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  • Parks Millage Archive

GREENSPACE MASTER PLANNING FOR NEW ORLEANS

A Master Plan for Parks and Open Space in New Orleans

Parks For All is advocating for a comprehensive, professional, equitable and actionable greenspace master plan.  As  part of the new millage structure that voters passed in May 2019, the  four millage recipients - the New  Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORDC), Parks and Parkways,  Audubon Nature Institute and  City Park - signed a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) with the City  that commits the signers to a “city-wide parks, green/open space, and  recreation master plan … by a qualified third party with national park  experience.”  Parks for All is leading an effort to make sure this happens in a timely way. The  mandate to create the Master Plan dovetails with the administration’s  renewed focus on New Orleans’s relationship with water, and viewing  water management as a sustainability issue as well as a quality-of-life  issue. Green space is a critical part of water management. This  strengthens the imperative to create a high-quality Master Plan for the  use of our open space.

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four criteria TO a greener, more sustainable New ORLEANS

COMPREHENSIVE

COMPREHENSIVE

COMPREHENSIVE

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At  least 15 public-sector entities control open space in the city; in  addition, a number of private-sector groups own or manage open space.  (We have a list of the public-sector entities in the Appendix to the  White Paper, which you can download below.) A “Master Plan” that does  not contemplate the city as a whole will be partial and inadequate. A  comprehensive planning process should engage all the organizations that  control the City’s greenspace, along with community leaders and the  public.

PROFESSIONAL

COMPREHENSIVE

COMPREHENSIVE

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On  both a national and international basis, the last generation has seen a  great deal of thought and experimentation about how to make cities  greener, more livable and more sustainable. New Orleans can draw on this  knowledge by engaging a consultant at the forefront of this thought and  experimentation to develop the Master Plan. The Master Plan will  importantly affect the future of the City, and the life of its citizens.  This is not the time to fall back on the “usual suspects,” or to create  a Master Plan by the seat of our pants.

EQUITABLE

ACTIONABLE

ACTIONABLE

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New  Orleans is a diverse city. Any parks, open space and recreation Master  Plan needs to take into account all of its citizens, and the planning  process need to take into account input from all around the city. Much  of our existing greenspace abuts low- and moderate-income neighborhoods  in New Orleans East and along the lakefront. Maximizing its  sustainability value and amenity value for its neighbors should be a  priority for the Master Plan.

ACTIONABLE

ACTIONABLE

ACTIONABLE

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There  is no reason for the City to spend its scarce resources to create  another volume for its bookshelf. A quality Master Plan will include  actionable next steps, priorities, milestone goals and mechanisms to  ensure accountability for delivering on the Plan. Some of the water  management issues need to be addressed right away. Other aspects are  longer term; the Master Plan can provide timetables and guideposts for  them.

MASTER PLAN RESPONSIBILITY AND FUNDING

To  make sure the Master Plan is comprehensive, professional, equitable and  actionable – and to make sure it addresses the City’s water-management  needs – the principal responsibility for the Master Plan should rest  with the City itself. The Master Plan has the potential to be a  signature accomplishment of the current administration that will improve  the lives of New Orleanians for decades to come.

The  CEA ensures that the Master Plan will be funded if necessary by millage  proceeds. In addition, there are a number of sources of grant funding  that the City can tap into to pay for the Master Plan. Funding for the  Master Plan does not have to crowd out other line items in the City’s  budget.

Parks  for All has prepared a detailed White Paper (click below to download)  about how best to create the Master Plan; the White Paper addresses (1)  the selection process to identify the consultant, including the  composition of a selection committee, (2) the qualifications of the  consultant, including their suggested planning process, and (3) the  subject areas that the plan will cover. 

New  Orleans has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create an enduring  guide for a sustainable and high quality-of-life future. In 20 years,  New Orleans can be an example of how to create excellent public open  space for its citizens. We need to start now with the Master Plan.

Please  join with us in encouraging the Mayor and the City Council to make the  Master Plan a priority, and to set in motion the appropriate processes  to make it happen. 

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White Paper: A Master Plan for Parks and Open Spaces for New Orleans November 2019 (pdf)Download

Parks, Recreation & Open Space Planning: International Best PRACTICES APPLIED TO NEW ORLEANS

Kurt Culbertson

Kurt Culbertson

Kurt Culbertson

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On March 25, 2019, Parks For All hosted a free public forum: "Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Planning:  International Best Practices and their Application to New Orleans."  Kurt Culbertson, PhD, FASLA, FAICP, offered perspectives gained through 40 years of experience in the planning and design of park and recreation systems and reflections on the application of these lessons  
to the needs of New Orleans.     Graphics by Design Media 

Best Practices

Kurt Culbertson

Kurt Culbertson

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View the Presentation
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The Cultural Landscape Foundation® (TCLF)

open season on open space

The Disappearing State of NOLA Parks

Read it Here

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