challenged to defend his honor with the sword or pistol, suffered no stigma by refusing an invitation to the Oaks. By 1890 duelling was only history.

The house is a frame one and a half story Greek Revival style structure raised off the ground on six-foot-high piles. The large half story created by the gabled roof is broken by two fine dormers on the Bayou St. John façade. The roof which extends outward to form a gallery across the bayou façade is supported by six square wooden columns resting on the brick piers below.

The entrance façade is five bays wide with the front door placed at the center. The façade is covered with ship-lap siding while ordinary weatherboards cover the solid brick exterior walls. The rear, which once contained a gallery and two cabinets, has been converted to a kitchen/den/breakfast area.

The house is very similar to raised houses in the Bayou-Lafourche area. However, by the 1840’s the traditional Creole plan with no hall had been replaced with the increasingly popular center hall plan favored by Americans. As such, this house is an important example of two different building styles. Morel house is a New Orleans landmark.

Pitot House
c. 1796 – 1799
1440 Moss Street (Formerly 1370 Moss Street) In 1964 as a result of a trade with Cabrini High School the Pitot House, threatened with demolition, was moved about 200 feet and is now located in a corner of the Desmare Playground. It is another fine Moss Street example of the Louisiana plantation house on a fairly small scale. While the upper part of the present structure is totally original, some of the older brick columns were either re-used or rebuilt after the move. Restored under the auspices of the Louisiana Landmarks Society. Open Thursday 11 am – 4 pm.

Musgrove-Wilkinson Housec. 1850’s
1454 Moss Street
A large, extremely simple Greek Revival residence, with wide central hall and plain interior mouldings.

New Orleans Museum of Art
1911 City Park
1971 Additions: Stern Auditorium, Wisner Educational Wing and City Wing – August Perez & Associates, Architects and Arthur Feitel, Consulting Architect.

The Degas House 
Historic Home,
Courtyard & Inn
 2306 Esplanade Avenue 
New Orleans, Louisiana 70119 
(504) 821-5009 
www.degashouse.com

jazzfestassholesWe love the folks who visit Faubourg St. John. However, there are some visitors who drink a bit too much and forget their manners. If you wouldn’t do it at your momma’s house, please don’t do it here.

For your safety, please consider checking out some of the information below:

Stash cash, credit cards and any currency.
Don’t make yourself vulnerable.
Work that cellphone.
Carry makeshift self defense weapons.
Identify safe places and people.

Please visit the link below for more:
http://www.axs.com/tips-to-stay-safe-at-new-orleans-jazz-heritage-festival-jazz-fest-safe-51357

Assume people driving cars do not see you. Drivers may be drunk, tired and sunburned; don’t expect that the drivers see the red light, let alone the periodic Jazz Fest reveler jumping out in the middle of the street.

Beware of bikers. A good rule of thumb is to treat a bike like a car. If you see one coming, don’t think you can run across the street right in front of it. Bikers will come upon you faster and be much slower at stopping than you think.

When walking from Jazz Fest to the location of your post-festing-party, remember that you may be traveling through potentially dangerous areas. Do not walk alone, know where you’re going and be aware of your surroundings.

Do not forget to hydrate! Dehydration can make people disoriented and alcohol adds fuel to the dehydration fire. I cannot count the number of Jazz Fest partiers I have seen take a spill due to too much alcohol and too little water. Don’t look like an amateur, drink lots of water!

More information in the link below:
http://www.morrisbart.com/pedestrian-safety-at-new-orleans-jazz-fest/

New Orleans weather is unpredictable and the Fair Grounds tend to be muddy, so bring lawn chairs, an umbrella, and garbage bags, which double as a raincoat and a dry place to sit. The Louisiana heat can be unforgiving, so pack your sunscreen and a hat too.

Do not forget toilet tissue, as you are sharing those port-o-potties with 400,000 others.

To avoid the heavy crowds, walk on the circular horse racing track around the perimeter of the Fair Grounds, and venture out to the grandstands for food demonstrations, art installations, shade and clean restrooms.

More information in the link below:
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/02/13/new-orleans-jazz-fest-for-beginners/

Venture Beyond the Headliners
Absolutely Do Not Get Behind the Wheel
Come hungry
Linger in Mid-City
Indulge Intelligently
Don’t Miss NOLA by Night
Go for the Double

More information in the link below:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/04/7-survival-tips-new-orleans-jazz-heritage-festival.html

To ensure proper safety and preparation, please read the following rules and policies:

All persons and bags are subject to search

• Single, collapsible folding chairs (NO foot rests, side tables) and small folding
blankets are permitted.
• Wheelchairs permitted. Strollers for children permitted.
• NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY.
• NO tents or shades of any fashion.
• NO bicycles or other wheeled personal transport devices allowed on the
grounds or infield.
• NO flashing devices of any kind.
• NO unauthorized vending.
• NO weapons, illicit drugs, contraband or fireworks.
• NO outside food, beverages or glass allowed.
• NO flag/kite-flying of any kind.
• NO Inflatables of any kind – this includes beach balls.
• NO pets.

