Spring Break
AUPD students do their part in New Orleans
Elyssa Brogdon
Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: News
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The students conducted urban field research using surveys to assist projects of The Urban Conservancy.
"Our work focuses on the cultural heritage of New Orleans and how we can rebuild the city without losing sight of the city's deep cultural heritage and traditions," said Jacob Wagner, assistant professor of architecture, urban planning and design. "…[I]nstead [we] use these traditions and historic places as a way to revive the city after the disaster."
The group worked with Stay Local!, an organization that focuses on locally owned and operated businesses, and was able to update and add new entries for businesses in New Orleans.
"Hopefully the company that we worked with will hand these brochures off to people so when they come in they can be like 'we need a barber shop' or' we need a place to buy electronics or groceries,'" said senior Kristian Corbin. "They work for the businesses that are still there too, people can go down there [the locally owned shops] and help them out a little bit by spending their money there and making sure they survive."
Students also worked with Friends of Lafitte Corridor, an organization that wants to build bike and pedestrian paths along the Corridor.
Sophomore Jamie McDonald, who is originally from New Orleans, said this will take tourists out of the normal areas and expose them to the real history and many cultures of New Orleans.
Before the students embarked on their work, they took a Tour of Destruction.
"We started at the first levy break, went on to the next levy break and then down to the lower ninth ward and saw the levy breaks there and we saw the unimaginable destruction that is the lower ninth ward," said senior Chad Shearer.
Shearer was amazed at how much had not be done in New Orleans. His classmate, Corbin, agreed, "The places that we were at looked like the disaster happened a week or two ago."
It hit even closer to home for McDonald who moved to Missouri because of Hurricane Katrina and Wagner who completed his Ph.D. research in New Orleans in 2004. "When the disaster happened, I had to respond," Wagner said. "Since December 2005 I have been working in the city to help people rebuild through applied planning research and technical assistance."
McDonald was "ecstatic" that she could go back to help and share her city.
"I was just happy to go back with a lot of my classmates and faculty and share with them a piece of my hometown," McDonald said. "New Orleans has its own history and I have my own history in New Orleans."
To learn more about what UMKC Architecture, Urban Planning and Design is doing to help New Orleans visit www.urbanconservancy.org/projects/heritage-tourism-in-midcity.
ebrogdon@unews.com
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