Iberville Projects
Iberville Projects is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans and one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Louis Street to the north, Basin Street to the east, Iberville Street to the south and North Claiborne Avenue to the west. It is located in the 4th Ward of downtown New Orleans on the former site of the famous Storyville district.
Geography
Iberville Projects is located at 29°57′34″N 90°04′25″W / 29.95944°N 90.07361°WInvalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function Template:GR and has an elevation of 0 feet (0.0 m)Template:GR. According to the United States Census Bureau, the district has a total area of 0.06 square miles (0.2 km2). 0.06 square miles (0.2 km2) of which is land and 0.00 square miles (0.0 km2) (0.0%) of which is water.
Adjacent Neighborhoods
- Tremé (north)
- French Quarter (east)
- Central Business District (south)
- Tulane/Gravier (west)
Boundaries
The City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of Iberville Projects as these streets: St. Louis Street, Basin Street, Iberville Street and North Claiborne Avenue.[1]
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 2,540 people, 830 households, and 689 families residing in the neighborhood. The population density was 42,333 /mi² (12,700 /km²).
History
The Iberville was built on a ten block site in the early 1940s as part of the Wagner Bill. In 1940, the city declared 95% of the structures substandard, clearing the way for construction of the project. There are 858 units in the Iberville.
During segregation, the Iberville was occupied by whites, while the nearby Lafitte Projects served the black tenants.
While the Iberville was closed following Hurricane Katrina, the project was one of the first to reopen. There was no significant damage.
Controversy
Mentioning of the Iberville, or even public housing more generally, on nola.com, consistently generates criticism that the Iberville exists. Critics single out the Iberville over other developments because they believe that "[t]he downtown area can never be safe or healthy as long as" the Iberville exists.[2] Others feel that "free and subsidized housing doesn't belong on prime real estate," beside the French Quarter and the Central Business District.[2] Some critics advocate "[r]ebuild[ing] these projects somewhere else."[3] More creative suggestions have included selling "the Iberville to a private developer and donat[ing] the proceeds to create scholarships at Tulane for low-income applicants."[4]
Redevelopment plans
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin expressed a desire to redevelop the Iberville Projects as early as 2003.[5] In May 2009, Nagin announced a HANO proposal to raze part of it for redevelopment into mixed income housing.[6]
See also
References
- ^ Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. "Iberville Development Neighborhood". Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ a b "Iberville Fatal Shooting Victim Identified". nola.com. 12-09-2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "HUD Expected to Break Ground on New Development to Replace 'Big 4'". nola.com. 12-02-2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "5 Wounded in Over Two Days of Shootings at Iberville". nola.com. 2009-01-26.
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20030331/ai_n10173108/
- ^ http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl052009cbnagin.22c93cbc.html
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