The most comprehensive survey of residential and commercial property conditions of the Lower 9th Ward is now publically available on WhoData.org, a powerful community data internet mapping service supported by the University of New Orleans Department of Planning and Urban Studies (UNO-PLUS).
Inspired by Sen. Mary Landrieu’s “Raise Up the Lower 9th Ward” initiative, UNO-PLUS partnered with Project Homecoming, lowernine.org and the Regional Planning Commission to survey the entire Lower 9th Ward.
“The ‘Raise Up the Lower 9th Ward’ initiative is grounded in how the existing rebuilding and reinvestment plans for the Lower 9th Ward, including the Unified New Orleans Plan, can be advanced,” said Sen. Landrieu. “One of the key issues with implementation has been the lack of current and reliable data on the state of the properties, resident profiles and a current inventory of commercial properties. With this information we can focus on assets that already exist in the Lower 9th Ward.”
This summer volunteers, residents and neighborhood groups gathered status and condition information on the more than 7,000 lots in the Lower 9th Ward. The condition status of buildings, vacant lots, properties, occupancy and commercial uses is available on WhoData.org. This information is available to members of the community as they make decisions about future reinvestment and growth.
"We need to move from concepts to implementation,” said Michelle Thompson, UNO assistant professor of planning and urban studies. “The combination of community and municipal data will make this happen in an informed and non-redundant way."
The effort to survey the entire Lower 9th Ward required significant pro bono investment by a team of dedicated volunteers including members of Project Homecoming, the Regional Planning Commission and lowernine.org. Mapping and data analysis was provided by UNO alumnus Brian Baldwin. UNO assistant professor Michelle Thompson and graduate student Devon McGuinness coordinated volunteers, conducted trainings and provided resources for data entry.
“Data standards and data access are key in aiding the neighborhoods in recovery planning,” said Lynn Dupont with the Regional Planning Commission. “Our data methodology provides data layers that work in cooperation with the city’s data sets and integrates with regional and state data sources for analytical products, as well as a data download portal."
WhoData.org has been working with New Orleans neighborhood organizations, volunteers and nonprofits to collect and display housing conditions and status information since February 2011. WhoData.org is committed to empowering organizations and residents, as well as coordinating with the City of New Orleans to advance its blight remediation policies. This public participation geographic information system is on a web-based platform that provides information free to the public.
For more information on the WhoData.org project, visit http://planning.UNO.edu/whodata or log on directly to www.whodata.org.