Neighborhood meetings

When Duany was here, he suggested that a large part of the Parish be off limits to development. Rather than telling people that they had to move from their homes, he said, “Give them a great, new, safe alternative, and they will want to move.” He suggested holding neighborhood meetings and each neighborhood would decide if they wanted to rebuild as before, consolidate in part of the neighborhood, or move to an all new area.

I wanted to offer to help plan the meetings, but first I had to go to the state capital and then I went back home, and by the time I got back the Parish had started making plans. So, they decided to leave it to each Council Member to hold meetings with the constituents, all without any staff support.

(This is a classic example of how planning has failed here. Planners should have been involved in the discussions and they are not. The Community Development department is overwhelmed and completely focused on permits, inspections and processing other forms.)

Two council members held their meetings today. They did an admirable job. One of them, Mark, surprised me. A few months ago, he was fanatical that the entire Parish must be redeveloped. Every square inch. In fact, he almost got in a fist fight with a judge who argued that It was not possible to rebuild everywhere. Over time, he has listened and learned and now sees that it would not be in the Parish’s long term interest. You can not have a neighborhood that is 70 percent empty lots.

In any case, he and a second council member, who I really like, held their meetings. The problem is, it is a complicated meeting to run and they are politicians, not neighborhood planners. A couple of things are going on. One, the different council members are saying different things. One is saying, no one will be forced to leave their homes. The other is saying people might be forced to leave their homes for the great good. The other problem is that the neighborhoods are not moving closer to decisions about what to do. They are just talking about background issues.

I am not too worried, it is the first in a series of many meetings. I hope in time, they move forward and move towards decisions. In any case, it will be interesting to watch. It is democracy and planning in action. (Only, the planners are missing).