Festival chairs and/or festival baggage are not allowed to be set-up anywhere in the
Grandstand, Paddock or Apron areas. They are only permitted on the Infield in certain areas.

All entrances and exits will be clearly marked for your safety.

fsj-bastille-2014Bayou St. John is the beautiful waterway that runs through Faubourg St. John.

We are so glad you are here.
Please leave no trace.

Bring yourself to the bayou.
Take your stuff home with you. ‪#‎leavenotrace‬

***

Below is short explanation of what the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association is about:

The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association (FSJNA), organized in 1977, is a benevolent group interested in continuing improvements in this historic New Orleans neighborhood through its people, children, historic waterway, public spaces and other environs.

FSJNA has participated in numerous beautification efforts throughout Faubourg St. John from Parks and Playgrounds to simple street plantings. A few examples of this are Desmare Playground, rebuilt by FSJNA in the early 90’s and beautified with tree plantings in 2008, the maintenance and care of Fortier Park, the beautification of the median on Esplanade Avenue and plantings along Bayou St. John. FSJNA worked in conjunction with KABOOM to restore the children’s’ play area at Stallings Playground, which was negatively impacted by Hurricane Katrina. After playground equipment was installed, FSJNA obtained a loan to purchase additionally needed rubberized safety tiles for the area. FSJNA also continues to apply for grants to support these activities. Our Keep Louisiana Beautiful grant allowed us to obtain benches and garbage cans for local parks.

FSJNA works to keep its membership informed. The https://fsjna.org website (available to anyone) is a library of the events, benefits, and programs FSJNA provides. Additionally fsjna.com is a resource for paid members (dues are $10 per year) this is a “yahoo group” website where members can exchange ideas, get neighborhood information, and even get hurricane updates.

During previous hurricanes, this site was a welcome source of information from people who stayed in the neighborhood to those who evacuated. It can be very reassuring to know the status of your home when you are away. The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association is also represented on FACEBOOK and TWITTER.   Faubourg St. John is also at NEXTDOOR.com… http://faubourgstjohn.nextdoor.com

No one in the organization gets paid. The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association is an all volunteer organization where any donations or membership dues go directly back into making Faubourg St. John the best neighborhood in New Orleans.

While zoning matters can be contentious, they are a necessary function of an involved neighborhood organization. FSJNA has successfully negotiated and worked with most of the neighborhood businesses to protect the quality of life and increase the appeal of the area for those businesses and residents through limiting traffic and noise pollution, helping with the elimination of blight and providing safer streets.

FSJNA also works with and reaches out to other non-profits and bordering neighborhood organizations by participating in area festivals, cultural events, community workshops and informational seminars. Future work will continue to focus on building partnerships with local non-profits and community organizations to help retain the historic character and positive quality of life we enjoy.

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY, Living Well Tagged With: airbnb, bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, faubourg st john, New Orleans, short term rental, tourists, visitors

Love Lives Here

January 16, 2017 by Charlie London

“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”
Chinese proverb


You Are Love —
Directed by Christopher Stoudt, starring Wayne Clark Jr. https://www.instagram.com/saint.pure/, music by Chance Duran
Produced by DNO
https://defendneworleans.com/


The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are…
the second greatest is being happy with what you find

***
Excerpt below is from a speech by Martin Luther King delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, on 17 November 1957

So this morning, as I look into your eyes, and into the eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you, “I love you. I would rather die than hate you.” And I’m foolish enough to believe that through the power of this love somewhere, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed. And then we will be in God’s kingdom. We will be able to matriculate into the university of eternal life because we had the power to love our enemies, to bless those persons that cursed us, to even decide to be good to those persons who hated us, and we even prayed for those persons who spitefully used us.

***

“We think about our ancestors and we think about how much we love them, but this is when the whole community comes at one time to celebrate the dead and to celebrate those ancestors that came before us.”

The most important thing on the marker is not the birth and death date but the dash in between.
Each marker represents a story. The dash in between.

Full story in the link below:
http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2016/11/new_orleans_and_all_saints_day.html

***

Filed Under: Featured, HISTORY Tagged With: bayou st john, best neighborhood in New Orleans, faubourg st john, love, love is the answer, martin luther king, mlk in new orleans, New Orleans, new orleans best neighborhood, only love is real, you are love

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