The BioDistrict Walker

Is almost done with the grand trek through the 1,500-acre district.

Interesting

It appears someone is walking through all the streets in the 1,500-acre "BioDistrict New Orleans" and recording the trek.

Take the BioDistrict Survey

Here.

Let BioDistrict officials and planners know what you think about the consolidated scheme for the 1,500-acre district that encompasses the bulk of what's left of the Mid-City National Register Historic District.

"Diresto said no movable structures have been razed."

I beg to differ.

As the photo (courtesy of Sandra Stokes and annotated by yours truly) above shows, twenty structures have been demolished in the LSU Footprint since October 2010, including one - denoted with a red triangle - that was demolished after the UMC Board's consultant told all parties present that any additional site preparation risked HUD backing necessary to finance the project.  To put it in context, here's a direct quote from the powerpoint presentation made the last UMC Board Meeting:

"The construction time-line is far ahead of the financing and management structures."

While the arrows above indicate buildings that were in varying condition at time of demolition, we estimate that about 10, if not 13 of them were movable.

Additionally, I have not indicated the 18 lots that were cleared by the contractors.

Updated Map of VA House Moving Destination Lots

I've updated the Google Map I created which depicts the destination lots of the over 70 houses moved off the VA Hospital Footprint here in New Orleans since September, 2010.

There's only one that is likely not reflected properly here, from what I can tell - the house on Conti that was moved a second time this January.


View LSU/VA Hospitals Footprint - Lower Mid-City, New Orleans in a larger map

It's very interesting to note that about 10 houses have landed in lots that are now potentially in the path of projected development associated with the "consolidated scheme" for BioDistrict New Orleans.

How Things Stand - Visually

View Status of Structures in LSU/VA Footprint in a larger map

Or, to speak more accurately, here's a map that shows how things no longer stand in the footprints of the proposed VA Hospital and proposed University Medical Center.

It's pretty rudimentary at this point.  There's a lot more data to add to each icon ( for now, red = demolished, blue = moved, etc.), but the icons should give you a rough idea of the fate of many of the structures in the site.

Coming Into View: The House Moving Effort

Here's the latest version of the Google map showing the VA Footprint house exodus to new lots throughout New Orleans.  I now have the data entered for the first fourteen "move days" - through mid-November.

Be sure to zoom out so you don't miss any:


View LSU/VA Hospitals Footprint - Lower Mid-City, New Orleans in a larger map

Wally Thurman's home, formerly at 217 S. Tonti, made it all the way to a new spot at Second and Danneel in Central City on the edge of the Garden District where it awaits rehabilitation in front of a large sycamore tree:

Mapping the VA Hospital Footprint Moves

I've continued to enter the data. Here's the first 10 "move days" worth:


View LSU/VA Hospitals Footprint - Lower Mid-City, New Orleans in a larger map

Google Will Have to Revise Its Maps

I made a little map to give a rough idea of which city blocks in the VA Footprint have been entirely cleared in one way or another:


View Overall New Orleans VA Hospital Footprint in a larger map

The next project is creating an interactive map that permits you to see what happened to all the individual properties on that map - whether they were demolished or moved. As I've noted, I'm already working on the map showing the new locations elsewhere in the city for the houses that were moved off-site.

Note

If you click on the icon under "The Proposed Footprint" over on the sidebar, you'll notice that the GoogleMap no longer shows the footprint boundaries alone.

I've begun to add in blue markers showing the location of the moved houses (denoting their original address as well).  I've only entered the first dozen or so, which means there are quite a few more to go.  But it starts to give an impression of the dispersal.

A Better Map of the Footprint

Or Footprint and its component footprints, to be more precise.

Visitors to the site have always been searching for maps of the VA and LSU Footprints, and until I created the linked Google map today, there's never been an adequate representation on the blog.  I've replaced the old sidebar link, so clicking on the colorful icon at the top of the sidebar will now take you to the map hyperlinked above.

Notes for anyone who uses Streetview feature on the map...

1. The shots are from a moment in time that's closer to the immediate aftermath of Katrina.

2. The City of New Orleans imposed a moratorium on even repairing properties in the Footprint for a period post-storm in anticipation of the proposed hospitals.

3. The Streetview shots do not at all reflect the many changes in the VA Footprint due to demolitions and house moving that have transformed the area in the past four months.

The Next Five Moves

The Times-Picayune lists the first 11 house moves with a map of the moves.  With six complete, the final five listed are the next to go.