May 8, 2014 to May 12, 2014 -- When I visited New Orleans recently for the first time I had no idea what to expect. Would the city still be reeling from Katrina? Is The Big Easy preparing for the next Katrina? Is there anything sustainable about a place with such a complicated and decadent history?
I can confidently report that New Orleans is boldly moving towards a sustainable path and is preparing itself for a future of more extreme weather and rising sea levels from man-made global warming. Whether it will be enough we will have to see. I certainly hope so for the sake of the residents of this great city.
When it comes to public transportation, New Orleans, like many American cities, is lacking and the underinvestment and poor central planning is readily apparent upon landing at Louis Armstrong International Airport and experiencing the long wait for a taxi because there are no good public transit options to the center city.
That said, the Crescent City can boast of being home to the oldest continuously operated streetcar line in the world -- the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar that began service in 1835. It runs from Uptown and the Carrollton neighborhood through the Garden District to Downtown and the French Quarter. It is a pleasure to ride the old-style streetcars although it seems like the line is more a tourist attraction than an actual reliable source of public transit for N.O. residents. There is construction on part of the tracks so riders must switch to a bus and then board another streetcar closer to downtown. There are other streetcar lines that traverse the city, giving NOLA the feel of a European city.
While New Orleans has a long way to go in terms of creating a bike culture and more bicycling infrastructure, there is a bike lane along the Mississippi River and through Audobon Park. On the bike path I walked past the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Audobon Park along the mighty Mississippi River. Then I hitched a ride on a golf cart with a friendly gentleman who was one of the directors of the park and he explained to me the important steps the city is taking to become more green and sustainable and prepare for the next Katrina and rising sea levels and more extreme weather associated with man-made global warming. He said the city consulted with representatives from Finland, who had been through their own natural disaster similar to Katrina and made major changes to their coastal infrastructure to prevent flooding.
While walking along the bike path I saw a house with rooftop solar panels, which was great to see considering that this part of the country doesn't get a whole lot of sunshine.
I also had the chance to walk round Tulane and Loyola Universities and was impressed by their sustainability initiatives. At Tulane there is lots of covered bicycle parking since it rains so much in N.O. At Loyola there are parking spaces reserved for hybrid, electric and fuel efficient vehicles and a charging station for electric cars.
There is a major flood control project that is being conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project. It is digging up a residential street that intersects with St. Charles Avenue in the Garden District. It was really interesting to see this proactive project taking place to prevent flooding when the next Katrina inevitably hits New Orleans. That is one of many flood control projects taking place around town and along the Gulf Coast generally. When it starts raining the water can accumulate very quickly as I experienced one night as it started raining really hard and the water started accumulating fast in the French Quarter, which is an older area that lacks proper drainage.
Finally, after touring the outside of the Superdome, I was pleasantly surprised to see a green wall lining an apartment complex next to the stadium.
Here are more pictures of the streetcars and Green New Orleans:
Here is video riding the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar and also of other streetcars:
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